French: Hate it or Love it?
07-22-2009 at 12:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reeves
I like the fact that I know french, but I'm not a fan of the language. I don't like the accent, or the way the language sounds. I find it very coarse and guttural. I think Spanish and Italian got the good end of the stick in the sound department for romance languages.
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Really?! I think it's the exact opposite.. With the exception that I like Spanish and Italian as well.. Ooh the language that's very coarse in my opinion is German!
Edit: Haha agree with feona 100% >.<
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Mary Keyes CA 2013-2014
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07-22-2009 at 12:39 AM
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#17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~
Really?! I think it's the exact opposite.. With the exception that I like Spanish and Italian as well.. Ooh the language that's very coarse in my opinion is German!
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I think german Is more hostile sounding. Like Feona said, German always sounds angry, no matter what is being said. Try and surprise your bf/gf by saying you love them in German, and they'll ask why you're angry at them lol
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Mark Reeves
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07-22-2009 at 12:43 AM
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#18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reeves
I think german Is more hostile sounding. Like Feona said, German always sounds angry, no matter what is being said. Try and surprise your bf/gf by saying you love them in German, and they'll ask why you're angry at them lol
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Haha actually "I love you" is one of the not-so-angry statements in German.. But it's about the only one XD. And even the way the words are pronounced.. it's really.. angry?! (for lack of a better word)
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Mary Keyes CA 2013-2014
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07-22-2009 at 12:57 AM
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#19
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French is awesome! I’m not fluent, but I can speak a fair bit. I took it all throughout high school and really enjoyed it. I was going take French 1Z06 but I couldn’t fit it into my timetable.
I’m actually half French Canadian. My father’s side is French Canadian. We make occasional trips to Quebec, and it’s actually fun testing out your French skills. I actually managed to have a pretty decent conversation in French with a store owner. It lasted about 6 minutes until I had no idea what to say! :p
But yeah, I recommend going to Quebec, and testing out your French skills! One thing I'd recommend though is not wearing anything that depicts the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially in Montreal. You'll get cussed in French, and it's not pretty. Trust me lol
-Joseph
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Last edited by Joseph : 07-22-2009 at 01:03 AM.
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07-22-2009 at 01:33 AM
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That's amazing! The French-Canadian and 6 minute convo parts, haha. I'm actually planning on doing that one day.. But when you're put into a setting like that, there's so much pressure XD
... One day it'll happen
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Mary Keyes CA 2013-2014
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07-22-2009 at 01:41 AM
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#21
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Yeah, you just have to be confident. If all else fails, bust out the English! :p
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07-22-2009 at 01:42 AM
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#22
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Love french! I haven't always though. I didn't enjoy it in high school and only took it up until grade nine. After I graduated I wished I had taken more classes, so I took a class in first year. I struggled at first, but it was definitely worth it because I improved so much. My goal is to take more classes and one day be bilingual(or maybe even multi-lingual ).
I chose to since being bilingual opens up more career opportunities. Also, it's good to know for travelling and allows you to connect to people more. I haven't had much of a chance to test out french and practice, but once I talked to my grandfather in french, who is French and grew up in Ottawa, and he could understand everything I said.
I also find it interesting to learn about french culture. I try to regularly read french articles and magazines, listen to french music, or watch french movies to learn more, it helps and makes learning the language more enjoyable.
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07-22-2009 at 02:42 AM
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I've been learning French since grade 1 I believe. I really like the language though my pronunciation's been slacking since I stopped at grade 11 so that I could graduate a semester earlier.
I worked hard at my pronunciation in earlier grades to get out that harsh, guttaral sounding quality that was mentioned earlier.
That being said, I was always nervous speaking French despite the fact that I knew the language and found the exceptions to be a comfortable area, provided I studied.
I remember in grade 10, my French teacher went around the class addressing everybody in French. I refused to reply back and spoke only in English. I didn't intend to be an ass though I'm certain it came out that way; it was just a mortifying experience for some strange reason.
My granddad was always very passionate about me learning French; always asked if I was fluent yet.
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07-22-2009 at 03:42 AM
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After Grade 9 I didn't take French and I'm fairly sure I've lost all memory of that language except for the most basic of phrases. <_<
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07-22-2009 at 06:22 AM
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I am half french so I have been speaking french since I was about 3 years old. Once I learned how to speak english my parents started to teach me french since I was going to be going to a french immersion school. I went to a french school until grade 8 and then I had to go to the english highschool but I continued to take as many french courses and crouses taught in french as I could so that i could graduate with a bilingual diploma in highschool. And now I am taking even more french courses so that I can graduate with a minor in french.
And if you can't tell from that.. I love the french language. I don't really find it harsh at all. I love the sound of the language. My french teacher in highschool was from Paris and whenever she wasn't teaching she would always go back to Paris. She was an amazing teacher.
I'm hoping to be able to do an exchange program where I go to france for 8 months starting next summer. I would get to work for 4 months and then study at one of France's univeristies. I'm excited to hopefully get to do it. I've always wanted to go to France and if I could do it with a scholarship then that it SO much better! lol
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Alyssa Brière
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07-22-2009 at 06:25 AM
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Considering I dropped French the second I was able to in school and that up until that point my mastery of French was essentially being able to edit Bablefish translations until they sounded something like real French I'd say I'm a lot closer to hating it than loving it.
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07-22-2009 at 07:41 AM
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Hey I'm very excited to take french in university this year. I've done up to grade 10 french only in highschool and wanted to continue with it in gr 12 however I had forgotten a lot during the year off. I really like french culture as well.
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07-22-2009 at 08:29 AM
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#28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reeves
I think german Is more hostile sounding. Like Feona said, German always sounds angry, no matter what is being said.
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No it doesn't, that's a stereotype. The only German people ever hear is in war movies and videogames where all they do is yell "JA WOHL!! KOMMUNISTEN!! SOWJETISCHE TRUPPEN!!!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by reeves
Try and surprise your bf/gf by saying you love them in German
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Ich liebe dich? I don't think that sounds that bad; no worse than English. I think the Russian way of saying it sounds worse (Ya lyooblyoo something? Can't even pronounce that...).
Dutch is waaaay more harsh than German. It's the closest living language to English that people actually speak (also to German). All the "g"s in Dutch sound like coughing up phlegm (and no, this sound is not part of German). The Beligian Flemish dialect of Dutch sounds nice though.
Quebec French is also more harsh than German... but Quebec French sounds absolutely terrible compared to the real thing.
Es ist Zeit für Rache. Wir müssen Französisch ausrotten.
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Dillon Dixon
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07-22-2009 at 08:50 AM
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#29
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I personally love French. I love to read, write and speak it, and I really enjoy learning it. I think it's a great thing to have in Canada. I speak French well enough that I can put it on my resume, and I often hear from employers that it's a great plus.
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07-22-2009 at 09:55 AM
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#30
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Personally I love french. It's a complicated language (even those most french teachers will tell you differently) which makes it a challenge to learn. I've been speaking french since I was 4 and when I got to university I decided I might as well continue with something I'm good at. Luckily for me I chose right because I've gotten quite a few jobs based on the fact that I'm bilingual (even though the job doesn't require it..it's just an impressive skill).
Sometimes I think it's not necessarily the language itself that I love but moreso the places it's taken me and the experiences it's allowed me. Being in french immersion elementary school was a lot like being in a private school. The 30 kids in my class were like family and all very unique and gifted kids. Not only that but the teachers were like family as well. I'm still best friends with my elementary school friends and I truly believe that had I gone to a regular english elementary school, I wouldn't have had the amazing experience I did.
I love french
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