How do I study more effectively?
I'm glad that you asked.
Tips for preparing for quizzes
Here's a consolidated list of the steps for learning new vocabulary with Quizlet:
1. EXPOSURE/INPUT: Look through the whole set in flashcard mode so that you see the English AND the French. Listen to the audio for the French vocabulary and say the words out loud.
2. RECOGNITION: Look at the French side of the card and see if you can recall the meaning of the word.
3. PRODUCTION: Look at the English side of the card and see if you can produce the French.
4. GENDER: For nouns, see if you can remember which ones are masculine and which ones feminin.
5. CONJUGATION: For verbs, see if you can conjugate the verb correctly. Test yourself with a site like www.conjuguemos.com.
6. FORMES: For adjectives and articles, see if you know the masculine, feminine, and plural forms.
7. SPELLING/PRECISION: See if you can spell the words correctly. The "Learn" and "Speller" modes on Quizlet are great for this!!
8. APPLICATION: Once you know the words, see if you can use them in a sentence.
General strategies for studying a foreign language
Strategies for being an ACTIVE AND EFFECTIVE foreign language student
Contrary to popular belief, you cannot learn a foreign language by only (a) glancing at a page, (b) hearing the words in class a few times, or (c) magic, osmosis, or wishful thinking. You need to interact with the words and structures.
Here's a list of some of my favorite tips:
FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING is cumulative (each lesson builds on the ones before it), requires daily study, and requires mastery and not just familiarity. We will build a large repertoire of vocabulary and grammar by the end of the year. If you fall behind, the material you are responsible for will snowball and you will have a hard time catching up.
Be PREPARED for class everyday! You must have your textbook, notebook, and writing utensils everyday in order to learn and participate in class!
Make good use of class time: We will do a lot of practice together and you must be on task and PARTICIPATING to fully benefit. Be an ACTIVE learner!
When someone else is called on, think your about your own answers.
Notice when other students make errors and think about how you would fix them.
When we do dialogues with partners, games, and other practice exercises, focus on the task and really make an effort to answer each question as thoroughly as possible. Try to stretch what you know and give more detailed information whenever possible.
When we check homework in class, listen carefully and MAKE CORRECTIONS in order to (1) make sure that you have an accurate source to study for quizzes and tests, (2) stay active in class, (3) give you a chance to process the information that we're discussing and actively think about where you were confused, and (4) ask questions about things that you don't understand.
HOMEWORK: When you are doing your homework, make sure that you have your textbook/ notes handy. Look up words, structures, and verb conjugations where you have some uncertainty. Double-check your answers.
REVIEW consistently: You should spend at least 10 minutes reviewing French every night in order to be successful. We will always have a short assignment to help you direct your practice and review, but it's a great idea to look for other resources (websites, games, songs, YouTube videos, etc.) that will give your brain lots of exposure to the language so that you will have a more solid understanding of it.
Listen and IMITATE: You must listen carefully and imitate as exactly as you can. Pronunciation affects meaning.
Study OUT LOUD: In reading over material silently, you only use your visual memory. If you say the words, sentences, or other structures out loud, you give your eyes, ears, AND mouth practice with them! Put your senses to work to help your brain learn the material!
USE IT! Practice making sentences, not just conjugating verbs. While learning verb forms or even vocabulary, practice using the new ideas and words by writing new, complete sentences. Doing so will allow you to learn the new words while also practicing your writing skills.
Divide the material into small units: Don't try to memorize a large body of material at once. BREAK IT UP! Studying smaller bits of information as we go along will be much less overwhelming once we get to tests.
Take INITIATIVE: You are responsible for your learning. If you need extra help, it is your responsibility to seek it. There will be lots of resources posted on Edmodo and our class site.... so explore and use them!!! I'm here to help, but you must take the initiative to ASK if you feel you need extra help.
Think of studying as you would for a sport or music: a series of skills that need practice!
TAKE RISKS! Speak up even if you're not sure if everything is right! Be fearless in making mistakes, and getting correction. Would an athlete object when his or her coach corrected certain moves?
READ!!!!!!!
Focus on overall meaning first, then deal with details.
Take time to read the directions in French carefully and think about what each word means.
When we do reading activities in class, don't just scan the page for the answers to the questions. Work your way through the text slowly. Take your time.
Observe new words and structures and see if you can figure them out from the context. Look for simarities or differences with English.
Look up words that you don't know.
Reflect on what you're reading!
It's also a great idea to look for French texts on subjects that interest you - maybe a French magazine or blog about music, fashion, current events, the environment, etc. This can expand your vocabulary and also help you to get a sense for what is "normal" in French. It's easier to start to internalize grammar, verb conjugations, and vocabulary when you see them in the context of something that you're interested in... and it's a lot easier than just memorizing grammar rules!
Visit https://www.studygs.net/langlearn.htm for more ideas on how to practice reading, writing, speaking, and studying more effectively!
I also really like the tips here: https://www.abroadview.org/going/language/strategies.htm
Track your errors on practice activities.
- Make a list of your own most frequent errors (ex., je suis 15 ans --> j'ai quinze ans) to help you to learn from your mistakes and to eliminate those errors. You can use this chart (or make your own) found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18bSKhdNA3wxLe7PmQR60MeBFI7kQLxqTIIGWA4lVdcg/edit#gid=0.
Strategies for acquiring and RETAINING vocabulary
A very thorough guide
Learning Vocabulary in a Foreign Language:
Resources Online:
https://www.gbarto.com/languages/frvocab.html
https://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/grammar/lvocab2.html (the tips below are adapted from this Latin page)
https://www.abroadview.org/going/language/strategies.htm (More general language learning strategies)
Acquiring - and retaining - vocabulary
Face the facts! It is important to realize that you are the one responsible for learning the vocabulary. You will save much time and frustration by discovering precisely how you personally learn vocabulary most speedily and securely.
Our brains are really good at absorbing new information. The thing is, we have to be paying active attention for our brains to do their jobs! We also have to be involved in the process. Hearing a word a few times or seeing it on paper is usually not enough for us to retain that information and be able to use it later. We need to find a way to process that information and to make connections between things that we know already and the new pieces of information.
Your goal should be a deep-processing of words. Deep-processing implies that these words become part of you, almost as your native language is part of you. You can not only recognize the words, but also recall them when you need them and produce sentences, descriptions, and conversations that use them in a variety of contexts.
Tips and Strategies for Acquiring Vocabulary:
1. Use flash cards.
Step one: Decide what you need to practice: Meanings of words? Spellling? Gender of nouns? Verb forms? The following instructions explain how to study MEANING, but you can isolate other skills.
Step two: Go through the pile with the French side up. The first and easiest step is just being able to recognize the French word.
Step three: Go through the pile English-side up. This second step is a little harder because you have to produce the French. Also test yourself on the spelling of each word and the gender of nouns. For verbs, quiz yourself on the conjugated forms.
Step three: If you want to really test yourself and expand and improve your ability to communicate in French, see if you can explain the word in French or think of words that would be related. For example, if the word is "la nourriture" (food), you might say "Ce sont les choses que tu peux manger. Les examples sont les hamburgers, les fruits, le pain, le fromage, etc."
As you review the words, proceeding through the stack, separate the words into two piles: those you understand immediately, and those you do not. Keep going through the yet-unlearned words until you attain a speedy mastery of them.
French 2: www.classzone.com: This site has online flashcards that you can practice with. It also has online workbook exercises, practice quizzes, and practice tests that very closely imitate activities that you will see on my quizzes and tests. Don't forget that if you print out these activities and you have 80% accuracy or better, I will give you additional points on your participation grade.
2. Think of cognates and usages.
Think of words with a strong resemblence in English to the word in question (cognates) or of common phrases that use the word. For example, what is vivre? It helps if you know the expression joie de vivre "joy of living"). You may have prior knowledge from being an English speaker that will help you to make connections to the new words. Also, remember that we have many English words that are derived from either French or Latin; for example. la vie and vivre are echoed in words like vivacious, vivisection, vivid, and viva.
CAUTION: Often, the cognate is not the exact equivalent of the meaning of the original word.
3. Visualize and vocalize.
Meditate on an image that the word represents or suggests as you say it aloud. If you are walking outside, look up at the sky and say ciel, bleu, soleil, nuage - any words that you can think of. Try to make a sentence. "Le ciel est bleu. Il fait du soleil, mais il y a des nuages aussi."
4. FRANGLAIS! a.k.a. Weave the new foreign words into English sentences.
Insert foreign words into English sentences until you get their meanings quickly. For example: toujours means always, so repeat to yourself several sentences like:
I will toujours have trouble with vocabulary unless I give the time to it.
Romeo told Juliet, "I will love you toujours. "
5. Practice the key-word or key-sound or key-letter technique.
Think of a word (called the key-word) based on the first (or very prominent) syllable of the foreign word (or on the sound of the whole word) and then make up a story or an image involving both this key-word and the meaning of the original word.
Stories are easier to remember than individual words, so this key-word will get you back to the foreign word if you are going from your language to the other one.
For example, parler sounds like "Parliament". What do the lawmakers in Parliament do? They talk and talk and talk! (There's a play on words in French since "parl-" means "speak" and "ment" means "lie"...)
Sometimes I find that a really silly explanation works just as well: un tapis is a rug. I imagine a person tap-dancing on a rug. It doesn't have a lot to to with the meaning of the word... but it makes a connection in my brain between the French and English words!
Even better would be going directly from a syllable of the word to the connecting image. To remember that dessiner means "to draw", maybe you would think of a desk covered in drawing paper.
6. Read, write, and recite phrases.
Discover, create, and review many comprehensible phrases using the word to be remembered. This helps you to deep-process the word by working it into a whole web of meanings.
7. Repeat, repeat, and repeat again.
Especially for memorizing important parts and forms of words, sometimes only "brute" repetition will secure your memory for certain hard-to-retain items. Frequent vocal repetition impresses the forms on your "mental ear." This auditory dimension will help you recognize and recall the words later.
8. Attend, Echo, and Associate.
Why do we frequently forget names right after introductions?
Sometimes we are thinking of something else when the name is spoken. (We need to ATTEND to what is said and really hear it.)
At other times we hear the name, but we fail to refresh our memory immediately by repeating the new name to ourselves or to others in conversation. (We need to ECHO the name shortly after hearing it.)
Finally even if we do these things, we might still quickly lose the name if we leave ourselves without some "hook" back to it. We have no hook if we do not connect the name with something or someone else we know. (We need to ASSOCIATE the name with something that is already meaningful to us. This practice helps us note similarities and differences and deepens our original ATTENTION.)
9. Read freely and abundantly.
We can increase our vocabulary through free voluntary reading. However some linguists claim that we must have first acquired about 3000 to 5000 word-families, so that we will be able to know enough of the context to begin to construct accurate meanings for the words that we do not know.
Look through my French children's books, novels, and magazines to see what you recognize. Explore online resources like www.lepointdufle.net for exercises for French students. Explore real French sites, like www.tv5.org or www.france24.fr. Check out my links posted on Edmodo. Ask me to help you find resources about things that interest YOU!
Incorporate French into your daily routine
-Talk to yourself in French! Seriously! There's no pressure to impress somebody and so you can just put words together without worrying. This can help you develop fluency and to feel more comfortable speaking French.
-Set your home page on your web browser to an interesting French site like TV5 or France 24. That way, even if you don't have time to click on anything, you will have some exposure to French vocabulary every time you open your computer!
-Set the language on your Facebook, Google account, phone, or other sites that you use every day to French!
-Look for the language all around. It's everywhere - store names, on packaging, t.v. Look for French on product packaging in the instructions, ingredients list, etc.
-Greet your friends with, "Bonjour! Ça va?" even if that's all you can do.
-Use your vocab. words whenever possible. "Hey, do you know what the devoirs for les maths is? I forgot!"
-Connect with a real French person online.
-Write notes/texts to your friends in French (assuming they are cool enough to take French.)
-Set the language of a movie you know to French & see what happens. For example, Frozen has a French audio option... with all French songs!
-Download French music & listen to it on your phone/iPod
-If you are religious/spiritual, take a familiar text (i.e. a prayer) and read it in French
Memory-boosters for language learners
Spaced repetition: Never forget vocabulary ever again An effective strategy with a link to a free learning app
Great tips for how to learn languages effectively: Video