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Sophisticated french (help each other) (1 Viewer)

chepas

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!!!!!!!!!!
OMG THAT IS FUNNY!!!!!!

I wonder if The Open High School copyrighted it - I'd be stuffed if they did, cos it's their's hehe!!!!
But that my BOSNAME and my AV were on there too? MDR!!!!

:D So I take it that this is a teacher that has found BOS on her own accord? Nice...

Re: Mando - no hehe. I did it in Year 3 and loved it (the budding linguist in me..) but beyond that nada. Went to China on band tour in 2001 and still have my ratty copy of the phrasebook ;)
 
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melsc

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MY other teacher last yr gave us one without ur avvy on it LOL, i have no idea where she got it from. Meh....my school has so stuffed us around with languages ...i mean having a new teacher in yr 12...merging beginners and continuers and reducing our periods...a languages high skool yea right
 

LaCe

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So melsc u say that u write sophisticatedly, u wouldnt just use those little sentence openers and conjunctions. Or those words that add to sophistication,what do u do?

Does "sophisticated writing in french" mean that you write fluently and with a higher level of french than what a normal french person would usually write?
 

Skip

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I just found an old book "Les Idiomatics français-anglais", some are useful I think:

Vendre la mèche - To let the cat out of the bag

Voir trente-six chandelles - To see stars

Prendre quelqu'un la main dans le sac - To catch somebody red-handed

Jeter l'argent par les fenetres - To throw money down the drain

Retourner sa veste - To change your colours

Marcher sur des oefs - To skate on thin ice

Quand les poules auront des dents - Pigs might fly

Mettre le loup dans la bergerie - To set the cat among the pigeons

Manger les pissenlits par la racine - To push up daisies (A very nice French euphemism :p )

Les bras m'en sont tombés - You could've knocked me down with a feather

Remuer ciel et terre - To leave no stone unturned

Décrocher la timbale - To bring home the bacon

Avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre - To have your cake and eat it

Faire d'une pierre deux coups - To kill two birds with one stone

Mener quelqu'un en bateau - To lead somebody up the garden path

Mettre les pieds dans le plat - To spill the beans

Mettre quelqu'un en boite - To pull somebody's leg

Tourner autour du pot - To beat about the bush

Avoir un chat dans la gorge - To have a frog in your throat

Couter les yeux de la tete - To cost an arm and a leg

Vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué - To count your chickens before they've hatched (my favourite one)

Retrousser ses manches - To pull your socks up

Appeler un chat un chat - To call a spade a sapde


Hope they help.
 

melsc

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LaCe said:
So melsc u say that u write sophisticatedly, u wouldnt just use those little sentence openers and conjunctions. Or those words that add to sophistication,what do u do?

Does "sophisticated writing in french" mean that you write fluently and with a higher level of french than what a normal french person would usually write?
To my sophistication means a lot of things, it must flow, and use idoms, conjunctions etc....but you must also use a variety of tenses and your ideas also need to be more developed as well... i.e. I got 17/20 on my french speaking exam and my teacher read out the marking scale, it says u must speak with fluency sophistication and flare. This is what i said when she asked me abt what i wanted to fdo after the HSC

Apres mon HSC j’ai l’intention de faire un cours a l’université. Avec un peu de
chance je réussirai * mes examens donc que je pourrai poursuivre ma passion
de la loi. Mais bien sur c’est très compétitif pour gagner un endroit dans ce
cours et on a besoin d’être surdoué et être a prêt étudier beaucoup. Evidement
le UAI est très haut plus de quatre-vingt dix.Pourvu que je finisse cette cours, je pourrai être un avocat. Mais je
pense que je voudrais travaille dans le tribunal au lieu de dans un bureau
parce que je préfère m’y disputer et j’aime bien parler. Je pense aussi que je
trouverai une carrière dans le tribunal très passionnant a moins que je change
d’avais ne mais je ne vois pas qu’il soit possible.

thats one example....not my most sophisticated piece but yea....do you get what I mean.,...i didnt just say i wanted to go to uni...
 

LaCe

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Well i thought it was very good, and it is a great example of how to use sophisticated french. Your piece is similar to how i write, chuck in a few idioms, use subjunctive and some other flary language. etc...
Good work
 

chepas

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When we talk about opinions of what 'sophisitcated French' is, I suggest reading the French Syllabus for your respective courses. They will give you exactly the definition of what 'sophistication' is hehe. The HSC seemed very much like just giving the markers what they want, because they mark the responses according to the guidelines/outcomes thingos that are given them. Have a look at the outcomes and bands, to see what would push you into the the highest band possible. The standards packages of 2001/02 also could help in this respect.

So, sophisitication, to the mortal, is in the eye of the beholder, but it has a very specific definition according to the immortals at the New South Wales Board of Studies.
 

malkin86

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/me agrees with Chepas on the "tell them what they want to hear" approach - one big reason why I liked French later on was because, if I could say it in French sophisticatedly, I could rant. :D And rant I could.

"Ca va?"
"Ca va mal.. Mon prof d'anglais croyent que .... mais ..." etc. And that could lead on to all sorts of things... My prof never asked me if I thought the HSC was fair though (my person that I spoke to in the speaking exam did though).. it's self-evident that it's not, I think.

And I was shocked into learning all my genders after I inadvertantly told my prof that I was sad that I didn't have a girlfriend... :eek: un petit ami and une petite amie are only 3e's apart.. To his credit though, his eyes only bugged out slightly, and he asked me if I meant a boyfriend... :eek:
 

LaCe

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Egronk said:
Some good phrases that i have acumulated are things like:

en ce qui concerne
en ce qui me concerne

a` cet e'garde

quant a` moi

ceci joue un ro^le de

pour une raison quelconque

il faudrait analyser de plus pre`s

tout en reconnaissant ce fait


stuff like that, i've got loads, its a good idea just to right down phrases you like when reading anything in french, and read past responses and steal there stuff.

Then try and use it as much as possible so you remember it.
Man that's gold!
ive got some little ones:
"d'une part,... d'autre part..."
"dans ce cas"
"il est évident que..."
"je vous assure que"
"en somme"
"indubitablement"
"on en conclut que..."
"Bref,..."
 

LaCe

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melsc said:
thats one example....not my most sophisticated piece but yea....do you get what I mean.,...i didnt just say i wanted to go to uni...
r u serious? that was great, a very high level of sophistication i thought, i think i now understand the BOS term of sophistication
 

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