Customize your French Lessons!

May 11th, 2011... From The Desk of Corinne Corbeau:

When you decide to study French, you won't just open a dictionary and memorize random words – you'll evaluate some of the excellent French courses on the market today and choose one that seems likely to work for you. But how do you make that choice? And once you've chosen a program, how do you customize your French lessons to cover just what you need to learn? These simple tips will save you hours of wasted study in the long run.

First, decide why you need to learn the language, and what kind of French you need to learn. If you're going to be living in Quebec, for example, you don't need to learn the kind of French spoken in Paris. If you're going to be visiting France for a short time, you don't need the in-depth level of French you'd need if you planned to live and work there. Once you've identified your reasons for learning French and the kind of French you need to learn, you're one step closer to being able to customize your French lessons, and develop a method of study that will work for you.

Next, decide whether you learn best by reading, by listening, or by doing physical tasks. All good language courses are based around an audio component – they need to be, or you wouldn't know how to pronounce the words you read, and you wouldn't be able to interpret the French phrases addressed to you. But many people don't learn well through listening alone.

If you learn best by reading, make sure that the language course you choose includes printed transcripts and written material from the very beginning of the learning process. If you learn best by performing a physical task, look for a language course that incorporates a lot of activity – computer games, for example, or manipulatives such as flash cards. The more things you have to manipulate and play with, the better you'll learn. Simply identifying and learning to work with your learning style will help you customize your French lessons and create the kind of learning environment you need.

Finally, determine what kind of materials and support you'll need to maximize your ability to learn. Students who benefit from using flash cards should study with a stack of index cards and a pen at their side. Students who benefit from listening and talking should consider studying with a friend. (Warning: make sure your friend is actually a study aid and not a distraction!) Students who need to take notes in order to retain information should study with a lined notebook right at hand. Be creative! No idea is too zany if it actually helps you customize your French lessons to suit your individual needs.

Everyone is different, and no one learns precisely the same way. With a little experimentation, you'll be able to customize your French lessons and create a learning system that's perfect for YOU.

If you want more proven tips and tricks learning French fast, then check out my guide,
How to Learn French...

Regards,

Corinne Corbeau

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