Using your computer to learn French
In this section you will find:
- CD-ROM
- Electronic Dictionaries
- Internet learning resources
- Open University course resources
- Translators
Je remercie mes amis Susan Scott, Doug Stacy, Majorie Durie, Mike Briggs, Nick James, and George qui m'ont envoyé leurs trésors!
CD-ROM
I have the OU's En France en français which is quite cute and makes a change from audio and TV but I'd borrow rather than buy it.
Speak Fluent French is good for making you practice saying phrases over and over and has targets and games on it.
Intense Language Office is an excellent dictionary with the voices of native speakers pronouncing the words.
If you can get hold of it the Oxford-Hachette SuperLex is completely fantastic. It's a bit expensive though :-(
Electronic Dictionaries
You can get electronic dictionaries for your Psion and/or Palmtop Personal Organisers, which although they have only around 100,000 words they are incredibly fast at finding your word!
Nick says: Franklin Electronic Publishers supply a range of translators and electronic dictionaries. I have the English/french version Model No. BFQ1440 which I do find quite useful. The entries are not as exhaustive as you would find with a full hard copy or PC based software dictionary, but the portability is good and the verb declension tables I think are invaluable.
Mike says: I've never yet got around to buying one, but those advertised at Ectaco(UK)Ltd have taken my fancy for a couple of years - Model EF600T claims 475 000 word vocab + ability to add your own, so in theory they should be good...Did buy one of the CDs at Transparent Language however haven't used it much due to lack of time, but seems very good, and the free word processor is handy.
Internet learning resources
French search engines
Search Engine Colossus has a list of all the search engines in France.
Grammar, encyclopedia and dictionaries
Laura Lawless has a very good site with over 2,000 pages of grammar, faux amis, conjugations, hits and tips, chat rooms etc. You can sign up for Mot du jour and they will e-mail it to you daily (there's funny!), and they have another page twice a week with the emphasis on a particular grammatical problem, and usually a general information item.
Fluent French Eric T. Mueller's Experiences of a French Speaker is interesting and useful, and I like the humerous way he writes.
Le grand dictionnaire termologique extremely helpful when specialised vocabularly is the subject, particulary with IT.
Newcastle University has a huge list of resources ranging from where to find telephone numbers, to French politics and history.
Susan says: Also try WebEncyclo the French Encyclopedia (like the Encyclopedio Britannica, first published here in Edinburgh) - not sure of the relevance Susan, but I love Edinburgh too!
Susan sent me this link, which she got from Doug Lire Français Le Parcours de Lecture looks a bit advanced to me so I may leave that until Level 3.
Television
BBC Learning Zone programming schedule - so set your video and watch at leisure. France Inside Out is very good, as is French Journey one version has English sub-titles and the other French. You can download a transcript from the site.
Internet books for downloading
Nick says: Si vous appréciez - ou vous voudriez apprécier - les œuvres classiques de la littérature française, vous en pouvez télécharger du site de l'Association des Bibliophiles Universels ( ABU). Jusqu'au présent il comporte 288 textes de 101 auteurs, et tous sont gratuit - soumise aux conditions de copyright indiqué au début du texte.
La gamme d'auteurs est éclectique, entre Allais - Alphonse et (comme on pouvait le prévoir) Zola - Emil, et presque tous sont français(es) (mais Darwin - Charles et Marx - Karl sont inclus!).
De plus, le site comprend plusieurs dictionnaires - très utile!!
Pen Pals
Nick sent me the address of the University of Sheffield's Eng-Fra Pen Pal programme which might be of interest. Have a look and let me know what you think of it.
Doug was the source of this link which was sent to me by Susan, who has just finished the Level 3 OU French course (Nov 2002) eTandem is a scheme where they put you in touch with a French person who wants to learn English, or indeed another language, from a native speaker.
Les Actualités de la TV française.
France 2, France 3 and TV5 are French TV stations, although to be honest they are a bit fast for me.
Periodicals
Champs Elysées comprises an hour-long audio program (on cassette or CD), a magazine,and an optional study supplement, each monthly edition brings the language and culture of France to life in a way no other language course does. I found it a bit hard for me at L120, but might have a look at it at Level 2.
La Vie Outre-Manche Nick has subscribed to this for about ten years now and finds it an extremely helpful learning aid - as well as being pretty interesting reading too! He hadn't tried the tapes or CDs but says the magazine itself really is very good.
Le Petit Bouquet is a free e-mail which arrives more or less daily, and it's a dead easy way of reading a little French regularly on topical issues.
Open University course resources
Nick says: Institut National de l'Audiovisuel Un site que j'ai découvert m'interesse particulièrement, car il comporte des petits extraits contemporains des emissions télévisées et radiodiffusées, des films d'actualités, et des documents au sujet de la guerre d'Algérie. Ils augmentent et renforcent nos matériaux pédagogiqueset donnent un note authentique de l'époque. (NB: En cas oû vous n'en avez pas, il faut télécharger un lecteur. Mais pas de problème - c'est gratuit!)
Yahoo Encyclopedie et aussi Association Camille Desmoulins. Marjorie Durie a trouvé deux articles au sujet de Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès.
V. Daucourt Susan a dit: Ici une site que j'ai trouvé l'autre jour au sujet de Sieyès.
Translators
I tried AltaVista's Babelfish but it does translate very literally which can be quite amusing, but a bit of a waste of time.
