Improve your listening skills in French

When you listen to French spoken at full speed it can be a real confidence breaker when you’ve done all that learning yet still don’t understand what’s being said.  Or even, you get some of it but the time it took you to process it, the conversation has moved on. 

You are not alone! In fact, if you’ve been learning your grammar and vocabulary, you probably feel even more thrashed down because you feel you ought to be able to understand and respond more easily. 

The truth is that it’s a joint effort in your head between the way you learn, and the way you are preparing yourself for those spontaneous face-to-face conversations you spent all that time with your nose in the textbook for. 

This is what you'll be discovering in this mini-lesson:

• How to improve your listening skills 

• How your mindset makes a massive difference to your learning

• How you can integrate your skills into spontaneous conversations

How do you Improve your listening skills?

Here are some activities you do: learn your vocabulary…use some apps…use a textbook…learn the grammar…listen to podcasts...watch Netflix…

You’ve been at it for months, years ... but when you have a normal conversation, it still all seems jumbled up! Let's explore why this happens...

What you see is not always what you hear.

Why can't you master your listening skills? Despite your effort, there are elements to consider. Indeed, you have to get used to: 

• Liaison
• Intonation
• Pronunciation
• Speed
• Unpredictability 

 In the following sections, we will be explaining each one of them.

• Liaison

It's one of the biggest difficulties for French students. Why? Because French people connect words and you may lose track of where starts and ends a word. Therefore, you hear a chain of words that could be confusing. Moreover, the sounds change with this connection.

• les enfants >>> the children

Here, we connect the word "les" with "enfants" because the latter word starts with a vowel. As a result, you will pronounce "lezenfan". The letter "s" becomes a "z". 

You would usually have liaisons with the consonants "n", "t", "p", "r", "s" and "z" followed by words starting with a vowel or "h".

• Intonation

It is the music of a language. You could have perfect sentences in French but if you don't apply the right intonation, it will sound strange. Take the example of stand-up artists who can mimic foreign languages without even saying proper words! The intonation alone is enough to trick you.

You want to improve your intonation? Mimic as much as you can!

• Pronunciation

The most important part or people won't understand you. Practice this by contrasting 2 pairs of sounds. For instance, in French, you could practice with "é" and "è", "o" and "u" etc. Focus on the sounds that don't exist in your native language.

I have a great tip for you: record what you say so you can have honest feedback. Share it with your teacher or French friends. Don't consolidate those errors. 

• Speed

Have you ever had the impression that French people speak too fast? It's true but it's also because you are not accustomed to listening to French. The more you listen, the easier it gets! 

Now, it's true that some people speak faster than others. So, choose the right speed for you. You may want to listen to resources for children if you are a beginner.

• Unpredictability 

 This is the definition of normal conversations. You never know how it's going to happen. You can't predict anything. Basically, you must adapt to raw situations.

For instance, someone could arrive and interrupt, a bus pass by and you can't hear anything, the person you're talking to makes a joke you don't understand...The list is endless.

What will help you in these situations is patience with yourself and confidence. Just remind yourself that you are a learner. So relax and enjoy the listening and the talking. (psst . . . . truth bomb - we will always be learners)

Let's take a peek at how to master this skill...

How do you get used to the elements of a conversation?

You want to get it all at once, but…Start small. Our brain does not recognise all the sounds we are hearing. Nor have we yet associated the written word with the sound it should be. So…

• Listen and watch a French person talking.
• Start by repeating a sound.
• Focus for a really short time only.
• Stick at it until you can make the sound.
• Copy the lips, the way the air travels through the mouth.
• Copy the intonation & pronunciation
• Then add that sound to the phrase around it, copying any liaison sound.

 
Make your learning familiar.

What does this mean? Whenever you learn something, make it your own. Familiarity helps in spontaneous conversations - adapt your new sounds and words.

Create your own examples to make it easier to remember. Use your proper words. Here are some examples of natural conversations to practice the past:

Il a mis le café. J’ai mis le sucre sur la table. >>> He put the coffee. I put the sugar on the table.

Il a bu le café au lait.  J’ai bu un bon café. Merci >>> He drank the coffee with milk. I drank a good coffee. Thanks.

J’ai fait un gâteau. T’en veux ? >>> I made a cake. Do you want some?

How do you make it work in conversations?

If you truly want to master your listening skills and be able to have fluent conversations, explore following these tip:

1 - Negotiate

If you don’t tell people you will ask them to repeat, they will carry on at full speed. You have a responsibility to prevent it from being a monologue. INTERRUPT.

Take action, and don't be shy or you will end up frustrated.

2 - Learn words/new words

Listen out for the words and sounds you are learning - somehow they pop up more when you’re learning them. 

Note only a few significant words, or even just one.

Discover in situ! Consolidate at home. You have a responsibility to avoid even further frustration by having to backtrack!

Keep the conversation at your level.  Keep it an appropriate length.

3 - Familiarity is easy!

Make it familiar and learn your vocabulary. 

Read out loud - it makes you pronounce and it stimulates your brain more. Familiar words are more distinguishable.

Keep it alive - arrange to have regular spontaneous conversations to make your learning realistic. 

4 - You need less than you think

You can get by with about 5000 commonly used words. You can manage with three basic tenses. Then you play by combining with what you know.

5 - Learning is best when a happy experience

Pay attention to new words - we remember more when we are happy, when we feel, taste, smell something so we can recall it more easily. The word means something in context. 

Memory is triggered when not blocked by fear or by negative emotion.

6 - Trust yourself to exit the comfort zone

The comfort zone is where your automatic, protective system is trying to keep you. 

The learning is through the walls of protective comfort and it is best when it is a pleasure.

Rewarding

Effective

Adventurous 

Learning

7 - When it’s tough - visualise the end goal

Keep yourself motivated and on track.

“Future self-images are more likely to energise motivation because of our natural psychological desire to reduce discrepancy between our current and ideal selves.” 

“You have to EXPECT success.” 

(Higgins 1987 in Psychology for language learning. Palgrave Macmillan 2012)

Consider your REAL reason

If you struggle to learn, it’s not always a question of intelligence. You have to “mitigate the impact of low self-efficacy.” 

Adopting a GROWTH MINDSET means you realise that your ability CAN be increased with effort and practice. 

With a growth mindset you seek challenges and opportunities to learn. 

With a fixed mindset, you’re likely to just be needing to demonstrate your ability, rather than increase it.

Should I watch films with subtitles on?

It’s totally up to you as it depends on your level. 

If you’re a beginner and you’re reading the subtitles then you’ll essentially miss the a fair bit of the film! 

The subtitles are frequently quite different from the spoken word, so you have to train yourself to hear, to watch and to spot the difference between what you see and hear. It’s more for people who are training themselves to understand at speed. 

Aim to pick up the odd phrase in context rather than translating everything - that will only spoil your viewing. 

Don’t forget to copy sounds out loud as you’re enjoying for film! 🤣 

Where do I get LIVE, quality practice?

Find yourself a native or competent practice partner who is competent at helping people learn.

There are tons of sites you can subscribe to with native French people in groups. You get to listen to others speaking, or you can pay more and have your own teacher.

Conversation Café is a regular, professional group with people who are committed to learning and to helping others. There is always a highly qualified teacher at the helm, structured sessions, and a minimum of 6 learners at any one time outside of breakout sessions.  Native speakers are also available to help you with your French.

Everything you need to master your listening skills.

What you have seen in this mini-lesson is a list of elements specific to oral like:

• Liaison
• Intonation
• Pronunciation
• Speed
• Unpredictability 

Then, there's no secret. Instead, practice your favourite activities among these ones:

• Listen and watch a French person talking.
• Start by repeating a sound.
• Focus for a really short time only.
• Stick at it until you can make the sound.
• Copy the lips, the way the air travels through the mouth.
• Copy the intonation & pronunciation
• Then add that sound to the phrase around it, copying any liaison sound.

So, how do you practice your listening? More importantly, how do you feel about it? Can you find joy in your learning despite the fear? If I can help in any way, please, reach out!