Parlez-vous français?

The Vertical Runway of Vientiane (with Big Government Building behind). The Laos people built this Arc using cement that had been donated to build an airport runway. They made it a little taller than the Arc de Triomphe on purpose, just to spite the French.

I haven’t updated in a while not only because my French language studies are going very slowly (I really am missing the motivation that face-to-face sessions bring) but also because I was on holiday in Laos! Writing about the trip is best left for my personal blog and Facebook photo pages, but I wanted to share my experiences of French language learning “in-country” here. Now, in-country usually refers to “native speaker” countries, so in this case France, Canada, Reunion all spring to mind. What about Laos? 50 years ago it was a French-speaking country (at least for the elite!) and artefacts of the language still remain. Here’s what I got a kick out of :

• The streets are rue’s. (And I knew what that meant).
• A lot of the Western food have French names. (And I knew what they meant).
• There were wine bars in Luang Prabang where everyone sits facing out, towards the sidewalk. (And I knew why).
• There were fabric banners and tapestries for sale in the markets with French words for animals on them. (And I knew what they meant).
• There were many more books about Laos in French than there were in English, especially those produced by NGOs. (And I didn’t know what they meant).

So besides from the last point, you can sense my feeling of empowerment! There wasn’t a lot of language practice to be had, the Lao people do speak Lao after all , but there was a lot of language recognition to be had. And in that recognition came a feeling of code-breaking, of satisfaction, and of “hey, maybe I will get the hang of this French thing one day”. Face-to-face sessions; learning with ICTs; learning with textbooks and coursebooks are all part of the journey, but nothing beats that empowering real-life recognition in-(another)-country.

Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I’ve regained some motivation for learning French! I blame the weather – I used to listen to podcasts whilst going for a walk but since it’s been cold, rainy and miserable it’s just so much more effort, non? Excuses, excuses.

So I’ve been listening to podcast lessons at the gym again, and complementing it with some book exercise work. I’ve had my eye on Exercices De Grammaire by Christian Beaulieu for a while now and finally picked up a copy last week. It was recommended to me by someone somewhere, and I have a funny feeling it’s on a few university book lists. I was hoping to get the “international” version (so it’s not all about code-switching between English and French) but unfortunately it’s been unavailable anywhere locally and through the Book Depository. So I ended up with the Anglophile one. And just as well! I didn’t realise that there’s actually grammar notes in the back and if it was entirely in French, I don’t know that I’d be able to understand the concepts quite as well. I certainly struggle with the explanations in the Alter Ego books that we used at the Alliance!  That’s not to say these notes are entirely easy either – it’s obvious that this book is not meant to be a stand-alone “coursebook” or, in fact, stand-alone in any way. It’s obviously meant to be a classroom resource or homework book.  Why do I say obvious? Well, there’s just enough explanation to get you by, but it doesn’t have enough explanation to really help you “get it”. Case in point. Today I did the first few exercises on masculine and feminine nouns and plural forms. There was a bit of explanation in the notes about how these are formed, but no description of why.  For example, there’s an exercise asking the student to convert singluar nouns into plural ones, changing un <noun> to des <noun-s>.   I wanted to know why des was used and not some other form.  A big of Googling soon had my answer (indefinite articles!), but made me long for a tutor who would pre-empt these questions and put the exercises into context.

This experience also makes me wonder if Google is becoming, in part, my tutor in this self study. I find myself “asking Google” more and more, and using the translator tool as an online dictionary. Is this beneficial, or is it a crutch? Google wasn’t around when I was learning Indonesian and so I learned a lot of dictionary skills and code-breaking techniques. But I also had a tutor/teacher to ask questions of. I’m still employing those code-breaking skills, and developing new technological ones in my French language studies, but this time it’s without a tutor or teacher guiding me.  So is Google a crutch? Could I do without it it? I’m not sure, but it may be a moot point. After all, I nearly always have access to Google in some way thanks to my iPhone. Is it effective? To a point. It’s just different. I really miss the conversation that comes from having a language tutor or language partner, and I miss working things out as a group and sharing those “aha” moments. But I certainly don’t miss formal assessment.

Perhaps I’ll check out some online “courses” or at least forums to share the learning journey with others… or if there’s any bloggers out there who want to buddy up, let me know!

I went a bit iPhone-French-learning-app crazy at the beginning of the year, downloading all of the free apps I could get my hands on, and a few paid ones as well! I ended up with a couple of “pages” of apps, all supposed to get me understanding and speaking French faster than ever. Yeh!

Six months on, I have only four left on my phone. Two aren’t even aimed at language learning, rather they’re reference tools (lastminute.com’s phrasebook and the Larousse dictionary). And they’re the ones I use the most. I really like the dictionary because it’s so much easier than flicking through my paper copy, and I love hearing the pronunciations of words. French is not written how it sounds, and certainly doesn’t sound how it’s written! The lastminute.com phrasebook is also handy for those all-essential travel phrases and seeing how sentences are constructed.

The "language and travel page" on my iPhone

The other two? I think I’ve left them there out of laziness rather than finding any practical value! I certainly haven’t used them since a brief play upon downloading. They’re both flash-card type apps, one with pictures and the other with audio – you’ll find plenty of these in the app store but how many flashcard apps do you really need? Some of my original downloads were better than others, especially the ones requiring you to record your voice and compare to a native speaker, but most just flashed through lists of vocabulary. Boring. And it wasn’t my vocabulary – none of the free apps I downloaded allowed me to put in my own lists. The vocab was out of context and not related to what I was learning through Coffee Break French or face-to-face classes.

So it’s time to go back to the app store and take another look at what’s on offer. I hope that someone’s come up with a French version of iStart JPN! which I really admire for Japanese learning (check it out, especially if you’re a Twitter user!). Watch this space – I’ll try and follow Graham Stanley’s lead in his blog post about EFL apps and give a bit of a review :)

Well, I think I’ve proven myself correct: I do need the face-to-face lessons (or some form of accountability!) in order to keep motivated with my language learning. I’ve only listened to two podcasts since I blogged last whereas in first term I was listening weekly; going to classes; doing extra comprehension/reading exercises; playing around with different iPhone apps etc. Not only was it the novelty of learning something new but also the knowledge that, come Monday evening, I’d be in a group and practicing!

My intrinsic motivation for learning French is at an all-time low right now because I’m focusing on writing my dissertation and I’m at the “hump” time of year – it’s not like I’m going to be speaking French anytime soon. I keep making promises to myself that I will devote Monday evenings to French learning (face-to-face or on my own) and yet Monday evening television rolls around and…

So I guess I should investigate some forums, or some online groups for learning French. Or just wait until Term 3? Or go to the gym more and listen to CBF there? I certainly do need more exercise!

I was hoping to give classes at the Alliance another shot this term, but the only class for level 1.02 not offered by the same teacher I had last term is on a Monday morning for three hours. I already attend a writing class every Monday morning which is invaluable for working on my dissertation and so I’m going to have to wait until term 3 to continue my (formal) French language studies! What a shame! But I feel that my learning style / philosophy is so different to that of the instructor that attending her classes again this term would be counter-productive. The Alliance obviously arrange their timetable so that you can continue on with the instructor you had in the previous term. I hope that, come term 3, there will be another choice of instructor for 1.02.

What this means is that I’m going to have to be more self-directed in my French language studies for the next 10 weeks. I do intend to put the time aside each Monday evening as if I were attending face-to-face classes to do some French language work. We’ll see how that pans out. But this is also an opportunity to investigate more online options, and to really make the most of the Coffee Break French podcasts. I could enrol in a TAFE “short course,” but I’ve already invested in the learning materials for the Alliance and fear that switching to TAFE and then back to the Alliance would be frustrating. The fact that no-one has enrolled in the TAFE short course yet (and it begins in 2 days) also puts me off. If there was only one place left, I’d probably be more keen!

On Language Teaching Methodology

• Pace is very important during language lessons. There is nothing worse than sitting politely waiting for an instructor to get their thoughts together. Those awkward silences and long pauses really impact on the ‘flow’ of a lesson.
• There needs to be opportunity to speak. There must be a shared expectation that students will speak, and that it is normal.
• Output is just as important as input. There is something to be said about active learning. This term’s lessons were far too passive. Too much input, not enough (barely any!) output.
• Students must experience success. There need to be ‘Aha!’ moments and little challenges that are quickly completed. Game theory has a lot to offer here.
• Routine is important – the fact that I had a French language class every Monday forced me to set time aside to revise, revisit and re-purpose my language learning. With self-study materials it’s oh too easy to slip into “I’ll do it later” mode or “Not today, x needs to be done first”.
• Grammar kills!! If I have to listen to someone read out another list of verbs and their conjugations I will switch off even more completely.

On the French language

• I can recognise many words in written form, and quite a few when I’m listening. Most are to do with personal information, places, dates, and professions.
• I can ask “Ça va?” with some confidence. I’m not at all confident with other language items… I can write them, but I have a lot of problems speaking. There’s no way I could walk into a restaurant in Paris and order off a menu. Yet.
• I have a fairly good understanding of the feminine/masculine and how verbs/nouns etc change depending on sex. But I also understand that it’s something you need to learn as you go!
• The French language sounds beautiful when spoken by a native speaker. When spoken by a dnki-di Aussie it’s atrocious. Perhaps this is also why I’m hesitant to speak!

I’m unsure whether I’ll continue at the Alliance or not. As I’ve written before, I really like the extra benefits of studying there – the library, the atmosphere, the community, bumping into people speaking French naturally because, hey, they are French! I also know that, unless you study a certificate course, the TAFE hobby/adult classes are also highly dependent upon the instructor.

So I might give it another go. Another term, with a different instructor. But this time I’m going to speak up early and switch classes (again) if the first two weeks are anything like the last ten. The benefits of routine and group learning ought-weigh the negatives, in my opinion. And it’s always good to be in the learner’s shoes and continue to improve my own language teaching methodology based on these experiences and frustrations.

Fingers crossed!

I’ve been a bit slack with my French studies recently – a visit to Bali, a huge storm in Perth, giving lectures at uni, the Easter break have all caused me to miss lessons. In fact, there’s only one left next week! I’m not sure if I will continue at the Alliance next term due to my dissatisfaction with the lessons this term, but part of me really wants to give it another go with a different teacher. There are financial considerations at play as well, though.  What’s more, and this is where I have no travel excuses, I’ve also been slack with my Coffee Break French podcasts! Oh noes! And that means I’ve been slack with exercising as well!

So it’s time to get off the couch. No more slackness, I really must get back into it. Watch this space!

I’ve hesitated over the past few weeks in sending feedback regarding the beginners lessons at the Alliance Français because I kept hoping they would get better and I’m not one for confrontations. I also don’t like “tattling” but enough was enough! Last night we spent a good 20 minutes completing a gap-fill test, which were then marked one-by-one! Certainly tests like these can be good diagnostic tools to determine where your learners are at, but given that we only have 1.5hrs/week, surely it could have been done at home? Or at least used in the lesson as a communicative task?  We then spent the remainder of the lesson copying down vocabulary items and phrases from the board, and in the final 10 minutes attempted to put them together with mixed success.

Sigh.

It’s just not how it should be.

I don’t know whether I’m being picky, have high expectations, or am just operating from a different language learning/teaching philosophy. But then I think, “Dammit, why shouldn’t I be all of the above?!?” Language learning should be vocal, it should involve engaging with others, and it should involve those “Aha!” moments, especially at the beginner level. Leave the grammar stuff for later when it starts to “sound right” and “sound wrong”. Debrief before and after lessons in English, but spend the bulk of the lesson itself creating opportunities for speaking French.

/rant

So I sent an email to the Director (took me a long time to draft!) explaining my concern, but that I have high regard for our instructor (which I do!! She’s lovely and has all of the qualities you could possibly want in a teacher!!) and wanted to be kept anonymous. She wrote back within an hour saying she was surprised at my email but had planned on visiting the instructor’s classes later this week. She will talk to me after that.

But we all know that people change when they’re under observation… it will be interesting to see what she says.

Oh well! 5 more weeks to go and then another instructor. I will give lessons at the Alliance another term – the facilities there are just wonderful and I like the community feel. But if next term is just as bad I think I may investigate offerings at TAFE, or even in SecondLife.

Image from: http://www.mhprofessional.com

I wish I could say I was feeling accomplished about my “real” studies and dissertation, as compared to my “diversionary” studies in learning French, but them’s the breaks. I’ve been feeling frustrated with the beginner language lessons at the Alliance Français de Perth mainly because there’s not much (if any) opportunity to speak and experience those feelings of success. There’s been no “Aha!” moments, or “Wow, I just spoke to you in a foreign language and made myself understood!” moments. We literally spent 45 minutes copying down nouns, verbs and adjectives from the board on Monday and then didn’t do anything with them. Frustrasi banget! *

But I have been feeling successful in my supplementary learning. Again, thanks to my Book Depository addiction, I got a hold of a copy of Easy French Reader: A Three-Part Text for Beginning Students by R. de Roussy de Sales. It comes with an “enhanced CD-ROM with MP3s” and is aimed at adult learners. I’m loving it. Why? Because I can comprehend the readings! I may have to resort to Google Translate for a few words here and there, but the passages are built around the introductory language I’ve come across in the Coffee Break French podcasts and in the Alter Ego textbook used by the Alliance. And although it is basic language, the readings don’t come across as condescending, or kindergarten-y. When I’m able to understand the gist of a whole reading, answer the questions at the end in French, and get most of them right… wow, what a feeling. The accompanying CD is also quite useful and although I can’t understand a word without reading along, at least I’m gaining familiarity with what “sounds right” and “sounds wrong”.  I feel that I could walk into a playground and have a (short) conversation with a French 2 year old!  I feel like I’m making progress.

Now if only I could say the same about progress with my dissertation.

*How do you say that in French, I wonder?

Image from: http://img.flipkart.com/

I’ve been reading a lot of novels set in France but written in English lately thanks in part to my obsession with The Book Depository but also because there’s a bit of a dearth of good fantasy books around lately. And my biggest fantasy at the moment is being whisked away by a French-speaking-yacht-owning boyfriend, so hey. It works.

In all seriousness, though, reading fiction novels of target-language-speaking countries does help language learning, especially in terms of cultural understandings. One novel that has helped with my French learning more than others is Foreign Tongue: A Novel of Life & Love in Paris by Vanina Marsot. I came across it on a list of “must read novels set in France” and very glad that I did. Here’s a review from Publisher’s Weekly:

Few streets have been more hungrily plumbed for romance than those of Paris, and Marsot’s debut is no exception. Fluent in English and French, Anna leaves Los Angeles for Paris after breaking up with her boyfriend. She devotes her time to translating an erotic French novel into English and, at times, Anna’s voice mirrors the tedium she ascribes to the task. Her frequent expositions on the nature of translation become miniature lessons on idiom, nuance and linguistics, ironically delivered with greater passion than the erotic scenes themselves, which fall flat. Though the plot generates a series of questions—will Anna end up with actor Olivier? Will she keep her job despite her disgruntled editor? Whose work is she translating?—Marsot is more interested in Anna’s inner tumult. Despite Anna and Olivier’s somewhat textbook love affair, the increasingly complex relationship between Anna and elderly bachelor Bunny helps shore up the novel. The stunning descriptions of Parisian food and social life will certainly satisfy Francophiles.

Does this mean I am a “Francophile”? Because I was quite satisfied. The ending was a bit “blah” (and I think a bit disrespectful to the reader), but I enjoyed the mini lessons on translation – having studied translation theory myself! Recommended, but definitely 18+.