Je M’appelle Fran

When Zach finished Kindergarten, I mentioned that he would start learning Mandarin in the second grade. In that same blog post, I listed a bunch of languages I wanted to learn. I've narrowed them down to the following:

French
German
Italian
Spanish
Mandarin
Sign Language (ASL)

In May I got a tablet. I downloaded apps to learn each of these languages. I recently downloaded the same apps onto my computer. The only one I can't find is a good sign language app. I've asked my deaf friend, Anthony, to make one. He teaches sign language. He was one of the people featured in my "The Peace of Silent Darkness" post.

French was always a priority. My degree is in Dance. That meant I took a lot of Ballet classes. Ballet uses a lot of French words. In French it means "to dance". I might not be great at spelling them correctly, but I am enjoying learning. I used to think "je amour vous" was "I love you" in French. "Je" is I, "amour" is love, and "vous" is you. Below is a small sample of the French I know. Some of it I knew already, some is new. I'm learning I actually knew more then I thought I did!


Je t'aime (jet am) = I love you
Merci (mer sea) = thank you
enchante ( en chant A) = delighted
pourquoi (pour qu wa) = why (my first word apparently)
livre (leave ra) = book
soleil (soul ay) = sunlight
tout le monde (toe lay mond) = everyone
écrire (ek rear) = write
Beau (boo) = beautiful
Belle (bell) beautiful
merci beaucoup (mer sea bow coo) = thank you very much
bonjour (bon j oar) = hello
au revoir (oar ev wha) = goodbye
s'il vous plaît. (sea vooo play) = Please.
excusez-moi. (excuse am wa) = excuse me
Oui (we) = yes
Non (none) = no
Bon appetite (bon app et eat) = Enjoy your meal
Rendez-vous (Ron day vooo) = see you




French is a latin language. I took Spanish in High School and college. Some words are similar. Livre is book in French. Libro is book in Spanish. I start with the quiz for each section and review the words if I struggle with the quiz. When Zach was in camp, I spent at least half an hour on it waiting for him to get out of class. Now, I do it at night when he's resting but not in bed yet. Lately, I've enjoyed it so much I've been doing an hour a night! I have a long way to go, but am enjoying it. Most of the apps I use are the Microsoft versions (example: F in  a blue circle for French).