Soliciting French Media Recs
I may officially be a 'news' junky now. This week I've added Le Monde to my daily 'news' consumption. (See * below.) It's not because I love the news for its own merits. (Who could, really?)
I'm trying to get serious about refreshing my French skills because I've agreed to go along as 'French speaker' on a trip my in-laws are planning for my teen-aged niece next year. I've got time, but this isn't something I can cram at the last minute, so I'd best get serious about it. And I've been procrastinating this project for... well, for a year, pretty much and now I need to get on it.
I know I could buy a language program (Rosetta Stone?), but I haven't felt very inspired by the idea nor even very convinced that I'd really fit it into my daily routine. And then this week, all of a sudden and as though it were a brilliant bit of thinking(!), I realised that the thing I really would do is read news in French. I read British news every day because I know it's useful to see how people outside the US view world events. (And because I desperately miss living in London, so reading the Guardian feeds that longing.) Adding at least one French paper into the mix seems an obvious thing. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it a long time ago, and I'm finding it very interesting.
I don't think I'd get much from French podcasts (do they exist? they must, right?): I'm a decidedly visual learner, to the point that I frequently have a hard time keeping the thread with English-language podcasts or radio reports. But. Do any of you listen to podcasts in French that you'd recommend?
And what about French television programmes? I'd love to be pointed to downloadable/streamable French programmes (not just news/information). If we weren't all watching Sherlock or Downton Abbey, but were instead watching French programming, what would we be watching?
Point me, please?
*Here's the talley:
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I'm trying to get serious about refreshing my French skills because I've agreed to go along as 'French speaker' on a trip my in-laws are planning for my teen-aged niece next year. I've got time, but this isn't something I can cram at the last minute, so I'd best get serious about it. And I've been procrastinating this project for... well, for a year, pretty much and now I need to get on it.
I know I could buy a language program (Rosetta Stone?), but I haven't felt very inspired by the idea nor even very convinced that I'd really fit it into my daily routine. And then this week, all of a sudden and as though it were a brilliant bit of thinking(!), I realised that the thing I really would do is read news in French. I read British news every day because I know it's useful to see how people outside the US view world events. (And because I desperately miss living in London, so reading the Guardian feeds that longing.) Adding at least one French paper into the mix seems an obvious thing. I'm not sure why I didn't think of it a long time ago, and I'm finding it very interesting.
I don't think I'd get much from French podcasts (do they exist? they must, right?): I'm a decidedly visual learner, to the point that I frequently have a hard time keeping the thread with English-language podcasts or radio reports. But. Do any of you listen to podcasts in French that you'd recommend?
And what about French television programmes? I'd love to be pointed to downloadable/streamable French programmes (not just news/information). If we weren't all watching Sherlock or Downton Abbey, but were instead watching French programming, what would we be watching?
Point me, please?
*Here's the talley:
- Newsprint at the Breakfast Table:
I read (or at least handle) our local paper and the San Antonio paper everyday
Online Print:I read the Guardian online (it's my browser home page) everyday; the New York Times sometimes, though mostly when linked or when I use Mr LA's desktop where it is his homepage; I also subscribe to the londonist feed via my LJ flist and read or scan all those posts daily.
Radio: We listen to NPR news morning and evening for a total of 5-6 hours of radio news.
Streaming Radio: I often (but not daily) listen to the BBC because I have a deep-seated and completely irrational love of Radio Four. (Currently listening to David Mitchell.)
Podcasts: At the gym, I listen to these weekly podcasts: Slate's Culture Gabfest (which I lovelovelove), Slate's Political Gabfest (which I do not love as much), Londonist Out Loud, and This American Life--with Slate's Spoiler Specials, BBC's Books and Authors, and the Oxford (DNB) Biographies as filler if I run out of the others before I run out of gym time.
This entry was originally posted at http://lapin-agile.dreamwidth.org/119929.html. (There are
comments.)