The learning continues, and the French language continues to become clearer and clearer with each word I hear. Granted, it is a slow journey of progress, but indeed progress has been made.

As I sat watching both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Jeux Paris, I found myself for the first time actually wishing there were no translations as I found I could understand most of what was being said in French (admittedly, I may have paused and rewound a time or two ;)). To recognize words that previously were absolutely babbel to me in years past found me celebrating seemingly small, but, to me, grand progress.

With that said, I am not proficient yet, and I have had frustrations, but I have continued forward and I am grateful I have. Part of the reason I want to share my French language journey with you is to encourage and reassure you that the journey will be long, but the progress will be great, and here is the paradox, only if we both run up against frustrations and keep at it. We can do it!

I shared in the first post to kick off this year’s French Week (the 9th!) that international language institutes have found it takes approximately 600 hours of regular learning of a new language to become proficient (this is for the easier to learn languages, of which French is high on that list, being one of the simpler language to learn – yes, it is true believe it or not ;)). And when you break down how long it takes an average student to cover 600 hours, it looks to be about 2-3 years. Knowing this has eased my mind and reminded me to be patient and remain consistently engaged and surrounded by the language – through taking my courses, doing my homework, studying even when I don’t have homework and attempting to speak French in class whenever I have the opportunity.

Having concluded FR 202 this past June, two years of online study through Washington D.C. Alliance de Française are behind me and have found me much improved in both my breadth of vocabularly, pronunciation as well as comprehension and yes, even confidence in formulating sentences (however, simple) to carry on a conversation.

The last post/episode in this ongoing series was shared back in February – episode #347, when I wrapped up the 100 level, so now I am back to share with you what I have learned during FR 201 and 202. On y va !

1. Connecteurs (words to use to continue the conversation)

Just a bit of vocabulary to start us off. It never hurts to be reminder or learn these connecting words, often prepositions, but phrase, that keep the flow moving forward of the story or information you are sharing.

• tout d’abord = first of all
• premièrement = firstly
• deuxièmement = secondly
• depuis = since
• après = after
• en suite = next
• en plus = in addition
• de plus = moreover
• à la fin = at the end
• pour conclure = to conclude

2. How to use those pesky (and ubiquitous) indirect pronouns “y” and “en”

Each of these indirect pronouns is used to replace the following in the sentence so not to be unnecessarily repetitive in your speaking or writing.

3. Where to put the qualifying adjectives – “beaucoup” and “bien” in Passé Composé

Two common and frequently used qualifying adjectives I use and perhaps you do as well are these two: beaucoup and bien, but where to put them when speaking in the past tense, passé composé?

Very simple. Place them in the middle, between the auxiliary verb (etre or avoir) and the conjugated verb.

• EX: It went very well. — Ça s’est très bien passé. (notice ‘très bien is between ‘est’, the auxiliary verb and ‘passé’, the conjugated verb)
• EX: I liked the party very much. — J’ai beaucoup aimé la fête. (notice ‘beaucoup’ is between ‘ai’ the auxiliary verb and ‘aimé’, the conjugated verb)

4. How to use Meilleur(e/s/es) and Mieux correctly

While when we use adjectives to qualify something, in French, there are two qualifiers – one an adverb and the other an adjective – that cannot be used with ‘plus’ [more].

When using the adjective ‘good’ – bon(ne) and you are comparing, you will use a form of meilleur; when using the adverb ‘well’, in French bien, you wil use mieux/le mieux when comparing as it is incorrect to say plus bon or plus bien. Instead you use meilleur or mieux. But what do they mean and when to use which?

For more help, examples and practice with this because for me it is still not easy to construct, but I am getting better the more I practice, Simply French Online has a wonderful video explaining how to keep them clearly separated in your head and how to construct them in sentences.

5. What you can eliminate when talking about professions – le article !

The French language regularly requires that we place a direct or indirect article in front of nouns, but guess what? When we are stating our profession or someone else’s there is no need, nor would it be correct to do so!

EX: Je suis éscrivian. (I am a writer.) There is not need to include ‘un/une’.

EX: Il est professeur. (He is a teacher.) There is no need to include ‘un/une’.

6. What the Subjunctif verb form does

As complex as it may sound, the rules and what to use it for are quite simple. Phew!

What is the Subjunctif?

• used to communicate emotion such as fear, doubt, etc.
  • EX: expresses uncertainty
• set a mood
• convey one’s obligation
  • They must follow these rules. Il faut qu’ils suivent les règles.
• a speaker’s attitude about a subject

How does it appear in a sentence and what does the conjugation look like?

• always preceded by ‘que’
• Conjugation is same as Present tense EXCEPT for ‘nous’ and ‘vous’
  • The adding of an ‘i’ to ‘nous’ and ‘vous’ conjugations, so there will be two “ii”
• Take the verb étudier (to study):
  • que je étudie
  • que tu étudies
  • que il/elle/on étudie
  • *que nous étudiions
  • *que vous étudiiez
  • que ils/elles étudient
  • EX: Il faut que tu étudies beaucoup pour réussir l’examen. (It’s necessary that you must study a lot to pass the exam.)

7. Prepositions and phrases to mark time (Les Marqueurs Temporels)

When having a conversation and describing when or how long something did or will take, etc., knowing these simple words or phrases will help move your sharing of the information along with accuracy.

These are four simple ones to remember:

• pendant (during/for)
  • The entire duration of an event – past, present or future
  • EX: Pendant la pandémie, ils ont travaillé à domicile. (During the pandemic, they worked from home.)
• depuis (since)
  • used with a present tense verb
  • to talk about an action that began in the past and continues into the present and hasn’t concluded
  • still happening
  • EX: Depuis qu’elle a trois ans, elle lit. (Since she was three years old, she has been reading.)
• dans (in, but can mean other prepositions as well based on context beyond this purpose)
  • for a future moment
  • for a future event
  • taking place at a precise time/place – more specific than general
  • will not be followed directly by a noun – it’s always followed by some kind of qualifier, such as an article (la, le, l’, une/un) or possessive adjective.
  • EX: Nous partons dans dix minutes. (We’re leaving in 10 minutes.)
• Il y a (there is/there are/there was/there were)
  • to talk about an event that has passed or a moment
  • EX: Il y a deux ans. (Two years ago)

8. Which word to use to say “all/everything” (tous/tout/toute/toutes) and how to pronounce them!

If you are like me, sometimes often/nearly always prior to learning this lesson, I just said toute (so pronouncing the ‘t’) and hoped what I was saying was understood. But little did I know, there are simple rules to help figure out which one to say AND how to say them.

9. How to use le conditionnel

What is le conditionnel used for?

• used to express a wish (what you would like)
• polite language
• to give counsel (w/verb devoir)

Conjugated how?

• Same as Future
  • take the base of the infinitive verb and add l’imparfait endings.
    • je — ais
    • tu — ais
    • il/elle/on — ait
    • nous — ions
    • vous — iez
    • ils/elles —aient

The most commonly and necessary irregular verbs in the conditionnel to know are vouloir (to want), pouvoir (to be able to/can) and devoir (to must/have to):

10. Three words I just needed to remember that often showed up in proximity to each other

• aucune = none
• chacun = each
  • chaque also means each
• soit = either

11. What the difference between the two verbs: rentrer and retourner

With September just around the corner, we will be hearing the noun La Rentrée quite frequently, and it’s important to note that rentrer is a verb as well, but there is a reason the verb and noun rentrer is used rather than retourner, even though often these two verbs are confused or switched accidentally. Here’s the difference:

rentrer = to return to a point of origin/going back to a place where you are from or where you primarily live your life, etc. Thus, La Rentrée refers to returning to the regular everyday schedule, going back to school or work.

retourner – returning to a place you are visiting, not staying permanently. Going back, but not returning back for good, just temporarily before leaving again.

12. The magic is practice

FR 202 introduced me to a new-to-me professor, and one of the first things she told us as we concluded class at the beginning of the course was this sage advice – The magic is practice. Not memorization, not passive observation, but practice. And while this has advice has been shared before, I don’t think it hurts to be reminded of its truth. Not only to share with you, but to remind myself.

It can be tempting to think that if we don’t speak correctly, such efforts are not benefiting us, but the more we hear, the more we attempt, no matter how horrible or incorrect our efforts, this is actually helping us because we are improving our “French language brain”. We are telling our brain, “This information is important! Bring it to the forefront of our memory, but also lock it into our long-term memory!” And the more often and more regularly we listen, engage and attempt to speak/write the language, the more natural and more quickly the language will appear at the tip of our tongue to use aloud.

13. Don’t forget to celebrate the progress you make and don’t let frustrations with one lesson stop you from moving forward with your entire language learning experience

During FR 201 I ran into quite a few headaches and frustrations for a variety of reasons. But I stuck with it, and I am glad I did. Sometimes, the teaching style is not what we are used to, and if the content is easy to comprehend on our own, we don’t mind that the teaching style is different or not as effective as it could be. BUT when the content is difficult or new, we might struggle because we aren’t able to grasp the new content, and the teacher either doesn’t understand why we are frustrated, doesn’t know how to teach in a different way or we’re just having a bad day or week and need to take a breath.

I say this because I felt all of the above at different times throughout FR 201. Little did I know that one of the first lessons being taught in this particular course was one of the most difficult lessons to grasp, and when we accept that some lessons will just be easier than others, we don’t remain stuck from moving forward even if we haven’t grasped that particular lesson fully. That lesson – usage of COI and COD – has continue to appear in further coursework as indirectly or partially a piece of a new lesson, and the more I see it, the more I ‘get’ it. And sometimes that just it – the concept is so new, seeing it once, no matter how well it is taught, is not enough. We need more context. We need more repetition/exposure to fully grasp it, so I guess what I am trying to say is be patient and give yourself permission to be okay with not fully understanding every lesson and keep moving forward. Keep trying, and don’t let yourself be held ‘captive’ or remain stuck simply because one lesson cannot be learned just yet or as quickly as you would like.

And then. And then! When you complete a course or do grasp that particular lesson – whatever the growth may be, no matter the amount of improvement – celebrate!

After concluding FR 201, primarily because it was such a difficult course for me, I let myself have a mini celebration and made sure I had pâte in the house along with a favorite bit of French cheese and a glass of Provençal rosé.

Now, this summer, I find myself taking a once a week class – Everyday Situational French 100+ – as a way to lighten my language schedule a bit, but not step away from it entirely. I could have taken the 200+ level for Everyday Situational, but I wanted to fine tune some basics that by taking the class now and having all of the 100 level classes completed, I would know that it was up to me to learn the basics in conversation as I now have all the tools. We meet for two hours once a week during July and August, and while I have definitely taken my foot off the gas temporarily, I not only see progress in my ability to know how to speak, but also in understanding what is said by the professor as she speaks entirely in French and this summer, I actually know 85%+ of what she is saying as opposed to last summer when I was lucky to reach 50%.

Noting subtle improvement year over year reminds me that this is a process and it takes time, but with consistent effort, it is possible to not only speak the language passably, but feel confident being surrounded by the language as well as to speak French without anxiety that I might misspeak – because I will. What has evaporated for me is the anxiousness I previously felt for years. Now I just spit French words out and often they are wrong, but previously I didn’t even have the basic words to wrestle with in my mind, and that is why the anxiety was felt. And the only way that happened was taking classes with a professor who kept throwing the language at us and pushing us each class to work with the language.

You can do it, and I am excited for you to give it a whirl.

Come this September I will be back in the twice a week format enrolling in FR 203, so look for a new part to this continuing French language series in early 2025 when I conclude FR 204 (B 1.3).

CATCH UP ON THE ENTIRE FRENCH LANGUAGE SERIES

episode #374: What I Have Learned in French Class, So Far — Part Sept

What I Have Learned in French Class, So Far — Part Six

Petit Plaisir

~Widow Clicquot, film (2024)

Listen to my detailed review in the audio version or read it here, as well as watch the trailer for the film.

Explore all of the posts shared during this year’s French Week