Here I was just now, minding my own business, studying French vocabulary for weights and measures (i.e., “ton,” “millimeter,” “mouthful,” etc.) with the television on in the background, when all of a sudden an ad caught my attention. …
My French Verb Tenses book by Trudie Maria Booth has a very exalted view of the knowledge of the average foreign-language student. This is the kind of true-false question I am encountering:
Night Falls on the Upper West Side
I have been noticing how many store and restaurant names have French in them. This seems to be especially true on the Upper East Side. House of Chocolate! Upper East Side, Manhattan At a party last night I spoke some…
At a local coffee shop yesterday, I found myself studying French between a French-speaking Haitian woman at the table to my left, and a Japanese woman at the table to my right. Sitting with the Haitian woman was another Japanese…
I am using some new tools to help advance my French skills. First, I have begun listening to French radio stations via the Web, focusing on news and cultural programs from Paris. In addition, last night I came home…
So, Brandt and I made it through a second day of speaking French together. And we spoke a lot. Mexican Raspberries with French Subtext? French even showed up in my food. For breakfast, I ate raspberries with yoghurt. I was…
Yesterday I did 10 half-hour Pimsleur lessons in one day. Doing 10 Pimsleur lessons in one day is very disorienting; I am not sure I would recommend it. But I am in any case now done with Pimsleur. A Famous French Restaurant…
My days have been filled with French Pimsleur lessons, French grammar exercises, and French vocabulary drills. I am trying to do as much skills rejuvenation as I can, as fast as I can, before I unleash my semi-French-speaking self on…
It was an unseasonably warm day today (low sixties). Everywhere I went I crossed paths with St. Patrick’s Day celebrants. Green People Near Macy’s A lot of people in New York (and elsewhere) hate St. Patrick’s Day,…
I don’t like my French accent. It used to be better, and I know it will be better again soon, but right now it is hurting my ears. Pimsleur is helping; I just wish it would help faster. To…
© 2009–2022 Ellen Jovin. All rights reserved.