The French Bible In MP3 Audio Format

You can now listen to the French Bible online- http://www.bibvoice.org/fr.ls1910.index.html#a40

Tips for studying French

I thought I would share some tips on learning the French language which I normally share with my first year students. Even though you are studying French for reading knowledge; however you might find these tips very helpful to you (I hope).

Listening

• Careful listening is a major part in learning a new language. Listen carefully to what is going on in class. Pay close attention to (your professor’s) pronunciation. Ask questions if you don’t understand. Don’t be afraid to ask your professor to repeat the word so you know exactly how to say/pronounce it.

Speak

• If you are serious about learning French (beyond reading knowledge) you ought to practice speaking French every day. Speak French to your teachers and classmates. Don’t be afraid to make silly mistakes (Who care?). After all French is not your native tongue. Although most students of theology will find this aspect of the target language unhelpful since they only need to acquire the reading knowledge of French.

Practice

• Students of language have an idea about the art of practicing. You know that from taking Greek & Hebrew in seminary?  The fact is this –Guys learning a new language requires practice and repetition. It is like to play a sport or an instrument.

Reading

• Start reading French on your own. Don’t wait for your professor to give you reading assignment. You can go online and try to read French (I will link you to some useful sites). It will be worth it to buy a French Bible (Louis Segond version is a very good translation). I was able to get a French Bible for only $ 8.00 from lifeway Christian stores (www.lifeway.com).  Start with the Gospel of John. It is the easiest one to start with and read.

Organize

• As you learn French, your memory is going to be stretched out, so it is critically important to know how to organize your material efficiently. Look for Cognates ( Cognates are words that look similar and have the same meaning in French and English (i.e. chocolat, musique, vacances, etc).  Once you recognize which words are cognates, you can then spend more of your time studying the words that are not.

Have Fun!

• Learning French can be fun and frustrating. You are the Boss! Determine if you are going to make this beautiful language an enjoying experience.

Au revoir (Bye Bye)

  

Theological French blog

Theological French/Français théologique is created to teach students of theology to read theological French and improve their French Grammar so they might be able to read their Bible in French and read theological material in the target language.  The following are the topics we will attempt to cover in the coming posts:

Part I- The French Language (La langue francaise)

·     The French alphabet

·        Accent marks

·        Numbers

·        Punctuation and Syllabification

Part II- Nouns (Les noms)

·        French Nouns

·        Articles

·        Adjectives

·        Negation

·        Contractions

·        Prepositions

·        Demonstrative Pronouns

·        Personal Pronouns

·        Relative Pronouns

Part III-Verbs (Les verbes)

·        French Verbs

·        Subject Pronouns

·        Present Active Indicative

·        Past Tense

·        Future Tense

·        Conditional mood

·        Subjunctive mood  

Side note-

As we’re walking through the language together we will also translate the Gospel of John verse by verse (because it is very easy to translate). We will also post daily vocabulary from various biblical books or authors (i.e. Gospels, Johannine writings, Pauline letters, Ephesians, 1 & 2 Peter, etc). However, since the Gospel of John is easy to read both in Greek and French we will begin our translation with the fourth Gospel. Drills will be included pertaining to each studied lesson. We will also include several useful links. A little about Me-I married to Katia . Together we have two sons: Terrence and Joshua. Presently I teach French in High School for Henry County Schools in Georgia. I look forward to doing Ph.D. in New Testament Studies.  Linguistically speaking, I am trilingual (Haitian Creole, French, English). I hold a B.A. in Theology (Baptist College of Florida); M.A. in French Language & Literature (University of Louisville); M. Div. in Theology (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), and a Th. M. in New Testament ( Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary).  I have another blog, Christ, My Righteousness ( http://lou9587.blogspot.com)

Buckle up your seat belts let’s learn the language spoken in heaven:) 

Bienvenue!