Sarafina wrote:Thank you so much. Would you suggest that I get rid of subtitles all entirely or is it okay to use French subtitles if the video I watch has that option? I've found some TV series in French that I enjoy watching and I have already started watching it. But I wonder if there's any other supplementary listening comprehension activities I should be doing. So I already watch each episode and I try to concentrate as intensely as possible. But should I try to transcribe what I say? Do I need to listen to any episode for than once?
Yes, get rid of the subtitles. Without them, you will really practice listening, not reading. Whether you get rid of thim a bit later or earlier is not such a big deal, in my opinion. If you spend a few hundred hours on listening, it doesn't matter whether you use subtitles for 10 or 20. But not much longer, there are lots and lots of people who get stuck with subtitles. It is extremely common for English learners. I know lots of people who can watch with English subtitles, but never progress from there, as they simply cannot stand the initial "shock".
"Trying to concentrate as intensely as possible" is not what I would recommend. You are trying to immerse yourself in the language, not become a Jedi. Concentrate on the content. Get stuff you are interested in and concentration will be much easier.
Transcription is impossible at full speed. And anything but full speed is not enough. So, I don't recommend transcription, unless you are able to type very fast. But even then, it partially removes the advantages of extensive listening, as you focus on typing a lot instead of focusing on what is being said and how it is being said.
What IS a good exercise, even though I definitely wouldn't do it for too long time, otherwise you are no longer practicing listening: repeating after the actors. Repeating the sentence, the tone, the accent, even the mimics if it helps. That is a nice exercise for an intermediate or advanced learner, from my experience. Such phrases are not unlikely to emerge automatically, when you need them.
Rewatching is possible but I personally don't do that. One of the main points of a series, compared to movies, is the fact stuff gets repeated. And already knowing the series in question helps a lot, so it is not that needed to rewatch anything.
I can transcribe a video (<5min) for you! I've always enjoyed a good dictée.
The other option of course would be to have people just directly check your transcription with the video.
A dictée is a very good exercise for various things, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for listening practice. There are good sites with dictées online, and I find them very useful for stuff like ortograph. But the audio is slower. But in general, dictées are great. But almost impossible at full speed, as I wrote above.
Sarafina wrote:I've created a listening timetable/schedule based on the advice given. If there's any gaps or areas in my listening schedule that you feel I'm neglecting, please let me know. I just want to know if it's long the right lines. Further criticism is more than welcome.
-To watch a video from 7jours YouTube channel which I think is part of TV5monde. Each video is a different interview about a specific topic. It's really interesting and informative. It has French subtitles. This can be part of my intensive listening practice in which I make sure that I understand the grammatical constructions and vocabulary. Then repeating it over and over again without looking at the French subtitles.
-Listen at least of one episode of a Franceculture podcast
-To binge-watch TV series in French: I am currently watching Marseille, The Break and Call My Argent (which are available on Netflix with relatively accurate French subtitles). I'll be watching those shows with French subtitles.
However for TV series such as Le Monde Incroyable de Gumball, LA FORÊT DE L’ÉTRANGE, Adventure Time and ATLA, I am currently watching those shows without any subtitles as well as write a summary/review of what I watched. Although I wish I could do it for each TV series I watch- I am aiming to write at least one summary each day and record myself discussing what I thought about it.
-To transcribe a video from Le Monde YouTube channel. It's challenging because they don't have subtitles that I can double check without. Maybe after I've finished my attempt to a transcription. I would ask on Italki if anyone is willing to transcribe the video although I don't know if many people (if any) will be willing to do this.
-To transcribe videos from a playlist I created on YouTube which is a random complication of French videos I've liked. Thankfully all of them have French subtitles that I can use to double check.
-Follow along French audio-books on my to-read list (which are L'Étranger, Madame Bovary, Candide ou l'Optimisime, Les fleures du mal)
-I try to listen various French youtubers mainly Cyprus North, Golden Moustache, Ginger Force, Le Tatou and Squeezie. My plan to listen to each video at least 3 times. First time to enjoy it with the French subtitles. Then note down any unknown words (eventually look out the meaning and add to Anki). Then watch without any subtitles as many times as my patience will be allow it. Is this order right?
-I am on the second episode of Balados which is a French Canadian podcast about Canadian history. It's over an hour long. It's not so something I can do everyday but I can listen to it on the Friday, Wednesday and the weekends
-To to listen to Journal en français facile by Savoir.rfi
(I have two French tutors on Italki. One is heavily centred on helping to pass my IB HL French oral exam which I need to do extremely well in. The other is just to get some French speaking practice that isn't centred around passing a specific exam. French B HL is meant to be the equivalent of a B2 (although there's some dispute about that). I can comfortably take a B2 reading paper. When I looked at some sample C1 reading paper- I understood most of it. However my listening is at B1. The disparity between my reading ability and my listening is probably the most frustrating because I understand almost everything when I then read the transcription which makes me kick myself at how I sometimes struggle transfer my knowledge of those words to understanding/recognising them when they are spoken).
This looks like a good plan. But the disparity between reading and listening is significant and that is exactly why I recommend extensive listening without any writing activity connected to it. Your list of activities looks very good at the B1 level, I am sure you will progress fast to the more advanced stuff. When you are trying to get to C1, it will be time to get rid of vast majority of stuff labeled "facile" "for learners" and so on.
What I may not have recommended enough: while I recommend pure listening, I am in no way saying other activities won't help it. Improving grammar or vocabulary in general, reading, all that helps too and your listening skills will draw from that.
Audio books are a very good option at the B1 level, as they are slower, read by one person, and that one person was chosen because they can read in a beautiful way. However, I think your choice of books may be a bit problematic, at least if you read only classics. Variety is necessary and the more, if you want to use contemporary French. Classics are great, but today's authors are a must. And lower genres, which I don't know whether you like, are an excellent resource on various registers that classics usually don't include. The problem is getting the audiobooks, due to stupid geoblocking, I suppose the classics are easier to get.
edit:found a mistake