MadmoiZelle speaks English

[Ithurielle]

Oh my God I'm your fan ! lol
What kind of studies are you doing ? I feel so stupid beside you.. (I'm only studying english spanish and of course french... you're studying the two languages that I'd love to learn for my future job but I know i'ts IMPOSSIBLE ) and How did you get the opportunity to go in Manchester?
And what would you like to do -as a job- in the future?
Oh and last question, I SWEAR! Were you a beginner in these languages or... ?

Ok, from the start, haha. I did two years of Russian at school in 2nde and 1ère, then decided I hated the teacher so I stopped. I really missed it in Term, though.

Originally, I wanted to become an interpreter, and as I was told by an interpreter, it's better to study whatever you want, but abroad. I was gonna go for architecture, when I discovered you could do Russian and Arabic, and I decided to go for that instead. I really wanted to study in the UK, it had been my dream since I was 12, and my parents knew that I was really set on the idea, and fully supported me. The application process wasn't easy because no-one in my school had ever done that before (I'm from a completely typical background, my family's entirely French, and before me, my school had never sent a student abroad), but I managed to get offers from the universities of Exeter, Leeds and Manchester, and decided to go for Manchester because of the flexibility of the course (and the fact that it's awesome).

At first, I was gonna do post-Bac Russian, and Arabic from scratch, but my level in Russian wasn't good enough, so when I arrived at Manchester, I actually started both from scratch. What I do study, now, is obviously the language, and I also have modules about the culture, the religion, the history, as well as modules in translation, cinema or more language (like aural Arabic, for example). I have some free credits, so I use those to study Politics, in order to broaden my mind and my abilities.

This year, I'm doing Russian language (translation from and into Russian and oral classes), a short dissertation on a topic of my choice, related to Russia (8,000 words on the international relations of Russian and the Middle East for me), Russian Politics, Arabic language (translation from and into Arabic and oral classes), Business Arabic, and Security Studies, so I basically have a 1/3 of Russian, 1/3 of Arabic and 1/3 of Politics. My teacher also allows me to sit in Business Russian classes, just so I can get more vocab and language training.

If at first I wanted to be an interpreter, I've long decided against it, and at the moment, I'm looking at pursuing a career in diplomacy (NGOs, UN, EU, government, whatever) or something that relates to books, ideally publishing, or even become a librarian. Or maybe business, we'll see where I end up!

 

[Ithurielle]

I am SO happy right now!

Generally, Cadbury sells Creme Eggs for Easter, but you can't get them all year round, which is a shame because they're really tasty, but I discovered that they made "Screme" Eggs for Halloween, woohoo!

 

[Edern]

Today my english teacher has given us our writing tests... And it was my first note under 10...
I ever know I had a bad level in English but I never had a note like that. I've cried, because I'm really anxious. All the other pupils in my english class seem to be so strong in english... I wonder if I have my place on this group. (it's the "strong group"). I believe that I'll always be a bad pupil in english, even if I never had any problems on this subject.
I don't know how improving my writing expression, so I come here. I hope it will help me a little.

 

[Ithurielle]

Today my english teacher has given us our writing tests... And it was my first note under 10...
I ever know I had a bag level in English but I never had a note like that. I've cried, because I'm really anxious. All the other pupils in my english class seem to be so strong in english... I wonder if I have my place on this group. (it's the "strong group"). I believe that I'll always be a bad pupil in english, even if I never had any problems on this subject.
I don't know how improving my writing expression, so I come here. I hope it will help me a little.

Nooo! Don't despair!

You will get better with a bit of work and dedication, of course it isn't easy being challenged, especially when other seems to be doing better, but every little steps you make forward is still made towards getting you better at English!

Lang-8 is a free website that was originally created by Koreans, but can now be used for pretty much every language you're learning. It allows you to write little essays in English, and native speakers will correct them for you, so you don't always need to ask your teacher for help.

A great thing to do is pick your favourite book in English, and as you already know the plot and how the story develops, you won't need to stop too much to get the translation of words, or extracts you're not too sure about, because you can get the information from the context.

And the last piece of advice I can give you is to never give up. For the record, I used to be in your situation. In 3ème, I was quite good at English, and when I moved schools, and decided to go into 2nde Européenne, and it turned out I was the worst student in the class. I rarely had any grade above 10, and the teacher used to use my exams as examples of what not to do?

I was really disenhearted and at loss as to what to do, but I still tried to push myself, and applied for section internationale (it wasn't a real one, we just had extra hours of English), and somehow got in, despite being crap at English. Over that summer, I had also read Harry Potter, and when I arrived in 1ère, I had improved loads, without actually doing much. I carried on reading books, I also used this forum to discuss with English people, I watched American series subtitled in French, etc.

Now I'm finishing a degree at university in the UK (4 years of studying in English), I'm fluent in English, and I can honestly say my English is better than most people who were in class with me. So please, please, please, don't give up!

 

[Edern]

Ithurielle

Thank you for all your advices, and for the websites.
I know that I must continue, and I must try making an effort... but I'm not really patient, and I'm giving up quite fast when I see I don't have the required level. I'll try to continue, and I hope I'll progress. Thank you for all.

 

[Ithurielle]

Isn't it a 'foreign thing'? I mean, I don't know how it was when you were at university, but in mine they really want us to speak 'the Queen's English' so it might seem posh to other people. Is the accent in Jersey very different from the one in England? (I know there's a lot of English accents but I remember you lived in York for a while so let's talk about that one haha) I thought it was similar because it's not that far away.

(I feel quite stupid writing in English here, it's weird )

It depends where you are, really. Up north, they'll laugh at you if you speak in RP, and southerners think northern accents are retarded. I can't really remember how they sounded in Jersey when I went, but chances are there's a massive difference with the broad yorkshire accent you could encounter in York.

Most foreigners seem to adopt a sort of american accent by default, probably because the sounds are a lot easier to reproduce than those of British English, so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to "correct" your pronounciation.

 

[Ithurielle]

Right, I just sent my application for a scholarship of an Arabic programme in Morocco, and all I need to do is read a couple of journal articles about human security, and translate some dodgy piece of Russian literature that uses bloody aspects far too much for my liking. Productive day has been half-productive. But at least I'm not in front of X-Factor anymore!

 

[Hello Brooklyn]

Hey girls! I need a piece of advice I would like to translate the last part of this sentence :
"To dance is to be yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. It is power on earth and it is yours for the taking" .
I understand the sense but i'm not able to translate it perfectly in french

 

[Dreamer]

This topic it's a good idea. My english is bad and I want to improve myself !
In high school (musical ahahah) I loved English, my teacher was a good teacher ! But since my high school diploma my level in english decrease day after day ! I didn't do a lot of English in university !

This summer I realized that my level is bad when I was unable to express myself with foreign student (I worked for social security).
So I decided to change that and make progress !




(sorry for my mistakes)

 

[popart.]

J'aurai besoin de vous en anglais!

Bonjour,

Je suis desolée, je ne savais pas où poster ce sujet, mais j'ai besoin de votre aide!

Demain j'ai un entretien pour garder un bébé sur Londres, c'est très important pour moi car si je n'ai pas ce poste, je vais vite revenir en France, car mon compte est très très pauvre....

Je n'ai pas un très bon niveau en anglais, donc je voulais savoir si vous pouviez m'aider pour les questions.

Je voudrais lui demander principalement

Quelles sont les horaires, le budget, que faire dans la maison ... Si vous aviez d'autres idées !!


MERCI MERCI BEAUCOUP!

 

[Ithurielle]

Hi Girls !
I'm on holidays since saturday, and I'm decided in having good times, even if the weather isn't enough good to go out !
Last week, a group of English students came in our high school, there was a kind of exange : Last automn, some of my friends went to England, and it was to the English girls to come in France last week. So we organize different activities at night, because during the day, they had intership in different shops, compagnies... As I can't welcome someone at my home, I was very sad to can't speak english most of the time with them, but my friends allowed me to go with them at some activities.
Last Saturday, I went to a concert, where I met friends that I've haven't seen since a long time, and I spend time with people I love, and a realy enjoyed this "party" !
I also decided to [Reprendre en main ?] my photography project, and to be assiduous in posting my photos on my 365 days Tumblr.

[Je raconte ma vie, mais c'est un prétexte pour parler anglais ! ]

Quelques petites corrections pour rendre le tout parfait, dis-le moi si tu préfères que je m'en abstienne !

*I've been on holidays since?
*I'm determined to have a good time (être décidée = to be determined)
*Came to our high school (sauf s'ils y sont rentrés et en sont ressortis tout de suite après)
*It was the English girls' turn to come
*At different companies, shop, etc
*Host someone (rather than welcome someone, parce que ça fait un peu leur dire bienvenue et c'est tout)
*Very sad not to be able to speak English
*That's I hadn't seen in a long time

J'ai laissé de côté ce qui pouvait être des coquilles, genre "automn" ou "spend". Reprendre en main, dans ce contexte ça peut être "to resume" ou "to pick up again".

 

[Ithurielle]

Absolute Radio, I used to listen to BBC York and now I listen to BBC Jersey, that would be no use for you!

I've heard a very good joke. Fishermen from France were out on a pub, got pretty drunk and kept asking women if they liked sea-men. But their pronunciation was rubbish, so it looked like they were saying "do you like semen?" - and i'll let you search if you don't know what it is

J'en ai une écossaise rien que pour toi :
- What does the Scottish woman tell her husband when she sees him having sex with a wellie?

- Stop fucking a boot.