J’apprends le français, part un
September 26th, 2004 | Published in Living | 16 Comments
the first exam of the beginners level french (i a) got over in the morning. stayed up till about 1 am last night mugging up conjugations of french verbs. everything revolves around verbs (the centre of everything).
and in french, there are regular and irregular verbs. though i wonder why, since all of them seem irregular to me! (with million apologies to all the french people). then there are accents, which apparently serve no purpose. and the ending of most words are not pronounced. and if you forget one little circumflex, beware, it might change what you are saying altogether.
for example, you might want to say, ‘can i have a glass of water’ and actually be saying, ‘my grandmother gave birth to twins.’ if anyone knows how to complicate a language, it is the french!
i realised how much i had taken for granted the basic rules of grammar over the years. i mean, do you think of past participles, conditional tenses, possessive adjectives when constructing a sentence? uhhh…
but the only way to learn french (and any language, i guess) is by getting the grammar right! hmm. and to top that, there are hardly any rules, there are about a hundred exceptions. and like hindi, everything has a gender. i haven’t figured out the genders in hindi as yet, so french is like taking very small steps and hoping to reach the moon someday :)
anyway, i’m having fun. someone asked me why i’m learning french. the reason actually is that i harbour this desire to turn into this multi-faceted, multi-lingual human being who can speak english, french, hindi, assamese, bengali, kannada (now i am dreaming!) at the drop of a hat and even tell you the subjunctive present tense of every verb in a jiffy! Ha! Comprenez-vous?
September 26th, 2004 at 9:08 pm (#)
j’aime votre blog
September 27th, 2004 at 6:50 am (#)
Pardon, je ne parlez pas le francaise, parlez vous anglais?
The only words I learn in any language.
September 27th, 2004 at 9:12 am (#)
Un rêve ou un cauchemar?
September 27th, 2004 at 9:54 am (#)
Thanks Numb. But since you don’t seem to have one I can’t return the compliment :)
Kingsley: I think that should be enough to get by if you ever visit France!
Jax: I think it will be a dream for me and a nightmare for anyone who is listening to me ;)
September 27th, 2004 at 10:17 am (#)
Somebody please translate these comments for me !
September 27th, 2004 at 11:39 am (#)
Hi Anita,
I am hari from Chennai. I love to hear this French. It is very sweet and kind of skids in your mouth. And it is great to be a multilingual so u can feel at home anywhere in the world. My best wishes to you in your efforts.
I am new to this bloggers world. Do please visit my website at : http://www.harithehadron.blogspot.com
whenever u find time. I would love to have your valuable comments and criticism.
September 27th, 2004 at 12:34 pm (#)
A post on grammar that’s ALL in lower case? Even beginnings of sentences and proper nouns? ;-) :-P
September 27th, 2004 at 3:23 pm (#)
ah.. dont we all wish to be multilingual.. that way we would be able to make out all conversations esp ones where ppl switch to their native lingo just to bitch about ppl!! :)
September 28th, 2004 at 6:54 pm (#)
Bonjour Anita ! Il est drôle vous Français de mention — parce que je suis à Parisà l’heure actuelle !
Espoir que vous avez bien fait dans votre examen !
September 29th, 2004 at 6:03 am (#)
Aww man! This feeling sucks. I’m a Pondicherrian and I’m at an arm’s reach of getting my French dual citizenship.… and I can’t understand half the words that’s said here. Is that pits or is that pits?!
September 29th, 2004 at 9:49 am (#)
i am sure you can speak kannada at the drop of a hat (at least literally speaking) — just say “I O” (aiyyo).
- EssBee
September 29th, 2004 at 10:03 am (#)
Thanks Hari! Will do :)
Navneet: just one of those things i like to do for no reason :)
Fairy: That is definitely an advantage when you don’t want a third person to understand what you are saying!
Jag: Wow! Hope to see some pictures from there. I am not sure I’ve done very well, but I am hoping to pass :)
Kiruba: I can’t believe your from Pondi and don’t speak French! But it’s never to late to learn!
EssBee: I shall try that. But I doubt it will help me anywhere :)
September 29th, 2004 at 6:51 pm (#)
Hey Anita, you are #2 on the Indian Bloggers rank !!
check out http://india.blogstreet.com/top100.html
September 30th, 2004 at 4:06 am (#)
Hi Anita — well I have uploaded a couple of pictures from here in Paris — but haven’t had the time to put many more up — very busy! But thank goodness for hotel broadband Internet!
April 12th, 2006 at 3:14 am (#)
Hi Anita . BOnjour
Studying in Business school in France
I currently do a training period in Chennai.
I can give you French courses during my spare time
if interested do not hesitate to contact me
See u
Ben
October 21st, 2006 at 10:30 am (#)
Hi Anita,
i am Dr.Arun Kumar ‚24yrs, from stanley medical college , chennai.while searching about people who knows french, i came across your page in the net.I am going for a medical conference to present my research paper in Rabat, Morocco this november.i need an invitation letter from the conference committee to get a visa to morocco.I need a person who knows french who can help me in writing a mail fully in french about my requirements ( since they are waiving me the registration and accomodation ), i should have the invitation letter mentioning all the details.i should explain all these things in detail in french to them in mail.So i need someone who can help me in this.These conference will be a milestone to my career, b’cause i am preparing to do my higher studies in U.S. will you help me in this regard.i am having the conference in nov 10 and 11.So its so urgent for doing all these sort of things with in one or two days.Hopw you will give me the positive reply.
Happy Diwali.…
if you decide to help me you please send a mail
to my belw mail address…
drarunm@gmail.com
Regards,
Arun.