Bonjour mes beautés et bienvenue, welcome to the next episode of the Paris Lessons. Our last episode of 2020. Merci d'être là. Thank you for... Being here, first and foremost, I want to wish you une très belle année, a very beautiful year, excellent health for you and your loved ones. I wish for you to be surrounded by love and I wish for you to be filled. with inspiration. In this episode, I wanted to leave you with some practical and also inspiring ideas for your French journey.
If you're joining me next month, which is in two days for the Janvier Atelier, then you will love this episode. So this episode is based on an article that I wrote for Frenchly in 2018. If you'd like to see... And then click on press, and then you'll see it in the list of press. And it's called The Six Secrets. to learning French. Les six secrets. The six secrets to learning French.
Aspiring francophones search tirelessly for the secret to mastering the most beautiful language on earth. What is it, alors? If you have already had the experience of learning a language from zero to fluidity, note I'm using my preferred term there, fluidity, not fluency. Fluency creates all of this unnecessary pressure.
It's not realistic. Fluidity is also, the idea of fluidity is also more anchored in your body. I want you to feel natural when you speak French or whatever language you're studying. Fluency has this notion of perfection attached to it that I don't think is very motivating. I don't think it's very helpful. I actually don't even think it's that healthy. If you have already had the experience of learning a language from zero to fluidity, then you know that it is an enriching, limitless journey.
There is always more to discover about the language and ourselves in the process. The bonne nouvelle, that means good news, is that you only have to learn French once to speak it forever. The key to successfully mastering it the first time around is staying engaged throughout your French journey. If you haven't studied with me before, or if you're new to this podcast, well, if you're new to this podcast, encore une fois, bienvenue, once again, welcome.
The way that I call our lifelong journey with La Longue Française is our French journey because I really want to encourage people to remember in a very inspiring way that it is a... journey. It's not something that just happens overnight or in a few months. And I've studied many languages and I can tell you that languages need a lot of love when you're learning them. And by love, I mean time.
Here are six secrets to learning French successfully or the six C's. And while you learn, remember that French loves you back just as much as you love it. Probably more. What I mean by that is that your French is just aching for you to spend time with it. That French book that you bought that you still haven't opened or those audios that you still haven't used.
La langue française wants nothing more than to connect with you. Try to think of it as a person, as a friend, or maybe as a new lover that you just really want to spend time with. I promise the more time you spend with it, really quickly you're going to see yourself make progress and you will be so motivated. The first C is curiosity.
Stay curious. In the moments when the subjunctive has you down, when your indirect and direct object pronouns have you wanting to beat your textbook with a baguette, Literally laughing at my own writing problem. I haven't read this in a while. Beat your textbook with a baguette. When the use of French prepositions has you exclaiming, why? Breathe, relax, and say.
Why not? Turning your frustration into curiosity will not only make the journey more enjoyable, but will also inspire you to explore the ins and outs of French grammar and pronunciation until your understanding becomes natural. Catch yourself trying to make French grammar fit into the paradigm of your native language? This is a sure sign that you've abandoned your sense of curiosity. Let French be French. not a translation of English, right? I mean, that's what you're there for, to learn French.
Not to learn your native language again via le cadre, or the frame of French. This article has some really beautiful photos they inserted too, for those of you who... end up reading the article via the link. The next C. Are you ready? Community.
Find a community of fellow French learners and keep them close. Your community could be in the form of a classroom or an online group. Your community could also simply be a trusted French speaker Finding people to practice your French with will keep you engaged. Having the support of other learners will remind you that you are not alone in this adventure and will keep you accountable. Remember that if you are an advanced student, even just practicing with a beginner will help you.
Teaching is a powerful way to solidify your skill set. Next, communication. Learning a second or a fifth. Language is a beautiful projet, that's French for project. With each language that we speak, we open up our world to a new stream of possibilities via the people that we will connect with in that language.
You are learning French to communicate in French, to connect with French people, not to impress others or to add more pressure to your life. In the moments when you judge yourself based on having the... perfect with quotes accent, or by making zero mistakes, be kind to yourself and do not forget that the end goal is purely to communicate and that no one is perfect.
Also, I'd add to that, and this is something that we covered a little bit in the Paris Lessons membership earlier in the fall when I talked about perfectionism, but if you're a perfectionist, Or I call myself a recovering perfectionist because perfectionism really ruled my life for quite some time. At least my achievements or got in the way of them rather. Anyway, we have this notion.
that people expect us to be perfect or they might love us more if we're perfect. Actually, being perfect is really intimidating. I can tell you that... Most French people hanging out in the south of France or Parisians, you know, having their glass of wine, they won't think that you're that.
interesting if you're perfect, if you have the perfect accents and you're not making any mistakes. First of all, they won't even notice that because it's besides the point. But people, whether they're French, American, or whatever, like real people. So be you. And like it or not, when you're learning a language, it means...
saying silly things sometimes. And that's part of the fun. Really studying languages helped me to slowly let go of my perfectionism because the only way to learn a language is to go through all of these really awkward stages. So remember again, anyway, no one's perfect. We don't even know what perfect is if I'm going to go into a more philosophical direction with it. Nobody knows what perfect is anyway, so let it go.
Next, creativity. If you can succeed in living each piece of devoir, each exercise as an act of creativity, you are well on your way to enjoying your French journey. And if you can embrace the nuances of the French language as creative license, you will have fewer headaches. Par exemple. That's one of our past tenses in French. And the passé composé, that's one of the other ones. The use of the liaison. That's, for example, if I say my friends in French, I'd say mes amis.
but it's spelled M-E-S and then A-M-I-E-S if it's all ladies, I-S if there's at least one male in the group. So the two words on their own are pronounced mes amis. but with the liaison, which makes that beautiful taffy-like quality that we love about the French language, with the liaison becomes mes amis. And the wide landscape between spoken and written French are empowering if you embrace their exceptions. Consistency. This one's really important. And I'd add...
Before that, in parentheses, gentle consistency. 10 minutes a day. Our lives are made up of the content of our days. It's only 10 minutes because the hardest part about sitting down to study is just that, sitting down. Once you are in the French zone, that's what I like to call when you're... in the study zone. I get into my Italian zone lately. I really love it. I personally like to study in the mornings. Some people like to study at night. Some people like to study on their lunch break.
Once you are in the French zone, relishing in those sensual French sounds and connecting with your Francophile soul, those 10 minutes fly by. To circle back for a moment to creativity, if you constantly find yourself saying that you do not have enough time for your French, consider creating that time. Sometimes this means taking other activities off of your to-do list. If French feeds your soul, why wait? An inspired life is made of inspiring moments.
Two really great tips when it comes to finding places where you can shift time. Look at your phone. Pay attention to how much time you're on your phone. And you might think, oh, I'm actually not on apps that much, but we actually just check our phones a lot more than we realize. I've caught myself doing this. I actually track my screen time every week. because, you know, I work a lot on social media. I answer a lot of emails on my phone. So at one point, my daily screen time was...
I would say impressive, but it actually was not impressive at all. It was very sad. So a great place to look for places where you can shift time towards your French studies is see how much time you're spending on your phone. Also, if maybe you like to study at night, for example, or in the morning, whatever it is, squeeze in those or shift, create those 10 minutes around your sleep schedule.
So for example, I wake up 20 minutes earlier because that allows me to study my Italian when I'm having my coffee, you know, and it's just waking up 20 minutes earlier. It's not that big of a deal, especially when you start to feel the effects. of how great it feels to witness yourself making progress and also just to be rid of the guilt of neglecting something that you really care about. I know what that feels like when there's something that...
you love to do, but you don't do it a lot, and then you shame yourself for it. It's just a mess. It's an unnecessary mess. So consider some of my advice to help you let go of that. Sometimes this means taking other activities off of your to-do list, like looking at your phone. If French feeds your soul, why wait? An inspired life is made of inspiring moments. I think I already read that, but it's important. An inspired life is made of inspiring moments. Are you ready for the last one?
Yes, since we're talking about studying French, the last C is Champagne. Living in France is so lovely for so many reasons, one of which being that you do not need to wait long or look far for a reason to celebrate. And celebrating here takes place with a coupe. a champagne flute in hand. Celebrate your successes. They are not limited to your last quiz score or how many mistakes you didn't make in that conversation exercise or whether or not that French person spoke back to you in French.
Finally, a success worthy of celebrating could be the fact that you've spent 10 minutes with French every day for the last week. And yes, listening to French music, a French podcast, or watching a French film. counts as part of your 10 minutes. So when I say, when I talk about being in the French zone and studying French, Remember also what I said earlier. It's about connecting with French as if French is a person. Maybe that person for you is a lover. Maybe it's a friend, whatever have you.
but it's really about connecting with it. So, you know, for example, some mornings I'm, you know, when I say I study Italian in the morning, that doesn't mean that. I'm this machine that wakes up every morning and sits here with my books. No, I just want to connect with it. So some, I want to say her. I love languages so much. I don't like to think of them as. It's because they have their own, they all have their own soul and their own feeling. So some morning I will...
listen to Italian as I'm making my coffee, or maybe I'll listen to Italian as I'm starting to do some of my emails. It's about exposure and connecting. Et voilà, chers amis. And there you go, dear friends. I hope that that gives you some new ideas. If this podcast helped you to feel more connected to French.
I would be very, very grateful if you would leave it a five-star review. If you want to take the time to write a review, I would be incredibly grateful because it's really in your words that people understand best. this podcast is about. You can write me at carrieanne, C-A-R-R-I-E-A-N-N-E at frenchisbeautiful.com with any questions you would like for me to answer here on the podcast. I will do... Q&A episode as soon as I've gathered a bunch soon.
I mentioned the January Atelier. I cannot wait to connect with those of you who are in the Atelier. If you're not signed up and you're interested, just go to frenchisbeautiful.com. If you're a beginning student, if you're just starting your French...
journey, click on the Basics for Beginners course in La Boutique. That's the homepage of my site. If you're someone who studied French in high school or college and you've been meaning to get back into it, you're going to want to check out the refresher. course. So the January Atelier, it's a three-week experience. It starts with a, our first email will be le premier janvier, the first of January. I'm going to give you some study guidelines for either the beginner's course or the refresher.
course. And then we're going to reconnect on January 11th. In the interim, I'll ask you to send me your questions. I'll answer your questions in an audio on January 11th. And then from January 11th through the rest of the month, you'll receive a daily email from me with a lesson or a prompt or a bit of inspiration.
You'll receive throughout the three weeks audio messages, video messages, audio lessons. I'm going to host two Zooms, one for my students in Australia, one for my students in... in more the Europe-North America-friendly time zones. Et voilà, voilà. I've really missed connecting with my students in a more direct way, and I can't wait to teach you. This is my New Year's gift to you if you own Basics for Beginners or the French Refresher course.
If you want to join us, you just need to purchase either of those by tomorrow. Tomorrow, December 31st at Frenchisbeautiful.com. Et voilà, voilà, chers amis. I wish you une très belle année again. Merci d'être là. Et je vous dis à très bientôt. And I say to you, talk to you very soon.