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+--- Thread: Learning French for the CLEP (/Thread-Learning-French-for-the-CLEP)
Learning French for the CLEP - cookderosa - 07-09-2015
I wanted to post that I've started learning French using Duolingo to see if it's reasonable to pass the CLEP exam using just that resource. Duolingo is free, I learned about it here, and I'm about 6 weeks in. I am signing on every day, and have my achievement set for 10xp. I would estimate this takes me about 15-20 minutes. Many days I do more, and in 6 weeks, I've missed about 4 days, so I'm trying to be consistent. It doesn't track time logged, I wish it did. My best guess is that I'm spending about 2 hours per week in study.
My background in foreign language is ZERO. I took a 7 day culinary French class in 1989 to learn cooking terms, but that's the full extent of my knowledge base. No one in my family is bilingual- and I don't think any of my friends are either, so it's just me and the little green owl starting from scratch.
They have an effectiveness study that estimates 49 hours should = 1 semester of college level study. http://static.duolingo.com/s3/DuolingoReport_Final.pdf At my pace that's about 25 weeks. Since I'm attempting to CLEP for 12 credits (2 semesters) I will double that and see where I am at 1 year. It's possible that my progress will slow down if it gets harder, I'll update from time to time.
Learning French for the CLEP - Prloko - 07-09-2015
My goal is to learn French using Duolingo also. I haven't gotten around to starting this language yet as I've been busy with a bunch of stuff, but I can't wait to get started.
My only French was some brief French in elementary school of all places in which I quickly forgot by High School. We lived near the French border in Germany and it was tough going. All I knew was "Parlez vous Anglais?" In which 90% of the time I got a no, it was basically pointing and gesturing afterwards.
Learning French for the CLEP - jmgst71 - 07-09-2015
I loved DuoLingo (I'm learning Italian and finished the DuoLingo tree), but if you really want to learn a language, it's not a great stand-alone resource. It's fine for learning to read and to some extent write, but if you want to speak or listen, you may want to supplement with something like an Assimil program and online chat with native speakers. Also check out Front Page - Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips and Learn a language fast and efficiently. They're both interesting resources.
Learning French for the CLEP - cookderosa - 07-09-2015
Prloko Wrote:My goal is to learn French using Duolingo also. I haven't gotten around to starting this language yet as I've been busy with a bunch of stuff, but I can't wait to get started.
My only French was some brief French in elementary school of all places in which I quickly forgot by High School. We lived near the French border in Germany and it was tough going. All I knew was "Parlez vous Anglais?" In which 90% of the time I got a no, it was basically pointing and gesturing afterwards.
They have a little "friend" feature in there, if you take the leap, look me up and we can compete...oh, I mean SUPPORT each other.
Learning French for the CLEP - cookderosa - 07-09-2015
jmgst71 Wrote:I loved DuoLingo (I'm learning Italian and finished the DuoLingo tree), but if you really want to learn a language, it's not a great stand-alone resource. It's fine for learning to read and to some extent write, but if you want to speak or listen, you may want to supplement with something like an Assimil program and online chat with native speakers. Also check out Front Page - Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips and Learn a language fast and efficiently. They're both interesting resources.
Thanks Jmgst! My goal right now is to pass the CLEP for 12 credits using only Duolingo. I have to keep my resources pure if I want to assess how well it aligns to this exam. BUT, I'm all about learning too (but later lol)
Learning French for the CLEP - cathgrl - 07-10-2015
As such, I'm also using Memrise and Anki for vocab and various resources for listening. Everything I've read on this and DL's forums leads me to believe that one isn't likely to pass the CLEP with DL's listening exposure. More is needed than that. DL is stronger for reading and writing. The founder readily admits that.
And I am your lone stalker err friend on DL, cookderosa.
Learning French for the CLEP - GoodYellowDogs - 07-10-2015
I'm doing it for fun. My granddaughter is doing it for CLEP. Can't wait to find out how we all do!
Learning French for the CLEP - jmgst71 - 07-10-2015
cathgrl Wrote:As such, I'm also using Memrise and Anki for vocab and various resources for listening.
Anki is the best tool for memorization I've ever used. I love it.
Learning French for the CLEP - cookderosa - 07-10-2015
cathgrl Wrote:As such, I'm also using Memrise and Anki for vocab and various resources for listening. Everything I've read on this and DL's forums leads me to believe that one isn't likely to pass the CLEP with DL's listening exposure. More is needed than that. DL is stronger for reading and writing. The founder readily admits that.
And I am your lone stalker err friend on DL, cookderosa.
That makes me feel 100% better, because I thought it was one of those things like back when MySpace came out and "Steve" friended every new member. I thought you might be Duolingo's version of Steve. Ha ha. So, I leveled up, I'm 8 now:hurray:
Learning French for the CLEP - cookderosa - 07-10-2015
jmgst71 Wrote:Anki is the best tool for memorization I've ever used. I love it.
Oh wow, they are flash cards. Interesting. I'm soooo not good at memorizing. I already decided if Duolingo kept track of my flashcards they'd set me back a level. So glad those are on the honor system!