Languages
Within Cheddar Valley U3A there are several special-interest groups dedicated to learning languages, with French, German and Spanish being the languages currently featured. Please see the main "GROUPS" page of this website to find the days that Groups meet.
FRENCH CONVERSATION
This is a small group trying to keep up to date with our spoken French by listening to and watching French language films of various levels of difficulty. Some have subtitles but some do not. There is not usually a lot of discussion afterwards as most of the films take up the whole of the time. However we all enjoy the sessions.
FRENCH: CERCLE FRANCAIS
Cercle Francais French Group. We seek to improve our grammar and pronunciation using workbooks with accompanying CD's. To add variety, members will bring in pamphlets or extracts for translation.
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GERMAN
German Group. In the past we have read articles from the German press, but at present we are reading a collection of German detective stories specially designed for foreign learners with a good passive knowledge. While these are of about A-level standard, our oral / aural skills are not so advanced. We attempt to discuss what we have been studying, to improve our speaking ability and from time to time do retranslation back into German of stories we have previously read. There is no written work involved. The leader of the German group is now Colin Greet,
SPANISH: HOLA ESPANOL
Hola Espanol is a Group for members who are learning to speak Spanish at various levels. We often have a prepared subject to write about or read aloud, and the conversation is free flowing, whether about the subject or just on the issues of the day. We also listen to a short news item of the week, spoken slowly by a native speaker, to improve our listening and understanding skills, although one of our members is fluent and can put us right if we ask, {which I do - often :-) }.