My tip for you is to watch Movies/Series in French with English subtitles, and vice versa. in few months you can be fluent. We have 60 % of common words. No stress and Welcome to this Beautifull country. By the way God bless your Beautifull familly.
Best tip for understanding the language is watch the French TV, the News, the adverts, the game-shows, the repetition of words and catch-phrases really helps...and any well-known film dubbed into French. Took me at least 15 years to be fluent.
As an English teacher in France, I think you need formal lessons, but I also think you have a good ear. When you say French words, you have a good accent.
Total immersion in the culture and language is the quickest and easiest way to learn, you and your family are at a disadvantage, because behind closed doors you continue to communicate in English, it really slows down the learning process. As you haven't got a titre de sejour yet that allows you to work, you need to spend a lot of time listening to french radio or watch a lot of french tv,(news channels are really good as they dont use slang and the presenters speak clearly ie : franceinfo or LCI) it really does help, it trains the ear to pick up sounds and words that do become more recognisable with time. I moved to Normandie from the UK in june 1991, after meeting my now husband (French) in 89. I only learnt french from books for those 2 years (no internet then) I came here alone as an au pair, I understood nothing spoken when i got here, i walked around with a huge oxford dictionary, and asked to point out words in it when i got stuck, often i already knew the vocab, but my idea on the pronounciation of said vocab was off, this really helped, and by christmas that year i was speaking French (just the present tense), after a year i was good in past and future tenses too. Most would say i'm fluant now, but i still make mistakes, it's still the masculin feminin that trips me up now and again. You'll also pick up loads from your kids when you'll be going through and helping with homework. Try not to get too discouraged, it really is an on going process, and it does get easier, but you really do need to listen to french being spoken through media as much as possible , your spoken french will become more natural, you wont have to think your sentences in english then translate them, one day, you'll just start spurting out French sentences without even thinking about it, you've really got in down when you start dreaming in French too.
Some good points. The only language I've experienced trying to learn as an adult it Dutch and while I can understand the well-spoken TV presenters, I find people you meet when you're out and about are often much more of a challenge to understand because their everyday version of the language is much more mumbled and they don't pronounce the end of words with as much emphasis. I suspect it would be exactly the same probem for someone trying to learn French off the telly or radio or media as you suggest.
I'd also say every minute you're not using French, is a minute lost not improving it. The more time you aren't improving it, that's more time it will take to get to a decent level in French. There's also the reductions. Dropping pronounced letters when speaking in everyday conversations. If all you do is listen to properly pronounced French all the time, then when someone throws reductions at you you're lost. Like if all you know is "Je ne sais pas" and someone throws "Je sais pas" or even "Shais pas (an extreme reduction of it)" you most likely won't get it. When I found out about reductions I was quite deflated and frustrated. "You mean it's even more complex!?". I'm ok about it now. Duolingo does not teach these. Most text books don't teach these. Tradition and it's not "proper French". Yeah but you'll hear them everywhere.
What a great comment. Loved reading your story too about your journey here in France. We’ve got it so easy nowadays with google translate lol. Good shout about watching the French media. We listen a little to the radio but the talking is too quick. Sounds like French news is the way forward I did have a dream in French once but it was me ordering a beer in a bar in French and not being understood…….i can actually order a beer in French lol Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
@Tony1771-yj8mc Hey Tony, thanks for comment and advice. I’m learning about reductions from my 9 year old. We use shais pas in our house now lol Looks like prooer French lessons is the way forward for us Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
I like to watch news in France because usually, I’m aware of the issues being discussed in English language news sites, so I can pick up on new words in French that way. I recommend finding a tutor who will come to your house & acclimate you to household discussions. My 🇫🇷 MIL didn’t speak a word of English & I learned how to talk with her about household chores & doing shopping with her. It really helps if you have no choice but to speak French.
@@Escapetofrance-Charentehalf of Africa speaks French lol, why would you guys fail to learn the language? 😂French TV is junk but you should watch it at least 2/3h a day to learn.
We take our first house hunting trip to france on Saturday - 100 days duolingo. I was worried but ive been assured that as long as i try my hardest to converse in French - the locals will respect my attempt and help. Fingers crossed 😂😂
@@Oldmanprojects How exciting for you. Make sure you plan ahead with the houses you want to view. Get them booked in with the estate agents. Most French really appreciate the language effort, some just panic lol 👍🇫🇷
No stress, si vous allez vers les gens avec un Francais imparfait les Francais seront bienveillant envers vous, nous sommes sensibles à la Politesse, pas a votre niveau de Francais. Have a nice trip. Tip : Movies and series in French with English subtitles and vice versa.
I find that I can put together sentences in my head very easily, but when it comes time to actually speak to people, I sometimes get brain-freeze. I use Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone every day. I also joined a group at our library where we sit around and speak only French for an hour. Some of the members are very fluent or native French people; others are slow and steady learners like myself. It's great practice! As always, loved the video -- and the kitty!
After five years, we still go to weekly French classes. It's a difficult language as French people speak French as badly as British people speak English. Dropping words, slang, not using verbs correctly, making up words no one over 40 knows.....plus French is totally verbose, formal and florid with thirty words where two would do. My best advice is to go to formal classes. We found all the information through our mayor's office
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Thanks so much Jane. I’m just waiting for the kids to teach us in the future. French lessons sound the way forward though. Thank you so much
bonjour, n' exagérons rien, tout dépend déjà de vos fréquentations, et puis, les français entre eux peuvent utiliser des mots familiers, d' argot, mais devant un étranger, non... la langue française reste une langue bien parlée, avec il est vrai, beaucoup de vocabulaire, mais c' est bien, une langue très riche, le novlang d' Orwell dans " 1984 " n' est encore arrivé en France
As a french learning english here is my piece of advice if you want to boost your prononciation and comprehension skills. Try to watch movies that you've already watched but this time in french WITH french subtitles. Because you already know what's going on you can understand more easily the french subtitles and because the actors are prononcing the words you're reading you associate the prononciation with the word. It worked great for me but with one inconvenient because i learned words with movies from US, UK, NZ, AU, etc. An englishman told me once that i speak with a rainbow of accent.
A rainbow of accents, that’s funny. I’m trying to find Top Gun with French subtitles to watch. I know that by heart so hopefully that’ll help Thanks for the great advice Passez une bonne journée
Your french will become easier when you will dream in french. I was a french au pair in England and that's what happened to me. I dreamed in english one night and felt much better afterwards. To the point that I needed a bit of readaptation when I came back home.
As a French, I confirm. When I moved to Scotland, it took me 6 months to dream in English and the learning really took off from there. I no longer needed to internally translate to understand.
I have found that too. Most people are very kind, especially the woman at the Préfecture when I told her my wrong date of broth in a French. She smiled and corrected me 👍🇫🇷
Bet the time just flew past with your mum and brother staying with you ,years ago i had a cat got stuck up a tree for three days in the end the fire brigade came and got her down ,I remember as a child loved climbing trees but the worst part was always getting down lol ,❤❤
Hey Christina Yeah it flew by for sure. I bet my Mum is glad to back home after enduring me and my brother in the same house again lol Three days your cat was stuck? Bloody hell Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
The key to learn french (in fact any foreign language) is : immersion. Practice, practice, keep practicing, listen to TV, meet people, play games, get your kids in french school (they will learn in a few months), learn a few words everyday... nobody cares if you are not fluent. And dont be afraid to ask for help !
@@Escapetofrance-Charente I had the same problem with english... I was good to write it, to read it (in french school) but had never been confronted to natives till I was Staff sergeant in french army based in Germany... A day, I received orders : I was the best at the english exam of my batalion with 18/20... Then they sent me inside a unit of the 1st US armoured cavalry brigade in Ramstein... 6 months, the alone French in abase of several tens thousands US soldiers... The first day, the first dayS were a nightmare. It began at mya rrival, I had an american uniform with a simple french tricolore flag on the side... the first soldier spoke to me at the light speed, mulching half of words and half of the syllabs... I was almost depressed, about to give up, but my future US platoon leader arrived and he was speaking french... He boosted my morale. 2 weeks later, immersed in the base, as the frenchy or even the froggy, and all my doubts had vanished. The thing was hard because I was speaking a very correct english at those time, I was better in gramary and in conjugation than most of the americans I was meeting there, but sure, with this oawful french accent. Most were telling me I was speaking like in a book or an english aristocrat... They were understanding me, but I had no clue of what they were answering me ! And each time I was asking them to speak slowlier, after 2 or 3 sentences, they were faster and faster, they were not understanding why I was speaking like in books and was not able to catch their words. I learnt that there are 3 levels in learning a language : the 1st 2 levels are not super easy but they are truly simple if you make effort to work and if you are motivated : 1/ read it and 2/ say it... the last level is 3/ HEAR IT... And this last level is only possible with natives. Sure, i did lots of improvements to speak it... but it went with a lower level in gramary and conjugation, because culturally, native anglo-speakers apprehend their language far differently than french does with their own language. Pscyhologically hard for me. In french, Descartesd said "Je pense donc je suis" (I think, so I am) and French adapted a variant to language and social relatiuonship : "parle, ej te dirai qui tu es"... (Speak, I'll tell you who you are)... That means : if you speak bad, then you are bad, I mean, we will sort of "judge" a french guy (we don't with foreigners because we know they are not natives) because of the way he is speaking. In anglo-world, language is just a tool for communication and be well understood... Then when we correct your languages msitakes or fouls, it's not to humiliate but to help you. Many foreigners will find it rude... but it's a stereotype coming from the different culture.
@@jean-Pierre-bt8xw Wow what an amazing story Jean-Pierre. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I don’t find the French accent awful at all I have my French lesson today with a French teacher and this weekend we are partying with our French neighbours. Hopefully this will help Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
Hi Rob. The family all look well. Your Mom is adorable and I bet you and your brother gave her some long nights 😅Your brother has the most beautiful eyes! So nice to see things going so well for you. You will get the language eventually and you already have the accent so perfect! I like cats and that one is beautiful. Did you get her down from the tree? Love seeing that your channel is growing. Always knew it would. Take care❤❤❤
Hey Kathy, what a lovely comment from you. I think me and my brother mentally drained our Mum lol Yeah the cat is down now. Had to get a ladder as he was too far up. It’s taken a while but the channel is slowly growing thankfully Have a great day and thanks for your loyalty 👍🇫🇷
My sister-in-law who was a Southerner couldn't understand half of what we said when she came up to Liverpool. After about ten years she was like Gerard Houllier with a scouse accent :) You have to be around native speakers constantly - and ECOUTER Of interest to your viewers would be the “memorial to the shot” in the Braconne forest near to you. I came across it whilst walking through the forest there one day. It commemorates the members of the resistance who were taken into the forest and shot by the German army in 1943. It’s off the N141, follow the sign to the Camp Militairre. Near to the 515e Régiment du train (resist the temptation to join up!) and follow any of the paths for “monument-des-fusillés”. Keep your camera running for les sangliers!
That would be a funny accent to hear lol. I’ve seen signs for the camp militairre. Will give that a go one day. Not a huge fan of wild boars though lol Passez une bonne jounée 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente I walked through that camp during the heatwave a couple of months ago - 43C and the sentry was stood in a glass box! He was the only person I saw. Another time I must have woken up a family of boar - they ran across my path snorting - two adults and a cub. I don't know who got the biggest fright. My friend has lived in France for 30 years and is fluent but still makes mistakes like when she went to buy a new mattress, The french for mattress being very similar than for sailor so to the hilarity of both she told the girl in the shop she would like a sailor to sleep on. Another friend, also fluent can't work in France as she hasn't got the C1. As you say, if there's no where in the vicinity to get a course you are screwed. This is the French bureaucracy that drives people nuts. Re. Duolingo, it's good but won't teach you a language. I completed my Russian course, best streak was 402 days and I finished in the top 3%. I watch Putin on the TV and can't follow him at all. I learnt more in a week in Russia than a year on Duolingo. я за Путина :)
@@MarkOne-l2k That poor soldier on sentry duty. I feel his pain. Maybe a Freudian slip with your friend, maybe deep down she did want to sleep on a sailor lol 🇫🇷👍
Wow! Lovely presents for the kids! FYI, I accidentally cut a butternut squash early but made a great discovery! I peeled and cubed it and cooked in olive oil , garlic and salt. Yummy!!!!
It takes time, as a French guy it took me 10 years to be "European fluent" in English. I'm married to an American woman, but a Baguette is a Baguette. Let the food "slow cook" French into you...
ne vous inquiétez pas, l'année prochaine vous comprendrez plus et serez étonné de vos progrès. lentement mais surement. J'ai vécu un peu en Irlande. je pensais ne rien avoir appris. je me suis rendu compte en france que je comprenais mieux que je ne pensais en croisant des anglais en vacances. parler est toujours trop compliqué. Mais mon fils qui n' avait que 2 ans est rentré en france bilingue 😂.
Merci pour ton commentaire et de m'avoir raconté un peu ton parcours. C'est encourageant de savoir que nous allons nous améliorer en français un jour. Passe une bonne journée
Compared difficulties of foreign languages if you're english ( or american, etc. ) : - Deutsch : 2 - French : 3 - Russian : 5 - Japanese : 15 - Chinese : 30 - Any Athapascan language : 90 - Khoïsan : 250. 😁
I had the opposite issue (the same actually ;-)) . I work for an international company in France where english is mandatory. My written and spoken english is decent I guess, but I had (still have) difficulties in understanding fast spoken english. What helped me to progress was to watch netflix films in their original version (I activated the subtitles when it was too difficult).
As a bilingual French person I realize that French is a pretty complex language to learn. I've seen quite a few foreigners formally learning my mother tongue. Their main difficulties were: . written and spoken French sometimes seem to be different languages, as we have many "silent letters" in French, that we "ignore" when speaking. . our conjugations are awful. Even for us native French speakers, that's why we actually only use a few of them in everyday life. Forget about past subjonctive, it's a dead form of language nowadays (except in some very literary circles). . the "liaisons" between words, when the last sound of a word merges with the first sound of the next word, making both words sound like one. This being said, the easy thing about learning French for an English speaker is that there is a large chunk of vocabulary that has a common Latin/French origin in both languages (thanks to the Normans), words that resemble each other in both languages (starting with "resemble" and "ressembler"). Also, the order of words, the construction of sentences, is very similar in both French and English - unlike e.g. French and German. I knew I was fluent enough in English when I started dreaming in English, but it took me a few years. And I still have a slight French accent when I speak English.
@@jfrancobelge Amazing comment thank you. Very reassuring for sure. I believe French is a written language from what I’ve been told which makes it difficult even to teach French children written French when they are at school. Really appreciate you taking the time to comment 🇫🇷👍
Hi Rob ! I can't believe you told the chickens to put coats on ! 😂😂 I bet the kids were overjoyed being spoiled by their grandma and uncle ! 👍 Now that Angel has her car, you'll have her do the slomo next time, right ? 😉 For your French skills, don't be impatient and see more French people. Try to have frequent or daily talks. Small talks or whatever short simple conversations with your neighbours, French friends or at the local shops. When you meet french friends, avoid meetings with more than 4 people. They will tend to leave you aside. Though unintentionnaly. Having 1 or 2 people to talk to often will help your hearing and make it easier to have them correct small mistakes. Duolingo sound good on paper but it will never be on the level of real interaction. You'll learn more and faster with small groups of people. For French courses, it's better to go to their offices directly. For many things, French people just don't reply to emails or very late. I also find this completely stupid. Anyway, keep going. Given enough time, your skills will just come smoothly. There's no point cramming too much, it will do more bad than good.
Great advice as always I love to talk to the chickens as though they are children. They don’t understand because they are French….probably why the chickens don’t reply to emails too lol 😂 Looks like I’m going to have to invest in proper French lessons now. I think the time has come Passez une bonne jounée 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente You should first try having casual conversations with 1 or 2 French people around you. You'll be surprised with your progress. Lessons are good for acquiring basic vocabulary. At least if it's practical lessons and not academics. That's the greatest flaw in every language lessons. They teach you formal language, not everyday life words and idioms. I struugled quite a bit when I visited the USA. It may sounds weird, but watching kid's TV shows can help improve comprehension too as they articulate words more clearly. When you reach a sufficient comprehension, you can switch to regular shows and finish with TV news to learn a few more vocabulary. For admnistration, there is no secret. I often have to read many times to be sure I do understand clearly. I can't imagine how hard it is for non native French.
Hello from Perpignan, 🌴🌞 I follow your videos a little through TH-cam notifications. This is to combine business with pleasure, namely, to improve my level of English while appreciating your slow integration into French society, its customs, and traditions. If you allow me to suggest a thing, could you please slow down your flow a bit when you express yourself in English? I think it would help your French-speaking community (especially me, lol) to use subtitles less to understand you well. I have only a very limited academic level of English practice since I stopped my studies at the end of my ninth year (secondary school ⇾ the fourth year in the French school system since it's reversed compared to the U.K. system), in fact, three scholar years to be precise. But I've greatly improved it thanks to videos like yours and my many interactions with English speakers on social networks, as I'm currently doing here with you. As for your installation in France, remember the best is yet to come. Even if the worst will never fail to come your way, it will also give you the most satisfaction once defeated or bypassed. Don't we say everything doesn't kill us strengthens us? Good luck, then. Peace, folks. ☮👈😎
Wow, what a great comment, thank you, and thank you for watching I will definitely try to slow down my speech. Unfortunately I am from the north of England and we speak very fast there. I’ll try my best to slow it down Have a great day and English writing is very good 👍🇫🇷
As already said total immersion. When we moved over we'd had lessons in the uk for a couple of years but it doesn't prepare you for real day to day conversations. We only watched French TV and listened to French Radio. Duolingo helps but it's not always correct as I found out trying to teach a French person English. As you've got the bike is there a local motorcycle club near you, that will pay dividends with your conversational French. Been here 16 years and still don't class myself a fluent as there's always something that catches you out.
I like butternut, but years later I discovered Courge longue de Nice, which is much like a butternut on steroids - they can get huge, stores a long time and tastes great. Also tried growing courgette de Nice for the first time this year, and having grown many varieties, this one really is a winner!
Hi Rob', thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, french is one of the most difficult language to learn, especially because you have you and we not being the same as in english, and a lot of issues with time coordination (when to use preterit or not), and a lot of exceptions due to the context. Me, my english is not as good as it used to be... I love the tune you picked up for the intro, it's so vintage french... But ; yes (;-)), yes, there is a mistake in the title, we say "le français"... and not "français" alone. I know it's hard, and can be so disappointing at times, but keep up, you will enjoy it. Cool vid, nice weather, C u in a next comment ^^
Hey, thanks for your comment. Very supportive. Somebody has already provided feedback on the intro but they did it in a not so nice way. Every day is a school day for sure. Glad you liked the video and thanks for watching Passez une bonne journée 👍🇫🇷
I’d take lessons…either a cour particulier or a small group lesson based around conversation. You have to speak which is why apps might be ok but are not a substitute for conversation. Maybe join a local association on your own so you have to talk to French people in French.
I feel for you about not being up to scratch with the French language. If you had a French neighbour that you were close to it would be cool to converse everyday with them. Apparently the quickest way to learn a language is through conversation. It’s always a bit sad to say goodbye to family.
Thanks Char. We do have a French neighbour that we speak to almost daily but the convo is very basic Looks like French lessons are the way forward Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
You may struggle with French but your pronunciation is very good though. And, in order to pronounce a language well, you need to be able to hear its subtleties. So don't lose hope, because you've done the hard part. Your brain will process it slowly, and one day you'll wake up and realize that you understand everything.
@@carolep.1398 Thank you Carole, that means a lot. My confidence was knocked after the school meeting but I’m sure it’ll all start to make sense one day 👍🇫🇷
Hi Rob, keep trying it's worth the pain and hard work. Take lessons with a proper teacher, it will help you a lot with basic grammar, pronunciation, conversation. you'll be ok, don't worry
@@Escapetofrance-Charente try this every morning with the chickens : " Bonjour les poules, vous avez bien dormi ? vous avez faim ? je vais vous donner du grain " ; off you go , looking forward to hearing that phrase in the next videos !!
its true that until you are fluent you can expect to be shunned by others to a certain extent. 7 years in france taught me this, but not all require it just mainly the patriots
Hey, thanks for the comment. I’ve only been shunned two or three times but I think that was out of panic on the part of the French person I was speaking with. They ran off looking for somebody who could speak English lol Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
Yes, French is a much more precise language than English. Last example was Austria-Hungary empire which threatened Serbia in 1914 after Archduk Franz Ferdinand's assassination, that was written in French because that was the common diplomatic language thanks to its precision. When that was replaced by English, USA began to take profit of the mist in the language
@@Escapetofrance-Charente yeah I think French is a great language to use when we intend to be very very accurate for the world, but whithout being too difficult as Chinese could be A good balance between accuracy and difficulty, to resume the point
its stages, you make progress so you can realize how little you actually understand, then you can begin to make progress to the next level and so on, the more you try and the more you engage, you will make progress without even knowing it,. Its a slog no matter what. whatch french TV and listen to french radio, half of everything i follow on line is French just to keep me current.
try getting the local news paper regularly and read it all , over time i promise it will help, Its either that or your kids doing it all and treating you like a retard (hi hi hi)
Im convinced that the French language is setup as a dividing line between rich and poor. No one who actually had to work had the time to learn the literally 84 different conjunctions of a verb not even counting the litany of pointless masculine and feminine tenses. 1.5 years in, and im just happy being able to order déjeuner
Greetings from California! Duolingo is only useful if you want to learn how to say: "Why does the cat keep playing the piano?" Otherwise, it's worthless. A better approach might be to hire a one-on-one tutor through Italki so you can get really grilled on the basics. (I learned German from scratch at 34 many years back, and I lived in Cologne and Berlin afterwards. I have no natural skill for foreign languages at all. However, I can attest to the fact that perseverance is the key!).
Hey Raymond, thank you so much for your comment. I agree about Duolingo. It’s given me loads of words to know but stitching them together is another thing Good shout about the tutor. I’ll keep persevering Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente "Learn French with Alexa" ($35/month) is good for learning correct French grammar, etc.; "News in Slow French" ($20/month) is good; and the YT channel "French Facile" is also quite helpful. I've used all 3 for about a year, as my wife and I fly over every year to "play tourist". But, as I mentioned before, and as I discovered with learning German decades ago, tenacity/persistence/doggedness is truly vital in this process. You'll eventually get it, buddy! (Moreover, never discount how lucky you are to be living in Europe. If I weren't an old 64-year-old SOB, I'd be joining you. For real!)
Hi Rob we have no chance mate we will never be fluent and understand all what is spoken to us, unless we go back to work in France, were a Citroen family my local dealer has Mark a Brit who is one of their mechanics, he looks after us when we take the vans in, I asked him once how long it took him to learn French, he sounds fluent he said to me I’m still learning I’m not fluent after 10 years but did say he has learnt more since working, the same with another Brit we know he said he has learnt his french as a Dustman in France 🤣 all the lessons in the world ain’t gonna help it’s doing it that helps the best, should have got out for a spin today but sciatica now in my right leg that’s giving me loads of stick, so she still sat in the garage, 🙁 ….. Pete 🇫🇷
Hi Pete, Thanks for the comment mate. On a none working visa, the working option is a no go for us, maybe volunteering though Sorry to hear about your sciatica. I’ve heard it’s bloody painful 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Hi Rob I’m retired now and work shy ☺️ scares me to death thinking about work 🫣 done that got several tee shirts 🤣🤣🤣 had sciatica on and off for years in my left leg a couple of knee opps and a dodgy hip + two crushed discs it’s expected but this lot is in my right leg 😳 so Ive got double trouble,🤣but at least now I can sit/lay down and make it better working sometimes was miserable 24 hr shift walking around like you have a broom stick up yer derier 🤣
@@PeterHolland-mu7yn Yeah the thought of work sends me into a tiz for sure. Sounds as though you have been through mate. It’s time to relax for sure 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente to many motorcycle crashes over the last 50 years and 20 years crawling around in caves on the mendips, 30+ years supporting adults with sever learning difficulties and kids from family crisis. Oh and a tough paper round when I was a kid 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
academic french and real life french are two different languages. even french themselves (especially the older ones) can struggle to understand conversations
I am French and I do not speak English I know a young woman very competent French/ English youtuber for many years who lives in the South West in Toulouse I hope that this will help you and it is free the link is below my answer .
Footwear advertising is from your intro walking to feed the Chickhens every day, spoken French is hard to pick up so fast, only able to pick up the odd word.
Vos enfants qui sont scolarisés en français devraient beaucoup vous aider... Il faut éviter la facilité et, aussi pour vous que pour eux, parler régulièrement français à la maison!
Merci pour votre commentaire et je suis tout à fait d'accord. avec notre français limité, nous parlons français avec nos enfants à la maison. notre enfant de 3 ans nous a corrigé sur notre prononciation du mot sac à dos
French is a hard to learn language. I've had french in highschool/college. When it is spoken slowly I can pick up words i've learned. But most frenchmen speak very fast.
It's funny. I watch English videos to learn English. The brain is an amazing tool and let it works alone. But if you speak all the day English it would be hard to make a lot of progress. To learn a language is just to repeat like a parrot.
Hello, un charentais ici :D As a French I really made huge progress in understanding spoken english by watching movies and tv program in english by native english speaker. You should try watching French movies, shows ... with english subtitle first. Then with french subtitles and finally with no subtitles. It helped me a lot with "understanding". The final step is speaking and here you don't have a lot of choice. You have to dive in conversation with native french speakers. I know in eastern Charente it's easy to leave in a group of english speaking people (not being judgemental her I promiss, I lived for a while in India and it was kind of an effort to enlarge my group with non French speakers). Maybe you can join some sport club (if you practice some sport) or any other type of club. Drink coffee or beer in your local café with locals (I usually don't recommende tea in a French pub 🤣).
@@rbelu1 Great comment and advice thank you. I’m currently looking on Netflix to find something. I’ve heard ‘call me agent’ is good to watch with subtitles?
Now then young man, I've subscribed in the hopes of following your journey from the start to where you are now, however your videos are all mixed up!! Could I please 🙏 ask you to arrange your videos in order so your followers and subscribers can see the journey. Please mate .
@@Markus-vp8pz Thanks Markus, I didn’t realise they were mixed up mate. I thought TH-cam put them in date order. I’ll have a look today and I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for subscribing 🇫🇷👍
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Thank you fella for being completely genuine, it's very refreshing. We are really loving your style and lets hope it continues and you grow to a million subscribers 😃 or more.
Wow Markus what a lovely comment mate thank you. I believe all the videos are in order but I’m seeing them from my account which may do it automatically. Don’t look at the play lists as they are all over the place, just go onto all videos and they should be in order. Apols for the early videos as the editing was a bit sketchy back then lol
@@Escapetofrance-Charente We all have to start somewhere mate, don't worry about it 'Duck' as we Stokie say lol. I've been looking at various visa types and how to survive in France, it seems the paperwork trail is arduas and difficult, why do governments make such a simple process so difficult. Which visa are you there with working/self-employed or none working? I have so many questions lol but not for here, is there a way to contact you without going through messages here in TH-cam? Thank you. Markus
Always keep learning french and try not to fall into the trap that most british people do. That is mixing with 80% brits and forming à commune of only brits. The french really hate that. Your french should be at least to the level B1. Most brits think that because they call the facteur by his christian name, they are fluent in french. Ive worked and lived here 18 years.
Hi Jennifer, sage advice for sure. Couidht agree more with you. I’m half was through A2 and that’s taken over two years. I’ll keep plugging away Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
Hi mate😊 Nice vid as usual. Adults learn mostly from necessity, especially new languages. So you have to need french if you want to make any significant progress, and there’s only one way to do that: remove everything English spoken or written from your daily life. No British newspaper or tv, no British Netflix or whatever, stop speaking English with your wife and kids, etc. Everything must be french, Just try it for a month. It can be hard at times, it requires some serious discipline but I understand you’re ex-military, so you know a thing or two about discipline😉 Then at some point, which will come muuuch quicker than you think, you’ll start thinking and dreaming in French. Pig french at first but that’s when duolingo & Co will become handy, helping you improving details. The most important point is that you’ll have assimilated french. From there, resistance will be futile😂 It’s just how adult brains work. I did it with English and German and I became fluent in a matter of months, improving more than during years in school. On the side, you’re a Kawa guy? I think I saw a nice one for a second during this vid, or did I? Cheers😉
A kawa like a Kawasaki? I used to have a ZX10R but now I have a Yamaha MT10. Good idea idea about stopping English at home but our French is so limited that we would have nothing to say lol. Deffo once it gets a bit better for sure Great comment and advice as always 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Well, that’s the very point😉 If you were able to have a casual conversation in French, you wouldn’t really need to learn, would you? Any discussion around the dinner table would just be language maintenance. That’s when you put yourself in a difficult position, when you struggle to verbalise something even very basic and feel frustration from it that your brain starts to focus and learn (and also quite often access knowledge you didn’t even know you had). That’s the necessity factor, which only kicks in when you have real problems or questions - problems or questions which matter to you - to solve, like interacting with your kids about their school day, or planning your next day, and so on😊 Now, no need to be too extreme obviously but still, learning relies on not letting ourselves go to the easy, safe solution, in this case the use of English. Maybe start with no English allowed for the first 10-15’ of any family meal, only french Netflix but with English subtitles on, this kind of situations… And you can switch every electronic device settings (phone, tablet, computer…) into french. Might seem insignificant but trust me, it will repurpose your brain more than you know😂 Definitely Kawa as in Kawasaki😂 (Kawa is also a very common word in french, coming from Arab, for coffee: je prendrais bien un p’tit kawa). So, you drove a ZX10R then decided to turn rural and buy a Yamaha tractor? No scooter available then? 😜😂🤣 Cheers😉
Great advice as always thank you I have an impinged nerve in the neck so can’t ride super sports anymore, so had to get a more sit up bike. Lower and mid range it’s faster than the ninja 🇫🇷👍
It takes time, you’ll get there. Took me a good 6 years to even start to understand and speak French with confidence. After 22 years I am now fluent.
Thanks Paul. Im hoping that our kids will help speed up the process for us :)
You just came back home Paul (Norman)...
My tip for you is to watch Movies/Series in French with English subtitles, and vice versa.
in few months you can be fluent.
We have 60 % of common words.
No stress and Welcome to this Beautifull country.
By the way God bless your Beautifull familly.
Best tip for understanding the language is watch the French TV, the News, the adverts, the game-shows, the repetition of words and catch-phrases really helps...and any well-known film dubbed into French. Took me at least 15 years to be fluent.
@@Anyone4music 15 years FFS. I’ll be a pensioner by then lol. Great advice though, thank you
As an English teacher in France, I think you need formal lessons, but I also think you have a good ear. When you say French words, you have a good accent.
Thank you so much. And I agree. We need formal lessons
Total immersion in the culture and language is the quickest and easiest way to learn, you and your family are at a disadvantage, because behind closed doors you continue to communicate in English, it really slows down the learning process. As you haven't got a titre de sejour yet that allows you to work, you need to spend a lot of time listening to french radio or watch a lot of french tv,(news channels are really good as they dont use slang and the presenters speak clearly ie : franceinfo or LCI) it really does help, it trains the ear to pick up sounds and words that do become more recognisable with time. I moved to Normandie from the UK in june 1991, after meeting my now husband (French) in 89. I only learnt french from books for those 2 years (no internet then) I came here alone as an au pair, I understood nothing spoken when i got here, i walked around with a huge oxford dictionary, and asked to point out words in it when i got stuck, often i already knew the vocab, but my idea on the pronounciation of said vocab was off, this really helped, and by christmas that year i was speaking French (just the present tense), after a year i was good in past and future tenses too. Most would say i'm fluant now, but i still make mistakes, it's still the masculin feminin that trips me up now and again. You'll also pick up loads from your kids when you'll be going through and helping with homework. Try not to get too discouraged, it really is an on going process, and it does get easier, but you really do need to listen to french being spoken through media as much as possible , your spoken french will become more natural, you wont have to think your sentences in english then translate them, one day, you'll just start spurting out French sentences without even thinking about it, you've really got in down when you start dreaming in French too.
Some good points. The only language I've experienced trying to learn as an adult it Dutch and while I can understand the well-spoken TV presenters, I find people you meet when you're out and about are often much more of a challenge to understand because their everyday version of the language is much more mumbled and they don't pronounce the end of words with as much emphasis. I suspect it would be exactly the same probem for someone trying to learn French off the telly or radio or media as you suggest.
I'd also say every minute you're not using French, is a minute lost not improving it. The more time you aren't improving it, that's more time it will take to get to a decent level in French. There's also the reductions. Dropping pronounced letters when speaking in everyday conversations. If all you do is listen to properly pronounced French all the time, then when someone throws reductions at you you're lost. Like if all you know is "Je ne sais pas" and someone throws "Je sais pas" or even "Shais pas (an extreme reduction of it)" you most likely won't get it. When I found out about reductions I was quite deflated and frustrated. "You mean it's even more complex!?". I'm ok about it now. Duolingo does not teach these. Most text books don't teach these. Tradition and it's not "proper French". Yeah but you'll hear them everywhere.
What a great comment. Loved reading your story too about your journey here in France. We’ve got it so easy nowadays with google translate lol.
Good shout about watching the French media. We listen a little to the radio but the talking is too quick. Sounds like French news is the way forward
I did have a dream in French once but it was me ordering a beer in a bar in French and not being understood…….i can actually order a beer in French lol
Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
@Tony1771-yj8mc Hey Tony, thanks for comment and advice. I’m learning about reductions from my 9 year old. We use shais pas in our house now lol Looks like prooer French lessons is the way forward for us
Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
Thanks for the comment. Looks like we’ve got a long and winding road ahead of us. Have a great day
👍🇫🇷
So nice of Grandma to buy the children presents
I know. The kids are very lucky
I like to watch news in France because usually, I’m aware of the issues being discussed in English language news sites, so I can pick up on new words in French that way.
I recommend finding a tutor who will come to your house & acclimate you to household discussions. My 🇫🇷 MIL didn’t speak a word of English & I learned how to talk with her about household chores & doing shopping with her. It really helps if you have no choice but to speak French.
Now that’s committed. Bloody well done you.
Thanks for the great advice 🇫🇷👍
Bienvenu ,et courage a toi
Merci bien pour votre commentaire. Passez une bonne journée et weekend 🇫🇷👍
Its going to be OK, vous allez y arriver 🙂
Je ne suis pas sûr mais merci bien.
@@Escapetofrance-Charentehalf of Africa speaks French lol, why would you guys fail to learn the language? 😂French TV is junk but you should watch it at least 2/3h a day to learn.
@@siberg6257 That’s a very good idea, thank you
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Do not drop your arms now to late try try
Je sais pas?
We take our first house hunting trip to france on Saturday - 100 days duolingo. I was worried but ive been assured that as long as i try my hardest to converse in French - the locals will respect my attempt and help. Fingers crossed 😂😂
@@Oldmanprojects How exciting for you. Make sure you plan ahead with the houses you want to view. Get them booked in with the estate agents.
Most French really appreciate the language effort, some just panic lol 👍🇫🇷
No stress, si vous allez vers les gens avec un Francais imparfait les Francais seront bienveillant envers vous, nous sommes sensibles à la Politesse, pas a votre niveau de Francais. Have a nice trip.
Tip : Movies and series in French with English subtitles and vice versa.
@romrom9761 Thank you so much for this. Passez une bonne journée et weekend aussi
I find that I can put together sentences in my head very easily, but when it comes time to actually speak to people, I sometimes get brain-freeze. I use Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone every day. I also joined a group at our library where we sit around and speak only French for an hour. Some of the members are very fluent or native French people; others are slow and steady learners like myself. It's great practice! As always, loved the video -- and the kitty!
Wow that’s a great idea about the group. You are way more prepared than what we were. Bloody well done you 👍🇫🇷
😂 It takes times but it will come my friend... you have to practice everyday 😊 good video by the way 😁👍
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I’m trying to run before I can walk lol
And me watching, I'm upgrading my english in herborism skills. Thx !
lol, I doubt you’ll learn much about herbs from me but I appreciate you watching.
After five years, we still go to weekly French classes. It's a difficult language as French people speak French as badly as British people speak English. Dropping words, slang, not using verbs correctly, making up words no one over 40 knows.....plus French is totally verbose, formal and florid with thirty words where two would do. My best advice is to go to formal classes. We found all the information through our mayor's office
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Thanks so much Jane. I’m just waiting for the kids to teach us in the future. French lessons sound the way forward though. Thank you so much
And to make things worst any parts of the country got their own accent
bonjour, n' exagérons rien, tout dépend déjà de vos fréquentations, et puis, les français entre eux peuvent utiliser des mots familiers, d' argot, mais devant un étranger, non... la langue française reste une langue bien parlée, avec il est vrai, beaucoup de vocabulaire, mais c' est bien, une langue très riche, le novlang d' Orwell dans " 1984 " n' est encore arrivé en France
As a french learning english here is my piece of advice if you want to boost your prononciation and comprehension skills.
Try to watch movies that you've already watched but this time in french WITH french subtitles.
Because you already know what's going on you can understand more easily the french subtitles and because the actors are prononcing the words you're reading you associate the prononciation with the word.
It worked great for me but with one inconvenient because i learned words with movies from US, UK, NZ, AU, etc.
An englishman told me once that i speak with a rainbow of accent.
A rainbow of accents, that’s funny. I’m trying to find Top Gun with French subtitles to watch. I know that by heart so hopefully that’ll help
Thanks for the great advice
Passez une bonne journée
Your french will become easier when you will dream in french. I was a french au pair in England and that's what happened to me. I dreamed in english one night and felt much better afterwards. To the point that I needed a bit of readaptation when I came back home.
As a French, I confirm. When I moved to Scotland, it took me 6 months to dream in English and the learning really took off from there. I no longer needed to internally translate to understand.
I can’t wait for that day. I’m trying my best though. Thank you for your comment and words of hope
French people appréciate that you try to speak french and i am sure they’ll be benevolent with you ! Go on !!!!
I have found that too. Most people are very kind, especially the woman at the Préfecture when I told her my wrong date of broth in a French. She smiled and corrected me 👍🇫🇷
Bet the time just flew past with your mum and brother staying with you ,years ago i had a cat got stuck up a tree for three days in the end the fire brigade came and got her down ,I remember as a child loved climbing trees but the worst part was always getting down lol ,❤❤
Hey Christina
Yeah it flew by for sure. I bet my Mum is glad to back home after enduring me and my brother in the same house again lol
Three days your cat was stuck? Bloody hell
Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
The key to learn french (in fact any foreign language) is : immersion. Practice, practice, keep practicing, listen to TV, meet people, play games, get your kids in french school (they will learn in a few months), learn a few words everyday... nobody cares if you are not fluent. And dont be afraid to ask for help !
@@theoven344 Fantastic advice thank you so much 🇫🇷🇫🇷🙃👍
@@Escapetofrance-Charente I had the same problem with english... I was good to write it, to read it (in french school) but had never been confronted to natives till I was Staff sergeant in french army based in Germany... A day, I received orders : I was the best at the english exam of my batalion with 18/20... Then they sent me inside a unit of the 1st US armoured cavalry brigade in Ramstein... 6 months, the alone French in abase of several tens thousands US soldiers... The first day, the first dayS were a nightmare. It began at mya rrival, I had an american uniform with a simple french tricolore flag on the side... the first soldier spoke to me at the light speed, mulching half of words and half of the syllabs... I was almost depressed, about to give up, but my future US platoon leader arrived and he was speaking french... He boosted my morale. 2 weeks later, immersed in the base, as the frenchy or even the froggy, and all my doubts had vanished. The thing was hard because I was speaking a very correct english at those time, I was better in gramary and in conjugation than most of the americans I was meeting there, but sure, with this oawful french accent. Most were telling me I was speaking like in a book or an english aristocrat... They were understanding me, but I had no clue of what they were answering me ! And each time I was asking them to speak slowlier, after 2 or 3 sentences, they were faster and faster, they were not understanding why I was speaking like in books and was not able to catch their words. I learnt that there are 3 levels in learning a language : the 1st 2 levels are not super easy but they are truly simple if you make effort to work and if you are motivated : 1/ read it and 2/ say it... the last level is 3/ HEAR IT... And this last level is only possible with natives. Sure, i did lots of improvements to speak it... but it went with a lower level in gramary and conjugation, because culturally, native anglo-speakers apprehend their language far differently than french does with their own language. Pscyhologically hard for me. In french, Descartesd said "Je pense donc je suis" (I think, so I am) and French adapted a variant to language and social relatiuonship : "parle, ej te dirai qui tu es"... (Speak, I'll tell you who you are)... That means : if you speak bad, then you are bad, I mean, we will sort of "judge" a french guy (we don't with foreigners because we know they are not natives) because of the way he is speaking. In anglo-world, language is just a tool for communication and be well understood... Then when we correct your languages msitakes or fouls, it's not to humiliate but to help you. Many foreigners will find it rude... but it's a stereotype coming from the different culture.
@@jean-Pierre-bt8xw Wow what an amazing story Jean-Pierre. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I don’t find the French accent awful at all
I have my French lesson today with a French teacher and this weekend we are partying with our French neighbours.
Hopefully this will help
Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
Hi Rob. The family all look well. Your Mom is adorable and I bet you and your brother gave her some long nights 😅Your brother has the most beautiful eyes! So nice to see things going so well for you. You will get the language eventually and you already have the accent so perfect! I like cats and that one is beautiful. Did you get her down from the tree? Love seeing that your channel is growing. Always knew it would. Take care❤❤❤
Hey Kathy, what a lovely comment from you. I think me and my brother mentally drained our Mum lol
Yeah the cat is down now. Had to get a ladder as he was too far up.
It’s taken a while but the channel is slowly growing thankfully
Have a great day and thanks for your loyalty
👍🇫🇷
My sister-in-law who was a Southerner couldn't understand half of what we said when she came up to Liverpool. After about ten years she was like Gerard Houllier with a scouse accent :) You have to be around native speakers constantly - and ECOUTER
Of interest to your viewers would be the “memorial to the shot” in the Braconne forest near to you. I came across it whilst walking through the forest there one day. It commemorates the members of the resistance who were taken into the forest and shot by the German army in 1943. It’s off the N141, follow the sign to the Camp Militairre. Near to the 515e Régiment du train (resist the temptation to join up!) and follow any of the paths for “monument-des-fusillés”. Keep your camera running for les sangliers!
That would be a funny accent to hear lol.
I’ve seen signs for the camp militairre. Will give that a go one day. Not a huge fan of wild boars though lol
Passez une bonne jounée
👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente I walked through that camp during the heatwave a couple of months ago - 43C and the sentry was stood in a glass box! He was the only person I saw. Another time I must have woken up a family of boar - they ran across my path snorting - two adults and a cub. I don't know who got the biggest fright.
My friend has lived in France for 30 years and is fluent but still makes mistakes like when she went to buy a new mattress, The french for mattress being very similar than for sailor so to the hilarity of both she told the girl in the shop she would like a sailor to sleep on. Another friend, also fluent can't work in France as she hasn't got the C1. As you say, if there's no where in the vicinity to get a course you are screwed. This is the French bureaucracy that drives people nuts.
Re. Duolingo, it's good but won't teach you a language. I completed my Russian course, best streak was 402 days and I finished in the top 3%. I watch Putin on the TV and can't follow him at all. I learnt more in a week in Russia than a year on Duolingo. я за Путина :)
@@MarkOne-l2k That poor soldier on sentry duty. I feel his pain. Maybe a Freudian slip with your friend, maybe deep down she did want to sleep on a sailor lol 🇫🇷👍
I have given up on duo , two years and still
Can’t have a conversation, great channel x
Thank you so much. We’ve just booked our first proper French lesson 👍🇫🇷
Wow! Lovely presents for the kids! FYI, I accidentally cut a butternut squash early but made a great discovery! I peeled and cubed it and cooked in olive oil
, garlic and salt. Yummy!!!!
@@CathyGreen-i1b Yeah they were proper spoiled for sure. They loved it.
I’ll pass your comment onto Lisa 👍🇫🇷
It takes time, as a French guy it took me 10 years to be "European fluent" in English.
I'm married to an American woman, but a Baguette is a Baguette.
Let the food "slow cook" French into you...
It’s also a magic wand too I believe lol. So you must speak English with a French accent with an American twang. That’s amazing 👍🇫🇷
ne vous inquiétez pas, l'année prochaine vous comprendrez plus et serez étonné de vos progrès. lentement mais surement. J'ai vécu un peu en Irlande. je pensais ne rien avoir appris. je me suis rendu compte en france que je comprenais mieux que je ne pensais en croisant des anglais en vacances. parler est toujours trop compliqué. Mais mon fils qui n' avait que 2 ans est rentré en france bilingue 😂.
Merci pour ton commentaire et de m'avoir raconté un peu ton parcours. C'est encourageant de savoir que nous allons nous améliorer en français un jour. Passe une bonne journée
You need to get into a group of French people to practice French . This will really help.
Je suis d’accord completement
Compared difficulties of foreign languages if you're english ( or american, etc. ) :
- Deutsch : 2
- French : 3
- Russian : 5
- Japanese : 15
- Chinese : 30
- Any Athapascan language : 90
- Khoïsan : 250. 😁
Bloody hell, what’s the last one?
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Do you remember ( if you're old enough ; ) the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy ? : )
I don’t sorry
every time i see your mother i think she looks like the french youtuber "Studio Danielle" 😀
@@martel56 lol, I’ll have to take a look at the channel
I had the opposite issue (the same actually ;-)) . I work for an international company in France where english is mandatory. My written and spoken english is decent I guess, but I had (still have) difficulties in understanding fast spoken english. What helped me to progress was to watch netflix films in their original version (I activated the subtitles when it was too difficult).
also youtube videos
@@olelain Your written English is bloody spot on. Well done. I’m currently looking for Top Gun in French. I know that by heart 👍🇫🇷
As a bilingual French person I realize that French is a pretty complex language to learn. I've seen quite a few foreigners formally learning my mother tongue. Their main difficulties were:
. written and spoken French sometimes seem to be different languages, as we have many "silent letters" in French, that we "ignore" when speaking.
. our conjugations are awful. Even for us native French speakers, that's why we actually only use a few of them in everyday life. Forget about past subjonctive, it's a dead form of language nowadays (except in some very literary circles).
. the "liaisons" between words, when the last sound of a word merges with the first sound of the next word, making both words sound like one.
This being said, the easy thing about learning French for an English speaker is that there is a large chunk of vocabulary that has a common Latin/French origin in both languages (thanks to the Normans), words that resemble each other in both languages (starting with "resemble" and "ressembler"). Also, the order of words, the construction of sentences, is very similar in both French and English - unlike e.g. French and German.
I knew I was fluent enough in English when I started dreaming in English, but it took me a few years. And I still have a slight French accent when I speak English.
@@jfrancobelge Amazing comment thank you. Very reassuring for sure. I believe French is a written language from what I’ve been told which makes it difficult even to teach French children written French when they are at school.
Really appreciate you taking the time to comment 🇫🇷👍
Hi Rob !
I can't believe you told the chickens to put coats on ! 😂😂
I bet the kids were overjoyed being spoiled by their grandma and uncle ! 👍
Now that Angel has her car, you'll have her do the slomo next time, right ? 😉
For your French skills, don't be impatient and see more French people. Try to have frequent or daily talks. Small talks or whatever short simple conversations with your neighbours, French friends or at the local shops. When you meet french friends, avoid meetings with more than 4 people. They will tend to leave you aside. Though unintentionnaly.
Having 1 or 2 people to talk to often will help your hearing and make it easier to have them correct small mistakes. Duolingo sound good on paper but it will never be on the level of real interaction.
You'll learn more and faster with small groups of people.
For French courses, it's better to go to their offices directly. For many things, French people just don't reply to emails or very late. I also find this completely stupid.
Anyway, keep going. Given enough time, your skills will just come smoothly. There's no point cramming too much, it will do more bad than good.
Great advice as always
I love to talk to the chickens as though they are children. They don’t understand because they are French….probably why the chickens don’t reply to emails too lol 😂
Looks like I’m going to have to invest in proper French lessons now. I think the time has come
Passez une bonne jounée 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente You should first try having casual conversations with 1 or 2 French people around you. You'll be surprised with your progress.
Lessons are good for acquiring basic vocabulary. At least if it's practical lessons and not academics.
That's the greatest flaw in every language lessons. They teach you formal language, not everyday life words and idioms.
I struugled quite a bit when I visited the USA.
It may sounds weird, but watching kid's TV shows can help improve comprehension too as they articulate words more clearly. When you reach a sufficient comprehension, you can switch to regular shows and finish with TV news to learn a few more vocabulary.
For admnistration, there is no secret. I often have to read many times to be sure I do understand clearly. I can't imagine how hard it is for non native French.
@@Belaziraf great advice about kids tv. I’ll give that a go for sure 🇫🇷👍
You should write "Le français est très compliqué ".😊
@@agnesmichel1286 I know that now thanks. It’s been pointed out a few times 🇫🇷👍
Hello from Perpignan, 🌴🌞
I follow your videos a little through TH-cam notifications. This is to combine business with pleasure, namely, to improve my level of English while appreciating your slow integration into French society, its customs, and traditions.
If you allow me to suggest a thing, could you please slow down your flow a bit when you express yourself in English?
I think it would help your French-speaking community (especially me, lol) to use subtitles less to understand you well.
I have only a very limited academic level of English practice since I stopped my studies at the end of my ninth year (secondary school ⇾ the fourth year in the French school system since it's reversed compared to the U.K. system), in fact, three scholar years to be precise.
But I've greatly improved it thanks to videos like yours and my many interactions with English speakers on social networks, as I'm currently doing here with you.
As for your installation in France, remember the best is yet to come.
Even if the worst will never fail to come your way, it will also give you the most satisfaction once defeated or bypassed.
Don't we say everything doesn't kill us strengthens us?
Good luck, then.
Peace, folks. ☮👈😎
Wow, what a great comment, thank you, and thank you for watching
I will definitely try to slow down my speech. Unfortunately I am from the north of England and we speak very fast there. I’ll try my best to slow it down
Have a great day and English writing is very good 👍🇫🇷
As already said total immersion. When we moved over we'd had lessons in the uk for a couple of years but it doesn't prepare you for real day to day conversations. We only watched French TV and listened to French Radio. Duolingo helps but it's not always correct as I found out trying to teach a French person English. As you've got the bike is there a local motorcycle club near you, that will pay dividends with your conversational French. Been here 16 years and still don't class myself a fluent as there's always something that catches you out.
Thanks for the comment and the advice. Really appreciate it. Good shout about the bike club. Just booked my first French lesson on line 👍🇫🇷
I like butternut, but years later I discovered Courge longue de Nice, which is much like a butternut on steroids - they can get huge, stores a long time and tastes great. Also tried growing courgette de Nice for the first time this year, and having grown many varieties, this one really is a winner!
Hey thanks for the comment. Will have to research the internet and will let Lisa know. She would love that I believe 👍🇫🇷
I'm back to an online class tomorrow, Tuesday.
Online class. Never considered that. Is it worth it?
Hi Rob', thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, french is one of the most difficult language to learn, especially because you have you and we not being the same as in english, and a lot of issues with time coordination (when to use preterit or not), and a lot of exceptions due to the context. Me, my english is not as good as it used to be...
I love the tune you picked up for the intro, it's so vintage french... But ; yes (;-)), yes, there is a mistake in the title, we say "le français"... and not "français" alone. I know it's hard, and can be so disappointing at times, but keep up, you will enjoy it.
Cool vid, nice weather, C u in a next comment ^^
Hey, thanks for your comment. Very supportive. Somebody has already provided feedback on the intro but they did it in a not so nice way. Every day is a school day for sure.
Glad you liked the video and thanks for watching
Passez une bonne journée 👍🇫🇷
I’d take lessons…either a cour particulier or a small group lesson based around conversation. You have to speak which is why apps might be ok but are not a substitute for conversation. Maybe join a local association on your own so you have to talk to French people in French.
Hey, great advice for sure. It looks like lessons are the way forward for us I reckon.
Thank you for your comment 👍🇫🇷
You should take a job here in France, fast track to learn the language. I learnt English at work, in my old job
Great idea but I’m here on a none working visa. I’m not allowed to work. I could volunteer I suppose
Volunteering would really be great! @@Escapetofrance-Charente
I feel for you about not being up to scratch with the French language. If you had a French neighbour that you were close to it would be cool to converse everyday with them. Apparently the quickest way to learn a language is through conversation. It’s always a bit sad to say goodbye to family.
Thanks Char. We do have a French neighbour that we speak to almost daily but the convo is very basic
Looks like French lessons are the way forward
Have a great day
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To beginning try to learn with yours childrens when they learn french words grammar , listen french radio ., tv .
Great advice thank you
Passez une bonne journée 👍🇫🇷
You may struggle with French but your pronunciation is very good though. And, in order to pronounce a language well, you need to be able to hear its subtleties.
So don't lose hope, because you've done the hard part. Your brain will process it slowly, and one day you'll wake up and realize that you understand everything.
@@carolep.1398 Thank you Carole, that means a lot. My confidence was knocked after the school meeting but I’m sure it’ll all start to make sense one day 👍🇫🇷
Hi Rob, keep trying it's worth the pain and hard work. Take lessons with a proper teacher, it will help you a lot with basic grammar, pronunciation, conversation. you'll be ok, don't worry
Thanks Didier. Thats the plan, but if only somebody will respond to an email lol
@@Escapetofrance-Charente try to ask the headmaster at your kids' school, I'm sure they will give good advice
@@didierlacroix6488 A great idea thanks
@@Escapetofrance-Charente try this every morning with the chickens : " Bonjour les poules, vous avez bien dormi ? vous avez faim ? je vais vous donner du grain " ; off you go , looking forward to hearing that phrase in the next videos !!
@@didierlacroix6488 Thanks Didier, this made me laugh. Why would I be speaking to the chickens in the formal thought? lol
its true that until you are fluent you can expect to be shunned by others to a certain extent. 7 years in france taught me this,
but not all require it just mainly the patriots
Hey, thanks for the comment. I’ve only been shunned two or three times but I think that was out of panic on the part of the French person I was speaking with. They ran off looking for somebody who could speak English lol
Have a great day 👍🇫🇷
Yes, French is a much more precise language than English.
Last example was Austria-Hungary empire which threatened Serbia in 1914 after Archduk Franz Ferdinand's assassination, that was written in French because that was the common diplomatic language thanks to its precision.
When that was replaced by English, USA began to take profit of the mist in the language
Now that is deep. But thank you. Nobody wants ambiguity when it comes to a common understanding 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente yeah I think French is a great language to use when we intend to be very very accurate for the world, but whithout being too difficult as Chinese could be
A good balance between accuracy and difficulty, to resume the point
@@prouvencau6343 Nothing wrong with being precise……I like the saying ‘If it’s not a right angle, it’s a wrong angle’
@@Escapetofrance-Charente haha good one
its stages, you make progress so you can realize how little you actually understand, then you can begin to make progress to the next level and so on, the more you try and the more you engage, you will make progress without even knowing it,. Its a slog no matter what. whatch french TV and listen to french radio, half of everything i follow on line is French just to keep me current.
Thanks Tim, we deffo need to watch more French tv for sure.
Great advice, thank you
Passez une bonne journée
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try getting the local news paper regularly and read it all , over time i promise it will help, Its either that or your kids doing it all and treating you like a retard (hi hi hi)
Im convinced that the French language is setup as a dividing line between rich and poor. No one who actually had to work had the time to learn the literally 84 different conjunctions of a verb not even counting the litany of pointless masculine and feminine tenses. 1.5 years in, and im just happy being able to order déjeuner
lol Moi aussi 👍🇫🇷
How many hours from you to Manchester
On foot?
it needs time but don't be afraid to make mistakes and watch french programs, and most of all make french friends.
Great advice thank you
Passez une bonne journée 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente bonne journée à toi aussi 🐸
@@rowenn1729 🍠 That’s meant to be roast beef lol. Merci a vous
Greetings from California! Duolingo is only useful if you want to learn how to say: "Why does the cat keep playing the piano?" Otherwise, it's worthless. A better approach might be to hire a one-on-one tutor through Italki so you can get really grilled on the basics. (I learned German from scratch at 34 many years back, and I lived in Cologne and Berlin afterwards. I have no natural skill for foreign languages at all. However, I can attest to the fact that perseverance is the key!).
Hey Raymond, thank you so much for your comment. I agree about Duolingo. It’s given me loads of words to know but stitching them together is another thing
Good shout about the tutor. I’ll keep persevering
Have a great day
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@@Escapetofrance-Charente "Learn French with Alexa" ($35/month) is good for learning correct French grammar, etc.; "News in Slow French" ($20/month) is good; and the YT channel "French Facile" is also quite helpful. I've used all 3 for about a year, as my wife and I fly over every year to "play tourist". But, as I mentioned before, and as I discovered with learning German decades ago, tenacity/persistence/doggedness is truly vital in this process. You'll eventually get it, buddy! (Moreover, never discount how lucky you are to be living in Europe. If I weren't an old 64-year-old SOB, I'd be joining you. For real!)
@@raymondmiller5098 Thanks so much Ray, really appreciate it. Some very good pointers there. We’ve just booked our very first French lesson 🇫🇷👍
Hi Rob we have no chance mate we will never be fluent and understand all what is spoken to us, unless we go back to work in France, were a Citroen family my local dealer has Mark a Brit who is one of their mechanics, he looks after us when we take the vans in, I asked him once how long it took him to learn French, he sounds fluent he said to me I’m still learning I’m not fluent after 10 years but did say he has learnt more since working, the same with another Brit we know he said he has learnt his french as a Dustman in France 🤣 all the lessons in the world ain’t gonna help it’s doing it that helps the best, should have got out for a spin today but sciatica now in my right leg that’s giving me loads of stick, so she still sat in the garage, 🙁 ….. Pete 🇫🇷
Hi Pete,
Thanks for the comment mate. On a none working visa, the working option is a no go for us, maybe volunteering though
Sorry to hear about your sciatica. I’ve heard it’s bloody painful
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@@Escapetofrance-Charente Hi Rob I’m retired now and work shy ☺️ scares me to death thinking about work 🫣 done that got several tee shirts 🤣🤣🤣 had sciatica on and off for years in my left leg a couple of knee opps and a dodgy hip + two crushed discs it’s expected but this lot is in my right leg 😳 so Ive got double trouble,🤣but at least now I can sit/lay down and make it better working sometimes was miserable 24 hr shift walking around like you have a broom stick up yer derier 🤣
@@PeterHolland-mu7yn Yeah the thought of work sends me into a tiz for sure. Sounds as though you have been through mate. It’s time to relax for sure 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente to many motorcycle crashes over the last 50 years and 20 years crawling around in caves on the mendips, 30+ years supporting adults with sever learning difficulties and kids from family crisis. Oh and a tough paper round when I was a kid 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@PeterHolland-mu7yn Bloody hell mate. You have been round the block 🇫🇷👍
academic french and real life french are two different languages. even french themselves (especially the older ones) can struggle to understand conversations
Same as in England I would say. I can’t understand half of what my older children say to me 🇫🇷👍
I am French and I do not speak English I know a young woman very competent French/ English youtuber for many years who lives in the South West in Toulouse I hope that this will help you and it is free the link is below my answer .
Footwear advertising is from your intro walking to feed the Chickhens every day, spoken French is hard to pick up so fast, only able to pick up the odd word.
That could be very true John lol. Yep very very difficult indeed
Vos enfants qui sont scolarisés en français devraient beaucoup vous aider... Il faut éviter la facilité et, aussi pour vous que pour eux, parler régulièrement français à la maison!
Merci pour votre commentaire et je suis tout à fait d'accord. avec notre français limité, nous parlons français avec nos enfants à la maison. notre enfant de 3 ans nous a corrigé sur notre prononciation du mot sac à dos
French is a hard to learn language. I've had french in highschool/college. When it is spoken slowly I can pick up words i've learned. But most frenchmen speak very fast.
Could not agree more with you Joep. Gotta keep trying though lol
LE Français est très compliqué! ;-)
@@pierrecasas4769 Je sais maintenant lol
It's funny. I watch English videos to learn English. The brain is an amazing tool and let it works alone. But if you speak all the day English it would be hard to make a lot of progress. To learn a language is just to repeat like a parrot.
Thanks Shrek. We are going to have to watch more French tv for sure.
Doubt you’ll learn much proper English from listening to me speak lol 👍🇫🇷
remember, english, its 70% french words... so you speak french 😁
lol I agree but we say it the wrong way round ha ha
Hello, un charentais ici :D
As a French I really made huge progress in understanding spoken english by watching movies and tv program in english by native english speaker.
You should try watching French movies, shows ... with english subtitle first. Then with french subtitles and finally with no subtitles. It helped me a lot with "understanding".
The final step is speaking and here you don't have a lot of choice. You have to dive in conversation with native french speakers. I know in eastern Charente it's easy to leave in a group of english speaking people (not being judgemental her I promiss, I lived for a while in India and it was kind of an effort to enlarge my group with non French speakers). Maybe you can join some sport club (if you practice some sport) or any other type of club. Drink coffee or beer in your local café with locals (I usually don't recommende tea in a French pub 🤣).
@@rbelu1 Great comment and advice thank you. I’m currently looking on Netflix to find something. I’ve heard ‘call me agent’ is good to watch with subtitles?
Taking classes instead of duolingo would help you a lot. Duolingo does not teach pronunciation and gramar, which is rather important.
Thank you for your comment. I will definitely keep with the lessons 👍🇫🇷
_J'ai quatre-vingt-dix-neuf problèmes, et la numération française n'est pas le moindre._
Je suis d’accord completement
4 x 20 + 19 big lolz
SAY WHAT ??????? Did you say RATS??????? Really????? Yikeessss.... that's a shock....
I rural France. They are so rare here lol
Now then young man, I've subscribed in the hopes of following your journey from the start to where you are now, however your videos are all mixed up!! Could I please 🙏 ask you to arrange your videos in order so your followers and subscribers can see the journey. Please mate .
@@Markus-vp8pz Thanks Markus, I didn’t realise they were mixed up mate. I thought TH-cam put them in date order. I’ll have a look today and I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for subscribing 🇫🇷👍
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Thank you fella for being completely genuine, it's very refreshing. We are really loving your style and lets hope it continues and you grow to a million subscribers 😃 or more.
Wow Markus what a lovely comment mate thank you.
I believe all the videos are in order but I’m seeing them from my account which may do it automatically. Don’t look at the play lists as they are all over the place, just go onto all videos and they should be in order.
Apols for the early videos as the editing was a bit sketchy back then lol
@@Escapetofrance-Charente We all have to start somewhere mate, don't worry about it 'Duck' as we Stokie say lol. I've been looking at various visa types and how to survive in France, it seems the paperwork trail is arduas and difficult, why do governments make such a simple process so difficult. Which visa are you there with working/self-employed or none working? I have so many questions lol but not for here, is there a way to contact you without going through messages here in TH-cam? Thank you. Markus
@@Markus-vp8pz Hey Markus, drop me an email on robmorland09@googlemail.com 👍🇫🇷
Always keep learning french and try not to fall into the trap that most british people do. That is mixing with 80% brits and forming à commune of only brits. The french really hate that. Your french should be at least to the level B1. Most brits think that because they call the facteur by his christian name, they are fluent in french. Ive worked and lived here 18 years.
Hi Jennifer, sage advice for sure. Couidht agree more with you.
I’m half was through A2 and that’s taken over two years. I’ll keep plugging away
Have a great day
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"Le français est très compliqué", you missed an article and an accent, bad start
Thanks for pointing that out. Very supportive of you.
Vous pouvez le dire plus gentiment, Rob fait ce qu'il peut
"Le français est un râleur"...
@superpieton Vraiment? lol
@@didierlacroix6488 Merci bien 👍😀🇫🇷
Hi mate😊 Nice vid as usual.
Adults learn mostly from necessity, especially new languages. So you have to need french if you want to make any significant progress, and there’s only one way to do that: remove everything English spoken or written from your daily life. No British newspaper or tv, no British Netflix or whatever, stop speaking English with your wife and kids, etc. Everything must be french,
Just try it for a month. It can be hard at times, it requires some serious discipline but I understand you’re ex-military, so you know a thing or two about discipline😉 Then at some point, which will come muuuch quicker than you think, you’ll start thinking and dreaming in French. Pig french at first but that’s when duolingo & Co will become handy, helping you improving details. The most important point is that you’ll have assimilated french. From there, resistance will be futile😂
It’s just how adult brains work. I did it with English and German and I became fluent in a matter of months, improving more than during years in school.
On the side, you’re a Kawa guy? I think I saw a nice one for a second during this vid, or did I?
Cheers😉
A kawa like a Kawasaki? I used to have a ZX10R but now I have a Yamaha MT10.
Good idea idea about stopping English at home but our French is so limited that we would have nothing to say lol. Deffo once it gets a bit better for sure
Great comment and advice as always 👍🇫🇷
@@Escapetofrance-Charente Well, that’s the very point😉 If you were able to have a casual conversation in French, you wouldn’t really need to learn, would you? Any discussion around the dinner table would just be language maintenance. That’s when you put yourself in a difficult position, when you struggle to verbalise something even very basic and feel frustration from it that your brain starts to focus and learn (and also quite often access knowledge you didn’t even know you had). That’s the necessity factor, which only kicks in when you have real problems or questions - problems or questions which matter to you - to solve, like interacting with your kids about their school day, or planning your next day, and so on😊
Now, no need to be too extreme obviously but still, learning relies on not letting ourselves go to the easy, safe solution, in this case the use of English. Maybe start with no English allowed for the first 10-15’ of any family meal, only french Netflix but with English subtitles on, this kind of situations…
And you can switch every electronic device settings (phone, tablet, computer…) into french. Might seem insignificant but trust me, it will repurpose your brain more than you know😂
Definitely Kawa as in Kawasaki😂 (Kawa is also a very common word in french, coming from Arab, for coffee: je prendrais bien un p’tit kawa). So, you drove a ZX10R then decided to turn rural and buy a Yamaha tractor? No scooter available then? 😜😂🤣
Cheers😉
Great advice as always thank you
I have an impinged nerve in the neck so can’t ride super sports anymore, so had to get a more sit up bike. Lower and mid range it’s faster than the ninja 🇫🇷👍