Ok thanks thomas for you reply. For this point i must improve my english ear. ::)
I would like to say to you how much i 'm happy to learn again english with your podcasts . It's simply great.
I like specially advanced lessons and expressions lessons. I think "Interview" is too very very interesting so I look forward to the next lessons : i 'm sure you have à lot of of ideas.
I live in chartres a middle town close to Paris (about one hundred kilometers). I know believe that some time ago you were coming in france in the city of Tours. Chartres and Tours are in the Center Region (one common point).
Good luck for your master (for that matter i forgot the given expression in one of your lesson to say : "Merde" ) and perhaps one day you 'll come back in france for holidays or job.
If you find errors in my sentence do not hesitate to correct its. It will be a pleasure for me to be able to improve my english.
Bye Thomas and till a next time.
Citation de: nongprue le 10 Juil 2012 09:28
They say that we should learn English . Yes but which ?
That is definitely a good question, and I know that many people want to know the answer. Here it is, the answer to the ever-present "Do I learn British English or American English?" question:
It depends. :)
There's actually both good and bad news about it, though. Here's the bad news: Unfortunately, the answer is not simple and is not the same for everyone. If someone wants to learn French, and they live in Vermont (a US state that borders Québec province in Canada), I would easily recommend Canadian French. If a British person wants to learn French, I would easily recommend French French. But what about someone who lives in California? Or Australia? The answer is not as easy. I remember when I was in high school, I learn
le parking and
une voiture. But then I went on vacation to Montréal and saw
Stationnment Interdit on signs and heard people talk about
le char instead. It was confusing, at first.
Here's the good news: which one you pick is not actually a super important decision. Just like French French and Canadian French, English is very similar between America, England, Canada, Australia, etc. Obviously there are some differences, especially with pronunciation, but as an English speaker, I can understand a British person just fine (at least most of the time ;)). And even though my first trip to Canada had difficulties due to the differences between the French French I had studied and Canadian French, it did not take too long to adjust. There are definitely still times when I hear a Canadian speaking French and have to really concentrate, but those times have become less and less common.
What I would say, is to pick the accent that you want to have, and learn that version of English, including pronunciation, slang, etc. Make that your "primary" version. But don't forget to from time to time listen to the other version(s), and their expressions and slang, too. You'll find that even though you are mostly focusing on the primary version, you'll end up understanding and being able to speak with people who speak other versions, too.
This past year I taught French at a university here in the US, introductory French levels 101 and 102 (the first two classes students would take in French). The book we used was teaching them French French, as for most people and most situations France is the center of the Francophone world. The book also had excerpts from other countries, though, Canada, Senegal, Morocco, and more. Also, this was not in the book, but in addition to
soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, quatre-vingt-dix, I chose to teach them
septante, octante, huitante, and nonante as well. I told them "In France, you would use the first set of numbers, and in several other countries as well. But in Belgium, for example, or in some older texts, you would see the second set." because I knew that they might encounter those variations on the numbers.
Citation de: nongprue le 10 Juil 2012 09:28
My question Thomas is below :
What do we really learn from English ? Try to put in place of the laymen !
Again, like the first question, it depends. For some people it opens up business or career opportunities, getting a promotion, traveling for business, working for an international corporation. For some people it's for personal enjoyment, reading literature, traveling for fun, watching movies. Some people like to just talk to people of different cultural backgrounds, and speaking their language makes that easier. Other people like learning about the language and seeing the linguistic traits it has. For example, in my class, I told them how many English words are from French, because of the Norman conquest in 1066, and the split between the nobility who spoke French and the common people who spoke English. They knew words like
hors d'oeuvres or
cul-de-sac or
bon appetit were French, those we use in English commonly (though the pronunciation differs!). But they were surprised to learn that words like "mansion" came from
maison and "poultry" came from
poulet and so forth. They were also surprised when I mentioned how
entrée really doesn't make sense in America, because we use it to mean "main course" whereas it clearly is different in French. So by learning some French, even at the introductory level, they learned more about their own language. That's something that you will get no matter what if you study English, you will learn more about your own language. But those other opportunities, business, travel, entertainment, meeting new people, those are some of the most common benefits that you can get from learning English.
Of course, if you meant "Why English, as opposed to German, Spanish, Chinese, etc.?" instead, that's a very different question. But it always depends on your personal situation, on why you want to learn another language in the first place.