Online Vocabulary – Values & Virtues

Last week I talked about learning French online – using resources about favorite pastimes and hobbies to pick up vocabulary as well as a sense of how French is really used (both well and poorly) in day-to-day life.

The vocabulary you can pick up from these excursions into French websites is a little more broad than you might at first expect. For example, in this post about martial arts resources I refer to the Fédération Française de Judo and on their site you will find this handy-dandy list of core values:

The given definitions are not necessarily what you will find in a dictionary, but they are short, fairly straitforward, and in French!

Personally, I like "courage" and "sincerity". I like the definition of "courage" because it means that something as common (and unfortunate) as lying to make yourself look good is an act of cowardice, and I'm intrigued by the definition of "sincerity" because that is one demanding definition!

Think about it, by this definition I may be "honest" if I say I don't want to sit down and write that book I've been talking about, but I'm only "sincere" if I admit that the reason I don't want to write it is that I'm terrified it won't be well-received.

What do you think of these virtues and their definitions?

French Vocabulary Online – Martial Arts

Yesterday we looked at crochet – today we're going to balance things out a bit by looking at martial arts.

For starters:
martial arts = les arts martiaux (m)

The Wikipedia article: Art Martial

In this article we learn all sorts of vocab such as:
un sport de combat = a combat sport
un sabre = a sabre
un couteau = a knife
la compétition = competition

As well as nouns and adjectives dealing with nationality:
le Japon = Japan
asiatique = Asian
japonais(e) = Japanese
coréen(ne) = Korean
birman(e) = Burmese
chinois(e) = Chinese

This is an easy subject to find links for, so I will make no attempt to list a representative sampling, but here are a few:

French Judo Federation
Capoeira France
le Taekwondo
French Karate Federation

And of course, there are a ton of related videos on YouTube, but just one as an example:

 

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/7mFnN1qaa0o?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1

How about you? What did you find?

Learning French Online – Vocabulary

The easiest, quickest, and most effective way to learn a language is to pick up and move to a country that speaks it. Once in a sink-or-swim situation you'd be surprised at how well you can swim. Unfortunately, this is not always practical. Given this reality, we look for ways to study the language in our day-to-day lives and online.

There are two essential aspects to learning a language:

1) Study it.
2) Use it.

The complication comes in deciding just how you will accomplish these simple steps. While the internet is full of online activities and lessons, some free, some costly, one of my favorite ways to study French has nothing to do with lessons, activities, or fees.

Start with what you know and love.

It's that simple. What interests you? Do you spend every free moment golfing? On the tennis courts? Creating new crafty gifts for your friends? Painting? Discovering music? With your pet? Whatever your hobby, your career, your passion – research it in French.

Assuming you have a basic grasp of the fundamentals, you'll be surprised at how much you can pick up this way. Many French words are similar to English words and you will be working with a subject that you know well. What is interesting is easy to learn and remember and what's more – it's easy to use. Start thinking about your hobby in French. Are you making a shopping list for your next trip to the craft store or REI? Write it in French. Have friends who are into the same thing and who also speak French? Practice with them!

The internet is full of excellent online resources for building your grasp of vocabulary and grammar in French.

Start at: www.fr.wikipedia.org
Read about your hobby.

(Not sure what it's called in French?
Look it up at: www.wordreference.com)

Then click on the external links on the Wikipedia article (you'll find these at the bottom of the article under "liens externes".)

Finally, enter some of the key vocabulary terms you've found in French in your favorite search engine and have fun!

Okay, seriously now – I want your comments! What are your favorite hobbies, pastimes, interests?