Jane in NC
02-07-2008, 10:20 PM
Long before middle school my son had exhausted all of the Asterix books (in English translation) that reside in a friend's house. Around 7th grade, the lad came home from a library book sale with several Asterix books in French and a French dictionary. "I'm going to teach myself French." He began spending long afternoons in his room with the books and the dictionary but found he was only making minimal progress. He told me that we wanted to learn French to read Asterix in the original, which seemed as good of reason as any.
He began his French studies in 9th, concurrently working on Latin at a more advanced level. French has not been one of his favorite subjects and it became clear that he'd probably draw the line after two years of study, although he would continue with Latin. But an interesting thing happened today. He pulled out those forgotten French Asterix books. Lo and behold, he can read parts of the dialogue! The narrative boxes are harder, but much of the dialogue makes sense, particularly with the visual clues.
So there is indeed a reason to study French and maybe even continue with it? One never knows... (especially if I invest in some more French Asterix and Tintin volumes!)
He began his French studies in 9th, concurrently working on Latin at a more advanced level. French has not been one of his favorite subjects and it became clear that he'd probably draw the line after two years of study, although he would continue with Latin. But an interesting thing happened today. He pulled out those forgotten French Asterix books. Lo and behold, he can read parts of the dialogue! The narrative boxes are harder, but much of the dialogue makes sense, particularly with the visual clues.
So there is indeed a reason to study French and maybe even continue with it? One never knows... (especially if I invest in some more French Asterix and Tintin volumes!)