I’ve had it with not being able to understand 20% of my countrymen. This has been a source of shame to me for years.
As I’ve mentioned in a couple of other threads, I once went to Montreal and was terrified to open my mouth, even to ask for a metro pass. (That was in '91. I’ve done better since.) The problem was that I was really didn’t want to open my mouth and make a fool of myself.
Lately I’ve been reading the blog of Benny the Irish Polyglot, who speaks about ‘conversational intimacy’. His main idea is for learners seeking conversational abilities to just dive in and be willing to make mistakes, instead of trying to amass a vast theoretical knowledge beforehand.
When I was first learning Esperanto, I took an email grammar course, then an in-person course, then spent months instant-messaging and visiting speakers (gradually conversing more and more easily), and only then did I try talking on the phone. I still remember how difficult that first time talking without face-to-face communication was: I was sweating from the effort and ended up with a vast headache.
Obviously you need a certain amount of the language to start with, but Benny notes that most conversations take place within a body of common everyday words. They also note that learning the glue phrases that help to ease conversations along can sustain you in conversation while you are building up your language resources.
To that end, then, I’ve been posting the occasional comment on FB in French. I’d like to find people to chat/IM with, and even meet in person eventually.
I haven’t the bucks for formal courses, like that UWO immersion course in Quebec, so I’m just going to have to wing it, by reading French comics and listening to French media (fortunately easily findable here). I hope to find someone to IM with, at least; that was very fruitful in learning Esperanto. I looked on meetup.com and found a couple of groups who meet in Toronto. I also looked at livemocha.com, which may be able to link me to people to chat with.
So…
Do any Dopers know of a group where aspiring French learners can chat? I’ll ask on Facebook as well. I seem to be spending a lot of time there these days.