In this article, I’m showing you how to listen to French better.
‘Argh, French people speak so fast I can’t get what they’re saying.’
‘Isn’t there too many vowels in this word?’
‘Can you repeat, but very slowly?’
Your teacher is speaking to you, and you can’t get a word….
So you nod with a smile, because you feel like it would be rude to ask her to repeat once more.
And when you have to admit defeat, and that she does repeat slowly, and write down the word for you..
DA!
Of course, you know this word. Damn it, how didn’t you recognize it?
You blame yourself a little bit.
It’s not the first time it happens…Â
Why can't you manage to hear the sounds?
You can recognise words when they are written, but it’s like once they are spoken, you don’t know where words begin and finish.
And sentences become just a mush of strange sounding noses.
You know it’s a problem that is truly blocking you.
Because if you can’t hear quite well.. then how can you be sure to pronounce things properly?
And how can you understand what is being said so you can reply accurately with the right pronunciation?
So all the time you spend learning new vocabulary and sentences and grammar and expressions… is going down the drain because you can’t understand when people are speaking.
The first time I spoke with a native, I just didn’t have a clue what they were saying.
The sound sounded so.. foreign.
So obviously, I didn’t know how to answer.
And truth is, in some situations, replying yes with a smile won’t cut it.Â
I know you do it, because I’ve done it ahah
I bought a plastic bag I didn’t need.
I said yes to something I didn’t want to agree with.
I replied yes to someone asking how my day was.
All of that, without knowing.
I got lost in a conversation because I missed one word and then I couldn’t hang on onto anything…
Aaaargh!
The worst thing is : because speaking and understanding was a problem, I didn’t have any will to practice.
I mean, who likes to put oneself in a situation where everything is difficult?
I dreaded when the teacher would speak to me, I dreaded to have to tell her I didn’t understand.
I was afraid of listening to videos or podcast and realise that I didn’t understand anything.
Above all, I was ACTIVELY avoiding having conversations with people! Because then they would know how bad I was.
You know what I mean?
It’s like my poor listening skills were a secret I did not dare to share.
Or let’s admit it – face.
So I would find something else to do, instead of learning or practicing. Anything.
Tell me I’m not alone aha
And when I did practice, I would second guess everything because I didn’t trust my listening skills.
I mean, obviously, they weren’t good, so even if I thought I did hear a word, did I really? or was it just some illusion?
It’s frustrating right?
Even more so when the only advice you can find is 'just listen to more French'
… when the only advice you can find is ‘just listen to more French’.
Not so useful actually.
Because you can listen to all the French in the world, if you don’t know HOW to listen, it won’t help.
The problem is – as a teacher – I genuinely thought this was the solution.
To listen more. To do some immersion.
Because I know that what you want is speaking French – if possible maybe fluently.
But I’ve had students who listen to French everyday.
And still don’t understand well enough to recognise words in a sentence.
So it was time to find another solution to learn how to listen to French.
To get serious about what it really takes to understand sounds and recognise words when natives are speaking.
So I’ve done some research.
Maybe other teachers had found solutions to this?
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I was looking for..
- Something that would allow my students to enjoy French, a language they are learning because they love HOW IT SOUNDS!
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- Something that will unblock them and allow them to use what they are learning.
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- To not be afraid of having a conversation with someone because they don’t understand.
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- To not have to ask people to repeat all the time.
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- Something that would be a stepping stone in their learning.
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Because that’s the thing, if you don’t find a solution.
A solution that gives results quite quickly.
I saw that many students would get disappointed in themselves.
And that’s the exact opposite learning a language should do.
In that disappointment, some of them would even give up on their lifelong dream.
Stating French wasn’t for them in the end.
Or that they didn’t get enough fun out of it.
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That’s something I’m not ready to accept from my students.
So, because I didn’t find a satisfying solution elsewhere, I’ve created a solution.
Imagine that...
You catch some French on the bus.
Oh they are talking about their family, how interesting.
You put on a French movie.
Hey, here’s that word I learned yesterday.
You converse with your teacher.
Yesss, she’s asking me if I’m home next week.
You put on some French music.
Damn, these lyrics are so beautiful.
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In short, you appreciate French.
Deeply.
Because you understand how it sounds.
You understand the beautiful, intricate mélange of vowels and consonants.
It sounds just… right.
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Even if you don’t understand every single word yet, even if you don’t know how to say certain things, or don’t master the entire grammar…
That doesn’t matter much.
Because you are enjoying the process.
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And that’s why you are learning French in the first place isn’t it?
The real reason why you are learning French… it’s because you find it beautiful.
It’s just pleasant to listen to.
It has that something.
You’re drawn to it.
And you want to understand why it’s beautiful, you want to appreciate it even more, you want to spend time with the language.
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And so once you are able to listen, really listen…
Learning all the words of French becomes possible.
Practising your French becomes possible.
You actually want to.
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So…
Is it possible to learn to listen to French?
Yes…
But if you ‘just listen to more French’.
On the long term.
Veeeery long term.
We’re talking months before you start seeing small results.
Years before you start really enjoying it.
So, what if you could learn to listen now?
What if you had a solution that will ‘reboot’ your ears to hear the right sounds of French?
What if could do those exercices right now and start seeing results not in a few months but in a few days?
Wouldn’t it be great?
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That’s the solution I found.
Well not found, build.
Because I created these exercices from my experience with my students.Â
And my own experience as a learner.
The Sound of Frenchâ„¢ - the workshop for beginners and intermediates who struggle with listening to French
What is The Sound of Frenchâ„¢?
It’s a 4 part workshop designed to help beginners and early intermediates drastically improve their listening skills.
It’s a CONCRETE and PRACTICAL workshop, not a bunch of mumbo jumbo about phonetics.
It’s a simple to follow complete workshop, it tells you exactly what to do to be able to recognize sounds when a native speaker is speaking (even if it’s fast).Â
I’m going to guide you, step by step, to learn to differentiate the B and the T, the VR and the SR, the é and the è,…
In short, it’s training for your ears.
So that everything you learn after this workshop becomes easier to spot, easier to use.
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During this workshop, we will:
- Deeply listen to French, to learn to differentiate all the different sounds of French, even when they sound similar,
- Do practical exercises to train your ears to spot even the slightest shift,
- Learn to recognize all the vowels alone, and paired with all the consonants,
- Learn to appreciate this ‘R’ sound,
- Identify the sounds that you have a hard time spotting, and train your ears to listen to them,
- …
Why should you take the Sound of Frenchâ„¢ workshop?
If you struggle with listening to French, if you can’t spot words or syllables in sentences when someone is speaking French, this workshop has been specially designed for you.
Most alternative solutions will talk to you about phonetics, and show you bunch of symbols. Here we are going to work directly with French sounds.
Some of my students described the activities in this workshop as magic, yet simple.
Because it’s not rocket science, it’s not complicated, it’s easy; yet it’s not something you’d think of doing.
Certainly not like any exercises you’d find in French learning books and programs I know.
What’s included in this workshop?
This workshop comes in 4 parts, each with 2 to 3 listening exercises.
In the first part, you’ll learn how to recognize the vowels.
In the second part, you’ll learn to differentiate the ones that sound similar.
In the third part, you’ll learn to differentiate the consonants.
And in the fourth and final part, you’ll learn to combine those consonants and vowels that form the sounds of French words.
All fourth parts come with audios files that you can either download or listen to on your personal account on the Just French It’s School.
The workshop also comes with a video that show you exactly how to work with the different files, and a workbook that you can print (it’s a pdf file that you can also read on your computer, tablet or smartphone).
Here is a list of what you get:
- 42 audio files
- An 18-pages pdf workbook
- An introductory video
How much does it cost?
Because I know this is a workshop that can help many people, I’m offering it to you for practically nothing.
(I charge my students $50 per hour to do those exercises with me)
Here you can do them as many times as you want, from the comfort of your bed if you wish so.
You’ll have access to the audios and the files forever since they will be stored on your personal account.
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To get the workshop, it’s simple.
- You click here, then on ‘Buy’
- You complete the forms (or if you already have an account, you simply log in)
- The workshop will be added to your personal account on the School, and you’ll always have it here.
You’ll be able to come back to it anytime you want a refresher.
(Or want to do those exercises again because you like them – my youngest student Yanis, loves them so much he asks for it all the time).
See you in the introductory video!
Marie
