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The ‘conditionnel’ is the English equivalent of the conditional tense. Yet, they are not built the same way and that’s why French Lessons Sydney offers you this extra lesson!
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Can You Speak Conditional? No More Secret After This Article

by Amelie Hurford
December 13, 2016

The ‘conditionnel’ is the English equivalent of the conditional tense. Yet, they are not built the same way and that’s why French Lessons Sydney offers you this extra lesson! 

Can you speak conditionally? No more secret after this article!

<< Me, if I was very very rich. I would give away my money until I am only very rich. Very rich is enough for me.>>

Formation of French conditional

Whereas in English, the conditional is a compound verb (would + the infinitive), in French it is a one-verb form. To determine the tense of the verb, we should therefore look at its ending.

For the -ir and -er groups of verbs, we only need to add the right ending at the end of the infinitive.

For the -re group, the last ‘e’ is removed and replaced by the correct ending.

Look at this table:

The endings are the same as the ones from the imparfait. However they are not added to the radical of the verb, but to its infinitive (or explained on the table above, to the stem of the future which is really the verb infinitive).

What about verbs with spelling changes and irregular stems?

In fact, if you already know the future tense, you just have to use the irregular stems from the future and add to them the ending provided by the conditional.

Eg. the verb ”vouloir” (to want)

  • Je voudrais
  • Tuvoudrais
  • Il voudrait
  • Nous voudrions
  • Vousvoudriez
  • Ilsvoudraient

Use of the Conditionnel

As in English, the conditional describes an action that would happen in certain circumstances.

Eg. I would eat French food more often, if there was a French restaurant nearby. ->Je mangerais de la nourriturefrancaise plus souvent, s’il y avaitun restaurant francaispres de chez moi.

Do you want to know more about French grammar, or more about what we do at French Lessons Brisbane? Don’t hesitate anymore longer and contact us at info@frenchlessonssydney.net.au !

Learning Something New Makes You a More Happier Person
Learning New Language

Learning Something New Makes You a More Happier Person

by Amelie Hurford
December 13, 2016

Do you know a secret that happiness and Learning are connected? But how deeply?

How learning and happiness are connected?? How Learning Something New Makes You a More Happier Person?

 

That’s the fact that you will become a more happier person once you start learning something new. Blissful people are healthier, learn faster, more successful and even live longer than those who are unhappy. So, Learning French, the most popular language in the world, is not a bad idea.

Happy People’s Behaviour

Happy people are less egocentric, less aggressive, less offensive to others and less prone to illness. Happiness is just as important for a long life as a healthy diet and lifestyle. And hence, that’s a simple reason that they  have high grasping power and learn faster. One of the most persistent myths is that money makes you happy. Money does not equal to happiness.

Knowledge & Happiness Interconnected

In fact, there are many ways in which you can increase your likelihood of happiness. You only have to know what to do. And what not to do. So there is, indeed, a link between happiness and knowledge. Education & knowledge might not necessarily make you richer but a habit of learning always something new does make you better off personality.

A research found that the higher people’s level of general education the more satisfied they were with their daily life and the more worthwhile they felt”. Highly educated people get better jobs that pay more money & enjoyment. They practice healthier lifestyles and have less tension.

Learning Leads to Happiness

In a context of happiness, learning is an extent of commitment & engagement with tasks that provide knowledge and fulfillment. For people who are intensely absorbed in a task, hours pass like minutes. They may be tired by the task but emerge energized and blissful. Everybody should find the work to do that light up their life.

Summary

Whether it’s acquiring a new language or talent, optimistic & delighted personality are built upon patterns of lifelong learning. Cheerful folks are physically and emotionally healthier, more flourishing at learning and work. They are comparatively more creative, more admired, more friendly, less likely to be immoral.

Delighted folks are better in every respect. Happiness reflects your satisfaction level. When you are learning something of your interest, you are satisfied with your learning & yourself and that’s why learning makes you full of joy and gives you genuine happiness.

Best French Restaurants in Australia for Weekend Celebration
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Best French Restaurants in Australia for Weekend Celebration

by Amelie Hurford
December 8, 2016

French Food has its own unique savour that’s why French populace enjoys having French food. French restaurants was more romantic than an Italian meal.

France is a homeland of cooking and food lovers with a lot of interesting facts of the culture of French Food.

“World’s top 50 restaurants” awards of 2015, which was held in London, five are from France, that’s really remarkable and worth celebrating. As per the research, the French masses consume enough cheese to provide 25 kg of cheese per person, making them the largest cheese consumers in the world. In addition the French produce over 300 different kinds of cheese.

There are numerous restaurants operational in France with over 5,000 restaurants in Paris alone. French Food has always been at the height of worldly sophistication. In this blog we discuss about the most famous and successful restaurant in France.

1. Montrachet Paddington Brisbane

Montrachet Bar Comptoir-Restaurant is owned and run by Shannon Kellam and Clare Wallace. Originally created and owned by Thierry and Carol Galichet, Montrachet changed hands in early 2015. Montrachet offers a delight to the palate through a seasonal French menu, and extensive French wine list.

Located: Paddington QLD 40641montrachetpaddingtion-brisbane

Visit:https://montrachet.com.au/

2. Lutece in Brisbane

Lutèce Bistro & Wine Bar in Bardon is the latest French cuisine venture for renowned Brisbane Chef Romain Bapst.Offering traditional French fare, the Lutèce Bistro & Wine Bar menu has a modern twist with an Alsatian spirit, thanks to Mr Bapst’s rich Strasbourgeois heritage.

The restaurant is also the only venue in Brisbane that serves the exquisite pressed duck – a rare French delicacy dating back to the 19th century.Romain Bapst is perhaps best known in Brisbane dining circles for his 13 year tenure at Eagle Street institution II Centro, and later two years at Drift Milton and Brookwater.

Located: Bardon  Q 4065

2lutece-in-brisbane

Visit:http://lutece.com.au/

3. Chez Olivier Le Bistro 

The iconic French restaurant in Melbourne. Located in the heart of Greville Street Village, Prahran, Chez Olivier is the most authentic French bistro Melbourne has to offer.Transport yourself to Paris whilst you indulge your senses with elegant and innovative French cuisine, enjoy our seasonal daily specials, and savour an international selection of wines and aperitifs from our extensive cellar.

Whether it’s a casual lunch or a romantic dinner in Melbourne – or even a sumptuous banquet in your own Private Dining Room – Chez Olivier is the place for classic French dining.

Location : Melbourne

3chez

Visit:http://www.chezolivier.com.au

4. Ananas Bar & Brasserie

A corner of Paris in the heart of Sydney. Nestled away in the heart of Circular Quay is Café Ananas – our touch of Paris and award-winning French restaurant.Glamorous and flirtatious, Café Ananas brings shimmering Parisian glamour to Circular Quay.

Ananas is Sydney’s luxurious French restaurant – where bubbles are enjoyed at the bar after work, you can kick up your heels with some cocktails and authentic French meals are indulged in the Brasserie.

Located : Sydney.

4anansa

Source:www.ananas.com.au

5. Mirazur (11th worldwide)

Mirazur, perched on a hillside by the French-Italian border in Menton, is run by Argentine-born chef Mauro Colagreco. It is 11th in World ranking for delicious food and superfast services.

     Located:  Southeastern France, east of Nice

5mirazur

Visit: http://www.mirazur.fr/en

 6. L’Arpège 

Hot on the heels of Mirazur is L’Arpège at number 12 in the world ranking. Head chef Alain Passard turned heads several years ago upon announcing that he was turning his focus to vegetables from his biodynamic farm near Paris. Located: Paris

6-larpege

5 Reasons learning new Languages can boost your growth amazingly
French Grammar, Learning Tools

5 Reasons learning new Languages can boost your growth amazingly

by Amelie Hurford
December 7, 2016

Why You Should be Learning new Languages, especially French??

Several types of researchers claiming that French, German, Spanish, Polish and Mandarin are the best languages to learn for better career growth.  

Those who speak more than one language have a greater chance to boost their career prospects and get success in business. There are so many reasons for learning a new language. Though the core of the desire to learn a new dialect is to be able to communicate, this is no more crucial than when it comes to business and careers.

In fact, adding at least one other language to your skill set and its fluency to speak can expect an additional 20 to 30 percent pay increase. Having the desired job and a satisfactory career are two very different things. A career indicates that there’s the opportunity for progression, the chance to do always new things and take on additional responsibilities. A career could have you travel the world seeking out new ventures, or even have you moving to work in a new country

The younger generation speaks more additional languages than any other age group, but due to lack of time and time flexibility they would be deterred from learning another language in the future. Alot of professional are more likely to relocate abroad for searching new opportunities and work.  In this blog we will

In this blog we will be speaking about the effect of learning new languages can the play major role  in business and career prospects.

1. Crack the Interview of International Companies

Additional language fluency can give you a noteworthy benefit over other applicants, particularly if the company has international dealings or clients. Day after day, more companies are spreading out across the world. You will likely to find more opportunities to get hired, if you can speak other languages and work with the international organization. Once you’ve found such  new job opportunity, it’s also more likely that you will be hired for your ability to speak a foreign language and more than one language.  As per the studies,  there are more than 60% of companies who want to do business in other countries

  2. Higher remuneration:

There are a lot of benefits of being bilingual and one of the most important is you can earning more money. Candidates that speak more than one language will be offered higher monthly packages compared to the others. There are many people seeking full-time positions who simply can’t get it because of lack of ability to speak more than one language. Even if they have offered full-time job, but still they compromise with fewer wages. Knowing a foreign language can add  15% and 20% to your wage.  For higher positions, it will be extra 10% or more as a bonus.

  3. Opens up for more awesome job opportunities

If you can speak another country’s language, you open up new doors for yourself  and get the chance to  explore new opportunities across the world. Hence, learning new languages have added advantage that gives you an opportunity to explore your dreams  in other countries as well.

We make out that learning new languages would surely be beneficial in everyone’s  professional journey, but what languages are most practical and valuable to learn?French is a language that opens up the world and  the second most widely learned foreign language after English.  Even a basic knowledge of French can make the job much easier, stress-free, more enjoyable and allow you to discuss with people who likes to communicate in French.

French is one of the official (and working) languages of the United Nations (including UNESCO), the European Union, the International Olympic Committee, NATO, OECD, and the International Red Cross.  French is the international language of the theater, the visual arts, dance, architecture, haute cuisine, and fashion industry.

 

  4.Gain confidence:

There any countless professions that particularly favor those with additional language abilities, other than direct translation roles. Knowing a language other than the mother tongue raise your confidence level enormously. Aptitude for learning a new language of speaking  confidently both at home and abroad, making you a better candidate to countenance the globalization feature  of international companies.

 

  5. Outstanding multi-tasking skill sets 

Significantly knowing any new language doesn’t only mean that you can speak it as well. The process of learning an additional language involves the insides of  another culture and tradition. Learning a foreign language builds an understanding of their culture and its people, and helps employees to better interact with others. As per the research, it proves that if you have a capability to learn more than one language, it develops  your multi-tasking skills at the same time.

 

Summary:

The majority of people who can speak a second language, speak French.  So What Exactly Will You Learn?  Well, it doesn’t have to be complicated to communicate with French speakers.  If you’re worried you’ll be stuck at a bus stop or embarrassed at a cafe when you forget what to say. That will be OK. It will be much easier to learn than you think.

If you’re all curious about the world beyond your own day-to-day routine, speaking French (or any other language besides your native tongue) can upgrade your life by increasing opportunities for career, living, travel, friendship, adventure, and love. The more languages you speak, the bigger your world becomes.

For people who want to learn the French language, but don’t have enough time to commit to traditional methods, “Online French Courses” are a good alternative – where  you practice listening and speaking in the car, from your home PC in your free time or learning online.

Online learning has made immense progress in the past several years and has become a viable alternative to more traditional forms of instruction. It’s becoming the norm for people with very little time or money to spare who still want to make progress with their learning.

French Lessons Australia have all your French learning needs covered from beginner, intermediate and advanced conversation classes to Business French classes for adults, travellers and corporate sector.

https://frenchlessonsaustralia.com.au|  0415 799 620  |  info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au

 

French Grammar, French Vocabulary

4 easy fundamental prepositions to indicate great locations

by Amelie Hurford
December 7, 2016

Prepositions are used in both French and English, but according to the context of the sentence, they don’t always have the same meaning or translation.

French Lessons Australia is here to help you out with a specific kind of propositions: the ones that indicate location or direction to or from a place.

 

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a sentence.

Today, we will see the most useful ones in French!

 

à

 

Note that this preposition is always used before the name of a city or a person. When it is a country, the rule change as you will see later in this post.

You perhaps also have noticed that the à becomes ”au” in some cases. When the following noun is masculine (and is not the name of a place like Paris), à becomes au. Eg. I do the shopping at the supermarket =>Je fais les courses ausupermarche.  To indicate a time or a direction, à is also used. Examples:

  • Our meeting is at 3pm -> Notre reunion est à 3h de l’apres-midi.
  • It is the first on the right ->C’est la premiere à 

 

de

 

Here, de becomes d’ when a word starting with a vowel follows the preposition. Eg. My boyfriend comes from Australia -> Mon petit amivientd’Australie.

The form ”du” is also possible. It is in fact the contraction of ”de le” (from the) that cannot be said in French. When the place of origin is not a geographical name (eg le bureau, le jardin, le magasin) but is masculine, you will use du. If this is not geographical name but it is feminine, you will say de la. Eg. I come from the bakery -> Je pars de laboulangerie.

De can also be translated by about when it is used with verb ”parler” (to talk). Eg. What are you talking about? ->De quoi parles-tu?

 

 

dans/en

 

When you talk about a country, you can either use the preposition en or au, depending if the country is feminine or masculine. Eg. (1) I am in France -> Je suisen France (feminine name). (2) She is in Canada -> Elle estau Canada. (masculine name)

 

chez

 

That’s it for today, I hope this post was helpful and we hope to hear from you soon at info@frenchlessons-Autralia.com.au

WHY FRENCH MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK
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Why French Matters More Than You Think

by Amelie Hurford
December 3, 2016

Does French still matter? If so, why? This is a recent concern about the status of the study of French and other foreign languages and cultures in U.S. higher and secondary education at a time of increasing globalization.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language 2008 Survey indicates that more students are interested in studying French than any other foreign language in the United States. French enrollments in the United States are on the rise and are now at the highest level in over 20 years.

“New initiative has been taken from the French government to increase the amount of French instruction in American schools”

Over 220 million people around the world speak French. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 1-in-5 people, or 47 million U.S. residents age 5 and older, spoke a language other than English at home at the turn of the 21st century. After English and Spanish, Chinese was the language most commonly spoken at home (2.0 million speakers), followed by French (1.6 million speakers) and German (1.4 million speakers).
Reports say that 55 percent of the people who speak a language other than English at home in the U.S., they also speak English “very well.” All over Europe, French is still the main second language taught in school. And If you want to understand modern China and Russia, you need to know French language very well.

Here is how the “French government” defines what it calls “the sphere of French language.” It’s much larger than you think.

French, along with English, is the official working language of –

• The United Nations
• UNESCO
• NATO
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• The International Labor Bureau
• The International Olympic Committee
• The 31-member Council of Europe
• The European Community
• The Universal Postal Union
• The International Red Cross
• Union of International Associations (UIA)

French is the dominant working language at –

• The European Court of Justice
• The European Tribunal of First Instance
• the Press Room at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium

SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. Bilingual’s usually considered more Smarter.

 

Literary past tense: le passé simple
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How does le passé simple work?

by Amelie Hurford
November 20, 2016

French has many past tenses, and the Imparfait and the Passé Composé are its most commonly used everyday by French people. Yet, if you read a book or listen to a play, you will probably hear or see a tense you don’t know about yet: the Passé Simple. What is it and how do you handle it? This is our today’ subject at French Lessons Australia!

 

When to use it?

The Passé Simple designates a completed action in the past with no relation at all to the present tense. It is what we call a “written” tense, that means that you’re most likely to never have to hear it while you talk to someone, and there is even less possibilities for you to need to use it. The imparfait and the passe composé are really the common past tenses. However, the passé simple is probably the most beautiful (but a bit old-fashioned) French tense, you will find it in books and in classical plays. New books often don’t even use the passé simple anymore. Yet, if you want to be able to read some good classical books such as Les Misérables, spotting the passé simple can be useful. Usually, when you spot a verb looking weird, it is a passe simple!

 

Difference with the Imparfait and the Passé Composé

The imparfait and the Passe Composé are usually used together, to describe either something that happened far or close from now, or to describe something that happened continuously or for a defined period of time. So when is the passé simple used differently?

The passé simple can be compared to the grand-father of the passé composé as it is its literary equivalent. There are two differences with these tenses. First, one is often used while the other quite never or only in books. Secondly, the passé composé emphasises a clear link with the present and often adds a date or a time, while the passé simple expresses an action that is totally ended.

Finally, while the imparfait is used to set a background or to describe a past context, the passé simple is clearly used to tell about actions that happened over that background. Let’s take an example! You could perhaps read something like this :

  • “Ce soir-là, dehors, il pleuvait. Le vent soufflait contre les vitres. Le tonnerre grondait. Pierre lisait son journal au coin du feu. Soudain, on frappa. Pierre se leva et alla ouvrir.
  • Translation: ”That night, outside, it was raining. The wind was blowing against the windows. The thunder rumbled. Pierre was reading his newspaper at the fireside. Suddenly, one knocked. Pierre stood up and went opening the door.”

The context is defined by the use of the imparfait (in green) and the passé simple expresses a sudden action (in purple).

 

How to conjugate the Passé Simple?

As always, we need to refer to the 3 groups -er, -ir, and -re, and to irregular verbs.

Literary past tense: le passé simple

-ER verbs are formed by dropping their endings and adding instead the following endings: -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, èrent.

Je parlai

Tu parlas

Il parla

Nous parlâmes

Vous parlâtes

Ils parlèrent

-IR and -RE verbs also only keep their stems and add to that the following endings: -is, -is, -it, –îmes, –îtes, -irent.

J’ouvris/appris

Tu ouvris/appris

Il ouvrit/apprit

Nous ouvrîmes/apprîmes

Vous ouvrîtes/apprîtes

Ils ouvrirent/apprirent

Finally, there are two kinds of irregular verbs in the passé simple. The ones building upon their past participles, and the ones that do

not. Fortunately, the first group is the bigger one.

Irregular verbs of the first group are based upon their past participle and add to that the following endings: -s, -s, -t, -^mes, -^tes, -rent.

Je dis

Tu dis

Il dit

Nous dîmes

Vous dîtes

Ils dirent

The passé simple is not a common tense, therefore, you might wonder the objective of this lesson. The passé simple is a pillar of the French language, it is like the Pantheon, the Arc de Triomphe, and all these stunning French buildings: they are not often used for what they are but they are admired and loved for their charm and authenticity. The Passé simple is today perhaps more cultural than really useful everyday, but without it, French would not be French.

If you liked this article and would like to know more about the French language and culture, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au

See you next time, a bientot!

The immediate future is the equivalent in English of “to be going to”. In fact, in French, we will use the verb “to go” at the present tense, in the same way English people would use it to talk about an action they are going to undertake.
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The essential guide to the French future tense

by Amelie Hurford
November 19, 2016

In French, there are two kinds of future: the immediate future and the future simple.

Let’s see how that works and how to use it!

Immediate Future

The immediate future is the equivalent in English of “to be going to”. In fact, in French, we will use the verb “to go” at the present tense, in the same way English people would use it to talk about an action they are going to undertake.

I am going to work will then be translated by “je vais travailler”.

The conjugation of the verb “aller” (to go) in French at the present tense is the following:

Je vais

Tu vas

Il/Elle va

Nous allons

Vous allez

Ils vont

Then, you only have to add the infinitive of the verb you want to use, and you get the immediate future of your sentence.

Example: “We are going to swim in the pool” will be translated by “Nous allons nager a la piscine“.

Future simple

The French future simple is however totally different from its English counterpart.

In French, the future simple is a simple one-word form. Therefore, we need to distinguish the radical from its ending.

If the verb ends with ER (eg. chanter=to sing) or IR (eg. finir=to finish), you just need to add the future ending which we will see after.

If the verb ends with RE (eg. prendre=to take), you need to replace the last letter by the correct future termination.

And good news, the termination will stay the same no matter the group the verb belongs to!

The immediate future is the equivalent in English of “to be going to”. In fact, in French, we will use the verb “to go” at the present tense, in the same way English people would use it to talk about an action they are going to undertake.

As you can see, the ending never changes. The only thing that changes is whether you need to add the ending at the end of the infinitive or in place of the last letter of the verb.

Yet, there are some irregular verbs (of course!) that will not be as simple to remember. But don’t worry, there are not many of them.

We can divide the irregular forms of the future tense in two categories: verbs with spelling changes, and verbs with irregular stems.

  • Verbs with spelling changes have their future form almost unchanged, there will just be an accent or a double consonant that will make it vary a little from their normal future form. For instance, the verb “acheter” (to buy) will become at the first person of singular: “j’achèterai“. The only difference with the regular forms is the accent grave added on the first e -> è.
  • Verbs with irregular stems however don’t follow any pattern. There are fifteen of them. We will only see here the five more important. For each of them, we will write its radical. Remember that the endings of future verbs do not change and keep following the pattern written on the table above. Aller (to go) : ir-, Avoir (to have): aur-, Etre (to be): ser-, Faire (to do, to make): fer-, Venir (to come): viendr-.

Examples:

  • You will come with us :Tu viendras avec nous.
  • I will drink some French wine :Je boirai du vin français.
  • They will do their homework :Ils feront leurs devoirs.

Summary:

Future immediate: person + to go in the present tense + infinitive.

Future simple: person + verb in its future form as seen above.

I hope you enjoyed our lesson on the Future with French Lessons Australia! To get more information on our language school and its options. Send us email at info@french-lessons-australia.com

 

 

Top 5 Exclusive French Language Learning Strategies That Really Works
French Grammar, Learning New Language, Uncategorized

Top 5 Exclusive French Language Learning Strategies That Really Works

by Amelie Hurford
October 20, 2016

Learning a new language necessitates a massive endeavor and good understanding of that culture.

But there are countless ways how you can speed up your learning progress.

Most of the times lots of students may possibly not conscious that they are using the language learning strategies that are not working for them.  There are few exclusive French Language Learning strategies and styles that actually work for so many people and certainly works for you too, during learning French or any new language.

These language learning styles will prevent you from taking the redundant alternative route of a learning process. The below mentioned top 5 most effective learning strategies of learning a language can give you a motivation towards better learning experiences over the time. French language learning strategies basically comprise behaviors, specific actions, steps, or techniques that students often intentionally use to improve their progress in developing the French language.

French is the second most widely learned foreign language after English, and the ninth most widely spoken language in the world.

French is also the only language, alongside English, that is taught in every country in the world. France operates the biggest international network of cultural institutes, which run French-language courses for more than 750,000 learners.

  1. Engagement of learner’s motivation, behaviors, and thoughts

Its student’s motivation, behaviors, and thoughts that engage during learning which is intended to influence the learner’s training process. It includes all learning regardless of language or anything about something new. To start learning in an effective and an efficient manner learner should have focus & dedicated thought process towards learning the French language.

  1. Communication with Yourself and in your Social Group

It’s a very simple idea behind talking with yourself. You always have direct access to your inner voice. Take the advantage of it and get benefited to improve your French Language. The only major change here you need to do is instead of using your mother tongue, just stick to use the French language and communicate with yourself. From now, you don’t require any French native speaker to enhance your French learning skills.

Choose at least one friend to study with. Not only is it more fun to learn with other living, breathing human beings, but a little friendly competition can significantly boost compliance. Still it will be well and good if you have an outstanding friends circle in college or in office to whom you can communicate & share your thought process. Regularly practicing 10 to 20 min per day will be sufficed for the beginners.

  1. Writing and Reading in French is a key

Successful French language learners make a common habit of writing and reading French on a daily basis, as part of their effective learning strategies. Take the advantage of all practice opportunities such as reading French Newspaper, watching French TV Channel, Writing documents in French, reading French magazine and much more. Reading gives you broader prospect of how one can express their thoughts in any new language. While written in a new language, you will get deeper experience of learning the French language.

 

  1. Practice of Listening makes you perfect

Listening to French Music or any other Audio, like you normally do during your normal daily activities such as while driving, jogging, cooking, traveling or may be during your fun time with friends.  While listening the audio, simultaneously try to practice of repeating the same. After a short span of time, you will enjoy this regular habit of learning French Language. Your willpower and your regular practice make you perfect in speaking fluent French.

  1. Habit of Regular Scheduling 1st in the Morning

Move ahead with a positive attitude & do short but the regular sessions every morning. It sounds one of a great learning strategy, where you will achieve the goal comparatively in much lesser time. It reminds your brain that language learning is a top priority in your life.

Prioritise the things which are most important in your life before anything is else, is one of the best strategy to succeed, not only to learn any language, buy also get the real success in your life both at personal and professional level.

 

 Summary

So, if you really want to learn French or another new language, these 5 learning strategies provide you perhaps with the best learning tools. Learning any new language takes some time, however, your dedication speedup the process much faster.   To reach the highest level of proficiency you need to make a habit of learning. France is the world’s number-one tourist destination and attracts more than 70 million visitors a year.

A little bit of knowledge of French language makes it so much more enjoyable to visit Paris and all the regions of France. French also comes in handy when traveling to Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Monaco, the Seychelles and other places.

French Lessons Australia always believes that you need to bring the French language and culture alive for people to really engage enough to start learning. If you deem in speaking the French language right from the start of your language learning journey, then visit your favourite expert right away and use the quick links – http://www.frenchlessonsbrisbane.com.au/

RIGHT MINDSET FOR BETTER LEARNING & SUCCESS
Learning Tools

Right mindset for better learning & Success

by Amelie Hurford
October 20, 2016

Have you ever got told that your mindset shapes the way you deal with your everyday life and that your approach to life could be totally different if you thought differently?

How do you see your glass: half full or half empty?

It is your vision of life and your way of thinking that mould your reactions towards, more or less, absolutely everything.

As you probably already know, studying and learning (even more so if you are an adult and left school a few years ago… ok, ages ago) can be really tough and extremely challenging. Yet, some people succeed. And really well actually.

What is their secret?

Why does it seem so easy for some people to be successful when, for others, it is an absolute chaotic nightmare?

It does seem so unfair… but is it really? I’m not sure.

An iceberg or how to picture success?

Try and picture an iceberg. Can you see it?

Well, this iceberg is a visual representation of success.

What everyone sees above the surface is so glamorous and amazing. It can actually be mesmerizing. That is the effect success can have on most of us.

However, the biggest part of an iceberg is not above the surface but underneath it. And there, it is not as glamorous. It is not as mesmerizing.

There, what you can see is what created that shiny top part of the successful iceberg. There, you will find dedication, hard work, good habits, disappointment, sacrifice, failure, and persistence.

An iceberg contains two parts and to succeed you must be ready to go through all the difficult challenges thrown by its hidden part to reach its top part which represents your learning goals.

Are you ready for this adventure? If so, carry on reading this blog to learn a bit more about how to understand yourself better as a learner and about how to get the right mindset for a better learning experience.

Mindset towards better learning

Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek wrote a very interesting book on the various types of mindsets and their impact on learning. It is called The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain, and was published by Stylus Publishing, LLC in 2014. I would strongly advise you to read it, and to pay a particular interest to chapter 7 which is entitled “mindset towards learning”.

As Doyle and Zakrajsek highlight it in their book, you, as a learner, need to understand how your brain functions and how you learn best. You need to define your mindset. When you learn, what challenges do you give yourself? How far are you ready to push yourself to succeed? To which extent will you accept criticism and failure?

I lived in England for a while and passed my language teacher degree there. Then, I decided to move back to France. Unfortunately, my English degree was not recognized in France so I had to start all over again and take another teaching degree as well as a Master’s degree.

All this in the same year and, just to make things a little bit more complicated, I also had a baby to look after. To say that I was a very busy bee is an understatement.

Only 10% of the students could pass their exam (teaching exams are competitive ones in France). I had to be in that top 10%. For me, for my baby boy, for our future. My mindset was set: failing was not a possibility.

From day one, I studied days and nights. I struggled, I cried, I felt like giving up many times but I kept focused and I passed. I knew what I was capable of doing and what I wasn’t, and that is what you need to know when you set yourself specific learning goals. It obviously seems easy when I say it like that, but, trust me, it is not.

Mindset is a very complex brain process which was first described by Dr. Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University.

According to Dweck, the way you see yourself as a learner was shaped in high school and sometimes even earlier. I totally agree with this as I witness it every day with my students. The way they see themselves and the way they relate to such and such subject or to school in general totally match their learning goals.

If they think they are rubbish at French, their mindset will be mould that way and, consequently, they won’t learn as well as they could. Was this the case for you when you were in school? Is it still the case now? If so, change it.

Different types of mindsets

How do you consider intelligence?

Is it something fixed or can it evolve?

Despite many studies on the question, many people still seem to think that you are stuck with the intelligence you were given (or not) at birth.

This is a complete misconception of the notion. Intelligence changes and evolves. Everyone can learn about everything.

So, yes, you might find some topics more difficult than others but with the right mindset, your learning possibilities are endless. It seems crazy, doesn’t it? Crazy maybe, but still, true.

Dweck underlines two different types of mindsets: “fixed mindset” and “growth mindsets”. What are they? And, more importantly, which one is yours?

People with fixed mindsets tend to believe they cannot be good at everything and that they were actually either born being good at languages (for example) or they weren’t. According to them, they cannot really progress because they are not intelligent enough, or at least, not good enough at languages to improve. They seem to think people who are good at learning languages (to carry on with that example) are simply good at it because it is easy for them to understand it and not because they actually work hard to get good marks.

On the contrary, people with growth mindsets are fully aware of the huge amount of hard work they have to put in if they want to succeed and they actually do put the effort in. They consider rejection and failure as part of their learning journey and embrace all the challenges they have to go through to succeed. They know they might bend but they won’t break.

Are you worried about starting studying French because you think you’re not good at it and you’ll never be able to become fluent? If so, think again. Try and adopt a growth mindset and always remember that good practice makes perfect. Quand on veut, on peut (French saying which means: when we want, we can). Believe in yourself, give yourself the right tools to succeed and have the right mindset, a growth mindset.

Our mind is like the sky: it has no limit.

Okay, I know what you’re going to say: on paper, that seems ideal but in concrete terms how do you do to have a growth mindset? Don’t look any further, I will give you some tips!

Tips to change your mindset

First of all, you must consider your brain just like any other muscle in your body. When you want to improve your physical condition, you go to the gym, don’t you?

Well, when you want to improve your intelligence, you need to strengthen your brain, and to do so you have to read, study, and work hard.

You have to be dedicated and to keep focused. Jesper Mogensen, a Danish neuroscientist who works as a professor at the University of Copenhague, Department of Psychology, and who is the founder and head of The Unit for Cognitive Neuroscience (UCN) and director of Research Centre for Brain Injury Rehabilitation (ReCBIR), actually led research on this topic.

He found that when the brain is stimulated through learning new connections are established by neurons. In other words, learning develops the brain and makes you more intelligent! If there is just one thing you should remember from this blog, this is it! Keeping in mind that learning and making efforts develop the brain will help you to get rid of your fixed mindset (if you have one) and go towards a growth one!

An important advice I can give you from my personal experience, as well as my professional practice, is that you have to learn how to learn. Having a methodology is essential. Indeed, many students fail exams not because they weren’t good enough to succeed nor because they didn’t study hard enough but because they didn’t use the right learning strategies.

Basically, they didn’t give their brain the right tools to memorize and understand all the learned knowledge. Find out how you learn best (is it with visuals, when listening, reading, writing?) and develop that method.

Sometimes, you will also have to put some extra efforts in or to change your learning methods depending on the difficulty of the subject/topic you are studying. Adapt to the situation, be flexible.

Like I told you before, people with growth mindsets accept failure and actually consider it as part of their learning journey. It is not an easy thing to do but it can be so beneficial. I remember when I was a trainee, my university mentor wanted me to analyze every single lesson I taught. I had to write pages on what went right and for which reasons (so that was always enjoyable to point out what I did well… and that’s not even being big headed by the way!) but I also had to write about what went wrong and why (that wasn’t as pleasant).

I remember hating doing this cause it used to take me ages and quite frankly it wasn’t always nice admitting I didn’t do well but I did it anyway (cause I had to really). Quite quickly, I accepted that task as part of my training and only then it started being positive for my professional development and for my learning.

It helped me to understand what I didn’t do quite right and, more importantly, why and I could, therefore, focus on changing this particular aspect of my lesson. I could take advantage of my failure and change it to make it become a success. Admitting you were wrong, accepting you failed and being willing to start again in a different way is a key to creating a growth mindset.

Read Next: HOW DO I MAKE MORE PROGRESS IN FRENCH?

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