Personal Page Christine
Notes on our French sessions
Video call on 23 April 2025
Summary: We had our first talk a few days ago on Whatsapp and I learned that Christine lives in Wales but is from England, She is over 70. She is a keen learner of Russian and from the few words I heard she tends to pronounce French well and knows a few possessives mon ma. We chatted for over an hour and Christien follows politics closely. I will give her the usual program to start her off.
Message: Hello Chris, I have been watching your YouTube videos for a little while. I am an older adult in my seventies. A little over two years ago I noticed my older sister’s declining memory and health. I decided it would be a good idea to keep my own brain active and exercised by learning a language. I went to the library and borrowed a ‘learn Latin’ book. After a few weeks I changed over to a ‘learn Russian’ book because I love Russian literature and I’m fascinated by the culture and history of Russia. I have studied on my own, and then took an online group course, (not that helpful) and now I am having personal tuition with teachers on italki. I have reached about A2 level, but speaking is not so good. I plan to continue with my Russian studies. When I started learning Russian I had hopes of travelling there, but the war continues and I’m losing hope of that happening. But travelling to France IS possible, so now I would like to resurrect my basic school French from (over 50 years ago!) and hopefully visit there sometime next year. I have done some Duolingo and am surprised at what I can remember, so I would not be starting from scratch. I’m interested to know how you could help me learn and speak French. Thank you, Christine
Next:
1. Introduction to French with 4 basic sounds
2. The Sounds and Letters of French
HOMEWORK – Pronunciation Test
1. What is conjugation?
2. Introduction to The Present Tense (ER verbs)
3. The Present tense and change of stem of ER verbs
6. The Present tense of OIR verbs
Grammar:
1.The Gender of nouns
3. The Negative (ne…pas)
18. Asking Questions
Message:I have begun the course! I immediately knew I I had made the right decision. I was thinking how I wish there was a course like this for Russian. I look forward to our meeting. I had a thought regarding interaction with class members, instead of zoom meetups a WhatsApp chat group could be good. I belong to a Russian one and I enjoy our communicating. Today we have had a little chat about the Russian literature we have read (in English translation}. Now that I’ve embarked on learning French I have some French books in mind I would like to read. It would be good to have a chat group to share our experiences of learning French and how it influences our life.
