My 3 teenagers and myself will be spending about 3 weeks in Paris this summer. We are interested in some sort of family oriented french language program or private tutor to get us to feel more comfortable with basic functional french for travelers. We spent 2 wks in an immersion french program at Coeur de France last year. Though it was a great introduction and definitively has been very helpful, it did not get us to the level that we feel confidence in speaking/comprehending basic french. After evaluating the whole "learning french" thing, I have to come to a realization that comprehension is probably the most important component in conversation in any language.
Thanks for any suggestions
Posted by
2081 posts
talent,
people learn at different rates and with different techniques. If each of you know how each learns best, i would tailor to each individual.
when i was trying to learn mandarin, i found that picking up words here and there off a tape or TV isnt bad, but i needed someone to talk to verify my pronunciations was close.
If you have any community colleges (CC) in your area and im sure you do, you maybe able to find some French tutors and classes. I know our CC offer them along with other language.
happy trails.
Posted by
arizona, usa
130 posts
Given the proliferation on online courses, you may try http://www.openculture.com/ they have a number of free French language courses available either web based or iTune podcasts. Enjoy Paris.
Posted by
Boston, MA, United States
1806 posts
When I was living in Italy, I had a tutor from Inlingua teaching me Italian. Inlingua has schools located all over. Not sure where you live, but they do have schools in the United States so if you are near one, you could start now. However, 3 weeks is not a lot of time to walk out of any French language program being truly fluent and able to comprehend conversational level French. Even after several months of private tutoring in Italian, I was able to read it and understand what people where saying to me, but I still had a difficult time formulating responses back in Italian. I also agree with the poster above, while there are lots of online language courses you can access to help get you started, you really aren't going to know if you are pronouncing it correctly unless someone who speaks it is giving you feedback.
Posted by
near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
521 posts
We spent 2 wks in an immersion french program at Coeur de France last year.
Is that the one in Sancerre? I looked at their courses a few months ago, and I've just been back to their website to remind myself. Their basic family package with children over the age of 10 includes 20 hours of tuition per week, so you would presumably have completed 40 hours in total.
It's interesting to look at how far, in theory, that might have got you in terms of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which is described in this wiki article. According to that, around 75 hours is required to get to level A1, Breakthrough or Beginner, with a skill level as follows:
Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic
phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can
introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions
about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows
and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other
person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help
I've been looking at the Institute Francais courses, but it's worth spending time checking for Tripadvisor reviews on any language school you might use, and there are lots of reviews. In the meantime, I use Assimil courses for home learning, combined with French radio (France Inter and France Info are good for tuning your ear to French sounds).
Posted by
Bern, Switzerland
977 posts
As Kevin has pointed, the European framework is a good place to start in determining how many hours of tuition is required to achieve the desired proficiency in a language.
From what you say I get the feeling that you are aiming for about A2, which required at least 200 hours of tuition plus a lot of homework and exposure to the language in everyday situations. To put that into perspective, the normal requirement for a non EU citizen seeking permanent residence status in a country is B1 or in a few cases A2.
To get the most out of your time in Paris, you really should be attending a part time course now, in doing so you will find that you can make some real break throughs in the summer.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10185 posts
Agree that you should be attending a class now. Additionally, you can subscribe to TV5 Monde and watch French tv (some subtitles), listen to language lesson podcasts, and expose yourself as much as possible.
As for language schools, the Alliance Francaise on Blvd. Raspail is one of the oldest and has many different levels of classes all day and evening.