Strangely Familiar
Read Me A Story!
One of my all-time favorite hacks for practicing my French comprehension is to obtain a copy of an audiobook read in French, and then to simultaneously download the digital version of the book in order to read along. This trick enables me to see how the words are spelled while hearing them spoken in context by a native speaker. And personally, I find there is also something very humanly satisfying in being read to by someone else!
France In The News
In celebration that France’s Les Bleus are now officially the 2018 FIFA World Champions, I wanted to share another fun language hack involving learning French through the news. French newspapers can be accessed online, and many of them have free apps that can be downloaded as well. Some such major news sites include Le Figaro, Le Monde, and for sports fans, L’Equipe. Thus you can practice your French while keeping up with the latest world events. The fun thing about this hack is that because you probably already are familiar with the facts of the event (such as the fact that France just crushed Croatia in a 4-2 victory), your comprehension is already enhanced and you are better able to process the new vocabulary. In addition, you are offered a sneak peek into the way that the French understand and process major world events.
It turns out that I happened to be spending a summer studying in Munich four years ago when the German team won the World Cup. It was quite an adventure to walk through the streets amidst the exuberant rejoicing. While I am not able to be in France for today’s celebration, it is fun to be able to ‘read all about it’ from the perspective of a nation in jubilation.
Allez les Bleus!
Movie Night En Français
One of my favorite hacks for practicing French on the weekend is to rent a movie and switch the settings to French audio with English subtitles. Generally, I find that it is much more challenging to follow the French in a movie than it is if someone is speaking directly to me, however, the subtitles ensure that I don’t miss out on the storyline and accustom my ear to the language being spoken in real-time.
