Your French Teachers Lied To You (It's Not Your Fault!)

Рет қаралды 8,067

Күн бұрын

Free 3-Day Challenge for Stuck Intermediates starts April 22 2024: learn.frenchinplainsight.com/...
Thank you to my guests:
Marion ‪@ClapFrancais‬ & on Instagram / clapfrancais
Marie ‪@frenchwithme_‬ & Instagram / frenchwithme_
Blanche ‪@blanche_inspire‬ & on Instagram / blanche_inspire
Lucie ‪@learningeasilywithlucie7160‬ & on Instagram / learningeasilywithlucie
Gwen @chezmissgwen on Instagram / chezmissgwen
Sevin ‪@sayfrancais‬ and on Instagram / sayfrancais
Speak French with more Confidence and Make more progress. My 4-step methodology for making more of your speaking opportunities. bit.ly/3qMPU7L
🖥. Subscribe to the KZfaq channel: bit.ly/fips-subscribe
#ProgresPasPerfection #FrenchInPlainSight #everydayfrench
0:00 Get fluent faster with the 80/20 rule.
2:14 This is the first lie.
8:09 I wish I hadn't learned these 2.
11:40 How "sauces" can get you to fluency.
14:16 Go further.

Пікірлер: 85

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Free 3-Day Challenge for Stuck Intermediates starts April 22 2024: learn.frenchinplainsight.com/challenge?.q2.2024

@XH13 2 ай бұрын

French here. The passé simple is the main tense use to write (and read) novels and academic papers. The best way to learn it is reading books. Young French kids learn it by writing stories. In a professional setting (documentation, reports), we use the passé composé et l'imparfait like when we are speaking. And there are a lot of tenses that are purely used by teachers as a form of torture

@lordlucan7655 2 ай бұрын

If I could meet my old French Teacher in the street I would shake his hand and say Merci . He didn’t teach me French to any level other than getting a CSE grade 1 back in 1982 . But what he did give me was that spark to want to know more and more , and to not care about mistakes but just live and breath the language , culture , geography and history . A tiny spark back then … but one which lit a fuse that took me around the world to a much brighter future - one a shy kid who spent all day looking out of the French Class window couldn’t have ever imagined .. In the other side of the glass was a whole new universe and his spark made me open the window and walk out …..

@colleenmarin8907 2 ай бұрын

Sacre Bleu is something a cartoon character would say, wearing a beret and a black-and-white striped shirt, with the Eiffel tower in the background

@aurevoirpet-ourfrenchlife6772 2 ай бұрын

Very good video and I really liked how you involved native French speakers. You can’t beat having things reconfirmed by the people who use the language every day. Well done.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Yea exactly. Maybe one day I'll have the courage to interview people in the street. @ClapFrancais is pushing me to do that :D. Ça s'appelle des micro-trottoirs :)

@aurevoirpet-ourfrenchlife6772 2 ай бұрын

Oh I think you’d be good at that. I’ve seen videos where people do that and I do like the “straight from the horses mouth” set up. You could always start off small in a little town as opposed to a big city. Bon courage 😁

@learningeasilywithlucie7160 2 ай бұрын

Super contente d'avoir participé, la vidéo est vraiment chouette !! :) la prochaine fois, je t'invite sur mon podcast haha

@donfzic7471 2 ай бұрын

C’est amusant ! J’adore parler en Français sur cette chaîne KZfaq. 😄🇬🇧🇫🇷🇬🇧

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Avec plaisir. Merci beaucoup d'avoir participé à la vidéo Lucie :)

@anitawallace2166 2 ай бұрын

I have to unlearn so much! I remember being taught that the proper way to ask questions was the inversion method. I was told that using the statement with inflection was “the baby way” and to be avoided. I was also taught to call a waiter or waitress “garçon”. I was never comfortable with that and I’m glad it’s no longer used. We memorized long dialogs, some of which I still remember. I laugh now at the formality between friends. “Jeanne, je voudrais te presenter Paul Martin”. I can’t imagine school friends talking like that!

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Haha. Oh, you've illustrated my points so well Anita. Yes that's a hilariously old fashioned way of speaking amongst friends. Was it ever like that? :D

@dees3179 2 ай бұрын

Well some of us were in school a long time ago so it was more current then, and our teachers were already old and not invested in updating their skills ………..it makes sense why we learned such shite but I’m glad there are resources available for better learning now.

@anitawallace2166 2 ай бұрын

@@dees3179 Yeah I’m talking 50 years ago! Junior High School.

@ba8898 2 ай бұрын

Good advice. But I think the real reason people spend many years learning French and still can't hold a conversation or understand authentic French content is simply their lack of input. If you've been listening to authentic French content regularly for some time, you'll know that spoken French rarely uses "nous", inversions to ask questions, the past simple, etc.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Yes, lack of input is a huge reason! The reasons behind lacking in input can be many: - Not knowing how important it is. - Sticking with what's comfortable (usually studying or reading because you can go at your own pace whereas conversations or audio go too fast) - A dislike of video/audio sources. I help my students understand why they are not choosing to spend more time in the language because, of course it's often not as easy as just saying "go listen/read more". Thank you for your comment :)

@ba8898 2 ай бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight yep, you're right. It's not easy to convince language learners of the immense value of input!

@sayfrancais 2 ай бұрын

Merci beaucoup Alex de m'avoir invitée 😊😉🤗 C'est aussi ma manière d'enseigner: le plus important est d'apprendre le " real life french" 😁🌟

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Merci d'avoir participé Sevin :)

@HeManSean 2 ай бұрын

This was one of your best videos, and I'm grateful for all of your insight ! It was especially helpful to bring in others to suggest "proper" ways to speak. I've been living in France for nearly three years, spending our first year in full-time language school, and it was the native French teachers who lied and made it seem like everyone spoke like Molière wrote!

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Hopefully today will be a turning point. I know how powerful it is to feel heard and understood. Good luck!

@phillycatlady 2 ай бұрын

You are fantastic Alex. 6-7 years of school French and I could throw 90% of it out the window.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Your journey led you to me so I'm grateful :)

@phillycatlady 2 ай бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight at least I knew which tenses you would choose as important. 😂

@blanche.o 2 ай бұрын

I was listening to this while getting ready for work so didn’t see the screen, and when I heard my name (Blanche) I thought omg is this a live stream that I’m not aware I’m a part of?😂 Blanche is a very uncommon name in my country, I’ve only met one other person with the name. However, Bianca (Italian version of Blanche) is extremely common

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Ahahaha. There's always a camera somewhere!

@gillesbrenier406 2 ай бұрын

I'm French. I knew "comme ci comme ça" and "oh la la" are known among foreigners as typical french locutions, which they are not at all. But lmao with sacrebleu ! It was very used until the 17th century (the french king Henry IV was wellknown to often say it, and "jarnicoton", "tudieu" and so on). But all these swear words belong totally in the (far) past !

@rodrigodf234 2 ай бұрын

I beg to disagree! I hear "oh la la" and "ro la la" quite often haha

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

People say "oh la la" every day!

@donfzic7471 2 ай бұрын

You are a very good teacher ! J’espère avoir tout compris. 😉🇬🇧🇫🇷🇪🇺 Retenez uniquement : le présent, le passé, le futur.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Merci !

@jeremygordon4460 2 ай бұрын

Love the dropping 'nous' but am I still correct in saying such as in tu peux venir avec 'nous' ?

@patwelsh5561 2 ай бұрын

Yes, because that « nous » is not the subject of the sentence. Nous is used all the time as direct object, indirect object and object of a preposition (your example). But as the subject of a sentence, it’s not used in conversational French.

@jeremygordon4460 2 ай бұрын

Thank you Pat 🙂

@BGTuyau 2 ай бұрын

Alex presents a great, practical -and economical- approach to language acquisition here. That said, in the matter of verb tenses, I also find le conditionnel passé to be very useful in talking about many of life's situations. À part ça, Bravo!

@user-jn3in4rr1h 2 ай бұрын

Great video Alex.. thank you.

@jacquieclayton261 2 ай бұрын

Merci beaucoup! Love this advice! 🤗👍🏻

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Avec plaisir 😊

@JenniferA886 2 ай бұрын

Great advice 👍👍👍

@patwelsh5561 2 ай бұрын

This was a great video. The idea of strategically focusing on the most common tenses, usages, etc. is, as you said, the best way to help people cut through the clutter.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@40mmSummarit 2 ай бұрын

Very helpful, pragmatic advice. Thank you!

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

You're very welcome!

@user-kp6eh2wp3o 2 ай бұрын

Thank you for the video.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

You're welcome !

@acchaladka 2 ай бұрын

Great video Alex, thank you! As someone who picked up French by living in a Franco place but never studying it formally, I'm running through a grammar book and DuoLingo at the moment to go and grab all the fundamentals i never learned properly. Once that's done, I'll be curious about the question of how i best begin to refine my French. I work in French mostly, and my family is French, thence the motivation. So, a video suggestion, or perhaps several video suggestions, and thanks again for sharing your joy here.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Ah that's fascinating. It's like the opposite to me :D. But, you've got to be aware of what you like and don't like and then stay consistent. That's hard because you're changing how you learn, but it's key. I'm sure others will be curious to know: Have you ever felt judgment for not having great grammar?

@StillAliveAndKicking_ 2 ай бұрын

I would strongly advise you to avoid Duolingo for so many reasons. It’s a bad way to learn. Babbel is better if you must use a course, otherwise watch KZfaq example conversions and read the transcript. LingQ is very good.

@JenniferA886 2 ай бұрын

Cheers for the vid 👍👍👍

@fredericroy 2 ай бұрын

9:07 C'est compliqué de généraliser pour toutes les personnes qui parlent français. En effet, cela m'arrive de l'utiliser.

@suefield5190 2 ай бұрын

You're so right Alex. I've been going to adult classes where most, if not all, students want French for travel, or perhaps they're going to live in France. Far too much time on grammar, should be way more time on conversation. It's crazy !

@StillAliveAndKicking_ 2 ай бұрын

I hadn’t heard of using punaise in place of putain, that’s lovely, so cute. It reminds me of using tabernouche and taberouette instead of tabernacle which is very rude in Quebec. And fudge in English for the F word. I am sure people are best advised to listen to real conversations rather than formal ones where people speak a series of perfect sentences, with no thinking, no pauses.

@rodrigodf234 2 ай бұрын

Sacré bleu!!! (just joking ahah) I myself use ""Avez-vous..." or Auriez-vous..." quite often for a request in a restaurant. For example, to ask if they have some condiment: "Avez-vous de la mayonnaise?" ou "Auriez-vous du ketchup par hasard?". Mais ça marcherait aussi bien de dire "Est-ce que vous avez/auriez du ketchup ?".

@yohanannatanson4199 2 ай бұрын

Very interesting as usual. I think your 80/20 approach might be relevant in any language learning situation. You're definitely right about the passé simple: it is purely written language. I'm not sure about "bof". To me, it conveys a rather negative or dull state of mind. As for the 'p' word, i admit it has become very common, but it still remains very vulgar and even rude in many people's ears (i never use it). I would advise not to use it in a conversation with someone you don't know. Prefer "mince" or "zut" both acceptable in any context... Keep up your excellent job!

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Merci beaucoup comme d'habitude !

@junaidgul6665 2 ай бұрын

excellent Alex, il faut dit.

@rundalina 2 ай бұрын

So helpful. I’ve been wondering what ‘bof’ means. Now I know!

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Now you know :)

@fredericroy 2 ай бұрын

7:24 On l'utilise parfois. parfois. par exemple : "ohlala je fus vraiment surpris quand il m'a dit..."

@stuartdryer1352 2 ай бұрын

I know this but I need to be reminded frequently.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

I know what you mean!

@paoloponessa 2 ай бұрын

I don’t agree on the suppression of the « nous »form. We say « on est con », it’s informal and far from being clear in certain contexts. The « on » form may be used to replace « nous » in certain informal contexts, but hardly in all. « On » is more for the « one » in English, like « à Londres, on… »

@AnonymousSam 2 ай бұрын

Great video! Being a bit strategic in learning french does move things along much more quickly. I admit it's hard not to try to learn all the conjugations of a verb when I pull them up on word reference lol. Is it fair to say that imparfait is used in conversation for certain very common words? (je voulais sortir... j'étais embarrassé...il avait peur de...) and even phrases in the conditions perhaps? ("je dirais que..." )

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

It's easier said than done, but it's better to be aware of it and choose the balance that's right for you than to accidentally waste time through ignorance. But, for some things "ignorance is bliss", right?

@AngieHP 2 ай бұрын

I did french school! I was TOLD OFF for speaking with ON instead of NOUS! I am SO annoyed! 😂😂😂😂😂

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

I wish teachers would be pragmatic. They might not like that "on" is used, but they should admit "defeat" and tell students - who mainly want to have normal everyday conversations - the real picture, so they can decide what they want to use.

@AngieHP 2 ай бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight Exactly that! Another one that really annoyed me and still does to this day is “ça fonctionne” is supposed to be better than “ça marche”! Example: Les vitesses de mon vélo ne marchent plus! I would get corrected to “ne fonctionnent plus” It’s decades since I was in CM1 and CM2 and it still grinds my gears. Pun intended 🤣

@francaisfacileCyril 2 ай бұрын

Great advice! Beginners should focus on the most useful things at first and deal with formal stuff like “nous” later (it’s mostly used only in formal written French, like business/commercial emails). I don’t fully agree on placing the imparfait with the subjonctif passé on your graphic though, but I understand you mean beginners should focus more on passé composé first. I had a beginner student (first month) who surprised me because he was trying to memorize all tenses (even passé simple) of avoir être prendre etc, without me asking of course, and I had to stop him doing it. Great video, as always.

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Not even just beginners. I see the levels not as just 1 level per person, but broken down into levels per skill. One person can be B2 in grammar but A2 in speaking and listening, because one is so much easier to train than the other or because of low self-esteem that stops them growing in that area. So, for this person, focussing on keeping things SIMPLE will really make a difference.

@frogoyes7611 2 ай бұрын

@FrenchinPlainSight This is my situation, I'm around b2 to C1 in Writing and reading, with my speaking maybe being B1 to B2 but my listening is horrible, A2 at most.

@raffinataonline 2 ай бұрын

I can conjugate forever, but probably couldn't order lunch. 😢😏

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Allez, il est temps de changer ça ;)

@raffinataonline 2 ай бұрын

@@FrenchinPlainSight If I can get away with the present, the passé composé, and the futur simple. I spent an entire college class on the subjunctif, and my brain switched off. 🤣😱

@ericvu8886 2 ай бұрын

Merde. I have been lied to through all the years of learning french. 😢

@slowlearner3785 2 ай бұрын

Can I attend the challenge asynchronously, sir?

@ritapaquin7672 2 ай бұрын

I'd love to participate in FFFF Challenge but because of the time difference I will be at work all three days during the zoom meetings. Will the zoom sessions be recorded so they can be watched later?

@FrenchinPlainSight 2 ай бұрын

Yep it's all recorded :)