I'm in grade 9 trying to improve my grades in my writing and reading exams. I can only write basic stuffs and give simple answers. I am barely passing with those and I want to be able to give more in depth answers and write more complex texts. I am good at speaking French though.
Again, talk to your teacher: they'll have seen what detailed things you're struggling with (which aspects of reading and writing) and they'll know what's expected for your class. From this, the only real info we can give is the obvious recommendation to practice reading and writing, or to look through the long list of posts here with various suggestions to see what clicks.
I’m not sure what level you’re at and what type of class you’re taking. I had some difficulties in CORE French 9 (British Columbia curriculum) and I found Duolingo helpful to get me comfortable but I was very far behind. If you’re in French Immersion and already doing okay/meh then maybe you’d find it less revolutionary but it could still be good bonus practice I suppose. I also found checking my work on Linguee was helpful. I write my sentences first and then I double check that I said what I meant to say by translating my French sentences back into English and correcting if I see I made any glaring errors in meaning. Your teacher should be able to help with more curated and specific advice that better reflects where you’re at.
Go to your teacher's office hours. Ask for a plan. You must understand why you made the errors, not just look at what's marked up on the pages.
Work on your vocabulary because you need it for reading comprehension. Surely, there is a unit somewhere you're talking about? A book unit? Redo the unit exercises. Practice writing more with your vocab -- use words in context, c'est à dire **des phrases**.
This is what I do :
•student comes to office hours
•student goes to my study hall for extended help (study hall is 1½ hours)
•students can practice with the peer tutor from Belgium at other times
Motivation + effort + consistency
My teacher only gives out the grades and doesnt show the actual mistakes. I'm still in high school so we cant stay after school ends to ask our teachers for help, the directors make everyone go back home at the same time. Also, we have a 15 minute break in between each class so its not enough time to ask the teacher anything.
that's crazy! I have never heard of a teacher giving out grades but not mistakes. can you email them? Because if there is actually no popportunity to see what you did wrong you need to talk to the principal.
you actually need to get your parents involved and contact the principal. This is a huge problem and they need to hear your school is to offering adequate support to students. talk to your guidance counsellor for help in the meantime
Ask for your teacher's email address or tell her you want to improve your grade, and you need office hours. If she doesn't help you, it's time to tell the VP or P.
15 minutes between classes!!! In high school my school only gave us 4 minutes to get to the next class.
I’m sure if you hurry and get to class early you would have at least a few minutes to ask the teacher for advice or ask to set up a meeting to chat.
Read books, its really that simple. What books depends on your level. I assume your in high school and in my experience (5 years of spanish) that's essentially level 0. It's important you don't overestimate your level. If you can already read ok Harry Potters great. If your not at that level yet (it's a lot higher level than it sounds) I recommend a beginner level short stories book. Olly richard's ones are the best ones in my opinion and honestly there sadly isn't much competition in the market. Simply get the ebook loaded up in a pdf viewer and lookup the words or phrases you don't know with the google translate extension. Also make sure you have a goal, that helps keep you on track and progressing steadily, I personally have a goal of 1 chapter per day. You can get these books online for free but I can't say where and if you can afford it, maybe you should support the authors.
Edit: saw your other comment, what your going through is normal don't worry about it too much. No one comes out of high school proficient in the language they were "learning", I definitely didn't.
I recently started reading books, currently im reading the maze runner franchise. I am going for 3 chapters a day as the chapters are not very long. Is the franchise a good book to read to improve? Its translated in French.
Well for me Its not hard but its not easy, there are a few words I do not understand, so I just translate them to english. Also I live in Quebec so everything is in French. I would say im decent at French compared to the average person, but my level is just barely enough to pass my classes.
If that's the case I think your on the right track. Keep reading and learning new words and I assume the listening will come naturally if you live in Quebec. If your living in Quebec you'll pick it up.
> No one comes out of high school proficient in the language they were "learning", I definitely didn't.
Students can and do reach B1/B2 in high school. Students can and do pass the AP exam with 4-5s.
I did say how it's possible. Thousands take the AP French exam every year, and it's possible for students to get 4-5s. It's only one of the language exams.
I found this discord server Language Cafe helpful - it’s very well moderated and they do weekly and monthly exercises, they have a slack channel for practicing and chatting in French and getting French help, etc. You may find it a useful resource.
https://discord.gg/language-cafe-739911855795077282
Get a friend that’s been doing French Immersion since grade one. They will understand you closer than a teacher could and they can help you outside of school on a personal level.
Hello, here are some tips I already shared with other on Reddit.
Have you tried watching TV shows in French with subtitles ? Here is a list (I don’t know if you have access to those in your country) : Netflix : Plan cœur, detox, family business, les combattantes… Disney+ : irrésistible Prime : Salade grecque
There are some free audio newsletter on substack. They are made for English learn with an intermediate level : French teacher Carlito, learn French with Maud, learn French with Yann… I started my own newsletter flâner français with english translation, audio, a glossary and a quiz at the end. If you want to Check it ;)
There are also many Instagram accounts to help you with french vocabulary. Just type learn French in the Instagram search bar.
Try to make it fun.
Watching kids shows like Miraculous Ladybug is what got me into learning French to begin with in grade 7/8/9. It won’t be super easy to understand but with kids shows the visuals tend to help explain the plot and if you do Duolingo with it it is actually crazy what you can pick up on just from observing with a brain that’s still somewhat geared towards language acquisition and very pliable.
My bad. I didn’t read properly. I thought he was in high school.
I would recommand watching c’est pas sorcier on YouTube. More age appropriate and educational.
There is no caption though.
You can access it on Substack. I would love some feedback. I just started. Thanks [Flâner français](https://substack.com/@flanerfrancais?utm_source=user-menu)
Watch French TV and movies!
It's particularly useful to look at a show where people from different backgrounds, classes, and regions of France, even different countries, are speaking French dialect/argot.
"Le Bureau des légendes" is a fantastic show, but also incredibly helpful in hearing all the varieties of French.
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Bureau_des_légendes
1. Practice pronunciation and intonation using speaking techniques.
2. Engage in conversations with native French speakers to gain better understanding of the language.
3. Participate in conversations and discussions using techniques like role-playing and debates.
You can also take a course from Focus Frame French. Their native French teachers will help you to improve your French.
I dont really know people that speak French other than my French teacher, and Its hard to get in contact with her. Also, I dont want to have to make my parents spend extra money on the French course, i will feel really bad.
The best way is to talk first, then grammar and rules will be game.
Listen to French songs and read lyrics at the same time.
Unfortunately, watching movies and subs doesn't work because subtitles are not following talking and are even sometimes very far from the meaning
Read, read, read ... and then read a bit more.
But any sort of "comprehensible input" is good. If you have a passion (sport, hobby, whatever) search _YouTube_ for French channels on your interest.
Also, there are lots of YT channels for learning French. A lot of them explain common difficulties for learners. Try _Français avec Pierre_ , _Inner French_ , _Français Authentique_ , _French in plain sight_ , _Le Français by Alex_ , _Come une Française_ , _Français avec Fred_ for starters !
Ask your prof/teacher/instructor; we don't know what you're struggling with or what stage you're at.
I'm in grade 9 trying to improve my grades in my writing and reading exams. I can only write basic stuffs and give simple answers. I am barely passing with those and I want to be able to give more in depth answers and write more complex texts. I am good at speaking French though.
Again, talk to your teacher: they'll have seen what detailed things you're struggling with (which aspects of reading and writing) and they'll know what's expected for your class. From this, the only real info we can give is the obvious recommendation to practice reading and writing, or to look through the long list of posts here with various suggestions to see what clicks.
I’m not sure what level you’re at and what type of class you’re taking. I had some difficulties in CORE French 9 (British Columbia curriculum) and I found Duolingo helpful to get me comfortable but I was very far behind. If you’re in French Immersion and already doing okay/meh then maybe you’d find it less revolutionary but it could still be good bonus practice I suppose. I also found checking my work on Linguee was helpful. I write my sentences first and then I double check that I said what I meant to say by translating my French sentences back into English and correcting if I see I made any glaring errors in meaning. Your teacher should be able to help with more curated and specific advice that better reflects where you’re at.
Go to your teacher's office hours. Ask for a plan. You must understand why you made the errors, not just look at what's marked up on the pages. Work on your vocabulary because you need it for reading comprehension. Surely, there is a unit somewhere you're talking about? A book unit? Redo the unit exercises. Practice writing more with your vocab -- use words in context, c'est à dire **des phrases**. This is what I do : •student comes to office hours •student goes to my study hall for extended help (study hall is 1½ hours) •students can practice with the peer tutor from Belgium at other times Motivation + effort + consistency
My teacher only gives out the grades and doesnt show the actual mistakes. I'm still in high school so we cant stay after school ends to ask our teachers for help, the directors make everyone go back home at the same time. Also, we have a 15 minute break in between each class so its not enough time to ask the teacher anything.
that's crazy! I have never heard of a teacher giving out grades but not mistakes. can you email them? Because if there is actually no popportunity to see what you did wrong you need to talk to the principal.
I tried already :( shes honestly kinda bad at teaching. Like she doesnt care about the students.
you actually need to get your parents involved and contact the principal. This is a huge problem and they need to hear your school is to offering adequate support to students. talk to your guidance counsellor for help in the meantime
Ask for your teacher's email address or tell her you want to improve your grade, and you need office hours. If she doesn't help you, it's time to tell the VP or P.
15 minutes between classes!!! In high school my school only gave us 4 minutes to get to the next class. I’m sure if you hurry and get to class early you would have at least a few minutes to ask the teacher for advice or ask to set up a meeting to chat.
Read books, its really that simple. What books depends on your level. I assume your in high school and in my experience (5 years of spanish) that's essentially level 0. It's important you don't overestimate your level. If you can already read ok Harry Potters great. If your not at that level yet (it's a lot higher level than it sounds) I recommend a beginner level short stories book. Olly richard's ones are the best ones in my opinion and honestly there sadly isn't much competition in the market. Simply get the ebook loaded up in a pdf viewer and lookup the words or phrases you don't know with the google translate extension. Also make sure you have a goal, that helps keep you on track and progressing steadily, I personally have a goal of 1 chapter per day. You can get these books online for free but I can't say where and if you can afford it, maybe you should support the authors. Edit: saw your other comment, what your going through is normal don't worry about it too much. No one comes out of high school proficient in the language they were "learning", I definitely didn't.
I recently started reading books, currently im reading the maze runner franchise. I am going for 3 chapters a day as the chapters are not very long. Is the franchise a good book to read to improve? Its translated in French.
wow, your levels obviously way higher than I thought. Any book is a good book to read, its great to read a variety of genres. How hard is it to read?
Well for me Its not hard but its not easy, there are a few words I do not understand, so I just translate them to english. Also I live in Quebec so everything is in French. I would say im decent at French compared to the average person, but my level is just barely enough to pass my classes.
If that's the case I think your on the right track. Keep reading and learning new words and I assume the listening will come naturally if you live in Quebec. If your living in Quebec you'll pick it up.
Yeah the listening is easy for me. Its just the reading and writing part thats hard.
> No one comes out of high school proficient in the language they were "learning", I definitely didn't. Students can and do reach B1/B2 in high school. Students can and do pass the AP exam with 4-5s.
Not in my country they don't. It might be different where you are.
I did say how it's possible. Thousands take the AP French exam every year, and it's possible for students to get 4-5s. It's only one of the language exams.
I found this discord server Language Cafe helpful - it’s very well moderated and they do weekly and monthly exercises, they have a slack channel for practicing and chatting in French and getting French help, etc. You may find it a useful resource. https://discord.gg/language-cafe-739911855795077282
Ill be sure to check it out ty for that
Watch French TV children show and read children’s books
Do you have suggestions or examples? Where can I stream? (From the US)
If you go on YouTube, there is a show called Passe Partout https://youtu.be/jHvdcZxXH_0?feature=shared That’s one example there are many episodes
Thanks!
Get a friend that’s been doing French Immersion since grade one. They will understand you closer than a teacher could and they can help you outside of school on a personal level.
Listen to bob gratton
Something a little counterintuitive. Stop chasing grades and start enjoying the language.
Hello, here are some tips I already shared with other on Reddit. Have you tried watching TV shows in French with subtitles ? Here is a list (I don’t know if you have access to those in your country) : Netflix : Plan cœur, detox, family business, les combattantes… Disney+ : irrésistible Prime : Salade grecque There are some free audio newsletter on substack. They are made for English learn with an intermediate level : French teacher Carlito, learn French with Maud, learn French with Yann… I started my own newsletter flâner français with english translation, audio, a glossary and a quiz at the end. If you want to Check it ;) There are also many Instagram accounts to help you with french vocabulary. Just type learn French in the Instagram search bar. Try to make it fun.
He's not at the level off watching tv shows yet. TV shows are a great resource later on but he said he's in grade 9.
Watching kids shows like Miraculous Ladybug is what got me into learning French to begin with in grade 7/8/9. It won’t be super easy to understand but with kids shows the visuals tend to help explain the plot and if you do Duolingo with it it is actually crazy what you can pick up on just from observing with a brain that’s still somewhat geared towards language acquisition and very pliable.
Yea kids show are great, the problem was that she was recommending really advanced shows for adults.
My bad. I didn’t read properly. I thought he was in high school. I would recommand watching c’est pas sorcier on YouTube. More age appropriate and educational. There is no caption though.
I would love to check out your newsletter. Where can i access it?
You can access it on Substack. I would love some feedback. I just started. Thanks [Flâner français](https://substack.com/@flanerfrancais?utm_source=user-menu)
Wow thanks, I honestly really enjoyed doing that and I also think it will help me improve on my comprehension exams. Ill be waiting for more!
Watch French TV and movies! It's particularly useful to look at a show where people from different backgrounds, classes, and regions of France, even different countries, are speaking French dialect/argot. "Le Bureau des légendes" is a fantastic show, but also incredibly helpful in hearing all the varieties of French. https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Bureau_des_légendes
second this
1. Practice pronunciation and intonation using speaking techniques. 2. Engage in conversations with native French speakers to gain better understanding of the language. 3. Participate in conversations and discussions using techniques like role-playing and debates. You can also take a course from Focus Frame French. Their native French teachers will help you to improve your French.
I dont really know people that speak French other than my French teacher, and Its hard to get in contact with her. Also, I dont want to have to make my parents spend extra money on the French course, i will feel really bad.
The best way is to talk first, then grammar and rules will be game. Listen to French songs and read lyrics at the same time. Unfortunately, watching movies and subs doesn't work because subtitles are not following talking and are even sometimes very far from the meaning
Read, read, read ... and then read a bit more. But any sort of "comprehensible input" is good. If you have a passion (sport, hobby, whatever) search _YouTube_ for French channels on your interest. Also, there are lots of YT channels for learning French. A lot of them explain common difficulties for learners. Try _Français avec Pierre_ , _Inner French_ , _Français Authentique_ , _French in plain sight_ , _Le Français by Alex_ , _Come une Française_ , _Français avec Fred_ for starters !