How I’m reviving my French after 4 years of NO study 🇫🇷

chou chou!! it ain't no stopping this French train. i guess it's fully my fault for not pursuing french after high school, but isn't it more fun to blame it on American school systems? hell yeah!
30% OFF LINGODA: try.lingoda.com/May_ElysseSpeaks
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☕️ buy me a coffee (if you are so inclined!)
ko-fi.com/elyssespeaks
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💌 social media:
📷 instagram:
/ elyssedavega
🐥 twitter:
/ elyssedavega
🎵 spotify w/ english, german, spanish, and portuguese playlists
open.spotify.com/user/elysse....
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💌 about me
Hey! Hola! Hallo! Oi! Salut! Shalom! Merhaba! I'm Elysse, I’m a KZbinr and journalist from the USA. I make videos about languages, how to learn them, and how I navigate the places they're spoken. Come along for the ride 🚗💨
💌 FAQ
How old are you?:
22 years old
What languages do you speak/sign?:
English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, French, American Sign Language, Turkish, Hebrew (all at varying levels of course so pls don't come for my neck that I'm not fluent)
00:00 - 01:34 why i've forgotten my french: HIGH SCHOOL
01:35 - 05:03 translating songs is the bomb dot com
05:04 - 08:07 Lingoda bout to get my French RIGHT
08:08 - 10:42 my Lingoda class + new words!
10:43 - 16:23 using STORYTIMES as listening practice because i love gossip
16:24 - 21:36 journaling w/ corrections to get ~intimate~
#learnfrench #studyvlog #polyglot #lingoda202205

[@keanancupido]

Re-learning a language is so much work. It's literally harder than learning a new one😂

[@elyssespeaks]

ehhh debatable, i feel like it’s just the confidence roadblock that makes it feel that way in my case at least 😳

[@keanancupido]

@@elyssespeaks I actually relate a lot to what you said about wanting to skip a lot to get to the advanced stuff. I think that's kinda why it's a bit hard to re-learn because we tend to want to skip a lot of the basics 🙈

[@Maidaseu]

Definitely not harder. Learning something from zero is always harder.

[@grapepale8446]

Is that a joke

[@evelic]

I dont think its harder. Its easier than learning a new one, in fact.

[@CalliAMusic]

Girl, even before watching, I feel this so hard. French was my first self-study foreign language, then I abandoned it for Italian (no regrets, I became completely fluent in Italian) but I'm now returning to French and I'm so nervous haha. Hope this will help me too!

[@adeca5052]

What methods did you use to become fluent in Italian?

[@Olin_drawing]

as a french, i was recently so surprise to see so many english-speaking youtubers moving to Paris so im so happy that you go back to the french language as well !! (my personnel favorite song rn if you want... ceux qui rêve by pomme, je te laisserai des mots, nirvana by aya nakamura for sad songs) and also "Luch" is a VERY funny french youtuber that does storytime !! i encourage you a lot

[@elyssespeaks]

hahaha that’s interesting! unfortunately i don’t think i’d ever move to france 😅 but who knows

[@Olin_drawing]

@@elyssespeaks yes but there is also belgium, Quebec, switzerland and the whole west africa that speaks french tho

[@soundlyawake]

okay lemme find that Lingoda science class in Spanish real quick 🏃🏻‍♂️

[@elyssespeaks]

!!!!! run

[@applestudiez1846]

I've never approached storytime videos with the idea of shadowing and language practice, but that's a fantastic suggestion, and listening to you recount the storytime was a great way to understand how useful it is. I'll definitely be incorporating that one into my practice! :)

[@elyssespeaks]

I’m glad it helped boo!! It can be tiring but the payoff is worth it :P

[@CouchPolyglot]

Lingoda or Italki can be super helpful. What helped me the most "revive" my French was enrolling an exam, I somehow had a goal to work towards to and I also was too proud to have thrown the money away 😅 After that, I got a tandem and I have been able to maintain a B2-ish level 😊

[@melaniegrace7707]

It's funny because for a long time I had no interest in learning French but lately I've been wanting to learn it for these 2 reasons 1. Duolingo has a French course in German 2. Because of French colonization Vietnamese and Haitian Creole are highly influenced by French which are both other languages I'm interested in and feel its the perfect language to build the gap between the languages I'm already learning and the languages I want to learn. Great video as always :)

[@elyssespeaks]

i think those are great starting points, it seems like you already have a cultural interest which keeps your motivation strong!! 💪

[@giialiinh]

im a vietnamese girl who is currently preparing for her b1 french, can definitely tell you that our language has so much in common with french :v it's so much easier for an english speaker and a vietnamese native to study french, although of course there is so hardship along the journey ;)

[@veronicafogle7949]

Im on the same side as you, I’m relearning Spanish after not practicing for nearly two years. And my challenge was to watch the entire video with Spanish subtitles, sure I didn’t understand some words here and there, but I was able to get the overall message. Even when you spoke in French I could still understand. I guess I’m not that bad at Spanish after all!!

[@evanilsonp.8183]

Nice. I already speak English and Spanish and I have been learning French for 5 months. Adorable language.

[@elyssespeaks]

Trop mignon!

[@teresita.lozada]

Thank you for the Storytime tip, Elysse. I'm going to try it in the languages I'm learning when I got the time.

[@MTRelaxation67]

motivational and full of positive energy 💐👍🏻

[@itzelarredondo4569]

loved the video, elysse :)

[@elyssespeaks]

hey i’m glad to hear!!! :D

[@JillyMae89]

Where do you find French speaking friends? France ❌ Canada ✅ Africa ✅

[@elyssespeaks]

High key

[@sanmuller3678]

Always a joy to watch a video of yours Elysse! They're all really inspiring, thank you for the good work!

[@elyssespeaks]

thanks for watching, i appreciate it just as much :DD

[@gwchk7]

Your video brought my already perfect day to the next level ! You’re so much fun and I admire the commitment. Plus, it’s amazing to hear your French accent, well done with that shadowing!

[@elyssespeaks]

thank you on all fronts !! :)

[@camilaalmeida3511]

C'est super ta vidéo ! It really makes me wanna boost my french ❤️

[@elyssespeaks]

Dooooo it!!

[@lesbonheursdumercredi4229]

Bravo! Je suis française et j’aime beaucoup ces vidéos où vous montrez comment apprendre une langue. Je trouve que vous parlez vraiment bien français. Oui, il reste quelques fautes mais vous avez des bases solides! Continuez comme cela!

[@elyssespeaks]

merciii!! je crois que mon français est meilleur dans la vidéo que dans les conversations, hahaha il me faut pratiquer plus

[@unknown-er3rg]

i'm just glad to know i'm not the only crazy one who practices listening by watching storytimes

[@elyssespeaks]

YASSS so fun and underrated

[@marioquiceno2992]

BONNE VIDÉO, I love your vlogs I'm studying french in course and learning turkish for fun!

[@elyssespeaks]

hell yeah!! glad to have two in common hehehe

[@leuris_khan2]

hahahahah I every day need to remember English, Spanish and French.

[@_tata__27]

Omg finally a a video about French from you. I needed motivation🥲

[@elyssespeaks]

haha well i only post about languages i’m actually studying at the moment. there’s a lot of other ways to get motivation

[@_tata__27]

@@elyssespeaks yees, of course I am watching all of them😁😍but currently I am learning French so it is good to hear smth from you💕

[@laynamiwa9439]

Oh my God!! this video could not have come in better timing. I have just decided to pick french up again after 2 years of a bad French course. I also struggle in finding a reason to learn it so my motivation has been really wack, but with a lot of creators moving to and sharing content about Paris has peaked my interest once Again. Guess I'm just gonna power through and fing my spark along the way. Also you are my main inspiration on learning german 💖💖

[@elyssespeaks]

Bonne chance!! i hope i can keep up my motivation too HAHAH we gotta help each other

[@caitlinl953]

i’m french canadian and obv the accent is very different compared to france french and so id be interesting doing a video w quebec french incorporated either learning words, trying to pronounce words etc.

[@korinnab.2318]

I graduated in 2018 too and my Spanish has really suffered 😭. I have the same issue with never having studied it on my own but I decided to add a Spanish minor to my degree so I better get it together soon

[@elyssespeaks]

a minor won’t solve that, you have to foster your own study plan outside of academics!! good luck

[@estherandherlittleworld7821]

Loveeeee how you study!!!😍

[@elyssespeaks]

I love it too! 😹

[@leahfriedman3381]

Welcome back elyess 🇺🇸

[@albamunoztormo4627]

This is so cool! You motivated me to revive my French! I have a similar story with it... but I haven't studied it for 20 years (that is, since I was in high school)! I'm trying to use the code on Lingoda but it says it's not valid. Funny because a couple of days ago I almost booked some lessons and the code was valid, but not it's not now :(

[@kylieandrews5995]

i wish they taught french at my school we only have spanish and japanese. i take japanese and love it, as well as learning german on my own. i would love to learn french at some point🤍🫶🏻

[@elyssespeaks]

Japanese is so awesome!! that was never offered at my school

[@anabtriizz]

mulher do céu achei que você já tivesse desistido do youtube já 😭😭 quase entrei em desespero

[@elyssespeaks]

amiga, eu sei que você não queria fazer mal pelo comentário, mas para muitas pessoas pode ser desanimador ver algo assim depois de tomar um tempo (SÓ um mes) para se cuidar. eu sempre vejo comentários assim quando eu não posto vídeos toda semana e eu não entendo por quê :( eu acho melhor pra todos eu postar vídeos de alta qualidade menos frequentemente do que postar vídeos de menor qualidade toda semana ou algo assim.

[@rezvanehmousavi3518]

I love your humor 😂

[@marianamacabu3959]

omg, literally the video I was looking for. After 2 years of no french and only german, I decided to go back to french class, i'm B1, so i have a french background, but i was thinking like how will i revive my french after 2 years? THIS VIDEO

[@elyssespeaks]

we’re in the same boat omg i’m still addicted to putting German words in everything 😩😩

[@claireabadie3981]

Hey I am French! Anyway really fun to watch your video ;)

[@elyssespeaks]

Glad you enjoyed! merci de l'avoir regardée :)

[@dyskr]

ça fait un an que j'habite en France (je suis venu pour faire mes études) mais cela étant dit je te jure je suis vraiment impressionné par ton progrès ! Quelques astuces pour t'aider ! Si t'as besoin de suggestions pour la musique je te recommanderais des artistes comme Angèle (je dirais qu'elle est un peu comme la Dua Lipa francophone) et Aya Nakamura (qui est *essentiel* pour faire la teuf!! (l'argot pour fête btw)! Et pour te faire des potes français - je te tiens au courant j'y arrive même pas moi mdrrrr 😭😭😭

[@Daniel-qi1ld]

Paradise is a good band as well.

[@claudiasantanna3461]

I'm Brazilian. I've learned English as a kid, at an English course like old days, but never had anyone to practice. A few years ago I started French by myself, online. And the same happens. I don't have anyone to practice. I like writing and I'd love someone to correct my stuffs. I write, but I never know if I'm doing fine or not.

[@pia_mater]

Eu uso o site Hi Native, sempre que escrevo algo e tenho dúvida se tá certo ou soa natural eu pergunto lá e os falantes nativos corrigem. É gratuíto

[@claudiasantanna3461]

@@pia_mater Já usei o Hi Native tb, mas não é a mesma coisa. Tipo um texto grande fica complicado colocar lá. Acabo usando o Reverso.

[@Regularhuh]

J’suis congolais et français pour moi est une langue que je compris mais le compris pas à la même fois. Je suis né au Angleterre donc je parle anglais, et depuis j’étais plus jeune j’ai voulais apprendre français. Mais quand j’ai commencé collège, tout le grammaire et les choses comme ça, maintenant je suis dans une place oú j’veux parler français mais à la même temps c’est énervant.

[@Regularhuh]

S’il vous plaît dit moi si j’ai fais une erreur et corrigez moi :)

[@supernovaee6943]

Le français est très difficile et j’ai pu comprendre ce que vous vouliez dire :) Voici le texte corrigé si cela vous intéresse toujours : J’suis Congolais et le français, est une langue à la fois que je comprend et que je ne comprend pas. Je suis né en Angleterre donc je parle anglais, et depuis tout jeune j’ai voulu apprendre le français. Mais quand j’ai commencé au collège, toute la grammaire et les choses comme ça, maintenant je suis à un moment (endroit ?) où je veux parler français, mais en même temps c’est énervant. (Pas sûre pour la dernière phrase) Bonne journée :)

[@Gigusx]

Hey Elysse, do you mind sharing how long did it take you to finish the translation of the French song in the video, and in general how long does an average song take? I'm thinking about starting doing a similar thing in Spanish!

[@elyssespeaks]

It depends on the song, maybe around 45 minutes to an hour !

[@Gigusx]

@@elyssespeaks Oh, nice, I thought it'd take longer (mine probably would haha), but 45-60 minutes per song sounds great. Thanks!

[@malkmimoun1523]

listen to maitre gims you will love his songs and even you will learn french faster

[@DailycatsDC.]

I lov u

[@rpenguinboy]

9:11 actually scared me i wasnt ready

[@icebear8177]

How do you find songs you like in your target language? I really want to find more Spanish songs, I don’t know where to start.

[@elyssespeaks]

just use the radio option on spotify when u find a song u already like

[@icebear8177]

@@elyssespeaks okay, thank you 💖💖

[@dennisenglishjournal498]

Teach me finding so much spare time for learning languages, please 😂

[@elyssespeaks]

hahah i just graduated from college so i feel like i finally have all the time in the world

[@dennisenglishjournal498]

@@elyssespeaks Sounds awesome. Here in Eastern Europe, you must have at least 2 jobs (official and unofficial) just to pay your utility bills and buy food 😒😂

[@AnAs-tr]

Allez-y 🤣🤣

[@MakotoOPT]

Lmfaooo "blow up and act like i dont know nobody " 6:37

[@damondominique]

i will give you my course for FREE! i know you got that LANGUAGE BRAIN!

[@elyssespeaks]

sliding into your email as we speak 🏄‍♀️

[@why9886]

Hello 👐👍👍👍

[@SpanishwithRocio]

Es verdad que las canciones no nos sirven mucho para aprender frases útiles para la vida cotidiana, pero son geniales para practicar pronunciación y disfrutar aprendiendo. Para los que somos muy cantarines, la música es una manera ideal de aprender vocabulario. Vous pouvez être fière de reprendre le français. Allez-y 😁

[@elyssespeaks]

Ehhh no estoy de acuerdo, si ayudan mucho :) tal vez si estás practicando con canciones poéticas (como dije en el video) no te ayudará tanto

[@SpanishwithRocio]

@@elyssespeaks Cuando he dicho frases útiles para la vida cotidiana, pensaba sobre todo en actos más prosaicos como pedir una hipoteca o comprar en el súper. Tampoco he dicho que no sirvan nada en absoluto, sino que no sirven mucho para eso. Para aprender un idioma en general sí las veo muy prácticas: ayudan a comprender y memorizar estructuras, a entrenar la escucha y la pronunciación y a sentir cómo funciona esa lengua. Y lo normal es que las canciones sí que lleven algo de poesía, pero eso también forma parte de la lengua y la cultura. Es bonito poner un poco de poesía en la vida ❣

[@bremexperience]

I'll be your french speaking friend.

[@bradleylaford1526]

2022 - Are you in Algeria or Europa?

[@bouzayenalaeddine4306]

It's a damn 😂

[@adventureswithmadison]

Would you say you need a basic understanding of the language before doing the storytime method?

[@elyssespeaks]

Yes, probably at least B1. Storytimes are made for other native speakers usually, so they're going to talk at a normal, native pace. However, you can always set videos to 0.25/.50/.75 speed if you really want to try it out before getting to that level!

[@eulalie8806]

me watching this knowing so well that I'm in a similar position with the French language. feeling called out

[@elyssespeaks]

get into it!! you got nothing to lose :P