Wanted: French Lessons

shanemacg

I'm looking for a native speaker who can help me improve my French. I'm happy to do all the background work - finding songs, articles, poems, short stories, exercises on grammar, etc. - so I'm really just looking for someone smart (and patient), who can help me learn.

I have a decent standard of French, or at least I have a good ear. I spent a long old time in the company of a French person; it's an abiding regret that I never became fluent. It's time, now, to learn the language properly.

I'm an academic (35yo, male) moving home from Oxford to TCD. I teach and write on criminology and African politics, so you can expect a lot of material about strange and interesting places. I'm happy to pay up to €20 per hour. (I'm also a pretty broke academic.) I can also offer lessons in most subjects in the social sciences, except anything involving numbers. (I still count on my fingers.)

Contact me, if you're interested.

Shane

peckerhead

You're right across the road from the Alliance française; have you considered them? All their teachers are native speakers, and I imagine that some of these must 'moonlight' on the side if you want 1-to-1classes. But an advanced class might suit you?

biko

Bridge Mills also do very good French lessons.
http://www.frenchinstitute.ie/

shanemacg

thanks to both of you for the useful suggestions!

I took a few classes at the AF a few years ago, but wasn't so impressed with its formality and conventional approach. Are French teachers always so matronly!? I also want more control over what we do in class. I get pretty tired with the set texts, which are usually a bit dull.

I suppose I'm looking for someone who isn't strictly a 'French teacher' - just someone who's above-average literate, patient and able to communicate clearly. Any walk of life...

Celticlily

Hiya !!

I'm French I won't be able to be your teacher as I live quite far away but I can give you few tips to learn a language.
I arrived in Ireland about 1 year and a half ago and all I was able to say was : "hello", "goodbye" and "my name is Lily". That's pretty much everything. I had no idea how to use the past tense, the future tense, ... But I've never taken any English class in Ireland. I did study English at school when I was younger (9 hours per week) but I've never been able to understand the grammar and learn my vocabulary and when I finished school at 18 I had the level of a 12 years old.
What helped me the most when I arrived in Ireland was watching movies in English with the subtitles on (in English of course !) until I was able to pick up the words. Then I turned them off. You learn a lot of vocabulary without getting bored or anything by doing it And it's really good for the prononciation. You can also try to repeat after the actors. You can start watching your favorite series in French and you'll get used to it pretty quickly.
Reading book also helps. Start with stories for children or teenagers as the vocabulary is easier to understand. That's another way to learn some new words.
Check on the internet if there is not an international exchange group in your city. You'll always meet a least one French at this kind of event.

As you can see my English is not perfect yet and I keep making mistakes every single time I try to say something. But I moved from a level A1 to a level C1 in only 18 months and I did it on my own. Moving in Ireland sure helped but what works for me is watching TV. Find something you like doing in English and try to do it in French. Learning a new language when you're a grown up is very difficult. So keep it up and good luck !

Good luck bud !

shanemacg

your English is pretty flawless, Lily. I bet you got that lyrical/incomprehensible Cork thing too.

it sounds like our brains are wired in the same way: I have almost complete immunity to classrooms. So, I'm with you on the alternative strategy. (And what a crying shame you live so far away.) I have a list of films, along with some books and poetry. I need some TV series; any suggestions? If you want to add to it - or if anyone else wants to chip in - knock yourself out! Anything on French-speaking Africa, in particular, is really appreciated.

(The sources are eclectic, but mostly a few French friends.)

Films:

Tatie Danielle
Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis - I'm thinking of Cork with this one.
Le diner de cons
Intouchables
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Un couer en hiver
Les parapluies de Cherbourg
Les Choristes
Potiche
Monsieur Ibrahim at les Fleurs du Coran
Le Peuple Migrateur
La marche de l'empereur
Kirikou et la sorciere

Poetry:
Louis Aragon, Les Yeux d'Elsa, Le Crere-Couer
Apollinaire, Calligrammes
Jacques Prevert, Paroles

Books/Short Stories:
Alain Mabanckou, Demain j'aurai vingt ans
Camara Laye, L'Enfant Noir
Honore de Balzac, Le Pere Goriot
Rene Goscinny, Le Petit Nicolas
Albert Camus, L'Etranger, La Chute
Guy de Maupassant, Contes de la Becasse
Marcel Ayne, Les contes du chat perche

Apologies for spelling, etc!

Thoughts welcome...

Celticlily

It's far from being perfect. I do have a bit of a Cork accent but only when I get tired so I'm still understandable.

That's a pretty good list. Have you read all those books ? I had to read "Le père Goriot" when I was 16. I stopped at page 47 and watched the movie. I've always loved reading and litterature but I couldn't read it. The worst book ever. B.O.R.I.N.G.

Victor hugo is pretty good particulary his poems. I also like Paul Verlaine.

Bienvenue chez les chtis is a really good movie but did you find it funny ? It must be difficult to understand some of the jokes as it's about the differences south/north of France and the language.
If you want a good inside of the French humour THIS is the movie : "qu'est-ce que l'on a fait au bon Dieu". You'll probably find it a bit racist (that's what they said in the USA) but it's a good insight of the French people's vision of culture differences. We are not all like this but French people are really close-minded about different cultures so....
If you like "modern family" then you can watch "scène de ménage". It's really popular. "Caméra café" is really good as well. It's all short stories so you can stop after a while if you get tired or bored or busy. I think "Bref" is really popular as well even if I've never watched it.
Joséphine ange gardien is also very very popular but...I'm not sure you'll like it.

About the books...try Harry Potter. I don't know if you're a fan or not but it's easy to understand as it's written for children. I'm personnaly fan of Amélie Nothomb. She is brillant !! But maybe a bit difficult. I'd recommend "Stuper et tremblements" as it's an autobiography. It's really funny and speaks about when she moved in Japan and discovered a whole differente culture with different rules and has to adapt her very French lifestyle to it. There is a movie as well and it's kind of good.
Comic strips : Astérix and Obélix, Les schtroumpf (smurfs), Boule et Bill, Cédric were my best friends when I was a kid.


I'll think about it and if I think about something else I'll post it.

shanemacg

ok, so, scratch Le Pere Goriot - mostly on the basis of your good word, but also on the basis that it seems to have a traumatic effect. How else could you still remember the page where you stopped reading?

Hugo, check; Verlaine, check; all the films, check, check, check. Thank you.

I've seen Bienvenue and Le Diner, but neither seen nor read any of the others. I take the point about casual recism in film, but I'll watch it all the same and make up my mind. I like the French willingness to shock, Charlie Hebdo, etc. We're a bit more cautious; small island - you make a nasty caricature of anyone in Ireland and you're bound to bump into their cousin in a pub at some point, which could be pretty awkward.

Going to see if I can stream 'qu'est-ce que l'on a fait au bon Dieu' tonight. With or without subtitles? Anything autobiographical, anything about Japan is great. Harry Potter, genius. Never occurred to me. The TV, too, sounds good.

You're going to put the Alliance Francaise out of business at this rate...

biko

Galway Language Exchange is a group of people that meet occasionally and chat in various languages. I think French too.
https://www.facebook.com/GalwayLingo