Learning French

[minesthechevy]

<< and you need to learn Spanish just or order a hamburger at McDonalds.>>>

Ditto Russian or Albanian in London these days.......

[coloma gold]

Originally Posted by kingtut

Deeana - I chuckled out loud when I read this comment! You haven't been to America recently have you? I live in Florida, and you need to learn Spanish just or order a hamburger at McDonalds. A couple years ago, I flew into Miami airport and arrived late, and really struggled renting a car because nobody spoke English. Seriously, a large population of the Latin American folks here make close to zero effort to learn English even though they intend to live here permanently.

Yes, It's the same in much of the US... San Jose, CA it seems to be a Vietnam suburb...

Our schools are not much better because the state government gives them teachers of their native tongue. On another note, I just recently learned that the high school kids now are barely able to write in cursive...only block style. When I asked the high school students, they said they haven't "written" a letter (in cursive) since about the 3rd - 5th grade.. When reviewing a historical document, they had difficulty reading it!! Is this PROGRESS??

[Coton90]

I checked out my daughter's intermediate French Book from High School. It's called Heath Discovering French by Jean-Paul Valette and Rebecca M. Valette, published by McDougal and Littell, ISBN 0-618-03505-2. I was very impressed so I purchased a copy on-line and I'm going through it as a review. This is an intermediate level book but it does contain reviews in the appendix. It's written to get the interest of teens and has a lot of things they can relate to. It's full of exercises that require you to use what you've just learned. There are sections that discuss culture, not just in France, but the former colonies as well. There are practical sections that focus on items of immediate interest, such as cars driving in France, planning trips, etc. It's chock full of pictures. I wish they had this book when I was learning French in High School. Check it out.