Best way to learn French in my 40s
I'm Chris. French teacher at OuiCommunicate.
We're home to adult learners of French.
Let's examine the best way to learn French in your 40s!
Let's start with the obstacles
As a 40-something wanting to learn French you are likely facing a typical set of obstacles including limited time, limited energy and a limited budget.
On top of this, there are psychological elements such as self-doubt and an apprehension towards unfamiliar circumstances. Are you still capable? Does your brain still function in this way? You realize there’s no way of knowing before actually trying.
At this early stage, you might have started to use Duolingo which had the effect of making matters worse. I wish I had never started!
Then we have the internet which contains as many opinions as there are people. Some say to live abroad in full immersion, others say to find a language partner or to watch films in a foreign language. You feel a bit lost and all you want to do is learn French.
Let's talk about the solutions
Option 1. You could go to a local language school and take a French course.
Language schools broadly fall into two categories: those that entertain and those that sell official French certificates.
With the first option, you would not be embarking on a strategic plan of action and will likely leave the evening class wondering what you accomplished.
These types of schools sell you time as opposed to skill. The class is filled with a variety of activities for the entertainment of the majority. It is a fun moment which carries an uncertain outcome in terms of learning.
Those that sell certificates are far more costly and have similar disadvantages. Despite appearances, they too sell time. Their teachers are contractors and follow guidelines and set programs.
From a student’s perspective there will be a suspension of disbelief to accept the idea that A2, B1 or B2 finds application in real life.
Overall, classes in a language school are more expensive due to the overheads. There is also the real risk of time-wasting due to the commute but also for the need to study outside of the class, unless they somehow manage to make you learn during the class. For meaningful results, you’d have to commit to 2 nights a week at a minimum.
Pros: Fun.
Cons: Slow, expensive.
Option 2. You could start to watch films in French, follow a podcast or chat with a language partner.
These popular options fit in the same category due to their very uncertain benefits. Yes, you are “doing” French, no you don’t quite know what it is leading to. One problem will be to turn these activities into a meaningful skill, The second will be the absence or any reference, map or measuring stick.
A strategic learning of French requires the learner to see language as a structured system. Films tend to throw quantities of words at you, in different speech registers. It takes hours of exposure to turn any point of grammar into a tool that you can rationalize and use. If you are not trained in the science of language you also run the risk of not understanding what you are seeing (or hearing, in this case) In other words, how do you make sense of it all?
Podcasts present the same problem. The hosts of the podcasts must create content, thus repeating formulas already used. The more they speak, the more the create volume and the less they can be used as a strategic tool for learning. A further problem is the “native speaker” format who often don’t see clearly in the priorities of the language. For example, insisting on teaching words that have marginal use.
Conversation partners – while useful to overcome a fear of speaking – similarly present the problem of turning the activity into a practical tool. How to know which skills are missing from your arsenal? How to trust the corrections of your partner? How to know if you are moving forward? Speaking for the sake of speaking doesn’t usually bring you to a satisfactory level of French, unless you partner is a qualified teacher of French.
Pros: Engaging and fun.
Cons: Lack of strategy.
Option 3: You could use an app or online program.
Apps and online programs are cheap and can be carried around with us in our pocket. They can be fun and provide snippets of French which a beginner can digest more easily. They also offer the advantage of not being damaging to our ego.
Apps tend to gain public traction for reasons unknown. Some of these will follow the teachings of 1970s language gurus while others promise they have just revolutionized language learning for an effortless experience. The main danger here is not knowing who built them, nor following which logic.
The downfall of apps is in underestimating the human psyche. They promise easy steps without taking into account the frame of mind of the users. “Do this and this will happen”, they simplistically imply.
In terms of the success of their teachings, few living proofs have ever come forward and said “I finished their program and now I know French”. Many have started and jumped ship to a different app.
The apps either impose a pre-determined route or offer freedom of navigation for the user. Whichever is best can be hard to determine, as each come with their respective shortcomings. A level-based app opens up questions about the logic of the structure. A free-roaming app implies that the user knows where they should be going.
The builders of the apps range from uninspired to overly-inspired. Some will claim to have discovered secrets to language-learning unknown to academia. Others propose basic flashcards to memorize vocabulary. Nothing that a pen and paper can’t achieve!
Pros: easy access and price.
Cons: Results and credentials.
Option 4: Going to a foreign country and hoping French happens.
A popular option among future residents of Europe is to buy the property first and worry about language later. The plan is that one will be obliged to sink or swim, thus forcing French to happen in a natural way.
Under closer inspection, this plan is the furthest thing away from strategic planning. Yes, you will be surrounded by speakers of French. No, they will not give you a minute of their time to speak with you.
Even if you did engage in 30 minutes of sustained and meaningful conversations every day, the native speaker wouldn’t be correcting and advising you.
On a strictly mathematical level, the odds are very low to encounter willing native speakers of a new host country who would serve as your new teacher. When would this happen? Where? And why?
You would be surrounded by foreign media as a source of learning, which brings us back to the problem of using podcasts.
At the very top of the list of problems is the risk of learning badly. The locals will forgive your uncertain French and focus on your message. Even if you say “me eat!” people will understand that you are hungry. As many others, you will drag on errors for years and that no one will ever address. Your overall register will be a mix of formal and informal, which can be problematic in many situations.
Pros: Motivation, access to natives
Cons: Learning badly, isolation
Option 5: Dedicate several months to the proper study of the foreign language
How quaint! Studying and learning in a regimented way in view of a clear outcome.
Whether it is with the aid of textbooks, learning platforms or a teacher, the main points to consider will be organization and time-effectiveness. Planning and assembling the learning material yourself is possible but takes a linguistic frame of mind in order to see the priorities within the language.
Just as the first-time business owner will find it hard to foresee the pitfalls of running a business, so will first-time language learners fail to distinguish the priorities from the accessory. This type of thing is often seen in the exclamation “I need more vocabulary!” without rationalizing that every French word falls under that blanket description.
A better formulation would be “I need more prepositions but I don’t know which ones are actually used or even needed”, which a seasoned language teacher can happily answer, thus saving you time and wasted effort.
Any language is a system that can be divided into boxes. Once it is understood which “words” go into which boxes, we can start to understand how many boxes we have opened, and now many still remain closed before we can claim to know the foreign language of our choice.
In support of this fifth option, we can look at other fields of life such as sports coaching and ask ourselves how many ranked players became competent by using an app, exposing themselves to sports by means of films, or randomly engaging in unstructured games as is done with conversation partners. Yes, you can kick the ball in the goal, no you do it rather badly and your technique is awful. Same with languages.
Our very own gold standard of learning – school and university ” functions according to these very principles. The textbook proposes an organized condensation of the subject which the learner repeats until it is understood. Provided the source of learning is well-organized according to a learning strategy and linguistic priorities, the student will minimize time- wasting and have the assurance that they are on their way to the finishing line.
Pros: Results
Cons: Effort
To conclude
Language learning can meet a wide scope of definitions according to our ambition and end goal. To an extent, learning a French song on the banjo can mean “learning French”.
As a learner in your 40s you will have to decide on your end goal, consider the weekly hours you can dedicate to learning and come up with a viable strategy. It is the very word “strategy” that should be on top of your considerations, with quality a close second.
Language schools are good options but are they strategic according to your goals? How many back-and-forths to evening classes will it take before you can claim to know French?
Conversations with native speakers come under similar scrutiny, as do films and podcasts. What exactly do they lead to, and are they strategic?
At OuiCommunicate, we propose the whole French language, organized and structured with clear explanations and human support. We have improved on traditional, one-sided French teachings by creating bilingual resources that speakers of English may easily understand.
We believe in learning by rationalizing and compartmentalizing. Each little box of knowledge contains a certain French skill that requires to be mastered. Once you’ve opened all the boxes, you will have the assurance that you’ve covered all the important skills.
There is a starting line and a finishing line. There is a human presence to guide you through the learning material. There is advice and expertise that will show you exactly which steps to take in order to learn French. Yes, there is effort involved. Yes you will learn with complete certainty.
Click on our Learning Plans:
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We will meet on this website. Top of the page you will see CLASS. When you have the password, you will be able to log into our virtual class.
And even before that, we are happy to phone you to learn about your current level of French.
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