How did I learn French?

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved school. The feeling of being in a classroom, diving heart and mind first into subjects presented by accomplished professionals, and striving to obtain excellence in my education was immaculate. My drive as a young girl and young adult was to grasp as much information in each subject. Out of all my classes my French class stood out the most. In the Caribbean as you entered into secondary school you were required to take both Spanish and French. I preferred French. To me it sounded better because the teacher was more exciting. During class she would make us recite the alphabet, or other text she gave us to memorize over and over again. She would walk up and down the aisles making sure we were all speaking.

My first experience of learning a second language was definitely grammar based. But because of the craziness of the teacher it seemed like fun to me. She would randomly call students to recite things or write sentences on the board. Or she would just start telling us stories in French. I would not fully understand the stories but I loved listening to her and watching her illustrate with crazy gestures. So from my first experience in my L2 I developed my skill in listening and reading.

By the time I got to high school, my level of understanding dropped. This I think happened for a number of reasons. There was not as much authentic input during class. With my first experience I was hearing the language constantly, from the teacher and also when we had to recite. But in high school the language was only required when we had to turn in an assignment. The teacher did not make us speak in the target language very often and neither did the teacher. Another reason was the change in my environment. I moved from St. Vincent to Maryland, and that was enough for me to forget about my L2. That wasn’t a priority for me to be assimilated into the American culture so I was not motivated to use the language outside of class. The one good thing about my high school experience was that I had excellent grades in French. I am not sure how I did that.

I got to college and I didn’t know what to choose as my major. My L2 came to my rescue. Since I had excellent grades in French I was advised to continue on that tract. Now that my L2 has given me my purpose for being in college I was motivated to learn the language even more.

It wasn’t until college that I got serious about fully getting the language. What I did was I listened to how the teacher spoke; their accents, and how they used the grammar I was learning. I wanted to hear how they were saying it before I attempted to say. I would practice over and over in my room before I had to do presentations. The more I heard it being used in context the more comfortable I was using it to communicate. That’s why I have a hard time with the “passé simple” which is a tense no longer spoken today.

As I reflect on my learning French I think I need both the grammar-translation method as well as the communicative language approach. I need a balance of the two; learning the rules of the language then applying those rules in authentic situations. This happened when I did a semester in Paris. I stayed with a host family and I also took a grammar class at the Sorbonne. In this experience which lasted for about 3.5 months I felt I learned the most in my L2, compared to the previous 7 years of learning it in school. I had to figure out how to use the metro in Paris, or buy food. I had to communicate to my host family. When I got lost I had to ask for directions in French. In the classroom all instruction was in French. There was enough input for me to produce in French and that happened everyday for three months. I was the most confident at the end of that 3 months; at the airport I was able to ask for help with my ticket and baggage all in French without any mistakes.

Today I am not as confident.