Paroles en situations

I've found one relatively new book to be very useful for my studies in French. It has six "dossiers"

1 Écouter des annonces dans les lieux publics
2 Écouter des messages sur des répondeurs téléphoniques
3 Écouter des messages d'accueil sur des serveurs vocaux
4 Interagir au téléphone en situation d'urgence
5 Obtenir des renseignements par téléphone
6 Interagir dans des lieux publics

VERY practical.



One of the problems I've always faced is attuning my ears to spoken French. I might be able to cope in France if everyone wrote down what they say (in legible handwriting) - but the speed of the spoken languages is often too fast for "a bear of very little brain" like myself. 'Paroles en situations' works through a number of situations - with exercises which focus on different parts of the conversation in turn. There are 'transcriptions' of each 'conversation'. It is that in-depth, repeated interaction which I have found so useful. The book also contains a link to the Hachette website which allows one to load the activities on to a computer. I use both the book and the computer exercises.

Drill Books

Even the name is uninviting - but can 'drill books' help learn a language?

Rote learning has always had its advocates - but for many of us, it has had little impact in the long term. I remember writing out verb tables many, many times whilst at school. Yet I can still struggle to remember the correct conjugation for even familiar verbs. Similarly attempting to memorise vocab lists has consumed a lot of time - with limited success.

The key to success seems to be intelligent use of the individual words and forms used. The ability to recite verb and vocab tables is of itself of little use - it is being able to manipulate the information to create new phrases that is key. That's one of the reasons that I've found Duolingo so effective. Each time I do an session I am required to solve problems - translation; applying the appropriate endings; drawing on the database of vocab stored in my head. Each practice strengthens the links within the brain - making it easier and easier to solve the problems in the future - until one has gained fluency.

Drill books are designed to do this too. The application of the rules - helps "bed down" the rules in one's brain until they become second nature. I find it useful when doing the exercises to vocalise the sentences I am also writing.

There are a number of Drill books available - from various publishers. I've being using the series "Practice Makes Perfect" series from McGraw-Hill.







Similar drill books are available in other languages

The Duolingo Challenge

While I mentioned Duolingo in a post in my series on tools to learn French - there are many other languages available.

One of the ways to encourage your regular use of this tool is to challenge your friends. The 'league table' so created is based not on language or level - but the number of sessions you take in a week. So, if a friend is pretty strong in another language, say Spanish, you can still compete with them - and beat them by practising more.

You are welcome to challenge me - or put in a more positive way, to be my friend.

 I am "David744736" on Duolingo.

French Films

Another way of attuning your ears to the French language (or any other language for that matter) - is to watch French language films. Some are broadcast on French TV (see earlier posts on French TV and TV5 Monde.)

Some cinemas will show French language films - and Ciné lumière at the Institut français in South Kensington regularly puts on new and older films. Each year there is a French Film Festival UK involving cinemas across the country. Details of the 2017 festival will be available here.

DVDs are available in shops, especially HMV and language bookshops (see the post on bookshops and on learning French). They can also be ordered through online retailers such as Amazon.



The BFI Player also has some French classics.

Subtitles are very useful - both English (so you link the two languages - and the more you watch films, the more able you are to distinguish literal translations with those giving 'the gist' of what is being said. Reading French subtitles with a French film can be helpful in reinforcing the recognition of particular words.

Do have a look through your 'English' DVD collection - you may be able to listen to the French audio feed, and/or French subtitles.

Duolingo

I noted the advice in Gabriel Wyner's book "Fluent Forever"  to "used spaced repetition systems" (not the sexiest of titles). There are a number of apps available that allow you to make your own. As a former law student (and Law Lecturer), I have used, and encouraged the use of "case cards" for revision. When I was at University - they had to be done manually - but now computers enable you to have these helpful revision tools - AND to set up a 'spaced repetition system'.

There is great value in making your own - and as you'll see in future posts - I believe strongly in the value of making one's own revision material - it is actually one of the most important stages in revision - and much value disappears if you rely on someone else's pre-manufactured revision material.

But there is one SRS that I (and other members of my family) use on a daily basis - and it comes in a free app.

Duolingo is (in the words of Wikipedia) "a free language-learning platform that includes a language-learning website and app, as well as a digital language proficiency assessment exam. Duolingo offers all its language courses free of charge. As of November 2016, the language-learning website and app offer 66 different language courses across 23 languages; with 22 additional courses in development. The app is available on iOS, Android and Windows 8 and 10 platforms with about 120 million registered users across the world."

I use it primarily to learn French - but also to build up a smattering of German, Spanish and Italian.

You set yourself a goal - There are four levels

- Casual (one exercise a day)
- Regular (two exercises a day)
- Serious (three exercises a day)
- Insane (five exercises a day)

Each exercise earns you 10 xp (points). The first day you achieve your goal begins a run (in Duolingo-speak - a 'streak'. That streak grows every subsequent day that you achieve your goal. I am currently on a 68 day streak. Forget to do your daily dose of Duolingo, and the streak ends and you have to start again. The fear of ending my streak acts as an increasingly effective motivator. (Of course, it also creates a habit - and that is vital for language learning).

The XPs are 'banked' - so I currently have 266 Lingots, which I can spend. That may be for outfits for my character (Formal attire, Champagne Tracksuit), but that is of no interest to me. I can also buy "Bonus Skills" - or attempt to double a five lingo waver by maintaining a seven day streak. But for me, the most useful is insurance against being unable to achieve my goal on any day. "Streak Freeze" allows my run to remain in place for one full day of inactivity. So all is not lost (if 'purchased' - using the lingots earned).

You can also compete with friends. NOT on the basis of your progress in a particular language, but on the amounts of XPs gained during that week. So you can compete against a friend studying a different language, at a very different level. If you are competitive, it provides another aid to continuing with regular study.

When you start a language in Duolingo there are a number of preset exercises. These take you through the essentials of that language. But when you've completed these - Duolingo keeps on going - it is a spaced repetition system!!! The algorithm notes your progress and increases the complexity of the exercises. This enable you to make progress, whilst reinforcing what you have already learnt.

I've found Duolingo useful because it has forced me to take note of and apply the rules of grammar. Eventually the application of grammar rules and sentence structure becomes automatic. Words and phrases are sounded - which aids listening skills, and you have to say some words - developing speaking skills (if it doesn't sound right, Duolingo forces you to repeat.

Do give it a try - it's free - and very effective.

The Duolingo website is https://www.duolingo.com and apps are free in Appstores.

Learning Languages

I was bilingual before I started school. My parents spoke both Welsh and English in our home in Coventry. My mother was asked by my teacher not to speak Welsh to me, as it would hamper my education (actually, when this bit of advice was given it did reflect the state of research at the time - longitudinal studies were to show that any initial disadvantages of being bilingual were overtaken by massive and long term advantages around the age of seven and beyond. Sadly these appeared after the bad advice was given - and acted upon). Yet, half a century later - I still can recognise some Welsh words &  even use some.

You might think that this early upbringing in a bilingual home might help me to learn languages. It hasn't. Later on I did try to relearn Welsh - but didn't do very well. I've also spent 45 years (on and off) trying to learn French. It hasn't been a great success - until recently.

So why has it been so difficult? I think my memories of learning French at school may hold some clues. I remember hours of writing out - again and again - verb tables. Yet I still lack confidence (and ability) in recalling the present tense of verbs, let alone other tenses. I certainly did not enjoy learning French (and it didn't help that my French teacher and I had a major personality clash). I was glad to give up 'French' after passing my O Level (which did require extra lessons from a friend of the family).

Then, at a holiday show in Northampton, we won a coach trip and weekend in Paris. I thought I'd better learn a few useful phrases - and, to my immense surprise, actually got hooked on French and France. While the children were young we spent many happy holidays in France. I developed my reading skills (my idea of paradise is reading Le Monde whilst sitting in warm sunshine slowly drinking a glass of red wine) and can ask for things in shops - but that isn't enough.

I feel that I have made great progress in the last couple of years. In this blog, I'm going to share my experience of what I have found useful. I'd welcome your comments and experiences.

Duolingo - Supporting Language Learning

One of the keys to learning is practising the skill being acquired frequently. Ten minutes a day is often more effective than doing mega-sessions on an occasional basis. Forming habits of regular study is also very important.

There is an app which I have on my iPhone and iPad (and are therefore linked - so I can use either - and my progress is recorded and shared) - called "Duolingo". It's a free app - and there is no subscription. Now, the first thing I do each day is to do my daily practice. You can set your own daily target [Goals can be Casual (10 XP = 1 'unit'); Regular (20 XP); Serious (30 XP) and Insane (50 XP) - but you can exceed your goal - which I try to do - because I can be intensely competitive - ESPECIALLY with myself.] It is addictive - and after two days on a run, you are told how many days you have done. Achieving a run of 100 days was a goal I aimed at - and this motivated me. It felt great to get there. I've now got a new goal - and it keeps me going.

You can also compete against friends. A unit (which only takes a few minutes) earns 10 XP - and there are other ways to increase your score. You can invite friends to join the 'leaderboard' and again that can help by raising the challenge of competition.

You don't have to stick to one language - my main aim at the moment is to develop my French - but ahead of a trip to Hamburg, I want to learn a bit of German. It's easy to switch languages - so my current goals are to do at least three units of French and one of German every day. It doesn't take much time - but time passes, and I can see how my skills are improving. As I say, generating new motivation is key to the Duolingo tool.

There is a large choice of languages available - Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Esperanto, Turkish, Vietnamese, Norwegian, Ukrainian, and Welsh - and the developers are working on more.

Visit the website - https://www.duolingo.com or visit your device's 'app store'.