Learning French (self-study) - Joe Cleland

[joecleland]

Some of the first french TV I watched were the 'aventures de tintin' cartoons, and 'blake et mortimer'. Documentaries are generally easier to understand than fiction, Arte.tv is where I watch most of mine.

Thank you very much for the cartoon suggestions I am going to check those out. I love watching documentaries in general but I haven't even thought to search for those.

[joecleland]

I'm very sorry to hear about your grandfather. I hope you and your family are able to find solace in the memories you have from before this time, and in knowing your grandfather is now free of this illness and no longer suffering.

Thank you very much for your condolences. He is now in a better place. I also wanted to thank you for your music suggestions, I will give them a listen.

[joecleland]

Hi Joe!

I've been collecting a list of resources for languages that I'm not learning and don't really intend to. Why? I don't know, maybe I have a problem! Or maybe it's to pass them on to other people. Anyway, here are some of the resources I've seen others recommend that you might find useful:

1) Learn French - le français naturellement with Alice Ayel

2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode transcripts

3) Inner French podcasts with transcripts

4) French newspaper articles for kids

5) French in Action - Learn French through these TV episodes created to help people learn French

6) There's also always LingQ - I'm not sure if you know about it. You can sign up for a free account and there's a ton of audio + text for various levels and languages.

I look forward to reading about your experience learning French!

You're soooo awesome. I especially appreciate the news for kids. I think this is perfect for trying to understand relevant material but written at a lower level. I feel the struggle is real while trying to learn to read BUT I am persistent and will get through it!! I'll be sure to check out the other resources as well.

[joecleland]

I have been learning French for about a year, now, and really struggle with French listening.

I can certainly recommend a free website called speechling.com - in particular, the section called Dictation Practice.

Native speakers say random sentences and you have to write what they say.

I am very slowly getting better, but it still amazes me that something the I can instantly read in French can sound so alien when spoken.

I am so glad I am not alone with this. I felt like it was just me. I watch television shows and I am trying to process the first sentence when they're on their 10th LOL. I think I am going to give it a little bit before spending 30 minutes to an hour a day reading. I need to bump up my vocabulary level.

[joecleland]

Today is Day 54 of learning French.

I have completed 23 lessons of Assimil French (NFWE). As promised, I would post update videos of how I am studying, etc. In these videos you can see struggle city BUT I am posting them to hold myself accountable and to be able to look back at the progress being made. I am not saying this is what should be done, I am only mentioning this is what I do.

I use ANKI with my resources. Here is the process I use for creating my cards and reviewing Gabriel Wyner's 625 most common word list: https://youtu.be/jSEXMG6QG_U

Here is today's 23rd lesson in Assimil https://youtu.be/_n36wwKa65c

**NOTE: Both of these videos are long. However, it shows the entirety of my daily routine using ANKI. I also spend some book time (not shown on camera).

I hope to be able to share my progress both in written and video format along the way. I am not posting these links to gain followers, etc. I am only sharing to show pronunciation and to provide imagery to my words here on the forum. If anyone has pointers and comments I will accept them graciously.

[MorkTheFiddle]

I, too, learn new words and phrases slowly on Anki. Might be normal? Don't know. I stopped using Anki, so end of problem.
I like the fact that your are doing podcasts of your lessons. A great way for you to measure your progress.

[joecleland]

Today is DAY 61 of learning French.

I have finished Lesson 30 of Assimil NFWE. The lessons are still taking around 45m-to-1h15m to complete. I also review my ANKI deck everyday which is usually 45m-1h of study. On average I spend around 2h15m studying/reviewing+watching/listening to French throughout the day. I'm trying very hard to use the active approach the entire way through this book. I WILL FINISH IT!! I have only really struggled with one or two dialogues now- however some lessons have taken me longer to be able to pronounce or speak as quickly as the audio. I have yet to use a grammar book, but my mind has been wanting to know some grammar when I'm trying to figure out the correct words in sentences. This is something that I will look into in the coming months. Also, I notice that Assimil translations and Google doesn't always match. I have an app on my phone I purchased for $10 called myLangPro (which is great). However, sometimes all three resources are different for definitions. I'm wondering if having a hard dictionary might be the way to go?

Today, is my official two month mark of learning French. I am very happy with my progress however the novelty has worn off. Some days I don't feel like studying, but rather watch French content, etc. I am "forcing" myself to not take any days off and I have done just that. I had my French iTalki lesson this week and one thing I discussed with my tutor was my questions about what content to use after Assimil? I've read Ikenna Obi's book Fluency Made Easy and he suggests 2 levels of Pimsleur, then Assimil French with Ease, then 1000-2000 reps using Glossika. After this he says you need to practice what you learned. I'm not claiming his method is the staple however, with little guidance his approach seems the most cut-dry.

I'm wondering if my overall goal is to be able to speak French "fluently" what would be the most efficient resource(s) in your personal opinion after Assimil? I've heard, you need jump right into native material but that comment is very broad. I've read jumping into Assimil Using French is a good method. What I am hoping to do once I finish Assimil NFWE is to speak every other day for 1-2 months on iTalki and use a resource or two everyday to help assist with my learning. Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

I will post an update video to show my progress soon.

[iguanamon]

People often ask, "What do I use after Assimil, or other course?". The answer is "It depends". Myself, I don't have to worry about that as I use a multi-track approach with comprehensible input simultaneously with a course. You can follow my signature link at the bottom of this post for more ideas.

At your present stage, you may want to try to see if you can decipher a short, not too complicated, text. A 280 character tweet or a Bible verse you may know well could work. Or, you may want to challenge yourself with a song at lyricstraining.

The thing is, using a course will help you to gain a foundation but you will need to build on that foundation. Many learners who just use a course and then "dive into native materials" are shocked to discover that the language is not the same as the course language. Sometimes it can send them into a tailspin and they think they need more courses to solve the problem. This can lead them to never leave course world. It is a good idea to have a good bilingual dictionary, electronic or physical, and a good basic grammar in your toolbox in addition to your course(s).

Courses can only take a learner just so far. Learning a language to a high level means engaging with it on multiple fronts- speaking; listening; writing; reading. The good news is that a learner doesn't have to wait to be perfect to do this. Reading can be done with a parallel text (L2 on the left, L1 on the right)

Français

Voyager : un sport extrême pour les Africains Quand une demande de visa relève du parcours du combattant “Vous ne repartirez pas !” Interdire aux Africains d'entrer dans certains pays n'est pas seulement humiliant, mais souligne également le racisme institutionnel qui sous-tend l'idée qu'il est impossible de faire confiance aux professionnels et aux artistes africains pour se conformer à la loi. L'article 13 de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme stipule que “Toute personne a le droit de quitter tout pays, y compris le sien, et de revenir dans son pays”. Toutefois, en réalité, sans passeport ni visa, il est bien difficile d’exercer ce droit. Et la facilité d'obtenir un visa varie selon la nationalité. Dans le “Henley Passport Index” 2019, qui classe les passeports en fonction du nombre de pays auxquels ils donnent accès, le Japon et Singapour arrivent en tête, tandis que l'Angola, l'Égypte et Haïti se situent aux derniers rangs.

Travel: An extreme sport for Africans Visa applications can feel like a sacrifice to the gods ‘You won't come back!’ Barring Africans from entry into certain countries is not only humiliating — it also highlights the institutional racism that underpins the notion that African professionals and creatives cannot be trusted to obey the law. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” The reality, however, is that without a passport and valid visa, this right cannot easily be exercised. And the ease of getting a visa varies according to nationality. On the 2019 Henley Passport Index, Japan and Singapore hold the top spot for access to most countries, while Angola, Egypt and Haiti are at the bottom.

You can see that the translation is not exact. It conveys the meaning. A text like this can be used in many ways.
1) If a learner were to print it to pdf and put it on a tablet they could expand the French to cover the visible screen and scroll over to the English when difficulty in understanding arises.
2) Read English first then French
3) Use the dictionary to see why language choices were made
4) See how grammar is used and study the grammar with which the learner may not be familiar
5) Learn new vocabulary not in the learner's courses
6) All of the above

Basically, courses are just one part of the learning process. They play a very important role in learning but are not the only tool to use. A learner can engage with native material much earlier than they think, as long as it is comprehensible or can be made to be comprehensible. Making L2 text comprehensible can be done by means of a faithful (preferably human-made) translation; using a dictionary and trying to figure it out for one's self; being familiar with L1 and leveraging that familiarity to aid in understanding L2- e.g.: The Peppa Pig Project.

Yes, Assimil's Using French would be a good course to use after finishing Assimil NFWE but it is not a substitute for engaging with French on a regular basis in the real world. It is also most certainly not a prerequisite for engaging with the language outside of course-world. Also, have a look at emk's post Cheating and Consolidating, where he describes the process in detail.

[Ice Blue]

I'm wondering if my overall goal is to be able to speak French "fluently" what would be the most efficient resource(s) in your personal opinion after Assimil? I've heard, you need jump right into native material but that comment is very broad. I've read jumping into Assimil Using French is a good method. What I am hoping to do once I finish Assimil NFWE is to speak every other day for 1-2 months on iTalki and use a resource or two everyday to help assist with my learning. Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

Hi! What I like to do is indeed go straight for material aimed at natives. I usually try to find a dubbed series (preferably one I've seen before) and watch it in my target language, accompanied with subtitles either in French (my mother tongue) or English. I also watch movies and work on translating songs I really like in my target language. This is usually how I learn my first words in the new language. The next step is finding a translation of a book that I already read before and loved. Reading is something that helped immensely when I was learning English. I'm pretty sure it's reading that really cemented all of my knowledge of the language - coupled with a lot of listening practice.

[lusan]

Welcome.

I think it is doable. I began last November and I reached B1 listening, high A2 speaking, Low B2 reading. How:

1. Assimil....
A lesson 1 day.... with a bunch of repetitions until fully understanding the lesson. No Active wave. Lesson relistening nicely done will walking the dog
2. Anki all basic words.... Get from frequency table or back of Assimila book.... they will be about 2000 actives words ...
2 Anki sets: Active (L1-L2) and passive (L2-L1). Active cards ONLY for the words that you want to use... take advantage of cognates the rest to passive. A good book is Essential French grammar by Seymour Resnick.
3. Basic Grammar book. Make Anki cards for rules examples ONLY and verbs forms. Anki cards for all basic verbs in present tense and the Compose. They are about 50 basic verbs. Use cloze deletion techniques.
4. Listen at least 30 min of Ballades... Intensive listening and reading...All unknown to Passive card set.
5. Watch one Buffy episode a day. Do not worry much about not understanding everything. Just stick to it for 200 or more hours.
6. Read 30 min minimum.... But be careful.
7. Listening is fundamental and more important, in my opinion, than speaking. Watch out with reading. I suspect that it could become an obstacle to understand spoken language. I believe that spoken french is different than the written one.

Drop Italki. Join a French table or Meetup group and get to speak for free. After finishing Assimil, jump right into FSI Basic French. 2 hours per day will do marvel to speaking. Much better that Italki lessons.

It will take, of course, 4-5 hours every day. It worked for me. Of course, I speak Spanish which helps a lot. These are just my opinions. Good luck,