Fridays en Francais!

A brief note, before I begin: if you read my previous blog, KCFashionista, or, even if you didn't, it might be of interest to know that I have finally gotten around to importing those posts and incorporating them into this blog. So, many fashionable thoughts can now be found in the archives here.

Maintenant...

If you will recall, I've written a few times about how once I turn 25, I supposedly am magically (and scientifically, I think) supposed to become clearer-thinking, and more able to find my focus. I can hear the weeks ticking away until my birthday (already have the party-idea all sorted out - how's that for focus and clear thinking?) and feel that I have finally landed upon some more focused ideas for this blog (have I used that word - focus - enough yet?). It's utterly ambitious, so we'll see how it goes.

But for the time being, Fridays will now play host to all my fun learnings in the French language. C'est marveilleux! They will also be brief. Hooray. Because everyone is ready for a break on Friday, especially tired nannies (though perhaps Monday would better serve as my break day. It's usually my least ambitious day. Or my most. Depends on the week. Did I mention I'm working on my focus?)

I've recently begun my experimentation with the methods and products I'm going to use in order to resuscitate my French-language skills.  This week's method comes in the form of Audio Cd's from On Lingo, seeing as how they were so kind to grant me a 14-Day Free Trial.

Now, I'm not exactly a beginner, so it's been hard to tell from the 3 Cd's I've already whipped through in the course of a day (and three half-hour drives), but so far I find it enjoyable, have brushed up on some basic vocabulary and phrases, picked up some tips on pronunciation, and well, learned a few new things. The Cd's include several chapters, with both a male and female speaker, and walk you threw repetition of vocabulary (Ecouter! Repeter une fois!), practicum, and quizzes in both English and French. I'm not buying the full method yet, but as my first product I've tried, it's seemingly set the bar fairly high.

Aside: M & N have unfortunately fallen victim to this particular experiment. I expect M's first word will be en francais, and his parents will praise their bi-lingual baby, though he fell asleep at two separate times in our drive. N met the lessons with a full-on fit at first, although enjoyed the section on colors, and then fell asleep for the remainder of our drive.

Et maintenaint...

Des nouvelles choses:

a) When pronouncing the French "l," the tip of your tongue should be touching your top teeth.
b) The French "r" is pronounced at the back of the throat.
c) English is spoken using the muscles of the jaw more, while French exercises the mouth muscles more. English speakers should feel as if they're puckering their mouths when speaking French.
d) The word "denim" originated as the fabric was created in a French town called Nim. "de" means "from," or "of," in French, therefore: de Nim becomes "denim." Fantastique!

Et voila! C'est fin.