Coucou les French learners,

Ça y est ! L’année 2021 est en marche !

Last week, we started the beginner class and intermediate class with Express fluency. It is so much fun to tell stories and have meaningful interactions with French learners!

At the start of the new year, we also had a productive live session to set French goals. With a group of motivated learners, we sang Les bonnes résolutions by La Grande Sophie. This gave me the idea to create a new type of resources, les Diaporamas to understand the lyrics of popular songs. Because singing is a JOYFUL way to acquire French naturally!

During our live session, we talked about MOTIVATION and HAVING a FRENCH ROUTINE.

Let’s face it, sticking to a routine when you have a zillion things to do is not easy BUT… You want to become fluent in French, right?

#youcandothis

Find comprehensible input

TO UNDERSTAND is crucial and necessary to acquire French.

The Input hypothesis developed by Stephen Krashen states that ” linguistic competence is only advanced when language is subconsciously acquired. Conscious learning cannot be used as a source of spontaneous language production.”

That is why you FIRST need to find French INPUT which is comprehensible to you. When you understand what you hear or read, that is when your brain does the work for you! Your brain acquires the new vocabulary and structures subconsciously and effortlessly.

It is not an easy task to find comprehensible input when you are a beginner. That why my Dear Man and I have designed the Baby Stage self pace online course. It has 31 sessions of stories and cultural explanations made comprehensible for total beginners.

Find Compelling input

In the Compelling Input hypothesis, Stephen Krashen explains that ” compelling means that the input is so interesting you forget that it is in another language. It means you are in a state of “flow”.

In flow, the concerns of everyday life and even the sense of self disappear – our sense of time is altered and nothing but the activity itself seems to matter. Flow occurs during reading when readers are “lost in the book”.

Compelling input appears to eliminate the need for motivation, a conscious desire to improve. When you get compelling input, you acquire whether you are interested in improving or not.”

When you find input you UNDERSTAND AND input you WANT TO LISTEN TO and TO READ, you don’t really need to find the motivation to acquire French everyday.

Stick to a routine

That is maybe the hardest part because you always have other things to do, right?

First of all, reading and listening to compelling comprehensible input is not a chore! It is JOYFUL.

During our live session, I shared a fascinating article by Catherine Andrews about sticking to routines and I realized that ” the truth about routines is that they are actually an investment in yourself and an act of self love.”

I also came to understand that ” if you have problems sticking to routines, it is not because you are lazy or lack willpower. It is because you are afraid of something, or don’t believe in yourself.”

Do you BELIEVE you can become fluent in French? I do!

#trustheprocess

QUOI DE NEUF ?

We are back on YouTube!

After much thought, I decided to start the new year with a new series about the language ACQUISITION PROCESS.

In this series, I go over the six conditions to acquire French (or any other languages) the painless way! I explain what comprehensible input means and why you also need compelling, rich and abundant input to make good progress.

When you are a member, you can read and listen to the script too.

There are now 8 sessions in the Infant Stage online self paced course for upper beginners. There are compelling stories to keep acquiring the most common French structures. Stories are getting longer and include richer input but no worries! The Baby Stage prepared you to understand more complex stories.

After watching session 3 to acquire devoir, to have to, Andy says: ” I can’t believe how quickly 30 minutes went by….”

There are also NEW vocalizing sessions to boost your confidence to start speaking French.

I share with you phrases to repeat because infants start making sounds and saying words and short sentences. They are getting ready to speak. The same applies to you. You can get ready to speak by repeating after me short and fun phrases. Again, there is NO need to memorize them. It is just a way to boost your confidence and HAVE FUN!

REVIEW OF THE WEEK

Tom who is a new member says: ” I have just finished watching LA SORCIÈRE DU PLACARD AUX BALAIS. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed it. I was so absorbed by the story, the voices you used etc… that at times I stopped noticing I was listening to French and focused on the story. Thank you for creating such wonderful videos.”

#inputaloneissufficient

Happy French acquisition!

P.S. Got friends, family, colleagues or clients who want to become fluent in French? Share this with them, they’ll thank you for it!