When taking aboard new information as a beginner, our brains need to be able to make the new connections necessary without encountering unwanted distractions. As such, by simply creating a study environment that allows you to learn in the best way possible, you can dramatically improve the speed and efficiency at which you learn.
Try and devote one area in your home to studying. If you only associate this zone with one thing – becoming a pro at French – then you'll be far less likely to get distracted.
Don't fall prey to distractions! If you love spending lots of time on social media, watching TV or texting friends, then make sure to block the websites, unplug the set and turn off your phone – unless you are using the Rosetta Stone app of course.
In terms of décor, surround yourself with whatever works best for you. If you're the kind of person that needs a tidy workspace to be able to think orderly, go minimalist. Otherwise, put up some artwork and invest in a desktop plant to focus your thoughts.
Light and temperature are important influencers when it comes to studying, so make sure that you're free from sun glare and ensure you won't be shivering or sweating while you study.
Whether you want to travel or work in a Francophone country, speaking good beginner's French is likely to be high on your to-do list, and there's a number of ways you can study speaking skills the best way possible.
Start by speaking out: When practicing your pronunciation, don't simply go over the words in your mind. Speaking out loud will train your mouth in forming sounds, so don't be afraid to use your voice.
If you're practicing your phrasing, don't constrain yourself to the particular phrase that's written in the textbook. Change nouns, adjectives, verbs and the subject of these, playing around with all of the potential variations of the particular phrase – by doing this you'll revise terms you've learnt previously, all while training your brain to identify and use a variety of grammatical rules.
Learning to listen is one of the most important skills to develop if you want to be able to quickly work out what other French speakers are saying to you, and there are a number of ways you can strengthen this.
When you listen to passages, make sure to divide them up into easy-to-digest sections. If you're a beginner, divide them up on a phrase-by-phrase basis, or a sentence-by-sentence basis if your skills are slightly more advanced. Read them, speak the phrase out loud, and repeat out loud again, without looking at the text. Only move onto the next segment when you're happy with the preceding section.
If you want to improve the way you write French, there are a number of ways you can easily do this.
Whenever you learn new phrases or words, whether they be via reading or listening, jot down what you are speaking in a notepad or via a word processing app a number of times. Although it's a good idea to weight this towards pen and paper, both means will help you cement the information, and will get your hands used to producing words in the French manner.
Discovered a new word? Devote a notepad to being a vocabulary list, with sections for different types and categories of words. Don't write the English word next to the French vocab though – draw pictures instead. You'll foster a more visual understanding within your brain, allowing you to recall the word easier when you see the particular object or concept in real life.
People study French for a variety of reasons – in preparation for a trip or move abroad, to communicate with a foreign partner, or because they want to do business abroad, for example.
The reasons why we want to learn a language are obviously very important, and they should always be used to inform what exactly it is that we're studying. If you're wanting to learn enough to get by while on vacation, for instance, gear your learning towards the phrases you'll need most.
Learning French as a beginner can be a little intimidating at first, but there's lots of things you can do to make your time studying all the more easy and stress-free. For beginners, Rosetta Stone's one-of-a-kind language learning software can't be beaten. Try our free demo, download our app, and start your journey towards French fluency.
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