Coucou les French learners,
c’est l’automne, fall is on its ways!
“Fall is the spring of winter”, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
I miss the beautiful Ilm park in Weimar and the forest in Thuringia, Germany at this time of the year!
Read and listen to this beautiful poem written by Michel Beau.
It is one of the many poems, tales, fables, short stories, biogaphies and articles available when you become a member.
That is all YOU need to acquire French naturellement et avec plaisir ! Based on my experience:
- as a language teacher,
- becoming fluent in Spanish
- and still acquiring German and Portuguese,
here are my 3 tips to become fluent in French. Vous êtes prêts ? are you ready?
LISTEN
When I was attending the Agen conference for language teachers in 2018, Judith Dubois showed this clip to her English learners. It is taken from the movie the 13th warrior and it shows how actor, Antonio Banderas learns the language of his companions after night upon night of listening to their stories. This scene proves the point. FIRST thing is to LISTEN, ECOUTER.
Listen to COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT, meaning input you understand. You don’t need to understand all the details (100%) but you should understand the overall message (80-90% depending how well you tolerate the parts you don’t get). When you understand the message, your brain is subconsciously acquiring the NEW language.
My new series of videos on YouTube is a good starting point to listen with the INTENT to understand. Watch and listen to short and fun stories about Marie and her dog Médor who live in Paris. Every Saturday, listen to a new story. I speak slowly, I draw on the board and I do gestures in order to HELP you understand the story.
The script is available to read when you become a member! PLUS you get to listen to my Dear Man‘s voice reading the script! Watch the video and read & listen to the script or read & listen to the script and watch the video.
Every Wednesday, you can watch and listen to another video explaining a bit of French culture in slow French and with pictures to HELP you understand. Again the scripts read by my Dear Man are available on the membership area.
READ
Next step is to read. Reading in French is challenging because spelling doesn’t match pronunciation. That is why it is SO important to listen a lot at first so you get used to the French pronunciation.
Keep listening to audio books. Léon et Anton written by Theresa Marrama is available to listen to on the membership area. It is perfect for beginners.
Start reading short texts first. Subscribe and get access to hundreds of comprehensible and compelling stories. For as little as 4.75 per month, read AND listen to all kind of stories. There are new stories EACH WEEK so you never get bored!
Read French readers, chapter books written for French learners. Claire Walter was so generous to write and publish for free books in simple French adapted for language learners. Start reading those books because you may already know the stories in your own language so it will be easier for you to follow the story.
#inputaloneissufficient
ENJOY
Acquiring a language is NOT a chore! It is a JOURNEY.
A journey of discoveries, a JOYFUL experience!
Last week I received the best comment ever. A member of the French learners community, Marsha Kelly wrote to me: “I tried Duolingo and the expensive Rosetta Stone. Neither helped. Yours (the membership) is much more useful and fun.”
Find something you enjoy in French. By something I mean find CONTENT you enjoy reading and listening in French. Speaking (and writing) is the RESULT of receiving enough comprehensible and COMPELLING input.
You see, it is SIMPLE: listen, read & enjoy!
#trusttheprocess
Happy French acquisition!
P.S. Got friends, family, colleagues or clients who want to become fluent in French? Share this with them, they’ll thank you for it!