French Progress - 4 months*

French and Japanese are are two very different languages, grammatically and semantically speaking. Here, I am talking about word order, verb and adjective conjugation, and particles (or じょし ). These differences have made switching between the two languages a slightly jarring experience. I often find myself trying to write Japanese sentences as I would in French. Nonetheless, I am happy to see that I am finally seeing improvements in my French listening comprehension and reading. Right now my biggest concerns are pronunciation, grammar and conjugation. Anyway, here are a few resources that have really helped me in my French learning journey thus far: 

1. Easy French: This has been a fantastic Youtube Channel (part of the Easy Languages series on Youtube I think). It helps with my listening and helps familiarises me with different tenses and conjugations (especially for aller, faire, avoir, and etre. I was a tad disappointed with Frenchpod10. I didn't find it nearly as enjoyable and useful as Japanesepod101. Some other notable Youtube mentions include innerFrench (perfect listening practice at just the right speed), Piece of French and Learn French with Alexa. 

2. Memrise: One of my biggest challenges is picking up more intermediate vocabulary. For example, volonté, suivre, certains, arrière, and déménagement. ainsi, traductions, télécharger, profite, se balader, me parlent bien, dehors, pareil, plupart, détends, bosse, rater, abonnez.  This isn't my favourite resource; but it does introduce me to new words and 'soften the blow' when I do encounter the them again in later readings or listenings. 

3. The French radio: I usually just passively listen to this in the background. My go-to radio stations are Jazz Radio (which French tutor introduced me to) and RTL2.

4. The French Experiment:  These are basically children's fairytale stories in French (and other languages). I like to listen to these before bed. 

5. Bible et livres en français: I bought it at a book fair some time back. I just wish there was a way to read and listen at the same time with English translations. What helps is reading and listening to the English audio version, then looking up words I don't know. 

6. Good translate: Translating from French to Japanese and vice versa. See my Japanese progress post.

7. Forvo: This is a good resource for pronunciation in French and other languages. 

8. French music: For example, SARA'H on Youtube. 

9. Dailyfrenchpod.com: These are basically podcasts that cover current affairs.