Hello and welcome to this video! Today, I'm going to give you a step-by-step plan for learning French effectively. If you are watching this video, it is because you want to progress in French, but perhaps you do not know where to start or how to organize your learning of French.
So today, I'm going to give you a simple and effective method to structure your French learning and finally make progress. No matter your level of French, this video is made for you and if you want to know your level of French, I have created a free quiz that allows you to assess your level of French in less than 10 minutes. I'll put the link in the info bar.
By the way, if we don't know each other, I'm Elsa. I was born and raised in France and on this Youtube channel, I teach you French in a fun and authentic way so if you are learning French, don't hesitate to subscribe to the channel and we'll start with the video. I know that for many of you, learning French is a leisure activity, it's a hobby so don't panic, today I'm not going to tell you that to progress in French, you have to follow an ultra-strict schedule or spend 3 hours a day studying French.
No! On the other hand, if you really want to progress, there is one essential thing to understand: regularity is the key. Learning a language is not about talent, but about regular exposure.
The more you are exposed to French, the more your brain will integrate it naturally. And if you manage to expose yourself a little bit every day, that's what will make the biggest difference to your level. The objective is not to do a lot at once, but to be constant, to be regular.
It is better to do 10 minutes a day rather than 1 hour once a week. To stay consistent, I advise you to plan ahead and decide in advance, when are you going to do French? For example, every morning at 9 a.
m. Where are you going to study French? For example, on public transport on the way to work.
And for how long are you going to study French? And I recommend you start small with 10-15 minutes. I advise you to block out a fixed slot in your day, in your schedule, to make it a habit.
The more automatic it is, the more regular you will be. And if you want more practical advice, I made a video on how to integrate French into your daily routine. I'll leave it to you right here.
Now that you have defined where and when you are going to practice your French, there remains an essential question. What are you going to do during your practice time? The answer depends, of course, on your level, but there is a very important idea to remember.
Up to an intermediate or even advanced level, understanding should be your priority. Why? Because it is by listening and reading regularly that you will assimilate the language, that you will acquire the language in a natural and intuitive way without having to memorize endless lists of vocabulary.
To progress effectively, it is important to expose yourself to French as much as possible, but be careful not to do so randomly. The ideal is to consume content that is a little above your current level. If it's too easy, you'll get bored and you won't progress.
If it's too difficult, you'll feel frustrated and discouraged. So you need to find content just above your current level, challenging enough to allow you to learn new things, but not too difficult to avoid frustration. And this content will be understandable thanks to the context, thanks to the images, thanks to the sounds, thanks to the tone of voice, gestures, intonation.
You will be able to guess the meaning of what you read and what you hear. This is actually what we call comprehensible input. It is also very important that the content you consume is interesting to you.
The more you enjoy what you listen to and read, the more receptive your brain will be to information and will remember easily. Our brains naturally filter out information that it deems useless or boring, so if the content you're watching doesn't interest you, you'll memorize much more slowly. Whereas if you are passionate about the content, you will memorize it effortlessly and faster.
For example, if you love cooking, watch recipe videos in French or if you like sports, read articles or watch interviews with French-speaking athletes. The important thing is to link your learning to your interests. To summarize so far, you need to practice French regularly and consume content just above your current level in relation to your interests.
And a tip to progress even faster: read and listen at the same time. Look for content that also offers a written transcription, such as a video with subtitles or a podcast with a transcription. And read the text while you listen to the audio.
It's a magical combination for memorizing vocabulary, integrating sentence structures, and developing a sense for what sounds natural in French. The question now is: where can you find content at the right level for you, just above your current level? And I think YouTube is an incredible resource.
On YouTube, you can find videos on a multitude of subjects and the big advantage of video is that it combines sound and image, which makes it easier to understand. In addition, many videos are accompanied by subtitles which is very useful for learners, to be able to read and listen at the same time. When you're starting out and up to an intermediate level, I recommend that you prioritize content intended for learners.
I advise you to watch videos that have been designed especially for French learners, like the videos on my YouTube channel. In these videos, I speak more slowly, I articulate more clearly and I also incorporate elements into the video to help you understand better. And good news, I'm not the only one doing this.
There are many creators on YouTube who create content specifically for people learning French and who offer varied and interesting content, so take advantage of it! Little additional tip: I advise you to practice active listening. Listening to French passively on the move or while cleaning is a good habit to get into, but if you want to progress more quickly and really improve your understanding, it is essential, in my opinion, to integrate active listening sessions during which you will listen more actively to the content.
You're really going to focus on what you're hearing. You may read the transcript of the video or podcast. You will take the time to study certain sentence structures and look up certain vocabulary words.
So do, for the most part, passive listening, but try to integrate active listening sessions from time to time to progress more quickly. It’s this mix of active and passive listening that will make all the difference. Once you understand the videos for learners well, once you have reached an intermediate level, in comprehension at least, it is time to expose yourself to native content, that is to say, content that has been created for French speakers.
YouTube once again remains an excellent option for this transition towards more authentic content, content for native speakers, because YouTube videos are often more accessible and shorter than films and series in French, which are often too complicated and which can therefore discourage you. If you're looking for recommendations for YouTube channels to watch in French, I also made a video on the subject that I leave you right here. You can also listen to podcasts in French if that format suits you better.
The important thing is to find content that motivates you to practice regularly. If you have reached an intermediate level of understanding, you may have already found yourself in this situation where you understand my videos and those of other YouTubers who teach French, but as soon as you listen to a conversation between native speakers or watch a video or a film, a series for native speakers, everything becomes blurry. It's a bit like it's another language!
So, don't worry, it's completely normal. In fact, it's because standard French is very different from spoken French. In spoken French, we swallow syllables, we delete words, we shorten words, we modify grammar rules, colloquial language and slang are omnipresent.
For example, instead of saying "I don't know what he wants", we'll say "Hey, not what he wants". Instead of saying "there's a nice film at the cinema", we'll say "There's a nice film at the cine". Instead of saying “What are you doing this afternoon?
”, we will say “Kestu fait st’aprem? ” I also made an entire video on the subject that I will leave you here. So, if you have reached an intermediate, intermediate/advanced level in comprehension, I advise you to practice understanding colloquial French.
The objective is to move from “I understand standard French” to “I understand French as it is spoken in everyday life”. This is exactly what I teach you in my Master French Comprehension course, where we decipher French as it is spoken by native French people. So if you want to finally understand French, this course is for you and I'll leave you with all the details in the info bar.
I summarize so far. We said that to progress in French, the key is regularity and exposure to the language. You need to expose yourself to content just above your current level to continue progressing without feeling frustrated.
When you're starting out and up to an intermediate level, prioritize content created for French learners and once you've reached an intermediate level of comprehension, move on to native content and practice understanding colloquial French. Now I would like to talk about two important points: grammar and vocabulary. How to study grammar?
In my opinion, grammar should be a support for your learning and not the central point, as is often the case in traditional teaching. By regularly exposing yourself to French, thanks to varied content, you will naturally integrate sentence structures, grammatical structures and you will develop a sense for what sounds natural. For example, without necessarily learning the grammar rules by heart, you will end up knowing instinctively that we say "Je suis allé" and not "J'ai allé" or that after "it is necessary that" you must use the subjunctive.
But to go further and to clarify certain grammar rules after having observed them in context, I think that a grammar manual can be a good tool to read the grammar rules and do some small exercises to integrate them well. I can recommend a manual for you. I have this one that I use, it's "La grammaire du français" from Éditions Hachette, which I find very good, so I'll also leave you a link in the info bar if you're interested.
Regarding vocabulary, how to memorize vocabulary? Many learners try to learn lists of isolated vocabulary words, organized by theme and translated into their native language, but in reality the words are never used alone. They take on their full meaning in specific sentences and contexts.
To better memorize vocabulary, I recommend that you always review it in context, that is to say integrated into sentences. And don't try to remember vocabulary words or learn them by heart! By seeing and hearing them in different contexts, you will assimilate them naturally and effortlessly.
If you want to review your vocabulary more actively, here's what you can do: write the word in a complete sentence. Writing helps memorization. Write it down in a notebook or app, but instead of writing the word alone, use it in a sentence that makes sense to you.
You can use apps like Quizlet or Anki that allow you to review vocabulary using the spaced repetition method, a method that allows you to review words at regular intervals to better anchor them in your memory. And here too, favor complete sentences rather than isolated words. And again, don't waste your time trying to learn these phrases or words by heart.
If you are exposed to French regularly, the words will eventually imprint themselves naturally in your memory, without you needing to make unnecessary effort. We talked a lot in this video about understanding, which should be your priority until you reach an intermediate, intermediate-advanced level, but to finish, I would still like to talk a little bit about oral expression, since when you learn a language, the goal is to be able to express yourself in that language. But often, when we learn a language, we try to speak too soon, which pushes us to translate from our mother tongue.
Result: we make mistakes, we get used to these mistakes and then it becomes difficult to get rid of them. I therefore advise you to wait until you have an intermediate level before starting to actively practice oral expression, beyond of course short sentences to get by when traveling in France, for example. At this stage, at this intermediate level, you already master a lot of vocabulary passively, passive vocabulary that you can recognize when you hear it or read it.
To improve your speaking skills, it is important to transform your passive vocabulary into active vocabulary, which you can use when speaking and writing. For that, there is no secret, you have to practice and you have to talk and you will therefore have to overcome your fear of making mistakes and being ridiculous, but getting started will be easier once understanding is well mastered. Some suggestions for practicing speaking: speak to yourself, talk about your day out loud, summarize a video you have just watched, express your opinion on a subject.
You can also use the shadowing technique, which consists of repeating and imitating a person at the same time and of course, you can find a conversation partner on a site like italki or tandem. If you want more details on these different techniques, I also made a video on the subject, which I will leave you in the info bar with all the videos and resources mentioned in this video. In summary, to learn French effectively, your action plan is as follows: plan your learning, decide in advance where, when and for how long you are going to practice your French and try to do it every day.
Regularity is essential to progress. Prioritize understanding by choosing content adapted to your level, neither too easy nor too difficult and gradually integrate oral practice once you have reached an intermediate level. Tell me in the comments where you are in your French learning and if you have any other tips to share.
I also remind you that I have created a free quiz to allow you to assess your level of French in less than 10 minutes. You can do it by clicking here and I'll see you soon for the next video. And in the meantime, good luck with your French learning.
See you soon!
