I'm desperate to become fluent in French. I studied this language for 8 years in elementary school and high school. The amount of textbooks, vocabulary and grammer lists I've devoured during this time is crazy. Still, I think it's a shame that we never had spontaneous French conversations in class. Speaking is such an essential part of the learning process. I do have to admit that I wasn't a bright student in French either. I hated the language back then and my parents even send Sara en me to a language camp. That didn't do the trick either.
My love for the language only came after high school. Since a year or so, I listen to podcasts, try to read books in French, made French playlists and started the language course on Duolingo.
But to spice it up I challenged myself for a whole month of French! August counts 31 days so I filled it with small tasks from around 15 minutes each. I came up with the exercises the month before and then chose one each day in August.
Day 1 - Translate a RPG post
I'm part of a web community where I write stories together with other writers. It's called a Role Playing Game (RPG) to be correct. The website itself is based on the Warrior Cats book series by Erin Hunter. You develop your own character within this theme and start writing stories with that char. Originally I write in Dutch, but many co-writers also write posts in English. So I came up with the idea to write a post in French. First, I wrote it in Dutch and then translated the whole post:
DU: De oudere kitten lag in zijn mosnestje aan de rand van de Nursery. De uitgang van het warme hol baadde in het felle zonlicht van zonhoog, alsof het Shadowclan's nieuwe vrijheid stevig omarmde. Rudekit kon maar amper geloven dat Bloodclan niet meer in hún kamp rond hing. Dat hij niet meer op zijn hoede moest zijn. En het beste van al, dat hij weer kon stoeien met zijn speelmakkers!
FR: Le chaton plus âgé etait dans son nid de mousse au bord de la Nursery. Le sortie du nid chaud baignée dans la lumière du soleil vive, comme s'il embrassait forte la nouvelle liberté de Shadowclan. Rudekit pouvait à peine croire que le Bloodclan ne traîne plus dans leur camp. Qu'il ne devrait plus être sur ses gardes. Et le meilleur part, qu'il à nouveau pourrait jouer avec ses camarades de jeu!
Day 2 - Practice tongue twisters
Tongue twisters are perfect for improving your pronunciation. Some fun ones in French I tried:
Cinq chiens chassent six chats
Je suis ce que je suis, et si je suis ce que je suis, qu’est-ce que je suis?
Cinq gros rats grillent dans la grosse graisse grasse
Day 3 - Read an article
Le Monde is a French daily newspaper and some of the articles you can read for free on their website. On this day I read one of the articles on emerging forest fires due to climate change in France.
Day 4 - List 30 objects you can see and translate them
This was fun. Basically you translate 30 object you see in your surroundings.
Day 5 - Read a story on Beelinguapp
Beelinguapp is an app that lets you read stories in a non-native language with audiobooks. You choose a story based on language, level and genre. The stories are short and you can follow the sentences read aloud in your native language at the bottom of the story. At the end you will get 5 questions about the story to test you. For that day I picked a story about the myth of Icarus and Daedalus.
Day 6 - Revise your flashcards
Flashcards, my favourite. Flashcards are memory cards. On one side you put the name of a word in your native language and on the other side in the language you want to learn. And then you start of with your stack. The intention is to go down the stack several times (preferably every few days) and after a while your brain will remember the words.
On the web you will easily find lists of, for example, the 100 most used words in Spanish. I used such a list for choosing my words for the flashcards.
Day 7 - Read an article
Today's topic was a recent study that showed that some people with Neanderthal genetic mutations are more sensitive to pain.
Day 8 - Bake crêpes with a French recipe
I haven't come across the best vegan crêpe recipe yet so I gave it a try with this recipe. And now I have yummy crêpes and know that 'poudre à pâte' French is for baking powder.
Day 9 - Translate the lyrics of a song you love
Ahh the beauty of words. I translated Mountains by Jome from English to French. I started line by line with the words I already knew and then completed the lines by translating words that I didn't know.
Jome - Montagnes
Tout vert dans un rêve d'une village insular
Tracez une ligne dans le sable et nous la lisserons
Est-ce que ton côté gagnera, allez au milieu
Comptez-les un à la fois
Et nous essaierons, de deviner bien
Se réveiller au soleil blanc, les lumières éteintes
Attendant à travers les jours, les soirées
C'est un été lent (à la?) canelle
Ton sortilège me tire sous
Aviron dans un creux boisé
Me montrant les mouvements à suivre
C'est un été lent (à la?) canelle
Ton sortilège me tire sous
C'est une main par terre qui est là pour une heure d'espoir
Il disparaît comme la mer le prend et avale tout
Et juste comme il part, juste comme il coule
Le matin sauvera nos âmes
De trop froid, pour rester bas
That there are errors in it doesn't matter, it is the exercise that counts.
Day 10 - Write my CV in French
Could be handy someday..
Day 11 - Read a story on Beelinguapp
Today's story:
Day 12 - Tongue twisters
Some more tongue twisters to practise pronunciation:
Si mon tonton tond ton tonton, ton tonton sera tondu
Ces six saucissons-secs-ci sont si secs qu’on ne sait si s’en sont
Day 13 - Learn calligraphy and write French words
It helps if you choose cool exercises to stay motivated. At this point, I was bored by the challenge so I added some artistry with calligraphy. I found this French-spoken video on hand lettering and got started with it. I filled my last paper with random French words that came to mind.
Day 14 - Write down 10 words and their opposite meaning
I got flashbacks to high school when I thought about antonyms or words with opposite meanings. But afterwards it was a good exercise on vocabulary.
Day 15 - Translate a short poem
I don't read poems often so why not put one in the challenge? I translated Arthur Rimbaud's
Eternity:
Arthur Rimbaud - L'Eternité
Elle est retrouvée.
Quoi? - L'Éternité.
C'est la mer allée
Avec le soleil.
Âme sentinelle, Murmurons l'aveu De la nuit si nulle
Et du jour en feu.
Des humains suffrages, Des communs élans Là tu te dégages Et voles selon.
Puisque de vous seules, Braises de satin, Le Devoir s'exhale Sans qu'on dise : enfin.
Là pas d'espérance, Nul orietur. Science avec patience, Le supplice est sûr.
Day 16 - Read an article
Today's article talked about the effects of climate change on glaciers in Peru. This country counts 2,679 glaciers wow! At one of the glaciers they have measured a new lake is formed by the melt water and this continues to grow every year.
Day 17 - Translate 10 animal names
Sara and I travelled to Hony, Belgium for a camping trip. I saved up this exercise for today because I was out in the field a lot. When I came across an animal I tried to translate it into French.
Day 18 - Revise your flashcards
Day 19 - Translate 10 tree names
Same as the names of animals but with trees. This exercise is also good for your tree knowledge!
Day 20 - Revise your flashcards
Day 21 - Act out a French Play
Yes, this is as awkward as it sounds. I found an French script of a play called À la kapouf online. I reenacted this in my room when, besides Sara, no one was home. I do everything to master French.
Day 22 - Journal
Write about your day and how you felt in your new language. The sentences don't have to be perfect, it's like a diary after all and that's private.
Day 23 - Translate the lyrics of a song I love
Soooo BTS's new song Dynamite came out a few days ago. Guess who included some korean culture in the challenge!
BTS - Dynamite
Parce que je, je, je suis dans les étoiles ce soir.
Alors regarde-moi mettre le feu et allumer la nuit
Je mets mes chaussures et me réveille
Une tasse de lait, on va faire du rock and roll
King Kong, frappe la batterie
Roulant comme un Rolling Stone
Chante une chanson quand je rentre à la maison
Je saute jusqu'au sommet de LeBron
Ding-dong, appelle-moi sur mon téléphone
Du thé glacé et un jeu de ping pong
Ca devient du lourd, peux-tu entendre le boom des basses? Je suis prêt
La vie est douce comme le miel, yeah, ce beat cha-ching comme l'argent
Surdose de disco, je suis dans ça, je suis prêt à partir
Je suis un diamant, tu sais que je brille
Hey, alors allons-y
Parce que je, je, je suis dans les étoiles ce soir.
Alors regarde-moi mettre le feu et allumer la nuit
Brillant à travers la ville avec un peu de funk et de soul
Alors je vais m'allumer comme de la dynamite, woah
Amène un ami, joins-toi à la foule, quiconque veux s'y joindre
Parle et parle, bouge juste comme si on était à côté de la plaque
Jour or nuit, le ciel est illuminé, alors nous dansons jusqu'au lever du jour
Mesdames et messieurs, j'ai le remède donc vous devriez garder un oeil sur la balle, huh
Day 24 - Sing a Disney song
I was and still am a fan of the Lion King. It's the best Disney movie ever made. As a kid, I sang along the Dutch version of Just can't wait to be king untill my parents knew the lyrics too. But jeez, the French version is way too fast, I literally tripped over the words!
Day 25 - Revise your flashcards
Day 26 - Learn the French birthday song
The French birthday keeps repeating the same two words, no kidding. Easy but not very educational. A better option was the Chanson du non-anniversaire from Alice in Wonderland. I felt ten years younger again.
Day 27 - Read a story on Beelinguapp
Today's story:
Day 28 - Give yourself a guided tour of your home
I pretended to give a house tour in French to a fictional person. The words I didn't know, I translated. I hope this invisible person understood some of it ...
Day 29 - Revise your fashcards
Day 30 - Journal
Day 31 - Take a lesson with a teacher on Italki
The final day! Today's intention was a 30-minute lesson with a native French speaker/teacher. Italki is a website that acts like a gateway between online teachers and students. On the website, I chose a teacher from the list of French teachers and scheduled an appointment. I spoke my best French and the mistakes I made during the video call were corrected and written out for me. The lessons are not free, but the site offers another alternative. You can become 'language partners' with other users. For example, I speak Dutch and would like to learn French, then I come into contact with someone who speaks French and wants to learn Dutch. Next, you can video call or chat with this person to exchange languages.
In the end this challenge was a good way to bring variation in my study process. There were fun exercises (and some really not) that I will try to use further in my routine!
After all, exercise makes fluent!
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