5 steps to make the most of any French materials

The secrets of a slow, targeted and efficient language practice

You’re making a lot of efforts to learn French through materials you love, but do you know how to make the most of them?

One of my biggest frustrations as both a teacher and a language learner is when I see learners put in so much time in their study but with little result. They take weekly conversation classes, they participate in language exchange groups, they study their Anki cards, and fill in chapters after chapters in their grammar books.

That’s cool, at first.

You can see your progress clearly, at first.

Each conversation class is an opportunity to grow your confidence, conquer your shyness with the language, and improve your understanding of the language.

And then, suddenly, it stops.

You don’t always see it happening, because it takes a while for the ego to recognize that something’s shifted. You want to succeed so much that it’s difficult to accept that you’re currently slowing down your learning curve.

This is what happens when you reach an intermediate plateau (Read more about it here)

Your brain has developed enough strategies to fulfill your primary needs: to communicate. Simply speaking more won't help you speak better. (Read also: Speaking more doesn't mean speaking better)

What will help then, you may wonder. Well, I’m about to tell you.

Slow down and include targeted practice in your learning routine.

It means that instead of trying to speak as much and as fast as you can in French, instead you’re going to slow down and really pay attention to your form.

When you think about it, it’s also what you would do to progress in tennis, swimming, dancing, yoga, weight-lifting… really, in anything.

The second part of it is targeted practice, which involves focusing on specific aspects of the language. It could be certain expressions you wish to integrate and use, sentence structures, or grammatical concepts.

When you hit the intermediate plateau, simply learning grammar rules and drilling their use through exercises won’t cut it. The same with repeating words off flashcards : you have to make them meaningful for you. AKA you have to use them in order to relate your stories, your desires, your fears, your opinions… You must express your authenticity whilst using the structures and words you wish to remember.

It requires a bit of preparation but here’s my proven method. Just for information, if you’re wondering why the heck you should take it from me, I’m a certified language teacher with a +20 years of experience. I kinda know what I’m talking about :)

STEP ONE

Select your study material based on what's important to you: talking about life, its meaning, your beliefs, your desires, wellbeing, etc.

I love using self-reflective materials such as podcasts, texts or youtube channels about life, happiness, relationships, etc because they are always highly personal, even more so than movies or series.

Disclaimer : make sure that the material is short enough so you’re not completely overwhelmed, but challenging enough so you’re not completely bored.

STEP TWO

Before watching or listening or reading, start by journaling in French (or another language if you’re using this method for another language you’re learning) your opinions, your thoughts on the topic, what you think it’s going to be about, how you perceive the topic at this stage of your life, what it makes you think of, etc.

STEP THREE

Then, while watching the video, reading the text or listening to the podcast, take note of the words and expressions that catch your attention.

It's not necessary to write everything down and remember everything: trust your brain to know what it needs. But make sure that when you write them down, you also write the accompanying words and prepositions. For instance, if you see “je m’étais rendue compte que je n’avais rien compris à la vie”, you might want to copy all of it. (Disclaimer : this is a fictional sentence from a fictional journal I may or may not have written when I was younger).

STEP FOUR

With this list of words and expressions + with the new ideas discussed in your material, write again in your journal making it more personal this time : what did you think? do you agree or disagree? how does it apply to your life? what reflection on yourself does this material prompt you to have?

The targeted practice here involves integrating the new words, the new sentence structures into your writing exercise, to already signal to your brain that you are capable of using them right away.

These are no longer just words on a list. You create an intimate relationship with these words. You give them personal and emotional significance and importance. They become "your words”.

STEP FIVE

Finally, share your new thoughts out loud.

When you do this, you activate the "oral" part of your targeted practice. Written words are very powerful, and you have already established the base, but once you say them with your voice, you complete the process of making the words your own.Now, these are the words you say and that you are capable of using in conversations, every day.

You can speak out loud in your living room or in front of a mirror (perfect for body language development and confidence!). You can also record your voice with a voice-recording app. Or you can do it in front of a real human if you dare! (The introvert in me doesn’t dare, except if it’s a teacher)

There you have it, that's my secret method that allows me to learn any language I want in my way, with compassion and fun, while growing more self-aware in more languages :)

And it's also the method that I apply in French Awareness, my hybrid 1:1 program that helps intermediate French learners go beyond the intermediate plateau.

Except that instead of being all alone and having to prepare everything, everything has been designed for you and you just have to focus on what's really important : your progress.

Joining the program helps you save time, money, frustration and you get the essential human guidance and feedback to help you advance your results faster and better.

The next edition start on Saturday, May 4th! Enrollments are currently open until this Thursday May 2nd, but spots are limited. Check out the program right here and it it resonates, join us!

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