Once you are past the tasks of learning basic French sounds, as well as some basic vocabulary and grammar, two new tasks appear before you in a French Intensive course. The first is to speak, the second is to understand. They are both challenging and call on completely different skills. Comprehension, our topic here, lies at the very core of acquiring a new language. What then, are the steps which can facilitate and accelerate your progress in understanding French natives? It is useful to recognize the various levels we go through as we move from absolute non-understanding to full knowledge and command of a language.
First you hear a wall of unfamiliar and absolutely incomprehensible sounds. As your familiarity increases, you begin to hear individual syllables and words. You can imitate them, but they have no meaning for you. Next you begin to hear a small percentage of individual words which you do understand. You still have no idea what the overall conversation is about. Next you hear enough words and phrases to piece the basic meaning of what you hear. This is probably the most exciting stage: you have pierced the sound matrix and your brain is turning it into meaningful communication. In the next stage, you are able to hear all the words and you clearly understand the conversation. Finally, you not only catch the basic meaning, but also understand the humor, the subtelties and the implied meaning of the speakers.
How do you speed up this process? Obviously, the more grammar and vocabulary you know, the more likely you are to understand what is being said. So keep expanding your knowledge. But what surprises and often discourage French students is the insane speed of native speech and their own inability to understand anything. Here are suggestions to develop your comprehension systematically.
- If at all possible, try to get a general idea of the topic of the conversation or recording you are about to listen to beforehand. Even ask someone if it is feasible: ” What are you/ they talking about?” This will make it much easier to know what is going on. Is the conversation about dating or about chemical disposal?
- When you actually start to listen, breathe and relax. Make yourself comfortable and get ready to catch whatever words or phrases you can. Stay fully in the moment and focused. French Zen!
- The key point is this. Stay with the word that is being spoken right now. Do not attempt to track, analyze, translate or talk to yourself. If you do, your concentration will break and you will not hear what is being said. So keep your attention out there. Imagine singing an old-time sing-along movie song or being at a Karaoke. Stay with the bouncing ball no matter what! Don’t think! Just relax breathe and listen. The more you do this, the more you will begin to understand, and the easier it will become to do so. So once again, stay with the words as they are being spoken and let you brain begin to put them together. The moment you stop to think or translate anything, you will lose the next sentence or three. This actually happens when you are not paying attention to someone who is speaking to you in English: “Hmmm? What did you just say?”
- If possible, listen to the same conversation 3 or 4 times.
- Recordings – where the natives speak at normal speed - which are accompanied by a written version of the text in French and English are really useful in developing your confidence and your comprehension.
These simple suggestions will definitely help you progress in your comprehension of French, so that your Intensive French experience can be a pleasurable and profitable one. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments at info@focuslanguage.com. You can also visitmy website: www.FocusLanguage.com.
copyrignt 2009 Jean-Paul Setlak
French and English have much in common, especially on the level of vocabulary. They are more distant when it comes to pronunciation. English is fundamentally a Germanic language, and its sound system reflects it. French comes almost completely from Latin, though, on the level of pronunciation, it was also influenced by the Germanic tribes which invaded Gaul (France) in the early Middle Ages. (Remember that the Franks who gave France its name came from Germany.) The famous French "R", "EU and "U" are really Germanic sounds.
So how can you maximally improve your pronunciation in French? The following ideas are meant for beginners, but they can really be applied at any level.
- Immerse yourself in the sound and sounds of the language. Listen to French
One of the most crucial and yet elusive tasks at hand when you are learning a Foreign Language is to develop your comprehension in a systematic way. Just exposing yourself to the language will not do it, or we would all learn French simply by walking around the streets of Paris. Yet, you originally learned English without knowing any other language. What made it possible? Well, for one thing, you had nothing but time on your hands laying in your crib or screaming in your playpen. You also had a good staff (Mom and Dad) taking care of your basic needs and wants, allowing you to focus on understanding what was going on around you, and learning communicate with the locals. It still took
One of the most challenging things for most people learning French is to actually speak it. This is especially important when you are in an Intensive French course and demands are constantly made on you. So, are there ways to make this easier? Naturally! It is first useful to remember that much of your learning integration is done when you are alone. And fortunately, there are quite a few things you can do by yourself which will gradually develop your confidence and your abilities.
- Practice reading outloud. It improves your pronunciation and your confidence when you speak. This proves vital when you are trying to engage in a conversation with someone.
- Make a list of 20
Leave a reply