People learn French for many reasons: they love the language; they’re going to France in a few months; they’ve chosen it as their college thesis.
Well, maybe that last one just applies to me.
It was a bittersweet moment. It’ll be my first trip overseas, and will add some real French flavour to my audio documentary. It also means I’m starting my project three months early so I can have something to show when I step onto French soil.
But that’s step one: you need an incentive.
The Search
When it comes to online resources for learning French (and other popular languages), quantity certainly isn’t a problem, but you will need to spend a good amount of time researching and narrowing down your choices.
The easiest (and most important) way to do so if by being attentive to what your needs are.
For instance, how much time are you willing to devote to the task?
Learning to speak French is not instant. Many of these resources are intended for daily use, but the actual length of time you spend with it varies. Michel Thomas’ audio lessons are one hour per CD; Pimsleur CDs are organized around 30 minute lessons; while Coffee Break French podcasts are kept around 20 minutes each, designed to fit nicely (as the name suggests) within your office coffee break.
Another important need to consider is where you’ll be learning French.
If you’re on a computer (or iPod) with Internet, the sky is pretty much the limit in terms of podcasts, videos, games, and learning communities. If you plan to learn during your commute, you’re a bit restricted as driving limits you to audio (podcasts, CDs) played through your car stereo or iPod. If you want to learn on the move, or in small bites, and have an iPhone or iPod Touch, there’s numerous French language apps.
For the purposes of my project, I’ll be trying a wide variety of resources so I can get an accurate take on whether or not new media is an effective way of learning a language.
I’ve listed the materials I’ve chosen to work with below, along with my timeline, to give an idea of the work involved and where you might look to get started if you’re interested in learning French online.
The List
1. (June) Michel Thomas: Speak French (for Beginners):
- 10 CDs, 1 hour each
- MP3 format, downloadable to iPod
- classroom style (you’re taught along with two other students)
- Grace Kelley, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, and other celebrities were taught through the Michel Thomas method.
- not free (unless you borrow from the library, like I did)
2. (July) Coffee Break French & Walk, Talk, and Learn French:
- audio podcast and video podcast from the popular Radio Lingua Network
- 80, 20-minute lessons (audio), and 10, 7-9 minute episodes (video)
- audio podcast is informal classroom style (one other student)
- video podcast focuses on French grammar in the “real world”: straight from the streets of Paris, but in an entertaining style (complete with Scottish accent)
- both downloadable to your iPod
BYKI (Before You Know It):
- flash card program for learning French vocabulary
- ”Lite” version is free
- recommended by about.com and my high school French teacher. ‘Nuff said!
3. (in Paris) Twitter and iPod Touch apps: for me, work doesn’t stop when I’m on vacation! I’ll be testing out the on-the-go effectiveness of the various iPod Touch/iPhone apps and Twitter pages devoted to learning French.
4. (August/September) French in Action OR Ma France:
- FIA (52 half-hour instructional videos) to improve fluency and introduce French culture (con= c. 1987).
- Ma France from the BBC (24, 8-minute clips) focus on scenarios (shopping, eating out, dating). For the post-beginner.
French for Beginners (link will open iTunes):
- 200+ 5-10 minute podcasts spoken entirely in French focusing on “real life” conversations spoken at a more closer-to-normal pace.
Skype language groups: the best way to learn French is to practice with other people. If you don’t know any francophones who could help you in person, Skype offers an alternative. Sign up for an account and make a post in the online forums requesting to chat in French. Also recommended by about.com
I’ll be posting my experiences with each of these resources as I use them.
Have any tips or suggestions? Leave a comment below!
Your fellow CreCommer, Amanda, travelled to Paris last summer (2009) and has lots of great tips about that city. And if you want to see the scrapbook of it all, I just happen to have finished scrapping our time in that wonderful city. Bonne chance with your project!
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