Tell Me More

‘Tell Me More’ is software/programme for learning French. There are various levels, and various themes. In order to pass the course, we have to complete 60 hrs of online learning in the four-week period. It is quite clever, there are written, oral and comprehension exercises, with different activities (so you don’t get bored). In the oral exercises, you practice phonetics (single words), phrases and elsewhere you can practise having a conversation (er, with a machine. I am already an expert at having written IM conversations with machines, but that’s another story).

This morning, I have spent two hours doing my homework, and thought I would give some examples of how well (or not) I have done with some of my oral exercises. In order to be tested, first you press a button and have the French person say the phrase, then you press ‘record’ and bark the answers at the laptop (I didn’t buy the headphones – I just get to a quiet space in the house where I can’t be overheard). If you get it wrong, you can try again. The machine listens and grades you, tells you what your target should be, and then you are given a little audio-graph thing showing where you have tailed off where you should have had an upward inflection; so it’s quite thorough. It also helpfully tells you which words you need to work on.

So:

garçon (7 tries)

thè (9 tries)

1. Please may we have a table? (4 tries)
2. In the name of Chapuis. (first attempt)
3. For the four of us and another couple who are on their way (4 tries)
4. We would like to be near the chimney (2 tries)
5. Three gin and tonics and three orange juices (first attempt)
6. I think we will just have tomato juice (first attempt)
7. May I have chips instead of spinach? (first attempt)
8. It’s tempting, but I haven’t decided yet (8 tries)
9. You don’t have any lobster, by any chance? (2 tries)
10. Yes, and some Brussels sprouts (2 tries)

And the original versions (in case you’re dining in a French restaurant any time soon) …

1. Pourrions-nous avoir une table, s’il vous plait?
2. Au nom de Chapuis.
3. Pour nous quatre, plus un autre couple qui arrive [work on the word ‘quatre’]
4. Nous aurions aimé être près de la cheminée!
5. Oui, trois gin-tonics et trois jus d’orange.
6. Je crois que nous allons tous prendre un jus de tomate.
7. Puis-je avoir des frites à la place des épinards?
8. C’est tentant, mais je n’arrive pas à me decider.
9. Vous n’auriez pas de homard, par hasard?
10. Oui, et des choux de Bruxelles.

I had to get tea and a chocolate biscuit after all that.