/lit/ - Literature

>>11593444
I hear Google is pretty good.

Duolingo, Michel Thomas, Pimsleur

>>11593468
Suggesting google on a literature board: get the fuck out.

>>11593444
I think Le Petit Nicolas would be a pretty good fit for a beginner.

>>11593444
Get Michel Thomas and Assimil secondhand.

>>11593882
Does Michel Thomas specifically teach French?

>>11593444
Pimsleur followed by Assimil.
If you live in the US, drive up to Quebec and live there for a few months. Quebec City or Sept-Îles.

>>11593941
I'm looking for more of a textbook if possible, I am mostly interested in reading French, not writing.

>>11594007
Teach Yourself French - Gaelle Graham (McGraw-Hill, 2003)
you can pirate it online
also Assimil for more listening/speaking
you will then progress to using French textbooks.
don't waste your time with duolingo.

>>11594007
You learn much quicker with auditory activation with reading.

>>11593444
/int/ is the board youre looking for fren

>>11594149
IQ of /lit/ is higher and the responses are almost always better.
Languages are a necessary medium for literature and are related.
The morons on /int/ would suggest dualingo or getting a girlfriend.

When you’ll be kind of used to the language,try to read Le Petit Prince by Antoine de St Exupéry with a translation dictionary next to you. It’s a classic book but it isn’t hard and even kids can read it. And the story is truly beautiful.

>>11593444
>>11594007
https://b-ok.xyz/book/1169104/a3c10b
the quality is shit but it's perfectly readable

>>11594161
It's relatively hard IMO. If I remember correctly then Harry Potter and perhaps even L'Etranger should be easier.

Greetings /lit/, I would like to learn german. Where do I begin? Which books are the best for beginners?

I've already completed michel thomas' basic disks

>>11594261
https://b-ok.xyz/book/1305760/ecd73e
the quality is good, you're in luck

>>11594261
Wrong flag.

>>11594342
based

Thanks for the responses guys.

How about for someone who has intermediate level of french? Reading plays is easy enough but classic french /lit/ has a much harder vocabulary and I can't deal with it (yet). What do?

I mean it's not /co/ but you could read some franco-belgian comics "Tintin","Asterix" are the biggests. They're kinda made for kids so the it's not really complicated but an adult can still enjoy them

>>11593444

I believe Marcel Pagnol would be a nice intro to French. Usually French gets tricky when you read fiction. Maybe try to snatch some non-fiction--translation of book you read in English for example.

STOP learning our language
S T O P

>>11595451

no :)

>>11594159
There's actually a /lang/ general that isn't terrible, I don't know if they still bother making the thread. They're mostly active on their discord now though

>>11593444
Easy French Reader.

>>11593444

>I would like to learn French. Where do I begin?

Commencer au début.

>>11595487
aux Grecs*

>>11595527
par les Grecs sounds more natural desu

>>11595682
As you say, I'm not French but I tried

>>11595691
Good effort, if you're learning the language I might as well explain a couple of things:

First the original post
>Commencer au début
means "to start at the beginning". The verb is at the infinitive, and it should be an imperative (which has a similar form in English, hence the "mistake")
>Commence au début

You start *at* the beginning, that's correct, but you start *by* doing something, not at doing something, that's why it's "par":
>Commence par les Grecs
implied: commence par lire les Grecs, start by reading the Greeks.

You could also say start *with* the greeks:
>Commence avec les Grecs
but that sounds like a literal translation of the English meme, it's correct but "par" is just the best choice here

>>11595740
I was going to say "avec les" but I wanted to keep the same word choice as the OP.
That makes sense though, then my intuition wasn't spot on but close nevertheless

Guys
I got L'alchemiste(Paulo Coelho), La Peste(Camus) + a french dictionary for something like 10 bucks in a old book store a few days ago.

When do you think it is a good time to jump into these?

>>11596601
>>11593444
La liste de lecture officielle:
Voltaire (Candide, Micromégas) (si tu veux apprendre à lire des textes anciens)
Les contes de Maupassant (N'importe lesquels, si tu veux t'habituer aux textes du 19ème siècle), si tu aimes ça, continue avec Zola (Gérminal et d'autres)
Pour t'habituer à des auteurs plus modernes, tu peux lire Camus (L'Ètranger, La Peste) Houellebecq (Extension du domaine de la lutte) Annie Ernaux (La Place) ou si tu veux quelque chose de très facile, fais comme les etudiants - lis Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (Schmitt)
Lis Le Petit Prince aussi seulement pour que tu puisses dire aux gens que c'est surfait - on va penser que tu es très cool
Si c'est trop dur tout ça, lis Tintin comme l'autre a dit

>>11594261
Why though? Unless you're a political junkie there's not a lot of German literature worth reading.
The Duolingo course for Kraut is pretty good though.

>>11593444
Bump.

>>11595139
Start with easier novels and work your way up. For some intermediate reads I can suggest Volkswagen Blues by Jacques Poulin, La Symphonie Pastorale, and Le Petit Prince. Try those (the latter being the easiest), and once you can read a novel at this level, start venturing into classic lit like Hugo and Maupassant. It will probably still be slow at first, but just keep at it, learn new words, and you’ll make it mon ami. Bon courage !

>>11598955
Also, forgot to mention that Voltaire is a pretty good “classic” writer to start with. Candide is a good point de départ.

>>11593444
Duolingo is good for building up vocab.

Assimil and Pimsleur will help with conversational ability.

Reading for French is a good texbook that will help you read

>>11597887
Germans have massive literary output second only to English I believe.

>>11594261
Basically this >>11599148 but buy Reading for German instead

Pro-tip: install google translate extension on your browser. You can highlight words you don't know and it will translate them.

>>11599217
And change google to French?