To give myself every chance of learning French as quickly as possible, I decided to immerse myself in the language by coming to Montpellier, enrolling in one of the standard twenty-lessons-a-week courses, and staying with a guest family.
French is the fourth language I have studied over the past four years. I have found that French immersion is an invaluable language-learning strategy because it accelerates the process of comprehensible input: beginning to understand what something means without actively learning the words.
For instance, every morning I take the tram to school. At the tram stop there is an electronic board that lists the times of the next trams. I see this sign every day and have subconsciously learned the French word for “next” (“prochaine”). This example demonstrates how French immersion is an ongoing process that enhances a French learning experience; learning vocabulary is easier when you are using the words in their natural context all day long. Better still, you have a much better chance of memorising the words because your brain can associate them with the senses; I hear, see, and smell that ”prochaine” tram!
A French language course in France entails learning on your feet. Last week I went to have my hair cut. During class I asked our teacher to teach us the vocabulary, which she duly did. Then I went straight to the barbers and miraculously managed to leave with the haircut I wanted (12mm back and sides, scissors on top, straight at the back – not tapered). Beginning to speak in your target language requires confidence, being here in Montpellier entails putting theory into practice right away and makes you think; “I can do this!”.
It is the same with many of the subjects we are learning. I might not be able to go into a bar and have a philosophical conversation in French yet, but I can go shopping and ask where the changing rooms are. Incidentally I have had to do a lot of shopping because I quickly discovered that the people here are very stylish and I wanted to fit in — I’m not complaining!
A combination of immersion and classroom-learning pays off quickly; especially with the high quality French immersion taught at ILA.
For me, there is nothing more frustrating than when there is a gaping chasm in the classroom between the level of the students. As a total beginner, I did not want to find myself sitting in a Beginner’s class next to somebody who already speaks French. That can be soul-destroying. There is a definitive advantage of learning French at a bigger language school like ILA, where they have enough students to stream into specific, tailored French classes, rather than just beginners, medium, and advanced. Best is a total beginners for class for people like me who had never spoken a word of French before arriving in France. After 5 weeks I have moved into the next group up (A2), where there are students who learned French at school but have forgotten it. We are now all about the same level.
The class sizes are small but truly international. I am getting a French-learning experience in a United Nations-style environment! We are only eight students but still manage to cover six nationalities: Japanese, Swiss, German, Swedish, American and British. This really adds to the spirit of things because during classes people comment on what they find different about French culture. In doing so they tell me something about their own country. All of this keeps my mind whirring away and makes my French learning experience far more interesting than a date with a textbook.
It is a benefit too that the French language classes are not dominated by one nationality. The common language amongst students is of course English but the teachers here are very good at explaining things during the classes in French. Again, this is better for learning French because your brain works harder to try and associate a teacher’s physical or gesticulated explanation with the word, rather than receiving an instant translation in English!
David, England (ILA student)