katster | katster's newest obession... (Reply)

One thing is cool about XP.

I can set my keyboard in French (Canada) mode, and type in my word processor, and yet be able to converse with my friends in mIRC and Trillian using the English (US) layout.

Why am I typing in French? Well, I bought a couple of kids books in French, and I would like to practice my speaking skills by reading the stories to somebody who knows French who could correct my pronounciation. However, my pronounciation is so atrocious at the moment that it's probably best that they have the words in front of them.

So I'm busy retyping the book for

zibblsnrt. It's not bad, it's giving me practice in both typing in the French (Canada) layout, which I'm going to have to do a lot for compositions this semester, but it also makes me read what I'm typing, which is practice of its own. I don't understand the stories yet, other than what I can garner by the titles and the pictures and my knowledge of similiar English stories, but I'm trying. And occassionally I can catch the drift of what's happening in the story. Not bad for 14 days of French.

I figure I'll share with you all one of the stories I've typed in. So, if you can read French, you can peek behind the cut...I'd share an English translation, but I'm not to that point yet.

Le corbeau et le renard
(from the book Le lièvre et la tortue et 12 autres fables de La Fontaine)

Comment s’emparer du fromage d’un corbeau,
quand on ne sait pas grimper aux arbres?
Le renard est malin : il emploie la ruse.
Écoutez-le! Il flatte l’oiseau,
il le complimente sur ses plumes, sur sa voix…
Le corbeau sera-t-il assez vaniteux pour le croire?

Maître corbeau, sur un arbre perché,
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
Maître renard, par l’odeur alléché,
Lui tint à peu prés ce langage :
« Hé! bonjour, monsieur du Corbeau.
Que vous êtes joli! Que vous me semblez beau!
Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte à votre plumage,
Vous êtes le phénix des hôtes de ces bois. »
A ces mots, le corbeau ne se sent pas de joie;
Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie.
Le renard s’en saisit, et dit : « Mon bon monsieur,
Apprenez que tout flatteur
Vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute :
Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. »
Le corbeau, honteux et confus,
Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus.

I actually figured out the title because I've seen renard before, and knew it was fox, and crow I figured out by the fact that I knew the Latin name for "crow" was corvus. Corvus, corbeau, it fit. And the pictures show a black bird, so...

Anyway, just figured I'd share. The next little bit of French that'll show up here will be my first composition in French. :)

This language thing is kinda fun.

Anyway, along with the book that story comes from, I bought My First French Word Book and a French-English kids dictionary that's really cute. And El Lorax, which I made the mistake of thinking was in French...my days of Spanish in high school got in the way again.

"Yo soy el Lorax! Hablo en el nombre de los arboles!"

now i just need to find Le Lorax. :)