The reasons for not achieving a comfortable level in French are usually a combination of things. For the purpose of a clear explanation, we will focus on just one. If you want more reasons, you may read our other post “10 mistakes when learning a language“.
Before we start, I would like you to know that I speak from the heart and based on experience alone. It is never my intention to sound condescending, and I truly do want to see each student succeed. It is precisely because I believe in the success of each student that I have built this company into which I have poured time, sweat, tears and placed a lot of faith besides.
The reason for failing that I will outline below might sound overly simplistic to some. But it is always the simple reasons that are to blame.
Let’s start.
Among the reasons for not developing a good level in a new skill (in this case, French) there is a hierarchy. There are levels. Not all reasons have the same weight.
Some reasons have stronger consequences than others.
For example, some learners might believe that their method of learning isn’t right or that they haven’t found the right app.
If this were a sales class, a beginner salesperson might think they are not saying the correct thing to convince a buyer to buy that set of encyclopedias. (For you young ‘uns, this is an “old guy” reference – encyclopedias are books that did what the internet now does: give answers)
But even before the sales technique there are other and more important factors, such as your faith and self-confidence.
Do we honestly believe we could sell an item to someone without any self-belief or commitment? Probably not. Well, language-learning is the same.
In any challenging task, visualization and commitment play much stronger roles than the way we perform the challenging task.
If you decide that you will know French at the level you desire, it will absolutely happen. After all, it takes not much more than to create an account with OuiCommunicate, download a PDF, do the exercises and watch a video. I firmly believe that. Not only do I believe it, I know it.
How hard is that? We are talking about downloading a PDF worksheet, reading about how French works, doing exercises and watching a video.
You can even start by watching a video if you like, and do the exercises later.
Everything is explained in English in the clearest of terms. And you can even contact support (me) in case anything isn’t clear.
Again, how hard is it?
Well, the answer is “very hard” for some people.
Of course, the act of sitting at a table, taking out a pencil and doing an exercise is easy in itself. This much anyone can do.
It isn’t much harder to press play on a video (in English) that explains how each French topic works.
So how is it that some of our students brilliantly succeed at this while others don’t?
The answer is that those who don’t reach that level in French have not made the decision to do so. It is the ONLY reason why they are not succeeding. And this is not a “believe in yourself” pep talk, it is the absolute factual truth.
You see, when it comes to learning a language there are different decisions we can make. One such decision could be to “start learning French”. Another might be “to be in the process of learning French”.
A third decision might be “to have learned French”.
This third decision is what OuiCommunicate is all about. Through our learning resources, we have prepared all we could for you to be in a state of “having learned French”.
In the Decision we want you to make, we already see you “after the learning”. With our program, you HAVE LEARNED French as opposed to “be in a state of learning”.
Do you see the difference?
The difference is massive.
As inconsequential as it may seem, this decision is the difference between succeeding and not succeeding at learning French.
If this was an archery class, most people visualize holding the arrow and shooting. They have signed up for “being in the process of doing archery”. Of course, they look at the target but only vaguely. They have not made that decision to hit the bullseye. They don’t see themselves as “bullseye hitters”.
(I am not trying to sound wise or clever. I do speak from the heart when I say this. The image of archery is the best I could find)
It is the “let’s wait and see” approach that is failing you. I guarantee that it is the factual truth that I have seen countless times in students.
At OuiCommunicate we built a learning platform that can act as a remedy for most learning problems. We offer all the French resources you could ever want. It doesn’t need to be painful or even hard work. All you need to do is the chop away at it little by little.
But one thing we can’t do is make that Decision for you. We can’t place that faith and commitment in your mind to make you a successful user of French.
We can prepare the work, deliver the French language to you neatly laid out and ready to be used. Once you have completed the exercises and watched the videos you will “have learned French”.
In terms of a timeline, a student could reasonably do this in a year or less. Again, we enter the realm of the Decision. Those students who “fail”, did not make a true decision to know French and to chop away at it regularly.
If this were climbing a tree, a lot of students know they need to reach the branch but forget the goal. They stop midway. They forget about climbing and find themselves “in the state of climbing the tree” instead of “having climbed the tree”.
This is why there are so many students out there who find themselves learning French for 5 years of more, and barely scratching the basic conversation level. When in reality, a year or less is all that is needed. Just log in, download exercise, complete exercise and watch video. That is the only mission ahead.
We might argue that “life gets in the way” or that “we have other things to do”. As much as all these reasons may be valid, they still bring us back to the same principle of the Decision.
This can be proven by the fact that for other decisions we make, life does not get in the way. We find the time when we decide to watch Netflix, or to decide to clean the house or to go to the gym.
Everything we accomplish, big or small, starts with a decision. From cutting a piece of cheese to booking a flight to go on holiday. A decision was made.
Not achieving French has more to do with the quality of the decision than with your technique as a student. Naturally, you might need assistance to help you keep that decision, which is why OuiCommunicate is here.
We have made all the French resources available for you at the simple click of a mouse. You can use our French on laptop or smartphone. It is stripped-down and old-fashioned but it works. And it works really well, at that. (Just watch our podcast on Youtube for proof)
OuiCommunicate is here to help support that decision to know French. We wish to cut off all the side doors and excuses. We want to give strength to your Decision by being a solid learning resource that you can rely on. The days you don’t feel like learning, you can still log in with minimal effort and learn a French skill that makes sense to you because it is explained in plain English.
Each one of our exercises is configured and formatted in the same way. There is no frowning or asking “what on earth is this about???” Once you do one exercise, you can do them all.
One year.
It’s all that is needed.