Making the most of conversation classes

Beginners to  advanced

 

Many classes these days, especially adult classes, are conversational classes. It is an advantage to learn French this way because you are prepared for dealing directly with people when you finish and you don’t have to worry too much about grammar. There are some ways to make your conversational class go better.

Listen to the other speakers when it isn’t your turn to talk. People often make the mistake of thinking so hard of what they want to say that they get lost to the conversation that is going on. If you listen, you will have to speak without premeditation, but this may help you to think faster in any situation as you learn the language.

Remember, even though it’s a conversational class, it doesn’t mean that you can’t take notes. You won’t want to spend much time with them. Focus on the conversation to learn the target language, but take the time to scribble down words or phrases that you want to remember. You can double check their exact meanings later, or better yet, speak them into a recorder or to yourself…

Merely being enrolled in a French class doesn’t guarantee that you will learn the language. You need to bring your whole self into the process and be ready for anything your teacher throws at you. If you are, you will no doubt learn some French by the end of the class.

Do not use a dictionary/ translator during the lesson as you’ll only miss out on what is going on in the classroom; if you don’t understand a word, ask the class in the Target Language if possible –  a good teacher should have given you those tools  from the beginning ( if not , see link below) , so play the game ‘ jouez le jeu’ and that way you still take part in the lesson without being left behind because you were too busy looking up for a word. This way you’ll also be given the proper definition (for more advanced groups ) or translation according to the context as the 1st translation you find in a dictionary isn’t necessary the right one! A table in English can be 2 things – only the context will determine which one we are taking about!

http://www.ciel.fr/apprendre-francais/classe-fle.html

However, after a while – depending on your needs but if you want to learn how to speak French properly , you will need to learn to conjugate verbs. Learn the standard conjugations once. As you learn new irregular verbs, write down their conjugations. Then, assume that every verb is a regular verb unless you know otherwise. Learn some patterns: for instance:  lu, bu, vu, pu, du etc… or future endings mostly look like ‘avoir’ ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont.. or ils sont, ils font, ils vont, ils ont..

Even French children have to learn conjugations… in case you forget a few ( even we do :-/) see below:

http://leconjugueur.lefigaro.fr/

App: La conjugaison French (L’OBS)

Alors bon travail!

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