The difference between “Classroom French” and “Real Life French”
This is one of the great mystery of french language learning (or any language learning!). How come there is such a huge gap between what Mrs Harrison the French language teacher in High School, who was supposed to be fluent, taught me and what I first experienced in real life in France?
Two conclusions: or what your teacher taught you was outdated and not connected to reality, or maybe reality is just wrong.
Well, let’s assume that even if reality is not as we wish it was, we have no choice but dealing with it.
Do you speak “Verlan”?
For anyone that spent a few days in France, especially going downtown and passing by youngsters, or in the suburbs, a strange feeling occurs: what is this language everyone seems to speak? Don’t worry, you just met the most common used version of french slang.
You don’t need to learn it to be understood, but a few words will certainly help, and could get you out of some quite interesting situation, this is the least to say.
This is not a new language that they are using, it is called « Verlan ». The name Verlan comes from “ l’envers” (flipped, or upside down in English). If you think it is brand new, like most people think in France, you would be mistaken.
If you tried to learn french, you are now aware of the different accents you may encounter. Probably so far, you know of the “regular” French accent, and the French Canadian accent.
And you also spotted that French Canadian spoken in Quebec is not differing from French spoken in France because of differences in vocabulary but also in the accent that French from France find very amusing for some reason.
But whether we are talking about Quebec or France, inside those two countries, there are even more accents.
Once you’ve decided to put yourself in total French language immersion, you need to make another important decision. Which French Language School should you choose ?
Different factors must be taken into account when taking your decision.
You first need to ask yourself what kind of French language courses in France you want to attend. For adult French courses you might want to make sure that you will not we surrounded by students that do not have the same motivations as you. We recommend that you investigate with each French language school the general motivations of most adult students.
The French you learned during your school and college years is a little rusty. Old memories of your time trying to learn (or guess would be more appropriate) if a French word was feminine or masculine.
One question keeps coming back to your mind.
How do French people get it right everytime ? How to they remember all those rules, verb tenses and word gender ?
If you plan to learn French in immersion, you must ask yourself a few questions. The answers you will get will help you in your learning process.
What are my expectations and goals ? Are those goals reachable ? How much time am I willing to give to reach those goals ? How much will do I have ?
Stepping into a French immersion school can answer many of those questions. But some of them need answers before.
There are so many reasons to learn French. The first one is very simple: the beauty of the language, the way it sounds. The French simply need to say a few words to turn any simple and casual phrase into poetry to any foreign hear. French literature is also another excellent reason why anyone would like to learn the French language. Being able to read Victor Hugo, Emile Zola or Marcel Proust in their original version would be a total thrill. Another art in which the French have excelled is cinema. So many fantastic French movies that would be even better without the need to read the subtitles in English.
Just one of those reasons would be good enough to push anyone into a French language school in France.
As a major part of the French language learning process, the daily use of new vocabulary or grammar is important.
Thus, we have implemented, as a part of our curriculum, a French cooking school inside our institution in the Villa Beaulieu.
As we are settled in one of the most iconic region of France for gastronomy, it was impossible not to include cooking lessons in French as a part of the French immersion experience. Riorges, near Roanne, where our school is based, is about an hour away from Lyon, considered by the French themselves as the heart of French culinary art.
As a major part of the French language learning process, the daily use of new vocabulary or grammar is important.
Thus, we have implemented, as a part of our curriculum, a French cooking school inside our institution in the Villa Beaulieu.
As we are settled in one of the most iconic region of France for gastronomy, it was impossible not to include cooking lessons in French as a part of the French immersion experience. Riorges, near Roanne, where our school is based, is about an hour away from Lyon, considered by the French themselves as the heart of French culinary art.
No time to waste: the most efficient way to learn French fast The learning process is often see, and rightfully so, as time consuming. Some domains are particularly concerned by this issue. Learning a language is one of them.
And when it comes to languages, some of them are easier to master, speak and writer than others. Difficulties can come from the writing system, alphabet or ideograms, the correlation between the sound of the word and how it is written, the grammar, if words have cases, or if verbs have tenses, and how many exist. All those parameter that are a part of the identity of a language also build up its level of difficulties.
French can be classified as one of those language that have the reputation to take time to be relatively fluent in.
