French is not the easiest language to learn… it is something we all agree on!… Yet… is there a language that is easy to learn?… I doubt it! Each language works differently and, for that mere reason, learning any foreign languages is a difficult task.
Of course, ideally, we should learn languages when we are children… but, since we do not live in an ideal world, most of the time only kids with parents speaking two languages are fortunate enough to get exposure to more than one language when they are still sponges.
In Ottawa, it is a bit different though… French immersion schools (from kindergarden to the end of highschool) are very popular!… Many unilingual English-speaking parents choose to send their children to those schools. Why? Because they know, career wise, it will open doors for the future… Anyone wishing to work within the Public Service of Canada one day needs to know some French… And when we think some French in the government, it means more than just being acquainted with the language: it means to be functional in reading, writing and speaking.
If public servants are trained on the job, it takes them an average of 10 to 12 months (on full-time training!) to get BBB… and this level is far from being highly functional! Then they have to add up another six months to reach CCC… which is still not bilingual!
That being said, learning French (or any other languages) takes time! Yet… if teaching were more efficient, it would take less time for people to become fluent.
It always amazes me to see people who learned French almost all their lives (part-time of course) not being able to express themselves the way native speakers do… and I do not blame them! I blame the methods and the programs used… I have seen enough people with some French background struggling, even in the simplest situations!
I am convinced they did learn everything that can be found in a French grammar… but my question is: what did they retain?… Not much!… I have my theory on why… It is useless to learn grammar notions by compartments… One cannot learn the plus-que-parfait without using it with the passé composé and the imparfait!… Fill in the blanks is not a way to learn a language! Communicating is not about filling in the blanks… it is about expressing thoughts, ideas and feelings. It is about linking ideas and connecting words the way native French speakers do… Translating ideas thought in English with French words just does not work!
I have to say that most of my students go through depression with me at first… especially the ones who learned French for a substantial amount of time. They think I am going too fast… I am not giving them the time to translate my questions in English, so that they can answer them… well, I do not want them to translate my questions! I want them to process these questions in French and, then, process their answers in French… and I want them to answer the way French speakers do!… using the correct prepositions, replacing objects with personal pronouns, etc. Quite a task indeed!… and they get frustrated when they cannot do it the first time! Well… I am not expecting them to be perfect right away!… I only want them to learn how to spread their focus… each time they learn something new, they have to use what they learned before… of course, concentrating on the new notion, they often forget the verb… or the negation… or the subject! And it is normal!!!… Let’s not panic, it is only part of the game!… and one day they surprise themselves when using something by reflex, without even thinking… I remember when Susan found out she had used the plus-que-parfait correctly without thinking about it! A day she will never forget!… And since then she never misused the plus-que-parfait!
Most of my trainees believe they are not doing great… according to them, they should do much better! Well… let me be the judge here! What they see as horrific mistakes is, in my book, improvement!… Maybe they do not spit out their answers without hesitation, but… at least their answers are correct! And it is what counts… with both lots of practice and some time, all of their anwers will flow much better. All I am asking them is to trust me and… trust themselves…
French is a complex language… not a complicated language… once all of the basics are in place and more or less a reflex, tackling the complex grammar notions becomes easier… most of the time, the problem originates from a lack of basics… We cannot build a house without good foundations, right? Otherwise it will collapse sooner of later because of its fragility… It is exactly what happens with a language: basics first, then… complex stuff… Ce n’est pas sorcier!… Il suffit d’y croire… et tout ira bien!…
“Certains livres sont faits pour être goûtés, d’autres pour être avalés, et un petit nombre sont faits pour être mâchés et digérés.”
Francis Bacon
Complex?… Yes… Complicated?… No!…
French is not the easiest language to learn… it is something we all agree on!… Yet… is there a language that is easy to learn?… I doubt it! Each language works differently and, for that mere reason, learning any foreign languages is a difficult task.
Of course, ideally, we should learn languages when we are children… but, since we do not live in an ideal world, most of the time only kids with parents speaking two languages are fortunate enough to get exposure to more than one language when they are still sponges.
In Ottawa, it is a bit different though… French immersion schools (from kindergarden to the end of highschool) are very popular!… Many unilingual English-speaking parents choose to send their children to those schools. Why? Because they know, career wise, it will open doors for the future… Anyone wishing to work within the Public Service of Canada one day needs to know some French… And when we think some French in the government, it means more than just being acquainted with the language: it means to be functional in reading, writing and speaking.
If public servants are trained on the job, it takes them an average of 10 to 12 months (on full-time training!) to get BBB… and this level is far from being highly functional! Then they have to add up another six months to reach CCC… which is still not bilingual!
That being said, learning French (or any other languages) takes time! Yet… if teaching were more efficient, it would take less time for people to become fluent.
It always amazes me to see people who learned French almost all their lives (part-time of course) not being able to express themselves the way native speakers do… and I do not blame them! I blame the methods and the programs used… I have seen enough people with some French background struggling, even in the simplest situations!
I am convinced they did learn everything that can be found in a French grammar… but my question is: what did they retain?… Not much!… I have my theory on why… It is useless to learn grammar notions by compartments… One cannot learn the plus-que-parfait without using it with the passé composé and the imparfait!… Fill in the blanks is not a way to learn a language! Communicating is not about filling in the blanks… it is about expressing thoughts, ideas and feelings. It is about linking ideas and connecting words the way native French speakers do… Translating ideas thought in English with French words just does not work!
I have to say that most of my students go through depression with me at first… especially the ones who learned French for a substantial amount of time. They think I am going too fast… I am not giving them the time to translate my questions in English, so that they can answer them… well, I do not want them to translate my questions! I want them to process these questions in French and, then, process their answers in French… and I want them to answer the way French speakers do!… using the correct prepositions, replacing objects with personal pronouns, etc. Quite a task indeed!… and they get frustrated when they cannot do it the first time! Well… I am not expecting them to be perfect right away!… I only want them to learn how to spread their focus… each time they learn something new, they have to use what they learned before… of course, concentrating on the new notion, they often forget the verb… or the negation… or the subject! And it is normal!!!… Let’s not panic, it is only part of the game!… and one day they surprise themselves when using something by reflex, without even thinking… I remember when Susan found out she had used the plus-que-parfait correctly without thinking about it! A day she will never forget!… And since then she never misused the plus-que-parfait!
Most of my trainees believe they are not doing great… according to them, they should do much better! Well… let me be the judge here! What they see as horrific mistakes is, in my book, improvement!… Maybe they do not spit out their answers without hesitation, but… at least their answers are correct! And it is what counts… with both lots of practice and some time, all of their anwers will flow much better. All I am asking them is to trust me and… trust themselves…
French is a complex language… not a complicated language… once all of the basics are in place and more or less a reflex, tackling the complex grammar notions becomes easier… most of the time, the problem originates from a lack of basics… We cannot build a house without good foundations, right? Otherwise it will collapse sooner of later because of its fragility… It is exactly what happens with a language: basics first, then… complex stuff… Ce n’est pas sorcier!… Il suffit d’y croire… et tout ira bien!…
“Certains livres sont faits pour être goûtés, d’autres pour être avalés, et un petit nombre sont faits pour être mâchés et digérés.”
Francis Bacon