Amuse-bouche:
One bright day in the middle of the night,
Two dead men stood up to fight.
Back-to-back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot one another.
If you don’t believe my story is true,
Ask the blind man – he saw it, too.
Today’s Wonderful Word: « vendredi. »
« Vendredi » is French for “Friday.”
A while ago, my wife and I decided to start a weekly tradition which we called French Fridays. Every Friday, we would practice French together. After tiring of the term French Fridays, I said Vendredi Friday one week and it stuck.
It doesn’t make much sense to say Friday Friday, but who cares?
Let’s make every Friday a Vendredi Friday.
Rosetta Stone vs. Duolingo
I started learning French with Rosetta Stone. My friend and I created accounts and began the first module of the French course around the same time. We zoomed through the lessons and completed the capstone at about the same time as well.
Rosetta Stone is a great way for beginners to gain a basic understanding of vocabulary. With Rosetta Stone, the learner establishes a solid foundation for future language skill development, especially if they are primarily a visual learner. This online program utilizes photos and pairs them with vocabulary words and introductory phrases. By creating real-world scenarios and exhibiting photographs of people and objects in various situations and environments, the platform provides a multitude of opportunities for exposure to the target language. It also provides opportunities for speaking, reading, and writing.
Duolingo also implements visuals on their language-learning application. Duolingo stresses the importance of practicing the target language daily, rewarding you for consecutive days practiced. You can connect with friends and earn experience points (XP), badges, and trophies in the app. Speaking practices are somewhat limited, but there are plenty of reading and writing activities.
Having completed the French courses on both platforms, I can confidently say I enjoyed Rosetta Stone more than Duolingo. One major advantage Duolingo has over Rosetta Stone is price. Duolingo is free. Rosetta Stone is not. With Duolingo, I like the XP feature and the ability to see your friends’ language progress. Rosetta Stone doesn’t allow you to connect with friends, as far as I’m aware.
Overall, I would recommend Rosetta Stone over Duolingo as being the better of two ways to build the introductory foundation in a foreign language.
Answer to Saturday’s riddle:
A candle. Another acceptable answer is a pencil.
A+
Ça vous dit quelque chose ? 
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