 Today, I received three comments on my Facebook page regarding French conversation anxiety, which I'd like to address.
I'm hearing this all the time, and I hope to help you as much as possible with my answers.
If you want me to identify exactly what happens in your case, do contact me to have a chat.
And now, here are the three questions.
(This week: verb ÉCOUTER (to listen) |
1. "I would like to learn how to "think" in French. I mostly need to translate English to French and it slows down the conversation."
Here is the misconception that stops most of us from speaking in a second language. I'm saying "most of us" because I've been dealing with this when I learned English, and I'm dealing with this problem now, as I'm learning Italian and Spanish.
Disclaimer: I'd also like to include other people, whose mother tongue is not English - I have clients whose mother tongue is Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian.
Especially when you learn French through English it is easiest to not resist to think in English. You have 40% of the vocabulary common in both languages - why would you want to avoid this amazing resource? Also, there are expressions and structures in English that you can use in your French sentences.
You just need to know which ones those are. Which ones are your friends, and which ones are 'exceptions'.
Look, thinking in French cannot be a goal. It is always a consequence of speaking too fast and too much, at which point the brain finds a shortcut, and you find yourself thinking in French. It's a side effect.
If you make "thinking in French" your goal, you will end up working longer and harder to get to the point of enough practice that allows you to eventually, naturally think in French.
My advice is this: use your thinking in English, learn a few techniques to help you navigate this smoother (email me, and I'll have a quick crash course with you on your specific challenge), and practice enough - you'll be surprised how quickly you'll end up thinking in French.
2. "I lived in France for one year - never could just speak it although I could understand and order pay and find the toilet :) ."
I'd like to say here that most people wait to learn "enough words and grammar" until they venture to speak the language.
What this does is keeping us in the comfort zone - we learn, do our homework, exercises, we understand well, even enjoy a movie - and the more we get comfortable in this phase, the more we are afraid to start using the language.
Why is that?
Because we will start making mistakes, we sound at a lower level than our theoretical knowledge - and we thought we were over that phase - and we get discouraged.
So, I'll say this:
First, do remember that the part of our brain responsible with the performance of the language (conversation) is completely different from the one that is learning the theoretical information. There's a process and specific techniques to learn to shift the theoretical information in such a way that it becomes available to us when we make conversation (email me, and I'll have a quick crash course with you on your specific challenge).
Second, when you learn the language, don't wait to know "enough" vocabulary and grammar to start making conversation. In my J'Ouellette® Intensif program, I make conversation with my clients in the second lesson. Then all the new vocabulary and grammar is organically integrated in conversation, rather than building resistance and anxiety until the moment comes to apply all we learned.
3. I have an extremely difficult time understanding spoken French.
This looks to be a problem of pronunciation and ear gymnastics.
In French there are rules of pronunciation - not all are found in the free resources, and a coach/tutor is needed for this part, to help.
The rules of pronunciation go hand in hand with the spelling in French. Once you know how to spell and how to pronounce, you have a solid foundation to fall back onto when you don't understand what someone says.
Also, the ear needs training. At the beginning (and this beginning may linger for a while, depending on the consistency of your practice) we don't hear our own mistakes. I've gone through this Hell with my English. It took me 2 years of listening to a CD and practicing every day for about 2 hours to get to the point of hearing when my pronunciation was not right, and to be able to correct myself.
This is why here you definitely need a coach to help you hear your own mistakes.
Once that is done (easily, in a few hours, if coupled with a solid Pronunciation course), you can then be self sufficient and continue advancing your French conversation skills on your own :)
Now it is your turn!
Tell us in the comments below, what is
your challenge when you try to make conversation?
Don't ever give up on your dream to become bilingual - the world needs your enthusiasm when you go to Paris and fully enjoy it!
Want to learn French on your own terms?
Create a solid foundation for conversation,
master pronunciation with
J'Ouellette® Intensif,
and travel the World!
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Llyane Stanfield is a Parisian French language coach, and founder of the J’Ouellette® French Method – an organic method using techniques that are employed by the world’s finest linguists. She travels between Toronto, New York and Paris, while teaching French via Skype in more than 15 countries. She is French language coach for busy traveling professionals, and has produced an unprecedented Intensive Program and French Pronunciation Master Class, as well as other visual and teaching materials. She now spends a large proportion of her time in Paris, where she also organizes an annual Immersion Retreat. Her unique methods produce a quantum leap in confidence and pronunciation, and a short session with her is the perfect start to brush up your French (whatever your level!) at the start of your Paris trip.
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