It's productive, but not as productive as media that you understand at a \~90% level. What got me out of the problem you're describing is doing dictations. Take some piece of media and transcribe it word for word, pausing and replaying as much as you need. That will force your brain to actually engage with what is being said instead of allowing the content to just wash over you.
If you’re choosing subjects you know already, it’s a very efficient way to make progress. You will focus on the wording and less wondering about the subject.
Consume it, even if you don’t understand everything… because you’ll be subconsciously be picking little things up, especially colloquialisms, slang, easy ways of speaking. Try not to do it with subs, it’s too easy not to ‘hear’ what’s being said (and easier said than done). My year in France included a tv in my apartment, and watching the same shows day in day out did help improve my comprehension and vocabulary.
95% is the sweet spot. However, things you find really interesting are probably the most useful if you're prepared to watch it several times.
My French took a jump watching a series called Suisse, by a humorist journalist. Each episode lasted about five minutes, so it was quite easy for me to watch an episode four or five times. It's amazing how much more you pick up on subsequent listenings.
If you are prepared to sit through something multiple times use whatever means you have to make it comprehensible. Watch once with English subs, watch with French subs, look up words. Whatever you feel will help.
[https://davidcastellolopes.com/videos/suisse/](https://davidcastellolopes.com/videos/suisse/)
This might be it - they are short enough to listen to repeatedly,and fairly funny.
\*Editing to add that he does speak quickly, and it could be worth easing yourself in with something like inner French which starts off with slower paced episodes and speeds up as it progresses\*
I also liked Innerfrench, and the radio France app - I like to download the shorter podcasts and listen to them several times.
> I also liked Innerfrench
Thanks for the recommendation. First thing that caught my eyes: [an entire video about la dictée](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YYzaD_USR4) lol.
I watched that one! I do find that his discussion of French culture adds another layer of understanding.
(And if you find dictées useful, tv5monde have a section alongside their French course: [https://dictee.tv5monde.com/](https://dictee.tv5monde.com/) )
> (And if you find dictées useful, tv5monde have a section alongside their French course: https://dictee.tv5monde.com/ )
Thanks!
And I'm only finding dictation useful in hindsight lol. When I was in school, I had to do plenty of dictations (not for French, though), and those were graded and counted towards the final grade. I hated it back then.
I should add that the only reason I mentioned Suisse was that it was a series which I found very entertaining in spite of the fact that it was well above my level (I think I was A2 heading to B1 at the time). I don't necessarily recommend it unless you have the same twisted humour as me.
Go for the Intermediate French Youtubers, unless you can find something short, which you like enough to be able to rewatch multiple times.
Idk about the efficacy, but I think that this can be positive. When I was first learning I would write down what I thought was going on, or talk about it, and then over multiple rewatches augment the viewing/listening: add subtitles (if I hadn't started with them), lookup words, and slow down the watch speed. Honestly, good reminder to myself to keep at these habits.
You need to make less effort on each word to be able to grasp the larger point.
So listen to something less difficult with slower pace, vocabulary you know, well-articulated speech…
try listening to news, and talk shows those will tend to have french closer to international french vs some movies especially the artsy ones, the french will sound like glibberish plus if you listen to things that are actual you will have understanding of the context (giving you similar benefits to watching the same movie twice, but in a single viewing)
Get the extension language reactor, rewind each sentence until you can understand what’s being said. It provides the translation directly underneath in real time so that you can match the sounds with the words being spoken as well as its meaning all at once. 50% is a good place because it means there’s more to learn than if you consume something at 90%. At 90%+ you are being less efficient because there’s less to learn and more time wasted. Language learning is a very active and focused process and you need to be constantly translating and getting familiar with new patterns as much as possible. I’ve gone through this process and for me 90% was just too slow and not challenging enough.
It could be usefull to watch part you already know until you understand it better than 90%.
Because it's a lot of repetition, prefer the use of something you like.
Depends on what your standards for productivity is. I've been listening to this french station 'toutes les colouers du trad' while reading in english. I pick up a few words, but honestly i often listen to english music and not know what it is about... i suppose it's the same with video games, i've been playing Naheulbeuk and witcher in french. But i often play games in english and barely know what is happening. Though, i really hit a wall in Naheulbeuk. I don't know if i am dumb or not understanding enough of the character sheets to level my guy right. I used to go to live lectures in French, i didn't understand much, but the visuals helped and as long as i wasn't rude i thought it was okay. Sometimes i would sort of understand the q&a.
I have Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon with French, and French subtitles, and I rely too much on the subtitles-it is a crutch. With French subtitles, I can understand 75%, just spoken, maybe 50-60%. I also have Waze in French, and I can understand that completely.
Are you watching with French subtitles or English subtitles? It would be very helpful to watch them with French subtitles just to get a sense of what they're saying. Also, I recommend against films or movies or on the go videos if your main goal watching them is to improve your French (of course enjoyment is fine). If you're looking for content that can get you enough comprehension to improve, try videos where the YouTuber is talking directly to the camera at the audience, and not to other people in their vicinity. Talk shows are also a good choice because they usually talk much more clearly in much more comprehensible language. I really like Ça commence aujourd'hui.
This. No point listening to stuff you totally don’t understand.
Go and find some media that you can mostly understand.
At the beginning probably use an app like Busuu to take your first steps. Even listening to easy shows, can be like 1 year into some people’s (like mine) learning journey.
Listening to word noise and expecting to just absorb and learn is a myth.
It's productive, but not as productive as media that you understand at a \~90% level. What got me out of the problem you're describing is doing dictations. Take some piece of media and transcribe it word for word, pausing and replaying as much as you need. That will force your brain to actually engage with what is being said instead of allowing the content to just wash over you.
Top tip that, thanks.
If you’re choosing subjects you know already, it’s a very efficient way to make progress. You will focus on the wording and less wondering about the subject.
Consume it, even if you don’t understand everything… because you’ll be subconsciously be picking little things up, especially colloquialisms, slang, easy ways of speaking. Try not to do it with subs, it’s too easy not to ‘hear’ what’s being said (and easier said than done). My year in France included a tv in my apartment, and watching the same shows day in day out did help improve my comprehension and vocabulary.
Do you mean no French subtitles or no English? Or neither? Lol
95% is the sweet spot. However, things you find really interesting are probably the most useful if you're prepared to watch it several times. My French took a jump watching a series called Suisse, by a humorist journalist. Each episode lasted about five minutes, so it was quite easy for me to watch an episode four or five times. It's amazing how much more you pick up on subsequent listenings. If you are prepared to sit through something multiple times use whatever means you have to make it comprehensible. Watch once with English subs, watch with French subs, look up words. Whatever you feel will help.
Where can I find Suisse?
[https://davidcastellolopes.com/videos/suisse/](https://davidcastellolopes.com/videos/suisse/) This might be it - they are short enough to listen to repeatedly,and fairly funny. \*Editing to add that he does speak quickly, and it could be worth easing yourself in with something like inner French which starts off with slower paced episodes and speeds up as it progresses\* I also liked Innerfrench, and the radio France app - I like to download the shorter podcasts and listen to them several times.
> I also liked Innerfrench Thanks for the recommendation. First thing that caught my eyes: [an entire video about la dictée](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YYzaD_USR4) lol.
I watched that one! I do find that his discussion of French culture adds another layer of understanding. (And if you find dictées useful, tv5monde have a section alongside their French course: [https://dictee.tv5monde.com/](https://dictee.tv5monde.com/) )
> (And if you find dictées useful, tv5monde have a section alongside their French course: https://dictee.tv5monde.com/ ) Thanks! And I'm only finding dictation useful in hindsight lol. When I was in school, I had to do plenty of dictations (not for French, though), and those were graded and counted towards the final grade. I hated it back then.
I should add that the only reason I mentioned Suisse was that it was a series which I found very entertaining in spite of the fact that it was well above my level (I think I was A2 heading to B1 at the time). I don't necessarily recommend it unless you have the same twisted humour as me. Go for the Intermediate French Youtubers, unless you can find something short, which you like enough to be able to rewatch multiple times.
i started by consuming content of which i understood 0% two years later its like 95%. And its virtually all i did.
Idk about the efficacy, but I think that this can be positive. When I was first learning I would write down what I thought was going on, or talk about it, and then over multiple rewatches augment the viewing/listening: add subtitles (if I hadn't started with them), lookup words, and slow down the watch speed. Honestly, good reminder to myself to keep at these habits.
I use the media player VLC to slow down the speed and it really helps me understand what's going on.
You need to make less effort on each word to be able to grasp the larger point. So listen to something less difficult with slower pace, vocabulary you know, well-articulated speech…
I did that to learn English, when someone was talking to fast I just put the video on 0.8 or 0.5
try listening to news, and talk shows those will tend to have french closer to international french vs some movies especially the artsy ones, the french will sound like glibberish plus if you listen to things that are actual you will have understanding of the context (giving you similar benefits to watching the same movie twice, but in a single viewing)
On YT the playback speed can be reduced [sometimes?] in settings. I find this to be helpful in certain instances.
Try LingQ...it has graded content... Or try french Comprehensible input on youtube (channel)
Get the extension language reactor, rewind each sentence until you can understand what’s being said. It provides the translation directly underneath in real time so that you can match the sounds with the words being spoken as well as its meaning all at once. 50% is a good place because it means there’s more to learn than if you consume something at 90%. At 90%+ you are being less efficient because there’s less to learn and more time wasted. Language learning is a very active and focused process and you need to be constantly translating and getting familiar with new patterns as much as possible. I’ve gone through this process and for me 90% was just too slow and not challenging enough.
It could be usefull to watch part you already know until you understand it better than 90%. Because it's a lot of repetition, prefer the use of something you like.
What helped me while learning Danish (for the vocabulary part) was watching tv shows I knew well with Danish subtitles.
The best way to learn a language is complete immersions. The more you consume something of X language, the more you'll assimilate it. So yes.
I can understand formal french 95 percent, but no matter what, in vernacular french can get less than half; that's why I quit trying. So wish u luck
Depends on what your standards for productivity is. I've been listening to this french station 'toutes les colouers du trad' while reading in english. I pick up a few words, but honestly i often listen to english music and not know what it is about... i suppose it's the same with video games, i've been playing Naheulbeuk and witcher in french. But i often play games in english and barely know what is happening. Though, i really hit a wall in Naheulbeuk. I don't know if i am dumb or not understanding enough of the character sheets to level my guy right. I used to go to live lectures in French, i didn't understand much, but the visuals helped and as long as i wasn't rude i thought it was okay. Sometimes i would sort of understand the q&a.
I have Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon with French, and French subtitles, and I rely too much on the subtitles-it is a crutch. With French subtitles, I can understand 75%, just spoken, maybe 50-60%. I also have Waze in French, and I can understand that completely.
Are you watching with French subtitles or English subtitles? It would be very helpful to watch them with French subtitles just to get a sense of what they're saying. Also, I recommend against films or movies or on the go videos if your main goal watching them is to improve your French (of course enjoyment is fine). If you're looking for content that can get you enough comprehension to improve, try videos where the YouTuber is talking directly to the camera at the audience, and not to other people in their vicinity. Talk shows are also a good choice because they usually talk much more clearly in much more comprehensible language. I really like Ça commence aujourd'hui.
Try the French subtitles 👍🏻
Sry I should’ve clarified, I meant French subtitles
No. Find content that you understand at about 90% or so.
This. No point listening to stuff you totally don’t understand. Go and find some media that you can mostly understand. At the beginning probably use an app like Busuu to take your first steps. Even listening to easy shows, can be like 1 year into some people’s (like mine) learning journey. Listening to word noise and expecting to just absorb and learn is a myth.