The French Club wants to make your language learning easier. For this reason, we’ve broken down the four key skills you need to master when learning French so you can better target your learning and make real progress across each level instead of wondering why you can’t speak as well as you read.
Speaking is the one language learning skill students tend to focus on as they start their independent language learning journey. Everyone wants to speak but despite hours spent bent over books and flashcards, many students find that when they need to speak they cannot produce anything outside of the generic greeting conversation patterns. This is where students first encounter one of the two types of speaking: spoken production and spoken interaction.
Well, one way is to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. Find a local French community and get involved or you can also sign up for an immersion experience like the Quebec City trip we have in June.
Another way is find yourself someone to practice your conversation with. In this case, either someone willing to teach you, or someone who knows your target language. A person who has learned your target language has a better idea of where you struggle than a native will and as a side effect can be more forgiving.
The French Club offers many different events that allow you to practice speaking: French Shadowing Workshop, A1 French Conversation Practice, C'est la vie !! The French Arts Club, Fun French Talks... just to name a few. Check out our
events page.
Listening and speaking go hand in hand. Much like speaking, most students really only focus on this skill as it relates to having a conversation. Some more advanced classes might have audio tapes but these are as close to the written language as you could get. They are articulated which is just another way of saying every word is pronounced correctly. The dialogue tends to be slower and geared towards learners so it’s easier to understand.
These carefully curated dialogues found in listening practices do not prepare students for the conversations with native speakers. Some attention should also be paid to the nuances of speech as it can add additional meaning to sentences.
For those who don’t live near a French community you can listen to audio books in French or French news and let it play in the background. Once you get used to hearing the sounds, your listening practice can become easier.
A second way would be to find things that you are very familiar with and listen to it in French. As you listen, keep a list of unfamiliar words to review at a later date.
For targeted practice, participate in The French Club's French Dictation Workshop or our Oral & Written Comprehension Workshops.
Reading as a skill tends to be paired with writing. While having a strong vocabulary as a reader can help you with your writing, it can help you across all the four skills of language learning. There is a difference between someone who understands the grammar and structure of the language and a person who is only copying the structure.
What you must focus on as a beginning student is the comprehension of the text you’re reading. What is the point of reading something if you cannot understand it? Even as you develop into a strong reader, the type of reading you do might become more complicated as you continue to learn French and more meaning will be applied to those words.
First, read widely. If you read as much as you can in your target language you will grow your vocabulary which results in better speaking. You will be best served if you have a proper dictionary that can explain the word in detail.
Second, read deeply. Reading deeply means to read as many books on one topic as you can. As you grow your level within your target language it would be expected that you understand the nuance of words which deep reading within your target topic will allow.
Writing is the last skill on this list because not a lot of learners want to write. This isn’t to say writing is useless. You might find yourself in a situation where you need to take notes either over the phone or in person. However, it is not a skill many students want to practice.
One, being able to practice the proper grammar. By seeing the words on the paper you can get a better sense of how to structure your sentence which allows you to actively practice structure without another participant waiting on your reply.
Two, being able to clarify your thoughts. Since writing can be practiced alone, you do not need to have an answer right away. You can write your thoughts then correct your thoughts as many times as you like. The biggest concern in this case would be the ability to get proper feedback.
With the invention of the internet, finding feedback is a lot easier than it used to be. There are online tutors you can speak with, free public forums or if you would like the benefits of a community you can join The French Club’s The Written Word Workshop.
In conclusion, the four language learning competencies are reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Each of them plays a part in what makes someone fluent in a language and it is normal to be strong in one competency and weak in another. Each competency supports the other and it is only with consistent practice you can develop them at a level anyone calls mastery. When learning the four skills of language learning, it is recommended you try your best to learn them in tandem and apply them accordingly. Having your four skills close to the same level will hasten your language learning and keep you on track to be fluent.
