Could this lesson be split into several smaller lessons?During my Dashboard test, one of the questions was:
Nous ______ tous le mot "hypocondriaque". (We're all spelling the word "hypochondriac".)
HINT: Conjugate "épeler" (to spell) in Le Présent
Problem: Trying to find"épeler" in the lesson page was an absolute nightmare. For the younger guys, it might be easy enough, but I'm 76.
Trying to find "épeler" didn't work, because it doesn't exist in the page.
Never mind. Marchons! Marchons!
Next, try to find the correct template for "épeler" in one of the following templates:
-é(-)er, -e(-)er, -eter, -eler, -Ê(-)ER [Note the change from lower case to upper case in the final template.]
My first attempt to find "épeler" in one of those templates stopped when I found -e(-)er, which matches -eler
The next step was to find out how to conjugate it. I failed, because the only conjugated verb on the whole page is COMPLÉTER, which does not match the template (it matches -é(-)er).
Are we confused yet?
I followed the advice to omit any question if I was unsure about the answer.
BTW: The sharp-eyed will have noticed the template -eler actually exists near the end of my list of templates. So there are ambiguous templates.
Footnote: IMHO, there's far too much material on this page. It could be split into possibly four or five lessons. The lesson generates two questions in the micro-kwiz and 1 question in the dashboard quiz. The lesson demands at least 20 questions.
Attempts to compress the material result in statements such as:
Verbs ending in -É(-)ER such as célébrer, compléter, préférer, espérer..., as well as most verbs ending in -E(-)ER (except for -ETER and -ELER verbs) such as mener, lever, semer, élever... are semi-regular -ER verbs
Compare with a lesson such as "Conjugate avoir in Le Présent (present tense)" which has only a fraction of the material, and is much easier to understand. Yet that lesson also generates two questions in the micro-kwiz and 1 question in the dashboard quiz.
In the test question with the magic beanstalks, the only accepted answer is Jack got off the magic bean stalk.
In three dictionaries that I have looked up (especially Le Robert & Collins), one of the meanings of decendre with etre is to 'climb down (a tree). Now the preposition 'from' is missing in those definitions but is that so significant a difference that the answer 'Jack climbed down the magic beanstalk" becomes incorrect.
In the lesson on simple Passive tenses an example is:
Les étudiants étaient accueillis par le directeur tous les ans.
The students were welcomed by the headteacher every year.
In this lesson, we have the example above: Elles ont été surprises par ...
They were surprised by ...
In both cases the English tense is the same, but it differs in French. Is it important, or can you choose whichever you prefer.
In translating "Before we moved to the city when I was 13," I used the past subjunctive, "Avant que nous n'ayons emménagé...". However, you used the present subjunctive, "n'emménagions". Why is that?
So if venir de + infinitive means to have just done something, why has ‘juste’ been introduced in the sentence “Je viens juste d’emménager”. It sounds a bit like “i’ve just just moved”.
During my Dashboard test, one of the questions was:
Nous ______ tous le mot "hypocondriaque". (We're all spelling the word "hypochondriac".)
HINT: Conjugate "épeler" (to spell) in Le Présent
Problem: Trying to find"épeler" in the lesson page was an absolute nightmare. For the younger guys, it might be easy enough, but I'm 76.
Trying to find "épeler" didn't work, because it doesn't exist in the page.
Never mind. Marchons! Marchons!
Next, try to find the correct template for "épeler" in one of the following templates:
-é(-)er, -e(-)er, -eter, -eler, -Ê(-)ER [Note the change from lower case to upper case in the final template.]
My first attempt to find "épeler" in one of those templates stopped when I found -e(-)er, which matches -eler
The next step was to find out how to conjugate it. I failed, because the only conjugated verb on the whole page is COMPLÉTER, which does not match the template (it matches -é(-)er).
Are we confused yet?
I followed the advice to omit any question if I was unsure about the answer.
BTW: The sharp-eyed will have noticed the template -eler actually exists near the end of my list of templates. So there are ambiguous templates.
Footnote: IMHO, there's far too much material on this page. It could be split into possibly four or five lessons. The lesson generates two questions in the micro-kwiz and 1 question in the dashboard quiz. The lesson demands at least 20 questions.
Attempts to compress the material result in statements such as:
Verbs ending in -É(-)ER such as célébrer, compléter, préférer, espérer..., as well as most verbs ending in -E(-)ER (except for -ETER and -ELER verbs) such as mener, lever, semer, élever... are semi-regular -ER verbs
Compare with a lesson such as "Conjugate avoir in Le Présent (present tense)" which has only a fraction of the material, and is much easier to understand. Yet that lesson also generates two questions in the micro-kwiz and 1 question in the dashboard quiz.
If a bag (sac) is described as heavy wouldn't it be lourd not lourde as sac is masculine?
This exercise doesn't work because the audio files are all out of sync. Instead of writing down what we have heard for each line, we are expected to guess what the next line will be !
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