Navigating Your French Learning Journey: Tips for Reluctant and Committed Students

 

Bonjour, dear readers!

In this blog post, I'm going to share my own study experience with you and tell you about the mistakes I made so that you don't make them. I'm going to divide this blog post into two sections! The first section is for students who don't prioritize learning French, but consider it an obligation. They just want to pass their French course with a good grade and move on with their lives. If you're one of them, read section number one only!

Section number two is for students who are really serious and want to progress quickly and learn French effectively because they are interested or invested in it.

But if you want to read both sections and use a mixture of my tips, you're welcome to do that as well.

 

Section One: Effective Study Strategies for Reluctant Learners

1.     Try to concentrate in your French class: I know it can be really boring to focus on a class you're not interested in, but trust me, if you don't, you'll have a lot more work to catch up on later. Take as many notes as you can and write everything down in your textbook so you have everything in one place. This helped me a lot in passing my course. Write down the meaning of the words you don't know, the pronunciation of the words that are difficult for you, and the important points that your instructor shares during the class.

2.     Try to do all the exercises: Do all the exercises that are done in class to get a deeper understanding of the grammar or vocabulary you're supposed to learn. By doing this, you'll have examples of questions right in front of you when you study for a test. I'm not saying that you have to do all the exercises in your workbook to pass a course (although it certainly helps). But do the important ones.

3.     Have weekly study sessions: That's why I asked you to write everything down so you don't forget! Because for an uninterested student, studying a subject on a daily basis can be a pain. That's why I suggest weekly study sessions for you. The exact number of hours you put in is up to you, but generally, that would be enough for you to pass with a good grade. But remember, you can't master a subject by studying weekly!

 In my next blog post, I'll provide a study checklist for those of you who want to get the most out of weekly study sessions!

4.     Don't practice the spelling of the words: Practicing the spelling of the words is not your priority if you just want to forget them later, because most likely you won't use them that much during your course. Personally, I just tried to notice the important words that were repeated a lot and memorize their dictation when I didn't want to put 100 percent of my effort into studying. Of course, this tip will not work for the more demanding courses that have a lot of writing quizzes. So decide for yourself whether you want to use this tip or not! But the general idea behind this tip is this: don't learn what you won't use on your exams and quizzes.

5.     Use your critical thinking skills: Identify the needs and obligations of your course and meet them. For example, when I was taking French courses at the university, it was important to learn how to read in French. So instead of memorizing the pronunciation of certain words, I tried to learn the rules behind those pronunciations and made sure I knew what different letter combinations sounded like. This really set me apart from the rest of the class. YouTube helped me a lot! So if you want to do the same thing, check out my last post to discover some excellent YouTube channels that can help you with your French.

 

Effective Study Strategies for Committed Learners

1.     Learn the things you don't have to: To be great at anything, you have to do more than the bare minimum. So learn extra words, phrases, and verb conjugations and try to use them in your speaking or writing. You'll get feedback that way, too. You can use YouTube channels, learning apps, AI tools, or even learn the words that are in your textbook but are not the focus of the lesson.

2.     Study daily: I know this is hard for even the most motivated students, but try to set aside a small amount of time each day to study. You don't have to study for the same amount each day, on days when you are busy you can study for 10 minutes and do a quick review, and on days when you have more time, you can study more. Just try to make it a habit.

 3.     Learn the unimportant things: Don't just focus on the main points of each lesson, there are lots of things to learn if you really pay attention. Paying attention to the details will set you apart from the rest of the French learners and will make you progress faster in the long run. But always remember your priorities. If you have a limited amount of time to learn the language and reach a certain level, you should definitely focus on the more important things. But if, like me, you have unlimited time, don't rush and enjoy the voyage while you can! 

 4.     Make a study checklist: It's important to plan ahead and not just study aimlessly. You should prioritize your learning based on your own needs. For example, if you have a limited amount of time or just want to learn French for tourist reasons, make a list of the things you need to learn and plan your study sessions based on those skills and topics. I will be sharing a study checklist that I use in my next blog post! So be sure to check it out to get a general idea of what you can do.

 5.      Don't underestimate the basics: You may think it's silly to spend a lot of time practicing something as basic as numbers or the alphabet! But remember, once you learn these things, you'll have to use them for the rest of your life. So don't rush and take your time learning the basics, otherwise, you'll find yourself reviewing the French numbers after months of studying French, just like me! Soon you'll be on to more interesting things, but until then, make sure you've got the basics down and etched in your memory.

So that was it! Stay tuned for more study strategies in the near future! I hope you found these tips helpful, and make sure you use them according to your own needs and priorities! This is the most important tip I can give you, don't mindlessly follow other people's paths, build your own! À bientôt!