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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

Sure, but when I was learning French many years ago, I read 'Les Fleurs du mal' and I'm not sure how much it helped me, I rarely needed to ask about 'maggots emanating from pores' and 'a serpent's desire' 😂

I'm kidding, I get your point.

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Morgane Andersson's avatar

Les Fleurs du Mal is my favorite ultimate favourite 😄 Impressive to start there to learn French! I got your point, I learned English on my own and read a lot of poetry and I'm sure not talking like Shakespeare, but the immersion it brought me was invaluable 🤗

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I think I was being rather pretentious when I started learning French, I was so eager to read Sartre and Camus, as well as so much classic literature. I taught myself with a book and listening to Michel Thomas (for conversational practice, I suppose) and then started reading Moliere and Ionesco, I had no idea what I was doing. And then I went to southern France and continued the pretense and read Le Monde cover to cover every day while sipping cappuccinos.

Sadly, my French is terrible these days 😢

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Ted Holzman's avatar

Also, the metaphors that are immanent in the way we view the world, are carefully so crafted in poetry and show us new relationships and associations that enrich daily experience.

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Morgane Andersson's avatar

That was so well said, thanks a lot Ted! 🙏

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The French Life Journal's avatar

This is a superb idea! My eldest child is always learning poetry at school, but I’ve never thought about learning it myself. I do love poetry, though, so I feel like I’d really enjoy this approach. It makes a lot of sense that it lights up your brain!

I’m going to give this a try this week. Are there any poets you’d recommend? I’m currently studying at B1 level.

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Morgane Andersson's avatar

Victor Hugo is always really loved and a good place to start, one of my favorite is Charles Baudelaire, especially the poem L'homme et la mer (https://frenchenpoesie.substack.com/p/lhomme-et-la-mer-charles-baudelaire?r=3o38hj). Try to find an audio of the poem you choose (there's plenty on youtube), then read the words, that'll help the immersion ;) Let me know how it goes! If you find a poet or poem you love let me know, I can then recommend a few more. :)

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The French Life Journal's avatar

Thanks so much for the recommendations, I will look at Victor Hugo and Charles Baudelaire. I like the idea of listening to the audio and reading the words, this approach would suit me. I'll let you know how I get on ❤️

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