Learning French

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Hi, everyone!

I lurk here a lot but I rarely post.

Anyways, so here is my story. I am a 25-year-old self-diagnosed Aspie in Quebec, Canada. I have Canadian and American citizenship. I was born in Florida and lived there my entire life until moving here in June of 2005.

Anyways, I live here in the Eastern Townships and I need to learn French in order to seek employment. I have never been employed either here nor in Florida.

Are there any other Aspies here who have trouble learning another language? Are there any tips regarding a methodology that anyone can recommend to make the process easier? I know our brains are different from NT's so maybe our learning process should be different as well!

Thanks for the help!

-- David

When I was first learning Russian, I found it REALLY difficult, but the more I practiced, the easier it got.

One thing I've been meaning to do but never get around to is reading a book in a foreign language. It seems like a great way to cement your understanding of grammatical structure. I remember when I was in middle school I was obsessed with Greece and got pretty far in teaching myself the language via an online course until I lost the obsession. Right now I'm "officially" learning Spanish and picking up a Spanish book is on my to-do list.

When I was learning French I had no problems at all doing so. My foreign language teacher was impressed at the rate I learned too.

Well, the BEST way is the way you learned your native language. I STILL remember how I learned mine. (Of course, you have to get some basics down first, and I will give you hints later) Anyway, ****THE**** way to learn is to READ and, after finding a word you don't understand, LOOK IT UP. Of course, it IS nice to hear it! All my life I wondered why nobody simply recorded interesting cultural stuff, transcribed it, and provided a contextual dictionary. GRANTED, it's hard work, but it WORKS, and that is the point. OK, you guys may love me for this! Someone *****DID***** do it! The languages are french, spanish, german, and italian! The website?

http://www.champs-elysees.com/

It is basically a monthly magazine covering current events, history, and culture, in countries that speak the chosen language, but it is TRANSCRIBED and has a contextual dictionary!

Think about it! This IS the way you learned your FIRST language! It works well for NTs and Autistics, and maybe better for Autistics because they just tend to be better at that. I WISH I had more time, etc... I know, I should get off here, an stop wathcing the idiot box(a US slang term for TV, tele, television).

NOW, as for learning the basics?

1. Try studying only say 7 words at a time. Get it to where you EASILY know the other meaning. This will probably take well less than a minute.
2. Then DO SOMETHING ELSE for a few minutes. Do the laundry, dishes, iron, watch TV, whatever. Don't try to learn anything else. Come back, and go over them. You SHOULD have good retention.
3. If you don't understand some of the earlier words, add the words you DIDN'T learn onto a new list and go back to #1.

Keep going, and you should be able to learn several hundred words a day. The next day it is best if start on step 3.

BTW I DID learn German well enough ON MY OWN to get an A in German II in college. I got a high B in German III. My German teacher seemed to think highly of me. I haven't studied it near as much as I should, but understand most of Deutsche Welle(A german News broadcast) when I hear it.

I got the German and Spanish versions at champs-elysees.com, and they were great. Even though I haven't used them much, I credit them with some of my success. I USED to be FAR better with learning vocabulary STRAIGHT(When I looked up a word in the dictionary, I would get carried away and learn DOZENS of words), and I guess I am still in that mindset.

Steve

Heheh, it's funny I just moved to Montreal end of summer from the States, and having trouble learning French too.

I was suprised to read the topic title, because I'm trying to learn French right now as well.

All right, only one method of learning a language works for me: read a book (it can be anything one's interested in) and look up all unknown words. In the beginning you'll have to look up every word in every sentence, but you should get the hang out of it in time.

The following thought is only an assumption, but Aspies do get lost in details, don't they?

That's my problem. When I try learning a language from a schoolbook or a similar book, it doesn't work. First you learn present, then how to use plural, then past etc. I can't merge all I learnt and am unable to use all at once.

Sora

I learn languages easily. Initially I learned French and Spanish in high school. While I was in college, I learned old English, so I can read German, but can't really speak it. (That's actually funny as it's the only other language I heard spoken as a child on a regular basis.) When I lived in Italy for two years, I picked up the Italian dialect where I lived. Italian is so close to Spanish that Italians can understand you and simply correct you until you speak Italian. Also, all romantic languages have a Latin base, so the rules and roots of the words are similar. Once you learn one of them, the rest are easy if you understand that about them.


You also have to remember, that I did very well with the English language. If you aren't good at learning languages, including English, that may make it more difficult for you.

The younger you are, the easier it is to learn a new language. That said, in high school and college, I quite enjoyed learning French and immersed myself in study voraciously. You just have to want to learn it and find every resource you can (books, TV, dictionaries, websites, newspapers, friends) to help you.

I practice as much as humanly possible, but, yeah, it never quite sees to sink in. I think it's the French Language itself, what with all those irregular verbs and 'doigt' meaning like, five things.

I typically shut up in class and repeat whatever the teacher says. I need to graduate, after all.

I learned a special launguadge i call, you can't tell i'm swearing at you!

I combine most curses in random launuadges, and then use them in most conversations, it confuses people. And i love confusing people

I'm very skilled in learning languages- I'm hyperlexic in them, too, just like I was in English. I can remember vocabulary words like you wouldn't believe. I taught myself Spanish outside of school, starting my junior year, and I became fluent in reading and writing within six months. I just have trouble actually communicating, having a conversation. It's just so Aspie. I took two years of French in high school, at the same time I was taking Spanish. (I was always a level above in Spanish.) Right now, I'm taking Beginning French (I forgot most of my high school French) and Intermediate/Advanced Spanish. The Spanish is to help my speaking skills. My proficiency in languages is one of my Aspie gifts.
-OddDuckNash99-