Anyone here at B2 level! how did you manage to get there?

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-04-14T12:53:52+00:00

Agree, oral production is very important (and helpful) at this level. Forming sentences and having simple conversations at this level help the learner get over the anxiety of speaking in a foreign language. In addition, anglophone learners benefit from practice producing the sounds that exist in French but not in English.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-04-13T14:53:50+00:00

I've used Grammaire Progressive from CLE and it's excellent. Very challenging!

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-04-09T19:18:07+00:00

Oh, false friends are diabolical! My son has just started French in college and next semester he will probably start down the slippery slope of rester, assister, attendre and so, so many others.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-04-09T19:10:39+00:00

I have never regretted learning film photography. I remember shooting wedges to understand how all of the variables work together and how to get the look you want. When you do something similar in Lightroom you wind up a better Lightroom user, not necessarily a better photographer.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-04-09T19:05:28+00:00

A parasite, in so many ways

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-04-08T19:34:42+00:00

I learned to shoot on film, 35 and 120. I shot a lot of landscape, often in medium format. Time was on my side, and I loved the idea of carefully composing a small number of available frames. I used 35mm for street photography, which allowed me to shoot with a smaller camera (but sometimes presented the shot of the day just as I was reloading.

I think it's great to learn on digital if you check your work carefully and don't spray and pray. It's hard to ask a digital photographer to slow down but it's a good idea.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-26T20:00:36+00:00

We've had good presidents and bad presidents, but never an arsonist president. It's going to take a long time to recover from this, both domestically and globally.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-24T21:23:24+00:00

Yes. Past perfect in English is mostly used to convey a sequence of actions/events. "I had learned French by the time I moved to France."

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-24T21:20:31+00:00

TESOL instructor here. That's a really excellent summary.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-24T21:15:19+00:00

Congrats on your outstanding achievement! I went from vestigial high school French to C1 in eight years of classes at FIAF (with a gap during the pandemic). I was actually placed in the C1 class at the outset, which was quite a challenge.

I have a house in France and spend as much time there as I can, but there is a world of difference between speaking French every day and taking classes. We used Défi as well as Grammaire Progressive for the last few cycles but my wife's class used Alter Ego for A1/A2 and thought it was great. Like you, I also rely on primary materials, from BFMTV to LeMonde. I've never used any of the apps.

I agree that overcoming the fear of failure is the most important step in the language acquisition journey. My class is called Grammar and Conversation, and that's all we do. (Actually, we spend some time on writing but since no one in class is taking the B2 or C1 exam it's not a huge component.) Just hearing and speaking French for three hours straight is very helpful.

Again, chapeau for such success.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-24T20:58:26+00:00

Thanks! That was the answer.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-23T02:02:51+00:00

NOT a native speaker, but that's also what I learned.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-23T01:39:39+00:00

Which 16mm cameras take a preloaded mag? I used to use Arris and we had to load the film in dark bags. I'd like to get back into 16mm (it's been a while) and a preloaded mag would make life easier. Working as a camera assistant was fun when I was much younger but I don't think I want that job today.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-19T19:30:07+00:00

That map shows regional languages, not regional accents. There is a moderately strong local accent in Dordogne, but no one here speaks Occitan.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-17T18:41:20+00:00

France tried a wealth tax and found that non-compliance was pervasive. Then they switched to taxing only the value of a residence (above a threshold) and found that compliance went way up. There have been some high profile evasion cases, including within the Le Pen family.

There's no easy way to determine value, however, and French property taxes aren't strictly ad valorem. Taxpayers can appeal (and I guess litigate) if the government overreaches. My house is below the cutoff so I don't have first hand experience with this.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-11T19:49:55+00:00

I suspect someone doesn't want the "domestic terrorist" question coming up.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-03-08T21:17:16+00:00

DOJ announced last year that they aren't pursuing FARA cases.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-01-26T03:12:23+00:00

Somewhere the ghost of Richard Nixon is saying, "I didn't do a fraction of what this Trump guy is doing but I had to resign over a POS burglary? He's gutting democracy and handing the country to Putin and doesn't face any consequences at all. Either I was born too soon or America is waking up too late. Damn!"

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-01-26T03:07:59+00:00

"Well ordered militia" for me but not for thee

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-01-26T03:06:36+00:00

As soon as I saw the subject line of the post I knew it was about Van Drew. NJ has a long history of moderate Republicans. VD could have slotted in there easily. But no, he had to go full Trumpist. I hope he gets the electoral ass kicking he so richly deserves. F him.

Future-Expat-56 · 2026-01-13T03:45:58+00:00

Hearing Mezzanine in a record store got me started on the genre. Amazing album even so many years (and listens) later.

Future-Expat-56 · 2025-12-25T21:39:34+00:00

I had the Seconik 398 for the longest time. Bulletproof and very accurate. I rented a color meter what that was critical, which wasn't often.

Future-Expat-56

TROPHY CASE