I'm probably B1ish. Took French in college, forgot most of it, relearned over the last year to about B1.
Reading comprehension: Definitely my strongest, I can read Le Monde and usually look up about a word per sentence on average and understand it all.
Listening comprehension: Comprehend about half of what's said in a podcast like InnerFrench
Speaking ability: Definitely my weakest since I basically never practice it
What are your recommendations for how to spend the next 90 days? I can realistically dedicate probably 2 hours a day on average to anything. I'm thinking some form of virtual lessons from a human and more listening comprehension work.
Listen to music in French, read French books, think in French and make yourself uncomfortable don’t let yourself go back to the language you know at anytime then your natural tendency to want to know will help you learn. That’s why immersion works. But don’t let yourself think in English. If you catch yourself switch back. If someone talks to you in English respond in French. Just pretend any other languages you know don’t exist for yourself.
Yeah I listen to a lot of inner French, but I know that's still much easier than a lot of colloquial French. I agree I need to also force myself to think in French more. Unfortunately when I relearned French I focused on comprehension way more than production, and it definitely shows
It’ll come quickly if you concentrate.
I changed my devices to French, listen to podcasts and rvrn switched the audio and subs to American shows. Before my last trip a year ago, I did a one week intensive with alliance française (4 days two hours a day) which helped.
I’m going in March and hired a tutor once a week to augment my regular study.
Have you considered some sort of formal schooling in France? It will give you the opportunity to meet others in your situation as well as reinforce the language.
I would love to do that, but unfortunately I'll be travelling with others, and I'll only be there for about a week, so preparation must be done in the US
Listening would do you well I think. YouTube videos of native speakers, etc. Do you know the group you’re going with? Maybe you guys could practice speaking with each other.
If your goal is to like get people speaking back to you in French, you might have an uphill battle depending on where you’re going but this is just my advice. When you practice speaking, focus on fluidity of speech over grammar. I notice that AI tends to get recommended here and I tested a few apps/sites, if you go that route be mindful that a lot of them focus on precise grammar when speaking, when generally the thing that hinders you being understood the fastest in my experience is the flow or intonation of your sentence. You want to practice responding quickly and with the intonation/flow of French, which is very different from English, for example.
If you can practice learning things like enchaînement (of consonants and vowels), and really listen to how natives pronounce full sentences, that will help you be understood a lot and people will think your French is very good, even if your grammar isn’t perfect.
Learn phrases in chunks, so you’re not speaking mot-a-mot, stuff like that.
Yes I'll be going with my wife, who doesn't speak any French unfortunately. That's a good point about responding quickly and fluidly than perfectly but word by word
It sounds like you just need a bunch of speaking practice. You should definitely checkout PrettyFluent, sounds like exactly what you need. Basically improving your conversational skills for travel in a few months.
I would add that the key is to practice what you'll use. Don't try to learn everything only what you expect to use in France
This. ☝️Write out conversations you may have and memorize them. Watch the Feynman 15-Minute Trick on YouTube. Once you watch it, other similar videos will be suggested, also check out Language Lords. Watch as many movies, series, and news as you can in French with *French subtitles, and "shadow speak" along with someone who's accent you want to mimic.
Ok I'll check that out
I would recommend hiring a tutor on Preply or finding someone to talk with on those language exchange discord servers. The apps like HelloTalk aren’t bad, but it’s a lot of people looking to date internationally and that’s not really the point of an exchange partner. There may also be French conversation groups in your area that you can attend.
On your own you can also work on forming sentences and pronunciation. Try to think of some phrases that you might need to use and practice saying them out loud. Could be anything from basic aid requests to conversation starters. This will help you not overthink it when you need to first start speaking. Following pronunciation videos on youtube will help you get used to making the necessary sounds as well. It‘s painful sometimes but if you can make voice recordings of your pronunciation practice and then listen back, it’s a bit easier to hear where you have thickness in your accent and where you can make improvements. Listening to a lot of spoken colloquial French is also important. Youtube, normal podcasts not made with learners in mind, France24 live broadcasts, French radio, etc.
Also, keep in mind that clear speech is always better than quick speech. :)
All good points. I was thinking I'd probably need a tutor, at least for some portion of it. I'm worried about practicing too much with other non native speakers unless it's heavily supervised like it was in college, out of fear of learning mistakes
I would get a tutor; disclaimer: I am a French tutor. A tutor will be especially helpful with speaking, pronunciation and listening; these are aspects of the language that you really need 1 on 1 attention for success. DM me if you have questions; I'm a pronunciation, speaking and listening tutor.
Just go and practice speaking French with the Frenchies (native French speakers) I think you will find it is Very different then anything you've heard before. Oh yes and have fun! But don't do what I did (ask a wine shop owner if he'd give me a BJ (appelez Mon Tete) lol. Don't ask why. He just told me to get out. God
I’m pretty much the same level as you and I (Brit) manage to live and work in France. B1 will be enough to get by and enjoy your visit, but as others said, watching french films and especially listening to french radio beforehand will get you used to hearing real french and improve your listening comprehension. You don’t have to speak perfectly, at your level you will easily understand others and be understood in most situations. It’ll be fun!
Man that sounds difficult. According to the Preply introductory test I'm B1.3, and I feel like I could not hold a spontaneous conversation, but maybe that'll come quickly once I practice it
Most people will speak to you in english as soon as they hear you struggle. If you want to learn french for pleasure, then find a way to speak. Daily spoken French is much different than what's taught in text.
I'll be driving through some intentionally rural areas, so I'm guessing the average English ability will be quite a bit lower, so it may also just be practical. But definitely 90% for pleasure
I would recommend focusing on vocabulary you will need to use. I practiced with ChatGPT doing roleplay conversations for common tourist situations, checking into a hotel, getting dinner, etc. And would ask it to vary the vocabulary used by the French person in the scenario. Helped a lot because in real life it’s easy to get thrown by a phrase you weren’t expecting from a cashier and then everything you’ve studied goes out the window. Better to do it with a tutor if you have the money, but Chat’s available all day every day, so it’s a useful tool.
I’m in a similar situation as yours…going on a short vacation and want to be able to fully communicate with the locals in french!
I’m thinking tutor + ChatGPT for speaking practice, and french youtube for listening. Following this thread for more ideas.