K12 French tutoring

Personal Page Michael Jordan

Notes on our French sessions

Phone call on 19 Dec 2024

Summary: We had our first talk on Dec 19 and I learned that Michael is retired and is aged 60. he’d like to be be able to reach intellectual conversations and not childish ones. He appreciates France for the food and worked for Microsoft for 30 years. He participated in brevity classes. he studied Africaans  and knows the STOMPI method. 

Next: Trial Class on Skype in January 2025

First lesson plan: 26 Dec 2024.

1. In the pronunciation section:

– Introduction to 4 basic sounds of French

– The sounds and letters of French

2. In the conjugation section:

– The present tense of ER verbs

– The present tense of OIR verbs

Michael’s initial email: 19 Dec 2024.

  1. Want to start Conversations after I have some base knowledge or feel I’ll be wasting our time, what can I study to get to that point, where do I start?
  2. My main goal is to be fluent in “listening” not only talking, be able to understand everything spoken around me which has been the most difficult for me with other languages. Easy to memorize phrases like “how much is that mango” but when the person starts asking questions back, I have no more words left to engage with them
  3. My other goals are
    1. Brevity – communicate like an intellectual adult not a child
    2. Have less of an accent
  1. QUESTIONS
    1. How many hours a day of studying before it becomes a waste, considering I’ll have breaks in between
    2. Won’t be going to France next year and will see when I can semi-retire there in a few years, how do I keep my proficiency up and improve all the time without being immersed in the language. Afraid I’ll regress if not used daily
    3. I may also want to learn Spanish as well – what are your thoughts on timing and sequence of adding another language if I try that in the future

Some background on me.

  • Grew up in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, had 3 years of Latin and French in school (which I didn’t do well at cause I had not idea I’d ever need to use it)
  • As a teenager moved to South Africa and learned Afrikaans (Dutch origin) and English. Became fluent in Afrikaans
  • Moved to the USA, live in Minnesota, recently retired, and want to start slow travel through Europe in a few years, mainly in France

 

French in Leicester

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