/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20508970]

I want to read Baudelaire in the original French
Now personally I don't really love Baudelaire all that much and I find him to be quite boring in translation and I don't expect my opinion to change all that much after learning French but still, that's my goal
Since my goal with learning French is to read poetry I figure that I should learn pronunciation of the language but I'm not sure if that's something I should be doing now or only later on?
My main question is if anyone here had any suggestions for great French reader editions or any recommended prose that I could start using as input
Would greatly appreciate any anon's thoughts on their own French learning journey with some tips

[Anonymous No.20509184]

Imagine learning frogtongue in the 21st century kek holy shit. Not even the nafris who come here learn french - we learn pigeon-arabic instead. /lit/ really is a sad place for sad people.

[Anonymous No.20509188]

>>20508970
should've taken your foreign language in high school seriously

[Anonymous No.20509199]

>>20508970
I myself found it useful to learn phonetics and rhythmical groups first and then to proceed with grammar, as I was able to pronounce words correctly from the start, also I could master my pronunciation while consooming media, etc. Imo, learning pronunciation first is necessary, if you want to speak or, in your case, read aloud. It will take you a week or two in most to memorize all the phonetics using IPA and media of your interest.

>great French reader editions
Gallimard probably is the best option, especially La Pléiade, if you're not looking for expensive bouquiniste editions.

>any recommended prose that I could start using as input
Just choose anything you're interested in. Read it with a dictionary if it's too hard. French is not really that hard to read if you learned the basics.

[Anonymous No.20509226]

>>20509188
Well I took Japanese in school and I got kicked out of class for disobedience
I feel terrible for terrorising my teacher but I don't think I would have gained anything from taking those classes seriously
>>20509199
Sorry by reader edition I mean a book which contains texts suitable for a learner of French at a certain level with an apparatus to help the reader understand the text without having to search up the definition of every unusual word
Thanks for the advice though
How do you not let yourself get bogged down trying to master pronunciation? Like getting all the vowels absolutely correct?
I don't think I really have a talent for it

[Anonymous No.20509348]

>>20509226
>a book which contains texts suitable for a learner of French
There is a book called Le Français Par La Méthode Nature, it's similar to Lingva Latina Per Se Illustrata and might be suitable for some people that want to learn how to read, not digging too deep into grammar, but I dropped it after the first 50 pages, as it becomes too repetitive and boring, and you progress very slow using it. But maybe it will suit you.

From my experience, I would suggest using a grammar textbook (not one with fancy pictures, i.e. the so-called "communicative" method textbooks, but plain grammar with translation exercises), while consooming media (media is good not only to develop your speaking or listening skills, but you will also master your reading skills while reading lyrics, subtitles, etc) in parallel, and taking a look into books of your interest from time-to-time. Within a few months, you will start to notice that you actually understand a good amount of grammatical constructions in texts and you will gradually become better at it with time if you keep learning grammar and practicing.

>How do you not let yourself get bogged down trying to master pronunciation? Like getting all the vowels absolutely correct? I don't think I really have a talent for it

Phonetics in textbooks are almost always transcripted using IPA, so all you need to do is to find an IPA table or a video explanation of it (this is a good example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpR5GdKXpGc)) online and compare the symbols from the textbook to the symbols from the table. Of course, it's not enough, so you better find media content of your interest and learn from it. This one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wfNl2L0Gf8 is a great example, as Foucalt is native and speaks very clearly in this interview. You can still listen to music or watch films though.

[Anonymous No.20509357]

>>20509348
To be fair, this method worked out *very* well for me. And as I can speak only from my own experience, I don't suggest anything besides.

[Anonymous No.20509388]

>>20509348
>There is a book called Le Français Par La Méthode Nature
Hmm, that's not quite what a reader is
Maybe you just haven't encountered a reader at a book store before, that's fine
Also I assume that since you're talking about wanting to develop your speaking skills that your goals aren't exactly the same as mine, since for instance I don't intend to ever speak to a French person in French that skill isn't so useful for me, I think the strategies of learning to read French would be different
Thanks for sharing your thoughts though

[Anonymous No.20509393]

>>20509388
Wtf, I didn't concentrate on speaking French in my post at all. You yourself asked about pronunciation.

[Anonymous No.20509406]

>>20509388
Although you, of course, can just pick a textbook and proceed with it and books to read, I don't understand how you would learn pronunciation rather than listening to someone speaking the language.

[Anonymous No.20509407]

>>20509393
I never said concentrate, you just said media was good for developing your speaking skills which made me think you weren't focusing entirely on reading only
Sorry if I was wrong about that
As for the pronunciation thing that's only for being able to pronounce and hear poetry

[Anonymous No.20509439]

>>20509407
Well, yes, my goal was to learn all aspects of the language, but I don't think there are any other methods to actually learn pronunciation and recite poetry rather than listening to someone speaking the language and at least reading aloud yourself, what you can't do if you don't know how the language sounds. It's like wanting to learn how to dance without dancing.

[Anonymous No.20509484]

>>20509388
Honestly you sound like a huge faggot and I can tell you will give up after about one week of trying.