Why are traditional methods of learning French like a sinkhole?
A near fatal tragedy occurred near our home a few years ago. On the highway exit close to where we live, a very large hole suddenly appeared during the after-work rush hour, swallowing up a mid-sized car. Fortunately, the driver was able to scramble out with only a few scrapes and bruises.
Traditional methods of learning French are a lot like this sinkhole.
Why, you ask? Let me explain.
In most traditional methods of learning French as a second language, teachers overwhelm students with endless lists of vocabulary, grammar rules and lists of verbs to memorize. There’s a major flaw with this method, which resembles how computers are programmed.
GIGO
It can all be summed up with this phrase – garbage in, garbage out. Generally speaking, a computer can only produce data based on what was originally programmed into it. This may change in the future with ”smart” computers, but for now, this is the reality.
If you program a student with loads of vocabulary, grammar rules and endless lists of verbs, without putting any of that into context, don’t expect the student to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation, using proper sentence structure and syntax.
All that information that was ”programmed” into the student’s brain simply falls into a giant sinkhole, making it difficult, if not impossible, to retrieve the information when needed.
This nonsense has to stop! I’m on a mission to create change.
A much more effective approach, and the one that I created based on work with thousands of students during my career, is to provide a framework combining all the essential elements of intelligent conversation right from the start.
By doing this, there is never any guessing or fumbling to retrieve information needed to speak fluent French. What the student needs to say is readily available and he or she can use it at their command.
There are no sinkholes for my students, only a rock-solid foundation so they can safely and confidently continue on their journey to communicating in French. By making a few small changes, or learning a few new things you can get big results when you speak French.
For example, did you realize that unlike English, the French language emphasizes vowels?
Say the phrase “the government of Canada”. All the sounds run together because the vowels are swallowed up as you speak. Your tongue is curled towards the back of your mouth.
The same phrase in French is “le gouvernement du Canada”.
Your tongue should be flat against your bottom teeth – you might think you’re speaking with a lisp. There is a slight pause between each syllable:
le gou-ver-ne-ment du Ca-na-da
Again, unlike English, the stress is placed on the last syllable and not on the first when you speak French. In my program, I place a lot of emphasis on 3 elements: Rhythm, Intonation and Pronunciation – RIP.
Without these three elements in sync, you will never sound fluent in French. You will sound like someone learning to speak French but with a bad accent.
More to come! A la prochaine…………..
Robert