I've never been keen on scripture but...

I need to learn French (rapid!) and since I'm too skint to buy a collection of dual language books or other French learning materials I figured I might as well download the french and english versions of the Bible and start reading them...was either that or battle through Les Miserables in both languages.

Don't count on gaining a new convert though 😛

Originally posted by Agerg
I need to learn French (rapid!) and since I'm too skint to buy a collection of dual language books or other French learning materials I figured I might as well download the french and english versions of the Bible and start reading them...was either that or battle through Les Miserables in both languages.

Don't count on me converting though 😛

An atheist in two languages .. cool !!

Originally posted by Agerg
I need to learn French (rapid!) and since I'm too skint to buy a collection of dual language books or other French learning materials ...

But you have internet access.
I am learning Chinese, and the only resource in short supply is time and mental effort. There are plenty of free learning resources on the internet. My internet access itself is far from cheap, but I get by.

If you learn't English from reading the Bible, you might end up speaking like King James. Even the more modern translations do not read like a novel. I don't know if the same applies to the French Bible, but I do know that in some other languages, the choice of language used tends to be more formal than everyday speech.

Who would ever actually say "For God so loved the world, that ...."?

Originally posted by twhitehead
But you have internet access.
I am learning Chinese, and the only resource in short supply is time and mental effort. There are plenty of free learning resources on the internet. My internet access itself is far from cheap, but I get by.

If you learn't English from reading the Bible, you might end up speaking like King James. Even the more modern tran han everyday speech.

Who would ever actually say "For God so loved the world, that ...."?

I've already thought of that; for the parts of the Bible heavy on "thys", "thous", etc... I'll probably neglect any real attempts to consign them to memory and instead pay more attention to the parts that do read like standard prose (wherever they may be). I'm more interested in grammatical nuances etc...along with building my not so great vocabulary so even the snippet you posted would be useful.

I do have bookmarked a couple of web resources but they act more in the capacity of a "cookbook" in that they teach you basic grammar and vocabulary in a vacuum (and help prepare you for those pesky situations when you seriously, badly, no questions asked, have to know how to say things like "I like that red car a lot" ).

I've even thought about childrens books in french but my web searches so far have revealed no freebies :[

Give much attention about the pronounciation. You don't get that from the bible.

Originally posted by Agerg
I do have bookmarked a couple of web resources but they act more in the capacity of a "cookbook" in that they teach you basic grammar and vocabulary in a vacuum (and help prepare you for those pesky situations when you seriously, badly, no questions asked, have to know how to say things like "I like that red car a lot" ).

I've even thought about childrens books in french but my web searches so far have revealed no freebies :[

First off, look for a good French-English dictionary (web based). See if you can find one that will pronounce the words for you and give short examples of usage.
Ideally, you want one that can work as a plugin to your browser.
Then you just need to find a few French websites and get translating.

Chinese is a very different task, as the characters are new as well, and there is almost no similarity with English, whereas French has many similar words to English - though watch out for that pronunciation.

Once you have learnt the basics, you should find a lot of DVDs include French subtitles or sound, and you can probably get French TV and radio.

I suggest skipping to the new testament. You're likely to get less thy, thou, etc... And it's more interesting anyway. 😉

Originally posted by Agerg
I need to learn French (rapid!) and since I'm too skint to buy a collection of dual language books or other French learning materials I figured I might as well download the french and english versions of the Bible and start reading them...was either that or battle through Les Miserables in both languages.

Don't count on gaining a new convert though 😛

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=learn+french&aq=f

Originally posted by jujifruit1742
I suggest skipping to the new testament. You're likely to get less thy, thou, etc... And it's more interesting anyway. 😉

He is learning french, isn't he? Very low probability he will encounter any thy, thou, etc...
Each language has its pecularities.

Skip the bible. Use your favourite book instead. I've learnt a lot Italian using Stieg Larsson's "The girl with the dragon tattoo" (in Swedish of course, as it is its original language, and mine too) and the italian translation "Uomini che odiano le donne".

Read a chapter in English, then a chapter in the French, then back to Enlish, and again in French until you understand every word by heart, and every little grammatical finesse too.

Skip the bible...

get some bongo drums and go busking in France for a few months. You'll pay your way and learn French

Cheers for the comments folks...truth be told, I'm finding the process more painful than I first thought. For now I'll keep going but I might have to rummage inside my pockets and pay some coin for a french translation of "Catch 22"...I love that book. As for pronunciations and such, I've found a set of french audio cds in my Library which is proving useful.

As for learning Chinese, good luck with that. My little brother speaks and reads Japanese but the amount of work he has had to put in to get there has been epic. Not an endeavour I'm up for copying.

Originally posted by Agerg
I need to learn French (rapid!) and since I'm too skint to buy a collection of dual language books or other French learning materials I figured I might as well download the french and english versions of the Bible and start reading them...was either that or battle through Les Miserables in both languages.

Don't count on gaining a new convert though 😛

Casual rear view mirror strategy noted.