By Shareen Aguilar
The French language is the first language of people living in France and other former French territories such as Quebec, a Canadian province. To date, French speaking people have already reached its more than 75 million mark and there are still a lot of individuals who are interested in learning and soon speaking the French language.
When a person is doing or learning something for the very first time, there is a certain level of difficulty before familiarity and ease come in the picture. Since the English speakers have gotten used to pronouncing words as they see it, French may become a little strange. But of course, everybody knows that there are specific points of differences between the English and French language.
One can still create a simple method to take French lessons with little baby steps at a time. Starting with French pronunciation is an option to how a person can begin learning the language. Familiarizing the French letters and how each one is used in a French word can start small but also become extremely valuable when learning the proper grammar later on.
Also, observe that the French language has certain distinction when it comes to some words or person. This distinction is that the first person singular subject pronoun and the words days, weeks, months and languages do not start with capital letters. Once you have accomplished this part of the French language (though it may seem simple); you will be ready as well to take on other French conditions of the language. Just keep in mind that you are not trying to learn English again, it's French. You will never be able to learn the French language properly if you stick to your English roots.
Another fact in learning French is that there are words you will encounter which are spelled exactly like words in the English language but you have to be careful in using it since most likely, it means differently. Take your time in learning the French language; Rome was not built in a day and so will your knowledge of the French language. Patience is still a virtue.
About the Author: Shareen Aguilar is a writer for Learn French Program which has Memory Improvement Books and Memory Game Software for better French language memorization.
Immersion issue isn't fading
Times and Transcript, Canada - Mar 29, 2008
""Research says: if you want your children to be fully bilingual in New Brunswick (and learn other subjects as well) send them to a French-Language Daycare and a French-Language School.
In a subsequent newspaper article, Daniel Bourgeois, Executive Director of the Institute, while pointing to research on when young children best acquire another language was quoted as saying "Neuro-cognitive sciences tell us children will (best) learn the syntax, the grammar (and) the structure (of language) from age one to six. Yet here we are in …
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Tags: French, French language, immersion, French-language, French-language school, New Brunswick
![]() Diane Mufson: Americans must speak more than just English
Huntington Herald Dispatch, WV - Mar 14, 2008
"While many recent immigrants speak a foreign language and have various
degrees of facility in English, the great majority of Americans are
monolingual; they communicate only in English." …
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages indicates that about a third of American students in grades 7 to 12 are taking foreign languages, but more than 95 percent study only Spanish, French, German, Italian or Latin." …
"The same article also noted that the Chinese have more than 200 million
students studying English, but fewer than 24,000 Americans are studying
the Chinese language. In everyday terms, this means that millions of
Chinese will understand our conversations but only a tiny fraction of
Americans will comprehend theirs."…
"In the 21st century, teaching foreign languages should be viewed as
just as important as math, computers, science and social studies.
Schools should be offering a variety of foreign languages to all
students from an early age.Our traditional way of teaching foreign languages to mainly
college-bound high school students is ineffective. Developing fluency
or even familiarity within another language also tends to …"
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Tags: ForeignLanguage, Foreign Languages, Chinese, Chinese language, French, Spanish, German, Latin
LANGUAGE BARRIER
Centre Daily Times, PA - Jan 26, 2008
Klein demonstrated another stretching position, leading the kids in more foreign languages: French, German, and Japanese. By spring, the students also will learn to count to 10 in Russian, Greek, Mandarin and Hebrew. …
"…Chinese [is the] the second most common foreign language spoken in the nation, according to 2005 U.S. Census Bureau data.
Spanish is the most common. French is third.
About 20 percent of Americans ages 5 and older speak a language other than English.
…
The long-range goal of Young Scholars is to see its graduates proficient in both Spanish and Chinese by the time they reach eighth grade — when students at most other schools are just getting started learning a foreign language.
Read the full article here LANGUAGE BARRIER
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Tags: foreignlanguage, foreign languages, languages, language, Chinese, Chinese language, Spanish, Spanish language, French, French language, Russian, Greek Hebrew, Mandarin, Japanese, German
French language safe: St-Pierre
Montreal Gazette, Canada - Jan 15, 2008
Christine St-Pierre, the Quebec minister responsible for protecting the French language, said yesterday she disagrees with a call from Pauline Marois to tighten up Quebec's language charter. …
She added the Office québécois de la langue française only receives six per cent of its complaints about the language of service. …
"We have to be vigilant. We have to apply the law. And we have to convince companies and people that French is very, very important. …
Read more the full article, French language safe: St-Pierre
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Tags: languages, foreign languages, Frendh, French language, Quebec
Language storm erupts in rural Ontario
Montreal Gazette, Canada - 2 hours ago
Years of harmony between French and English in Prescott and Russell county's "English corner" are deteriorating as factions square off in a brawl over a proposed bilingual sign bylaw in Russell township….
… Beth Trudeau, whose daughter was working in the store at the time, said her daughter was "harassed" and "swarmed" by the francophones, whom she labelled "15 French language bigots" in what is now a locally infamous letter to the English-language weekly, the Russell Villager.. …
Francophone lodges language complaint against Ottawa police CBC Ottawa
all 3 news articles
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Tags: French, French language, languages
Group updating list of people fluent in other languages
Daily Mail - Charleston, WV - Jan 9, 2008
"…When the Woman's Club of South Charleston first set about in 1963 to organize a list of Kanawha Valley residents who not only spoke foreign languages but also were willing to lend help in translating, it found a rich resource….
The Kanawha Valley Language Bank currently contains 300 names and represents 54 different languages…. The list now includes a wide variety of languages from the expected - French, Spanish and Italian - to the perhaps unexpected - Fiji, Rudu, Boyangu and Bengali…
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Tags: languages, foreign languages, French, French language, Spanish, Spanish language, Italian, Italian language
Usted habla espanol?
Alexandria Echo Press, MN - December 29. 2007
Typically, in the United States, foreign language classes are introduced at the middle school level. And typically, it’s just the basics while more in-depth foreign language classes don’t often begin until the senior high level.
Students often choose between learning the language of the French, German or Spanish cultures or nowadays, even Mandarin Chinese.
However, Alexandria School District 206 is looking at beginning foreign languages at an earlier age – the elementary school level. …
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Tags: Languages, foreign languages, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese, Chinese, Chinese language, French language, Spanish language, German language
Saying it in French
Mumbai Newsline, India - December 23, 2007
He always topped his class at Alliance Francaise where he learnt and honed his French language skills. He now motivates many to take up French. “I love the French language, and I am happy being able to earn a living by sharing what I know with others,” he said.
For students who opt for French as their second language in schools and colleges and for people who plan to go to France to work, Dahanukar becomes their last resort after they fail to learn the language well completing their courses. “Students and job-seekers come to me at the last moment to mug up the language,” said Dahanukar who has taught more than 200 students in the past 24 years.
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Tags: languages, foreign languages, French, French language
French Language Study in France is Popular with French Language …
NewsBlaze (press release), CA - Dec 17, 2007
It has become more popular than ever to learn another language other than your own native language. As the French language appears in movies and television, we are drawn to learn this elegant language. Taking a course in French can be a challenge if …
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Tags: languages, French, French language, learn French, Study French, learning French