Advice for French Students

Hello French Students!

First of all, congratulations on studying French! Whether you are doing so by choice or by requirement, the experience of learning any foreign language can be extremely rewarding and self-enriching. However, learning a foreign language, as you know, has its challenges. Try to think about the way you learned your native language as a child. Chances are, you probably don’t remember anyone teaching it to you, and you probably have the impression that it was quite an effortless process. And you would be absolutely right: babies/young children don’t need language instruction to learn a native language – they just acquire it naturally through exposure. No matter what the language is (French, English, Chinese, Arabic, Mongolian, Zulu, etc.), all normal children learn their first languages easily and rapidly.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a “harder,” “more complex,” or “more logical” language. The fact is, we are not babies anymore, so of course learning a new language will be different, and it is likely that the less of a baby you are (the older you are) and the less the new language resembles your native language, the more challenging it will be. Nevertheless, many people continue to think silly things like “Spanish is simpler than French” or “French is more refined than German.” This is absolutely false. The impression an individual has about a new language has nothing to do with the innate nature of the language but, again, with the degree to which the language differs from his/her native language and possibly other factors such as age, quantity and quality of exposure to the new language, the ideas the individual has about the people who speak the language, and the motivation he/she has for learning it.

“No language or variety of a language (called a dialect) is superior to any other in a linguistic sense. Every grammar is equally complex and logical and capable of producing an infinite set of sentences to express any thought. If something can be expressed in one language or one dialect, it can be expressed in any other language or dialect. It might involve different means and different words, but it can be expressed. No grammar, therefore no language, is either superior or inferior to any other. Languages of technologically undeveloped countries are not primitive or ill formed in any way.” - Victoria Fromkin & Robert Rodman, An Introduction to Language, sixth edition, pp. 14-15

That said (and back to the topic) the best advice I can give French students is:

1) EXPOSE YOURSELF. Immerse yourself as much as possible in the language. Do all you can to read, write, speak, and hear the language. Be creative about it – you don’t necessarily need to travel to France to get better at French. There are plenty of resources available for you on the Internet. For example, tune into some French radio while you are cleaning your room – this will help you get more used to the sounds of French, even if you don’t understanding what’s being said. Exchange a few (or more) French words when chatting with a fellow French classmate, or try leaving an away message in French. Every little bit helps!

2) MOTIVATE YOURSELF. Maybe French isn’t your favorite subject – maybe you’re into math, music, art, cooking, or movies. So find a way to make French more fun and meaningful for yourself by exploring how it relates to your true interests. Do a project on a French mathematician, analyze a piece of French art and learn some new art terminology in French, try to prepare a French dish by first translating the original French recipe into English, watch your all-time favorite movie with French subtitles and/or audio. Just find a way to make it more enjoyable for you!

3) MAKE CONNECTIONS. Make connections between what you learn and what you already know. For example, make connections between the French language and the English language (I assume the majority of visitors to this site speak English as their main language). How do they compare and how do they contrast? Luckily, French and English, both coming from the same language family (the Indo-European language family), have a lot in common, especially in vocabulary. The verb “vouloir” does not appear to have much in common with its English equivalent “to want,” but it shares roots with other related English words such as “volunteer,” “voluntary,” and “volition.” Make connections between Francophone cultures and Anglo-Saxon cultures. How are the foods different? How about sports and politics? You are much more likely to learn new information better if you take the time to make sense of how it connects to you and your existing ideas about and knowledge of the world.

Of course, there are other factors that may influence how well you learn a language (e.g. how your teacher teaches, what classroom materials you use, what your classmates are like, what time of day you have French class, etc.), but I think the key ideas I listed above are the ones that students can have the most control over and are best able to use to their advantage.