Getting Started with French - TOS Review

The past few weeks we have been learning some basics of French using the book Getting Started with French: Beginning French for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age published Armfield Academic Press.

This review came at a perfect time for us. My husband had begun talking about learning some French for future ministry and we were thinking about learning French before our holiday. Getting Started with French was just the book we needed.

Getting Started with French is written by William E. Linney and Brandon Simpson. William Linney has written other books in this series -- Getting Started with Latin and Getting Started with Spanish. The next book to be published is Getting Started with Russian.

Getting Started with French teaches French gradually with a systematic approach. The book is structured around the teaching concept of "Teach one concept at a time and let the student master that concept before introducing the next one."

The book has three pages of information about how to use the book. This is a list of tips to help you begin to learn French. This gives information about the structure of the lessons, reminders about pronunciation, information on how grammar is included in the lessons, and tips for conversational skills. There is also information about the exercises in each lesson, composition, and tests and quizzes. There are also some reminders that help you as you work through this book such as staying flexible, scheduling, how much time per day, and self-taught adults.

Getting Started with French has 172 lessons. The first few lessons are just some information about pronunciation, spelling and pronunciation, articles, and gender. All of this is important if you are learning a foreign language especially French. Each lesson teaches a new word. In the lesson is pronunciation tips and exercises. The lessons are short. A few lessons could be done in 15-30 minutes each day. The answers for the exercises are in the back of the book. There are pronunciation recordings for each lesson that can be downloaded.

Getting Started with French is a basic book to get started learning French. It gives you a head start before taking a course, a bit of French to decide if you want to continue studying, or maybe if you want to learn a bit of French before traveling to a French speaking location. This is not a complete French course. This is also designed for self-taught learners.

I have thoughts that this would be something that we could do together as a family. That did not quite go as I had planned. I did it a bit trying to find the French I studied for a semester in college but then my husband took the book and began working on it. My husband has studied foreign languages mainly German and Chinese but he has had not French. He has been working on this the past few weeks.

Here are some comments from my husband regarding this book.

"Unlike many other textbooks, everything you need comes with the purchase of the book. For example, the French audio recordings that accompany the lessons are available for free online. The authors have thought carefully about what independent, self-taught learners need, and the book is designed expressly to meet those needs. One aspect that I found especially helpful is the authors' anticipation of areas that are likely to be confusing or difficult for English speakers. It's so much better, in my opinion, to confront these difficulties head-on instead of waiting until the student develops bad habits or misunderstandings that have to be painfully corrected later! I have not finished the book, but am continuing to use it as I teach myself the language and look forward to making good progress with this excellent guide."

I knew he was enjoying this when I borrowed the book so I could write the review and he was asking me when I would be finished and he could have the book back.

You can read reviews from other members and see how they used this book.



Beth

What I did this summer.

This is called a catch up post. I know it has been a few weeks since I blogged.

We were in the USA for a short home assignment that is the term used now for what used to be call furlough or deputation. It isn't really a vacation but a time to meet with churches, supporters, prayer partners. We did have some time for fun between meetings.

One of the things we did was decorate gingerbread houses. I know that is not normally a summer activity but my nephew who was visiting Grandma's house at the same time suggested this activity. It was fun for the kids.

We took a break from school except for biology lab. It was easy to buy the kit while we were in the USA and do it there. I didn't want to try to bring this through customs. 

We went blueberry picking and then made some blueberry pies. The pie was delicious.

Beth

Pretzels

We are on a short home assignment. We are staying with family and so between visits with churches and supporters we are able to enjoy some time with family. 

Today our outing was to Uncle Henry's Handmade Pretzels for a factory tour. The average American eats about two pounds of pretzels a year and the average Pennsylvanian eats 12 pounds a year. Some of that is the German roots and then combined with that is the fact that there are numerous companies here making pretzels. 

My mom asked me what I was expecting and I told her that I thought it would be in the back of a barn. My guess was close. 

We walked in and were at the packaging department. There was no fancy facilities or reception area. The girl came over and began the tour. The first thing we saw was the dough machine. One hundred pounds of flour, yeast, sourdough, water, salt, and soda. One batch makes 2000 pretzels. The day shift makes 16 batches. The evening shift makes 11 batches.

I think one of the most interesting things in the factory was this machine. The lady would knead the dough to get the air out and then put a tube through and turn it and it was cut the tube to the size of piece for each pretzel. The factory was not that high tech.

Uncle Henry's pretzels are twisted by hand. There are about 10 ladies there twisting the pretzels. I asked if there were other pretzels companies that twist the pretzels by hand. She told me that there are two other companies that she knows. The training is three months. That surprised me a bit. They need to be doing about 11 pretzels per minute.

Each tray holds about 90 pretzels. These are formed and then they get a soda bath which gives them the colour.

The salt is put on the peel and then the pretzels are placed on that to put them in the oven. I had made soft pretzels at home. Soft pretzels bake at 400F as that is about as hot as my oven goes. The oven is 600F so that is probably how they can make hard pretzels. The pretzels are only in there for about seven minutes.

After baking the pretzels are cooled for about an hour.

Then they are packed in bags and they cool in front of a fan.

The factory is small with maybe 15 people working there.

I thought this was an interesting sign. There is one

It was a fun outing and factory tour. Uncle Henry's has been make pretzels since 1983. I was told that they ship worldwide.

We got a free pretzels. It was hot, just out of the oven.

We bought a bag to eat. We need to eat our 12 pounds for the year in a month which I don't think we will really do but we are enjoying pretzels.

Beth

June & July in Review

I actually began this post in June because I wanted to write about one of the books that I had read before I returned it to the library. Then I never got around to finishing this. So now I will combine June and July.

Books read.

Aprons and Silver Spoons by Mollie Moran - The heartwarming memories of a 1930s kitchen maid. I saw this book in the library and thought it was interesting so I added it to my library bag. The first that impressed me was that she wrote this book when she was 96 year old. I loved her humour and love of life. She began as a scullery maid at 14. A scullery maid is basically the lowest maid, the one that scrubs the steps and kitchen, peels the vegetables, and washes the pots. She worked her way up to being a cook in her 20s. I love seeing the relationship change between Mrs Jones, the cook. She tells of her friendship with Flo who was the kitchen maid at the first place she worked. They became friends and at the time that she was writing the book they still kept in touch on the phone and with visits. Flo has also written a book and that is on my reserved list at the library. "The 10 years I spent in domestic service were some of the happiest times of my life and made me the woman I am today. Starting as a scullery mad and working up to cook instilled in me confidence, a good work ethic, self-esteem and pride in my work."

I also read two books on trafficking. That is my book about a current topic. It was interesting to read these two books. One was based in the US and the other was a girl from England. One might have found Christ and healing, while the other girl did not seem to have that hope.

Gilled - This was an interesting read. I borrowed it from the library. A friend had recommended it.

Miss Buncle's Book - I absolutely loved this book. It was funny and light reading. Now I am reading another Miss Buncle book.

In July I read

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Queuing for Beginners - this was a book on life in UK. It gave me bits of information. I still think Britty Britty Bang Bang was a favourite.

The Boys in the Boat - I borrowed this from the library. I enjoyed the references to Seattle and also the history. It was an excellent story of the hard work and all that was done to overcome the challenges and to go for the gold.

I still have a few books that I am working through a Commentary on Ephesians, Seabiscuit, a biography of George Muller.

In June we had some outings and in July our outing was an adventure as we had 1/4 tank of diesel and we got lost. We did finally find our destination.

It was a hot day and we were headed to Slippery Stones one of the wild swimming places.

We drove and drove partly because we got lost. Then we walked a bit. It was in a beautiful area. I think it would be a great place to go for a walk.

I love the blue sky.

One of the books that I recently read or skimmed through was called, 8 out of 10 Brits. It was just full of interesting stats.

77% of adults say that they walk for pleasure at least once a month (8 out of 10 Brits)

I have not worked on any unfinished projects. I have not started any new projects so it is okay at this time.


Beth

Brownies

One of the things that Miss K has been doing this past year is Brownies. She began it in November and is one of the highlights of her week.

Brownies has been a great activity for her. She group meets at the church and the leaders are from church.

Miss K decided that she wanted to work on the toymaker badge. I looked at the requirements and we began working on it. Since it was almost the end of the year we had to quickly work on this. Miss K made a teddy bear from a kit. Then we made a game.

I was tying to come up with another toy that she could make. One of the suggestions was puppets. As I looked in the craft cabinet I found the wooden clothespins and so we turned them into puppets and created the Three Little Pigs. Miss K drew the houses and each pig had some materials to show what kind of house he made.

Miss K needed to take the things she made to her Brownies and show her leader. She was excited to get her badge. Now we will begin working on badges. I wonder how many badges she can earn this next year.

Beth

Heart Surgery

The night before the heart catheterisation

It was 12 years ago today that Miss K had heart surgery. In many ways the heart surgery was much easier than the heart catheterisation for us emotionally and for Miss K physically. It was during the heart catheterisation that her heart stopped and as they told us "she had major bleeding." It was the night after that procedure that we were told she would not make it. Three days later she was going in for heart surgery.

I discovered an email we sent on 1 August, 2004.

Last Monday the surgeons at Xin Guang Hospital in Taipei successfully removed the stenosis from Miss K's aorta, which allowed her for the first time to have adequate blood flow to her legs. The blood pressure in her upper and lower body has now equalised and her feet no longer feel cold. We have a lot to give thanks for!

This surgery was considered to be high-risk because:1) her heart had stopped completely a few days earlier and had to be restarted, 2) she had been through a major surgery on her stomach only 10 days earlier, 3) in general, operations on the aorta in this age group have about a 15% mortality rate. Complications during surgery could have included stroke, heart attack or damage to the lymphatic system.

We are grateful to report that, thanks to your prayers, the surgery went smoothly and no complications occurred. This past week Miss K has made lots of progress -- she is beginning to breastfeed which is hark work for her and has moved out of the ICU, she is gaining weight and they are beginning to talk about discharging her.

on Friday, July 23 we were informed, in a brief phone call from the doctor's office of the cause of her heart and stomach deformities. Miss K has Down's Syndrome, which originates in a chromosome disorder and cannot be cured. We heard this news at about the same time that we learned of her need for heart surgery. After all this, we were in shock for about 2 days, but found strength in God. Still, it is a very severe trial. We are gradually adjusting to Miss K's condition now and thinking of how we can get the training we need to provide her with adequate care.

Thank you for your prayer for Miss K! God has already answered them in a wonderful way. Please continue to pray that she can recover and come home soon. She is nearly 3 weeks old and knows nothing of the world outside the hospital.

Now 12 years later I look back and remember some of those emotions. I remember sitting in plastic aqua chairs watching Chinese TV while she spent hours in surgery. I remember walking down the hall. I remember the doctor coming out and saying, "everything is okay".

As I look back on what we wrote and some of the emotions, I reflect on God's goodness. I am reminded that God is good when he healed Miss K and God is also good even when healing doesn't happen.

Beth

Heidleberg, Germany

Normally when we have a conference we have an afternoon of fun and exploring something local to where we are meeting. While we were in Germany we went to Heidelberg Castle and then had about an hour to walk about Heidelberg a bit.

Heidelberg Castle is somewhat of a ruin. There were parts that were just facade and some rooms and places to go through.

Our tour guide was a man from the 1600's. He had quite a bit of knowledge of that time and was also able to predict things that would happen in the future. He was the tutor of Frederick V.

Here is a facade that is remaining.

The view from there shows the town below.

It was a hot day. There were figures in each of the rows -- Greek mythical figures and Biblical figures.

We finished our tour and had some time to walk through the town. This is looking across the river.

We walked to the bridge. I enjoy the history. Often I learn more as I blog and share things that we have seen. This is the Old Bridge and the gate is part of the old city walls.

There is the castle from the river. You can see bits of the ruins.

I am glad that we were able to see a bit of Germany during the conference.

Beth