French learning resources

More then two weeks passed after I decided to learn French (and I was learning and keep learning it!).
So, now I’m familiar (a little) with French and, therefore, now I’m able to share some resources which are nice to start with when learning this language.

First of all, I should notice that I was starting learning the language with watching some presentations of the language (having some fun you might say ) which I found through the Internet on the YouTube. But it is was just a first glance at the subject to get some immersion or just looking through.

It gave me something.. but I’m not really sure what exactly I noticed that there are about 75 million people who speak French over the world. (It is not so bad). Also I noticed that spelling of the words is not the same as it is in the English. For example the word: “comment” pronounced as [co'mo] (last ‘o’ pronounced like ‘o’ + ‘e’ + ‘A’) and means ‘how’.  How are you going? = Comment sava  So it was my first expression.

Then, let’s say then that my first resource was you-tube.
Here are some links which refer to those video:“Basic lessons”,  “Cute lesson “,  “Some fun fact”,  “Some words”,  “More words”,  “A frog and Alphabet”,  “Some numbers”,  “Some colors“, “Some common question words”,  “Ideas about learning from Michel Thomas”.

After watching those materials I was starting with audio course from Michel Thomas. It is amassing I should say!  So this is a second resource I use up to know.

Third resource is from BBC (I didn’t know that BBC provides material for French and other languages except English): here is a link to it.

Fourth is on-line dictionary from yandex.ru and Lingvo here.

Also there is nice recourse http://frenchpod.com/, I’ve passed one or two lessons and going to keep doing this. This resource has nice lessons with full transcriptions, pictures and well prepared material in general. I like it.

And last one; it is a private teacher who helps me to learn French two times a week, 1 hour long lesson.

So, I hope this information would be interesting to someone who decided to start learn French or learn something new. I just provide the way, the direction how you may start something new using my experience example. If you have any ideas concerning this or related topics, please feel free to contact me.

down the road

down the road – в будущем
I’d like to hold office myself someday, but that’s down the road.
Когда-нибудь я бы хотел сам иметь свою собственную контору, но это будет только в будущем.

mind over matter

mind over matter
for example: for me it is simply mind over matter – для меня это всего лишь вопрос убеждения (дословно: разум над материей, над телом)

“To get to a place that you want to be,
set your thoughts on it and then magically…
This place in your mind suddenly appears,
as long as you’re not just plain insincere.

It’s mind over matter at work in your life,
irony and destiny but hopefully not strife.
Mind over matter is a powerful tool,
use it correctly and follow the rules.”

ref to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_over_matter

get hopes up

to get somebody’s hopes up – тешить кого-то надеждами (буквально: дать кому-то надежду, но тут предполагается что положительный исход маловероятен)
to get your hopes up – тешить себя надаждами

smoke out

to smoke out – разоблачать

blue collar worker

blue collar worker – буквально: рабочий в синем воротнике (collar=воротник). Рабочий который выполняет физическую работу.

The thing’s dream (or It is He)

It’s cheerfully moving around over the grass, changing its direction from one to another.

It was flying up, slightly gathering speed and then suddenly suspending.

It likes very much when the grass touches it and when it touches the grass, it likes to fly up over the grass, to see how the land lies, rounding the streams of the air along itself.

Although it knows nothing about itself nor about the grass, neither about the direction where it is going to. It knows just that it likes being as is. And it knows that it is afraid of ‘that’, ‘particular That’ – to get that place where it is very scary to be.

Out of the blue, some force from outside is turning it to the direction where it didn’t suppose to be, and flying over the surface, it is starting to feel that that scary (place) is going to become closer and closer to it!

It is terrible! It’s scary! Scary!!

Boom! And now it is there, in the center of That…
Having touched down, it stared at every quarter simultaneously, it was able to see a dirty dusty road curb that was just near to it, the reflection of the air under itself… child’s laughter.

A little small boy is running up to the puddle picking it up, carrying it in his arms and kicked it with his foot – the ball game is going on again. It is rising over the grass again, cheerfully jumping.

E v e r y t h i n g   i s   g o o d !!

–
The original essay in Russian is here: http://stihi.ru/2009/10/05/5570

the best book for layman (French)

There is an epigram in programming that is true for learning French. Here it is:

The best book on programming for the layman is “Alice in Wonderland”; but that’s because it’s the best book on anything for the layman.

So, the best book for very first reading is available by this link. Click here.

I’m going to read it, soon

But first, must be I will read “Le Petit prince” by French author. This is the “Alice in Wonder Land” but French related

red tape

red tape – бюрократизм, волокита, канцелярщина

on the level

on the level – честно, откровенно
This was no fault of mine, on the level. — Это произошло не по моей вине, честное слово.
I’m on the level with you – я честен с тобой.

(level – уровень, тут может быть возвышение, на которое ступаешь когда говоришь в суде ‘правду и только правду’)