Although my 6 week whirlwind adventure in France ended, my desire to learn French continues. Mostly because I want to be able to communicate with Benjamin in his native language. I want to be as fluent in French as he is in English. I know that it can be exhausting for him to speak in English all the time, and I want him to be able to take a break, relax in our conversations (although right now I think it takes more energy for him to understand me when I speak French than when I speak English)! Therefore, my next 6 week adventure is going to be focused on learning as much French as I can before he arrives, and as language acquisition can often be it's own adventure, I'm going to share my journey!
To prepare for my trip to France, I endeavored to complete the Duolingo French course, and I succeeded! Duolingo is a free language learning app, and a good tool. It is gamification of learning - as their website advertises, it truly is fun and addictive. You can only advance by completing each level, which automatically unlocks through completion of all the lessons in that series. Each lesson contains a series of phrases and vocabulary in a specific category, recorded and written. I really enjoyed the challenge aspect of this app, and this was a great way for me to jump into the French language!
I discovered Mango at my local library (which offers it for FREE)! This is a fantastic app that has some really cool features including a recording tool so you can compare your pronunciation to that of a native French speaker. It also color-codes words and you can switch between the understood and literal translation of phrases. I'm about half way through the first unit (several chapters in), but I'll keep going.
One of my favorite tools is FrenchPod101, a collection of leveled podcasts designed to help you learn french, no matter what your starting level - from absolute beginner to advanced and everything in between. You can listen to some podcasts for free, but to access all the material you need to subscribe. I chose to subscribe on the lowest tier, because I wanted to be able to listen to all their recordings - enjoy listening to the playful banter, vocabulary, and grammar explanations. I play the podcasts several times and then make notes to help me learn the material better.
I would like to try the Mimic Method developed by Idahosa Ness, which is all about learning the sounds of the French language first, but his comprehensive program is a bit out of my budget, so I'll have to wait to try his until I've saved a bit. I did take his free course, which was very helpful and I'll utilize his advice.
Wow, thanks for sticking with this blogpost. It's a bit dry, but I'm hoping to share some funny French anecdotes along the way. If YOU have a favorite language acquisition hint, tip, trick, or tool, please share it with me in a comment on this blog. Thanks!!!
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