Study Habits Improved: # 1

It's been a while since I've been able to update this blog. With school starting and everything, I have just been trying to stay on top of things. And one of those things that has been taking up most of my time is my French class.

I can absolutely say that the summer has made me a bit rusty. I forgot many of the verbs and how to conjugate them. Monsieur was definitely not happy with my class. This was an intermediate class and every time we looked at him, I'm pretty sure we had blank faces....well, I had it. I'm sure you can understand his frustration with us.

With that being said, I had to sit myself down in my room and study. But I will be honest with you all, that did not happen until I had to study for my test. My first French test was today and from what I learned studying for this test is that you should definitely study something from your language everyday, especially if you want to get even remotely fluent.

Cramming is not a good way for you to become fluent. Sure, you may know the words for the test, but you may not be retaining them for future use. But in my cramming, I did have a stroke of genius. I created a worksheet for each tense.

Here is how it looks. I designed it through Microsoft Excel and printed out one sheet for each tense.

Here's how it looks filled out. This one is for the present tense. It definitely made it easier for me to see how one -er verb can be spelled from another -er verb, especially if that -er verb is irregular. Plus because all the verbs that I needed to study for were there, I didn't have to worry about forgetting one.

This really helped me in organizing the different tenses in my head. I think that is what my problem was last year, plus I wasn't really organized for that class; which I should have been. If I was, it could have saved me a lot of stress, especially since French was brand new to me at that time and the verbs just looked the same to me.

But the real verdict will be when I get my test back. 

If you decide to use this, let me know. It would love to see if this is actually ideal to study a language. I can improve my studying habits if I get feedback from you guys!

That is all for now. Until next time.

Say What Again?

Last Thursday marked the beginning of the semester at my school and, what do you know, my first class was Intermediate French. As soon as I stepped into the classroom and saw Monsieur (who I haven't had since first semester of last year), I knew this was going to be a class where I would be forced to speak in French.

I have to admit though, after a whole summer of not studying French (I should have, but didn't), I was proud to form together a coherent sentence in French to Monsieur. The last time I saw him, I didn't know squat (You hear that, Monsieur? I deserve a gold star!!).

It was a rough start, I have to say. Many of my classmates were intimidated and you could literally hear the lights buzzing above us because of how quiet it was. Monsieur had us also start reading a page from the new textbook and then asked us questions about what we read.

All that was going through my mind as he asked us questions in French was: Say what again?

Image received from google.com

It was a struggle. A long, painful struggle, but we survived. Monsieur isn't a bad guy. It's just that when he starts talking to us in French is when we want to run and hide. But if it's something I learned as I researched tips on how to make learning a language easier, is to at least try. Trying will result in mistakes, but that's how you will learn. It's like when you first learned to ride a bike. When the training wheels came off, I'm pretty sure you fell, ran into trees and possibly your friends, but you got better, didn't you?

Without trying, you won't get better. But don't worry, if you're still scared about doing this alone, don't be because I'm right there with you.

I'm pretty sure I'll be saying those three words again...and again...and again. Say what again? (Yeah, that).

Till next time...

Comment t'allez vous?

Well I have officially begun my blog to my journey to French fluency. This year is definitely going to be challenging. In one week, I will be heading back to school and one of the classes I will be taking this upcoming semester will be once again French. I have made it to the intermediate level, but the summer can make you forget the things you had memorized only three months ago (three months is a very long time). My French professor will be named Monsieur for the sake of me not getting in trouble in the future. You can never be too safe, I always say.

With that being said, Monsieur and I have one week until we meet face to face once again; and, from past experience, he will expect me of retaining at least common sense in certain things. We can only pray for that when the time comes.

Not to mention, Tutor better be prepared for the many questions and slight panic I will possibly develop as the semester goes by. Oh, he's going to love me since we're living in the same dorm.

Last year, I have learned a lot about learning a language. Always study something every night, stay super organized, and, for the love of god, DO NOT procrastinate. The last one was my biggest downfall. I would try to make over 100 flashcards the night before the test. By the time I was done making them, I just wanted to hop into bed and watch some TV. I would barely study ten of them before giving up and succumbing to sleep (maybe it was because I was studying on my bed...nah).

New goals are definitely in order. I have thought of how I plan to devote my time to learning the language this summer and plan to apply them as soon as the semester starts. I'll keep you updated and let you know how my first day of classes start with Monsieur.

Wish me luck!