How The French Foreign Legion Learns Languages Fast

🇫🇷 📯 🪓 Each year, thousands of men from all over the world join the French Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère). Most come for adventure. Some for a better life. Many to earn a French passport.
But no matter their reason for enroling, ALL candidates must accomplish one key thing by the end of basic training if they want to receive any of the Légionnaire perks: learning enough French to function as a soldier!
It turns out that most of these men arrive at the recruitment center in France unable to speak a lick of French, and yet manage to get fluent enough in mere months to understand orders, describe the workings of their HK416F service rifle, and have conversations with fellow Légionnaires.
So how do they learn so fast? And what can we non-Légionnaires learn from their method? These are precisely the questions I answer in this video.
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How hard is French to learn for English speakers? Get my honest take in this video 👉🏼 • How hard is French to ...
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✍🏼 BLOG VERSION:
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📖 bit.ly/learningfrenchfast
😥 CORRECTIONS:
- The troops are speaking Portuguese, not French, at 1:16.
- The image at 3:30 is from a Commemoration of the Battle of Camarón by the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment at the Roman Theatre of Orange.
- A final "r" is missing from the end of « l'extérieur » at 13:10.
- Luciano says « boule de feu » ("ball of fire"), not "bowl of fire" at 19:49.
⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:59 - What is the French Foreign Legion?
01:57 - Enrolment
02:22 - The Test
03:15 - The School
04:41 - The Classroom
07:02 - The Instructor
08:28 - The Method
13:00 - The Francophone
13:33 - Punishment
16:57 - Dialects
18:20 - Homework
20:54 - Competence in French
23:05 - The Schedule
24:33 - Immersion
26:06 - In the Field
26:41 - Bastille Day
27:09 - Advice from a Légionnaire
📜 SOURCES & ATTRIBUTIONS:
Wikipedia contributors. "French Foreign Legion." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Dec. 2021. Web.
Official French Foreign Legion account on Instagram (@legionetrangereofficiel)
/ legionetrangereofficiel
Unofficial French Foreign Legion account on Instagram (@frenchforeignlegion)
/ frenchforeignlegion
“HK416.jpg” by Dybdal is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“ORANGE Camerone2010.jpg” by Jeanlouiszimmermann is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“Democratic Republic of the Congo (orthographic projection).svg” by Connormah is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“EU-Belgium.svg” by NuclearVacuum is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

[@naurskeshs5258]

Served 8 years there, Secret is: If you dont understand, you do push-ups till you understand... And it works miracles

[@lisanarramore222]

Well done on that commitment!!

[@richardbudai9590]

Exactly like that, or when officers got drunk they like to hit you sometimes. Either way, you do a lot of "Pump" !!!

[@kornaros96]

So either you get fluent in French, or you get buff arms

[@w.devarien3154]

My DS always told us we were either going to get smart or get strong. If he yelled "Get strong" we knew to start pushing.

[@tristannosbusch5245]

thank you for your service

[@seabournewolf2298]

Let me save you 30 minutes. As a former Legionnaire I’ll tell you. French classes focused on verbs nouns and conjugation. Total immersion. Getting caught speaking a language other than French earns you a brutal beating. That motivates you to learn.

[@madeinresitasometimeago3970]

Thank you! Stopped a few seconds in and searched the comments.

[@gabrielviana9883]

That's a awesome incentive

[@seabournewolf2298]

Read the book “A mouth full of rocks”

[@gabrielviana9883]

I'm 21 and I'm in Med college, but I want to serve the Legion so much, do you think it's worth to finish college first? Or that doesn't matter in the legion?

[@seabournewolf2298]

Definitely finish college

[@ghtung]

I, Taiwanese, joined a French state owned chemical company 30 years in Paris with little French language knowledge. The executive recruited me decided to put me in the HQ’s audit department and then issued a memo that no one was allowed to speak any language except French to me. I had to read, discuss, and write reports with those highly talented French from elite schools. But they were extra sweet and accommodating. Everyone, from secretary, canteen lady, colleagues, superiors, executives… Everyone in this big organisation was willing to help me. In less than a year, I was able to lead audit team for works all over the France and overseas. 3 years later, they gave me a general manager position at a subsidiary. It is so amazing about French people and their culture. Once you speak French, talk about wine and food, they they take you as a French . Well beside the immersion at work, I learned lots of classic French songs and some poems. That really makes French people think you are one of them. Finally, I married a Parisian and have 3 French children.

[@erwannthietart3602]

*talk about wine and food* = considered french. You charmer no wonder they considered you as french you knew the conversation that attracts frenchmen lol

[@red-vg2ds]

they take you as a french person if your skin is not too dark, don't be fooled

[@bif8664]

What an idiot comment. I’m french and, as almost all french people, i consider someone french by his mentality and not by his skin color.

[@ommsterlitz1805]

@@red-vg2ds No you just have to speak French and respect France culture

[@VinyZikss]

@@red-vg2ds bruh he's Taiwanese, i bet he doesn't look like the typical french guy either lmao stop bring issues where there's none

[@tommyslavic898]

The lack of comprehension was overcome by the threat of endless pushups, extra corvee and a boot in the arse. From Australia with no prior French, became fluent in the first year. Still speak it as well today 30 years after leaving the Legion. Street French with slang that surprises most from Frenchies I meet today.

[@ProvencaLeGaulois]

Frenchie here, je sais que ça ne se dit pas trop en France, mais merci pour votre service. Je serais ravi d'apprendre de l'argot d'il y a 30 ans si vous avez des exemples ! :)

[@whitephos490]

I hope you're well Tommo. Miss you man. Whitey

[@JH-sz2ce]

Hey mate Australian here was hoping to get your contact details if possibly so I can chat to you about the service before I leave

[@sarahs9036]

I think one of the major barriers to speaking your target language is the embarrassment / awkward feeling of making mistakes or not being understood. On a recent trip to belgium, I met a nurse who was very shy to speak any english to me. However, I hit my head, and in the panic of the moment she went into full confidence mode and spoke perfectly clear english to evaluate me for a concussion. There really is something about being in a high stakes situation which melts away the fear of speaking, in my experience.

[@lisanarramore222]

Love this!

[@vaudevillian7]

That’s great! I’ve found alcohol has a similar effect, my French or my friend’s German seems to ‘improve’ no end when out with friends there

[@ArtFreeman]

I agree.

[@carlos-ju7ce]

My experience with Germans is they shy away from speaking English with an apology. You later find out they're actually very good at it and speak it better than some of the natives in England - I kid you not!

[@Eugensson]

Yeah, Belgians are shy about their English.

[@charlesstoeng9166]

I joined when I was 19, and didn't speak one word of French. My teammate (we are always two) was from Senegal. After 4 months I had the basic French, although with a slight african accent. Perfect for a Norwegian. However, I could swear perfectly in Wallof (one of the Senegalese languages).

[@fizziz_1035]

What level of French do you have now after all your training?

[@charlesstoeng9166]

@@fizziz_1035 There is a goal of 400 words and a basic understanding. But there is no individual level required. The better you speak, the better you will perform, and the better your results will be in general, better are your options. However, do not worry ;-) You will speak fairly well ;-)

[@sisamusudroka3000]

Hahaha! I feel you man, I can swear in 4 different languages (went to an international school) but only fluent in two. It’s always interesting learning through your friends.

[@campbelltown3065]

That’s hilarious. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@tanis634]

excellent 😂😂

[@abrhamfisher1559]

As a french guy, I can tell you just this, the Legion in one of the most respected elite part of the french army even tho we never see them, everyone here respect them, knows how well trained they are with the best equipements and concider every members as a french person. The only time we do see them, is during the military parade, the 14th of july, you know what ? they actually close the parade, just because they are the only part of the entire french army walking a wee bit slowler than everyone else, and nobody would say otherwise =) But because of this, it's also at this moment where you see a lot of french (more than during the whole parade) gathering just to see the legion walk =) To be really honnest, we barely hear about the legion's doing, even on the news, they are like a secret elite army x) The rare times when we hear that the legion has been sent to "xxxx" we all think : omg they are going to face the legion , those guys are so screwed.

[@T3AMCXMCHUCK]

Tbf we see them about as much as any other regiments, maybe more since most FFL regiment has an open day every year for camerone. And we do hear about what they're doing, because they're doing the same things other regiments are doing (at least for the most part) so everytime you hear on the news about France's involvement in a theatre of operation then most likely there are legionnaires in the troops deployed.

[@FuSiionCraft]

And they respect us even more, because we serve our own country willingly Also, never say "no" when a Legionnaire want to buy you a drink if you want to keep your teeths lmao

[@K-R-O-L]

We respect legioneers way more than any average immigrant because they paid the price of tears and blood or even they life

[@giordanoraphael9121]

Mdr, parle pas si tu sais pas, c'est eux qui on le pire matos de l'armée de terre

[@frederic6998]

I'm french, i dont know much about army but i know pretty much all you said is bullshit nonsense.

[@BrunoDECOURCY]

Served 5 years and I’m French. As a French (I was switched to Canadian because one cannot be French in the FFL) I helped others. It was 5 awesome years of my life!!!

[@nealcaffrey4837]

Funny this come out right now, in 3 weeks I will join the Foreign Legion, at least I will try. I speak several languages so I think it could help, I hope so ! Thanks for the video

[@storylearning]

Wow… can you tell us why you’re joining?

[@nealcaffrey4837]

@@storylearning I was part of the French army few years ago, after that I traveled all over the worlds for a few years, that were I learned spanish, Italian and Russian, now I have to get back, I know it will be hard but that's what I like

[@lisanarramore222]

@@nealcaffrey4837 You've got this, Neal!

[@PierreMiniggio]

@@nealcaffrey4837 Bon courage !

[@YogaBlissDance]

Good luck Neal!

[@two_motion]

Funny story: the first week we had to sit in paradise until our medical checkups and stuff were done. So me and this one guy practiced some basic French phrases every day. And it was only on the 4th or 5th day that we realized we're both Afrikaans speakers. My tip for going to the legion: at least learn how to say 'Puis-je vous aider' before going. They don't like laziness or anyone that seems lazy.

[@lisanarramore222]

Dis snaaks, haha!

[@safaaltinisik1652]

I agree at least need to learn a little bit French before join,it will give you a confident and at least you are able yo guess what are they commanding you

[@Soff1859]

Are there a lot of south africans in the legion or is it just a coincidence you two and the guy in the video all are?

[@tonyslabu6373]

@@Soff1859 I mean it's bound to have quite a few, but as far as statistics go most are actually eastern european men or from the ex french colonies

[@Farweasel]

Et ils répondent pour vous dire 'Ouais, vous pouvez m'aider en ....'. Then you're screwed unless your French is good enough to understand their reply ;-p

[@jplater9191]

There’s no better way to learn a language then an immersive training. My mom sent me to France to work when I was 14 during summer holidays. Nobody spoke anything but French to me. After three years it got me to an almost native speaker level so much faster then classes at my school.

[@musheopeaus4125]

Yeah okay

[@terrymunnelly4621]

I was there in the early 90’s and had been told I couldn’t learn a language in school because I am dyslexic but hey the FFL basic training broke me and my dyslexia! All in the head LPN ❤️

[@hellodarkness5644]

Legio Patria Nostra!

[@ricardolorrio8228]

I am dyslexic... and with a Spanish name, never learnd Spanish.. maybe this is for me?

[@mayorgeneralramirez1997]

@@ricardolorrio8228 Oh boy, maybe you could hire somebody to beat you without getting into the legion

[@brianfitch5469]

@@ricardolorrio8228 Pay a Spanish teacher to make you do pushups and give you a few rib kicks while your down there everytime you mess up a word or meaning. Eventually you'll stop wanting to get beat and learn what your being told.

[@ricardolorrio8228]

@@brianfitch5469 yeah.. you are right

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

It’s unfortunate that I can’t resurrect my great grandfather because he was part of the French Foreign Legion. However, I think he already had a knack for languages. He fled the Russian Revolution but he already knew Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish but when he settled in France he learned French, was able to pick up German, and Serbian according to my grandfather. The government thought my great grandfather was conspiring with Adolf’s men which is part of the reason I was born in Canada.

[@storylearning]

Sounds like an amazing story!

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

@@storylearning It is but my grandfather is tight lipped about his past so, I had to do a lot of research myself. Also, he was a baron. He might of been appointed though. The title gets passed on. I mean how many people say they are related to “royalty “ kind of.

[@a.r.4707]

@@MDobri-sy1ce That taras bulba is a fictional character written by nikolai gogol.

[@milosm9280]

@@a.r.4707 lmao

[@a.r.4707]

@@milosm9280 😆😄

[@jackbrown8052]

In the late 80s Ed a cousin of mine joined the French Foreign Legion looking for adventure. He hadn't done well in college in the US and wanted to try something different and see the world. During his time in the Legion he served in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and even South America. 22 years later Ed retired from the Legion and lives outside Marseilles. He now has dual Us and French citizenship with a Legion pension and works at a trade he learned in the Legion. He married a local French woman and they have a couple of children. His mom is a retired American school teacher who lives with them. She was a Spanish teacher in NYC and thought that would make it easier to learn French. She says for her learning French is still a work in progress. I've been to visit a few times. In 2018 a bunch of family members went to visit. First thing he told us is that Marseilles is the crime capital of France and if you have to do some sightseeing in the city he'll take the group out otherwise it's not safe. One of the cousins, a young woman in her 20s asked if crime is such a problem isn't he afraid. He said no he killed men in combat in the Legion and if necessary he'd do it again. He was serious. When he was an adult back in the US he was considered the family goofball never taking anything seriously. What a difference a few decades makes. During my trips to visit Ed he's introduced me to a number of current and former members of the Legion. I was truly surprised at the number of American citizens who were or are currently serving in the French Foreign Legion. I've met at least 25 Americans in person who are current or retired from the Legion. Another few dozen who Ed showed me photos of from his time in the Legion. Quite a few of the Americans retired in France or other spots in Europe.

[@lisanarramore222]

What an interesting story!

[@jackbrown8052]

@@lisanarramore222 What I really found interesting is how many Americans were in or had been in the Legion. The US has a huge military yet some Americans prefer to have a career in the Legion instead. Makes you wonder why.

[@alexseguin5245]

I think he's overexaggerating the purported "lack of safety" in Marseilles. Crime rate has been going down in France in general for decades, and Marseilles is not the place that has the most violent crimes.

[@sashaisgod2309]

@@jackbrown8052 The Legion do not care about your past as long as you have not been in proper trouble where you come from. It suits people who would feel they are outcast or something, and want a brand new slate. Of course, the Legion do a thorough background search on you. People with minor record offences or something that would make getting a security clearance be more of an obstacle in their own country would find that it is less of an issue for the Legion. Again, I would emphasize, nobody who would be known to any major crimes unit in their home country. And sometimes it is the allure of the unknown and adventures where there is always activity that is usually not on the news.

[@JaniceHope]

@@jackbrown8052 Unlimited access to the EU via French citizenship, the security of the social nets and public health care and free university might be an incentive for some plus adventure. Overall the deal might be better than joining the US Armed Forces in exchange for 5 years of service.

[@khelian613]

The "movies in the language with subtitles in that language" advice at the end is legit. I'm french and always sucked at english until I started playing games and watching stuff in english with english subtitles on... And I went from mediocre grades to top of my school ones.

[@Redmenace96]

I don't get that. Maybe I am old. If I'm reading the subtitles? Not really hearing, or "listening" to the voice. Use rewind?

[@khelian613]

@@Redmenace96 It has to be a long process but basically, the written subtitles help separate and figure out the words, sometimes highlighting the connection they have. After some time, you focus more on the sound and it helps figure out the pronunciation of new words.

[@Redmenace96]

@@khelian613 I get it. Lotsa rewind and listen and read. I'm going to try that more.

[@borjesvensson8661]

@@Redmenace96 it mostly helps when you almost understand the language but not fully. You can follow along and glance on the subtitles if you dont know a word

[@sophiabruem5851]

So I grew up in a very English-speaking town in Ontario, Canada. Both of my parents spoke only English. They decided to send me to a French Immersion primary school because it was nearby, it was free, why not? The structure my school followed was in the beginning of kindergarden the teacher would give all instructions twice; in English and in French. We learned songs in French, like the alphabet or head-shoulders-knees-and-toes. But we were all native English speakers and there were no rules against speaking English to one another; in fact most of the time, we did. Fast forward to grade 5 when my friends and I have a massive fight and my Mom really dislikes the grade 5/6 teacher I'm meant to have the following year as well. A new French-language school has just opened across town; pressured by Quebecois families living in the area who find the immersion education isn't adequate for their kids who speak French at home, this school has less than 100 students from kindergarden through grade 7 - with the intention of going all the way up to high school as those grade 7 students get older. It's still a public school, and they're keen for more students to enroll, so I move from Immersion to French. In grade 6 my French skills must have improved tenfold because suddenly we had to speak French in the hallways, in the cafeteria, at recess. There was no English allowed. It was this incredible little full-immersion bubble in an area that is otherwise incredibly Anglophone. So I know that this method works really, really well.

[@emmagelion7515]

"pressured by Quebecois families living in the area", you're ontarian, so I think you meant "franco-ontarian famillies".

[@Unethical.Dodgson]

He knows what he meant.

[@TheMetalheadfromhell]

@@emmagelion7515 Québécois and franco-ontarians are the same historical nation (french-canadians). Before the rise of quebecois separatism in the 60s our people did not really split itself in different names.

[@emmagelion7515]

@@TheMetalheadfromhell Yes, but, in this context, "québécois" seems to imply somes french families from Québec move in Ontario and pressured the gouvernement afterwards.

[@iptf]

This is by far the smoothest NordVPN intro I've ever seen.

[@lisanarramore222]

Right? 😂

[@beardedpanda5086]

I thought the exact same thing! Ingenious segue

[@semp224]

Same

[@chronos401]

Agree. Fastest way to acquire another language is to force yourself not to use your native tongue. In my gym, one of the members grew up in Puerto Rico where he was drafted to go to Vietnam. Back then, the Army sent all draftees from there to NYC (of all places) to attend ESL school for four months before being sent on to basic training. So, they created a little Puerto Rico with students speaking Spanish almost all the time. He was one of the few able to learn English quickly by not associating with them outside the classroom and instead practicing with NY'ers who didn't know any Spanish.

[@patax144]

As a spanish speaker is hard to learn another language while abroad, as you will always find other spanish speakers

[@MrViki60]

@@patax144 North Korea is the only legitimate Korea.

[@Kyrelel]

It's called Immersion Learning and, to be honest, it's a bit weird that people do not already know this :/

[@Rhaspun]

There was a teaches assistant who worked at a school that had primarily Vietnamese students and teachers. The teachers assistant knew only English. But she was also rooming with a Vietnamese family. The teacher assistant said she was surrounded by Vietnamese at work and at home after work. She said it was a struggle but roughly around six or seven months in she said suddenly everything thing just clicked. She spoke speak fluently with co-workers, students and the family she was rooming with. I knew a guy who moved to the US from Burma. All he spoke was Chinese when he got here. He started learning English from classes but he also had on purpose had roomed with an American student. He said he picked up his English quicker when he did that. He speaks with a bit of an accent but his spoken English is good.

[@tonyclough9844]

@@MrViki60 I take it you live there.

[@pauljnolan1000]

I learned in Special Forces training 52 years ago: if other men can do it, you probably can do it too. This insight gave me lots of confidence in some stressful times, confidence I would otherwise not have had. I have no doubt I could have been a Seal or French Foreign Legionaire. In fact I wish I had left the US and joined the Foreign Legion after my divorce.

[@Redmenace96]

Good observation. Look left and right. If they can do it? So can I. The word, "impossible" is used far too much.

[@Farweasel]

And curiously enough ......Your now ex-wife said she wished you'd joined the FFL *much* earlier?

[@estevaocunha5302]

In 1993, the year I started there, French was learnt by force. That is, in class, if your teacher asked you a question and you didn't know, your whole class would pay the price, physically. There were very few French people there, so each French person had a group of foreigners, and they had the responsibility of teaching us. I, being Portuguese, had a great understanding of French, but others were not so lucky. So when someone didn't know, we all simply paid for it by doing lots of push-ups. Once in a while our French teacher was simply a foreigner who repeated what he himself had learned. But no doubt French was compulsory in everything... Our class in the "Farme" was 49 young men, at the end of 3 months, we were 30. Some defected with the "Famas" weapon.

[@rwboa22]

23:53 - To top it off, the marching pace for a Legionnaire is 88 steps per minute (a holdover from the Ancien Régime, a.k.a. Bourbon and Orléanist France), as opposed to the standard 120 steps per minute.

[@scottbaron121]

LOL! Thank you for that! I was wondering why they marched so slowly! Hahahahahaha!!!!

[@jasoncheck4856]

When I was in the Legion learning the language in the classroom, the Lieutenant had this really big stick that he would bop on top of your head if you got any of the French lessons incorrect. The funny thing is there was this one francophone (French Speaker) who would constantly fall asleep in class because I could imagine how boring it was to be in a class learning a language he already knows, the Lieutenant hit him on top of the head so many times he started to bleed. Even after he was hit he would fall asleep again a few minutes later. I know to some people this may not sound funny but it really was. No permanent damage to him just a little blood. Also, my bionime (sp?) was from the UK, which handicapped my learning French because I would just ask him WTF they were telling us to do in English. We never got caught. It would have been better if my bionime didn't speak English because I would have been forced to learn French instead of handicapping myself. I really struggled to learn the language because of this.

[@MrViki60]

Binôme.

[@martinshannon-hayes1418]

Fuck, Russ is that you mate? Simon? Friends with me and John Todd? If that’s you my head will explode. Were we at Castel together back in the 90s? I served with a Jason Check but he served sous annonymat. Under Lieutenant Colin, Caporals Yeung, Ross, Kordasciewitz etc. Was I the binôme you’re talking about? This is too much of a coincidence. If this is you mate I’ve looked for you before on social media. This would be too random. I saw this video on my KZbin and was about to press on skip before I had a quick look into the comments. Your story is too detailed, Lieutenant Colin used to do exactly what you describe with a marching stick. The most common word in the legion, Kurwa (pronounced Korva) polish for bitch or whore. If this is you mate reply here, and I’ll buy a lottery ticket. It must be you.

[@johnbaker1256]

@@MrViki60 opposite number ,(oppo) , partner

[@omarbashar9161]

@@martinshannon-hayes1418 Damn he left you cold, either he doesn't want to go back to his past. Or he hasn't looked at his notifications or just doesn't care. Either way sucks man hope you find the people you're looking for similiar sit going on

[@Mouaispasmal]

@@martinshannon-hayes1418 j’espère que c’est ton poto frérot

[@Alf763]

When you leave the legion you get given a card with a number, if you’re ever in trouble you call the number and the legion will do anything and everything they can to help, often it’s more than enough within france to simply call the number and be handed over to the nearest FFL unit

[@fionafiona1146]

One would need to judge the legions treatment of one's situation before choosing to do such.

[@Alf763]

@@fionafiona1146 it’s the legion, they will help you, always

[@fionafiona1146]

@@Alf763 would it be worth that, if you get picked up loosing a drunken brawl?

[@AynMax666]

A relative joined in '37. It was simpler then: his feet were too flat for the Paris doctor[?], but he was told that in Versailles they were more lax. Then off to Marseilles to load 50kg sacks of cement from 6h to 21h, and having survived that he was in. He already had decent French, as did many who joined around that time, since it tended to be everyone in Europe's second language back then. In Dakar the next year there were so many musically talented recruits from Austria, many of whom had only recently found out that they were considered Jews by the incoming Germans, that the commandant formed an orchestra out of them faute de mieux, and one could attend a concert on Sunday instead of Christian services. He became a great lover of classical music, as he forever after associated it with not having to have to march.

[@vennom14]

Sounds a lot like the USMC boot camp + a new language A lot of Marines in Okinawa find it easier to speak (very basic) Japanese while intoxicated, due to not overthinking it and just blurting the words out

[@benoitbvg2888]

@@mansionbookerstudios9629 Dude. If you're gonna spam the same message over and over again, at least try to make it understandeable.

[@fredcollins8919]

Agreed

[@Dr.Pepper001]

I spent 13 months stationed at the Marine base in Futima, Okinawa. I learned maybe 5 simple expressions in Japanese. I just couldn't wrap my brain around that language.

[@fredcollins8919]

@@Dr.Pepper001 I was on Okinawa for almost 2 years and learned some phrases but couldve EASILY learned much more had I/we truly immersed ourselves in the Japanese culture & language from Day 1. It CAN be easily done and that aside Americans (& Brits) are naturals & highly skilled in learning new languages,. globally for countless years. That said Japanese IS a very very hard language to learn & even harder to master (esp when one includes reading & writing Japan´s 3 different alphabets).

[@GullsForSale]

I think he meant "boule de feu" which translate to "fireball" and not "bol de feu" ("bowl of fire"). In any case, thank you for the video, it's fireball!

[@T3AMCXMCHUCK]

Also worth noting in a military context "boule de feu" means covering fire.

[@Bigsky1991]

I wrote about this in my book...but when my first enlisted tour was ending in Germany, I was pissed at the Army and had decided to get out. I was on 4 day weekend in Paris, and I buttonholed a Legion SGM I met in the train station. I asked him where I could talk to a Legion recruiter... he smiled at said "Allez Ami". (He was the guy..) I appeared in front of his CO in Paris, and after a short 25 minute chit chat, the Senior Lieutenant shook my hand and said "You are in...congratulations "! (Keep in mind...I was mad at the World and had been drinking for 3 days". Once the reality of the moment sank in I quickly sobered up and said I'd think about it. I went on and became an Officer and Pilot. All of that could have been lost had I been so impetuous. But... I later jumped with the Legion, and flew Legion Recon troops in Afghanistan. Good times!

[@whosyourmate8292]

What's your book called?

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

I never knew that foreigners could become officers in the FFL

[@Bigsky1991]

@Bob_the_Bomb oh no...I wasn't an Officer in the Legion, I went on to become an Officer and Aviator in the US Army. The night I spoke to the Legion recruiter I was an Army E4.

[@leosimon241]

@@bob_the_bomb4508 about 10% of the FFL officers are foreigners, and some of them are now part of the myth like Aage de Danemark, Louis II de Monaco, general Andolenko, general Pechkoff or lieutenant-colonel Amilakvari

[@reaster0]

As a French i never thought this was a hard part of the legion, in french we know the legion for their high aggressivity, their stubborness and most of all they are in a way, the bears or the berserkers of the french army, They're weirds, they are very effective

[@christerlundgren3805]

Au casse pipe et mission au bout. Rien que ça.

[@jocolcris]

I’m so happy you chose this topic, Olly. I thought about joining the Legion after I got out of the Marine Corps, but the physical requirements are insane 😂 My respects to all legionnaires!

[@frigginjerk]

Wow, if a Marine says something is tough, you know it'd be flat-out impossible for most schlubs like me.

[@SakuraVyn]

Same here. I was married with kids, and that's what stopped me. Not sure if it's like that today.

[@mace2172]

Dude, I was in the Army back in 2010. I got out and hated regular jobs and now not one service in the US will let me back in. It's so dumb. I might just go to France.

[@jhnshep]

Depends what state you're in, selection in the legion is more to do with being able to stick it out, you have 4 months to get in shape before being sent to regiment , you just gotta be hard headed enough to get to the end, its all psychological, the physical requirements are really not that high, 5 pull ups, 50 push ups 50 sit ups 1.8k in under 12mins, climb a rope. you just got to convince the selection staff to take you in. at the end of the 4 months you'll be worthy.

[@saddlepiggy]

@@jhnshep the requirement is a 12 minute mile? That’s just for joining right?

[@kirstyjones2530]

My youngest daughter had a choice of Gaelic or English medium education at the local primary school. Although I am not fluent in Gaelic, I enrolled her in Gaelic as she had attended the Gaelic nursery at the same school (there was no English nursery). For the first four years everything was done only in Gaelic with English being introduced into occasional lessons once she reached primary 5. At the local High School Gaelic lessons are split into two classes - fluent and learners (she has joined fluent, along with other pupils from local primary schools who had Gaelic medium education).

[@infamyinfamy]

Do you find that her English has suffered at all, or has she caught up with her formal/written English in other ways?

[@kirstyjones2530]

@@infamyinfamy We are an English speaking family ( I learnt some Gaelic at school myself, but it was a long way from being Gaelic medium like she did), so her English has always been fine. Interestingly, she is autistic and has always differentiated by using English at home and Gaelic at school. Her High School English teacher said that her English was so good, she should teach the rest of the class - so no problems there!

[@jezalb2710]

@@kirstyjones2530 we live in Ireland. A family of Poles. My two sons were born in Dublin. They are fluent in Polish and English. Gaelic is not so much fun for them.

[@kirstyjones2530]

I would not call it a fun language. Scottish gaelic is slightly different to Irish. Here in Scotland it is optional, I am not sure whether that applies in Ireland.

[@TryinaD]

This sounds like my experience but in English! I attended an English school for late kindergarten and primary school. I speak my native language at home so I had equal amounts of opportunity to practice for both. It’s a good way to learn a language :)

[@howtoduit]

I idealized the FFL growing up, mainly from TV shows and documentaries I had seen. I used to tell people that I'm joining when I'm older and people would laugh. Well as I got older I realized I didn't enjoy hardship and well it's all hardship in the legion. Fair play though to any lad that does sign up, they're doing not only France but the world a good service.

[@kevinward3088]

Great video thanks for posting. I'm ex British Army , back in 1993 , one of our guys went AWOL & attempted to join the Legion D'Etranger, was fouind to be AWOL , arrested by the gendarmerie and handed to the Royal Military Police. His surname was Oliver , we paraphrased the " boy who asked for more " song from Oliver Twist , singing " Oliver ! Oliver ! , AWOL no more , and he knows what's in store ...." as a pisstake. He got 21 days detention from our CO.

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

I am Canadian so, I grew up learning English and some French. I still dream in French. Also, Russian sometimes. I have in Spanish, German, Japanese before but for some reason no Swedish yet.

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

@UCi0YYPOQTfjJFWE-XFH9Y2A Yes. Well, still learning. Back when I was in high school, their was no Duolingo or all this stuff. I used to save up my allowances and buy the Living Language sets and listen and write for hours. It was hard at first learning Cyrillic Script because at first I didn’t want to but the Latin Script made things more confusing because a lot of sounds don’t exist in English so, I forced myself. Now, I can’t even attempt to read Russian if it’s not in Cyrillic it looks like gibberish to me. I still struggle with writing. When I was getting my degree, it was hard to find the time but now I want to make language learning a priority this decade and take less college courses.

[@MrNicopa]

Luciano is obviously an English speaking South African but now his vowels have become very slightly French.

[@bernardfinucane2061]

Every human brain is an amazing language machine. Children learn quickly, and adults say they "can't" but it's really a question of motivation. These guys are highly motivated to be legionnaires, so if they HAVE to learn French, they will.

[@peakayplane7075]

Longue vie à la France. Best 5 years of my life, made a man out of me. Currently in Canada

[@ethanzawatski1206]

Hey Olly I recently picked up Short Stories in Spanish for beginners and I am absolutely loving them. Just ordered vol.2 and the intermediate version. Thanks a lot, your channel and books have made a big impact on my learning and therefore my life.

[@storylearning]

Delighted to have you in the StoryLearning world!

[@safaaltinisik1652]

Oh I am really suprised the see you talking about French Foreing Legion. Thats great my friend. I was following you for a while and saw the video and really happy to see you talking about Légion étrangère... Respect brother. *LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA*

[@storylearning]

Glad you like it!

[@Ranstone]

Every member of the French Foreign legion who came in not speaking french have told me they don't teach you much at all. Just enough to work in their military with monosyllabic responses. Disclaimer: All people I talked to were from Scandinavian countries or the US. Take that as you will.

[@dorisrapino8694]

About teaching languages. I did that when I was a university student in the 80's I taught French as a second language to public servants. The tequirement 😢was to be a native speaker. Fast forward 30 years, our son was required to do six weeks of volunteer work as part of his studies. He was sent to tthe Czek.Republic to teach English at a youth camp. He has a learning disability and struggled through school. He laughed and said: " Mom, me a teacher, have you ever heard something more ridiculous". I told him that he would do very well because he naturally thinks out of the box and since he only spoke English and French, he'd have to figure it a way to he understood. He is a good musician, so I told him to use that as a teaching tool. It went very well. Learning what you need from a language, like words abd de sentences for basic needs, then in your line of work is the most efficient way. Once the learners have that, they will go on to expand.

[@garak55]

As a french speaking swiss, this reminds me of my time in military service in a german speaking company... "Pour les Romands; c'est la même chose."

[@jme104]

Ca rappelle cette légende qui dit qu'en 14-18 , sur le front de l'Yser ,on disait aux soldats flamands : "voor de vlamingen, het selfde "" .(pour les flamands la même chose) au briefings avant des attaques . Cette légende a été reprise moultes fois par les nationalistes flamands comme preuve qu'ils ont été maltraités par les francophones .

[@TheTimppis]

My son is Finnish speaking and he went to a Swedish speaking marine unit to make his conscript. After 8 weeks he spoke fluent Swedish. Eight years learning Swedish at school could not teach to him that.

[@oasisneko1]

I was a language teacher (with a Master's in teaching) for 20 years. It's obvious to me that having a simplified vocabulary, lots of repetition and a strong reason to learn account for the success. Many teachers do not realise that their main job is simplifying the language learning task. Another really good part of this method is throwing words at students that they do not know. This overcomes the fear of unknown words. The legionnaire's book is also a really good artifact to have on hand. It's inherently interesting; it's in real language and knowing it thoroughly is a necessary accomplishment. I disagree somewhat with immersion. I benefit from breaks from the target language. What happens (outside the Legion, obviously) is people tune out. So you need a break to consolidate the learning. (When you don't use your brain to process new information, it uses energy to consolidate knowledge -- something it can not do if it is always in use.) Another caveat I have is that while the legionnaires will be able to function in the legion, they may not be able to express themselves in other contexts. Learning how to say what you want to say requires a different set of contexts.

[@angellogabrielrevilla4018]

Merci d'avoir partagé this video with us, Olly. Very interesting.

[@LucasJ-YT]

As a fellow KZbinr I can appreciate the ungodly amount of time that must have gone into this video. Worth it as well! Great video

[@Narpil]

Looks great, I can't wait to enlist and... ...sh*t, I already speak French. Also thumbs up for the sponsorship, no meaningless claims on data security or whatever, just the honest reason why people use a VPN

[@Sk0lzky]

Maybe the Spanish will turn their "foreign legion" back into an actual foreign legion, you'll get the opportunity to learn that at least :be Or I guess Iraqi militias are always hiring lmao

[@lisanarramore222]

Enlist and be someone's Francophone ;)

[@belstar1128]

There should be a Indian or Papua new Guinean foreign legion so you have to learn like a dozen languages like this.

[@Liquid_Alchemy]

Just an excellent episode. Thank you!

[@BaskingInObscurity]

Pretty much everybody in my class in France started dreaming in French around the 3rd or 4th week of immersion. Nearly everyone experienced headaches because our dream sleep was stressful and waking up to find our daytime performance lacking was frustrating. Our dream selves could speak and comprehend more fluent French than our waking selves! Logical, but irritating AF. Fortunately the headaches stopped after just a few days and everybody's grasp of the language greatly improved, presumably because we crossed the threshold into truly thinking in French, only minimally translating and hardly ever needing to speak English with one another to get a thought out. I'll elaborate on our unique program since there are distinct differences from the usual, even more compared to this FFL system. My university had a cool program in which they offered each spring quarter what they listed as FRENCH 4X/5X, an accelerated and unified 10 unit course. What made it awesome was that the 20 students selected traveled with one of the French instructors to Nîmes, France, to live with families for the ten weeks. So it was similar to an exchange student program but still a course with our own university and one of its instructors, simply placed in another country for the term. While many of the kids in our family placements were learning English in school, not many of the host parents knew much if any; so home life really was immersion that required we quickly learn to express ourselves at least rudimentaly. Plus the hosts had expressly agreed in advance that they would not turn the occasion into an English tutoring program, to avoid speaking English. Of course those of us who had that leisure still took advantage of it at times, but every time we lapsed into English for any reason it disrupted our pronunciation and instant mental access to French grammatical structures and noncognates. The program was so amazing that the local community college began offering similar programs for learning Spanish in Mexico and Italian in Italy. When we heard that the program at my university finally ceased operations after something like 23 years, we were crushed. In know that sounds silly because we all got to go; but that's how much that program affected us. The United States would be a greatly different place if even only a couple of percent of our population had such experiences, especially if less diverse regions were targeted for participation.

[@DiggerWhoops]

You are incredible. My sister gave me your French short stories book for Christmas...even though neither of us knew anything about you then. I happened to stumble upon you on KZbin while doing a resources search for both French and German. I'm trying to learn both languages. So, just wanted to let you know how much I'm enjoying your videos.

[@jeffhildreth9244]

One of your best videos to date. And to think when I went to France at 19 years old I considered the Legion. In some ways I regret not doing it. Given what I have just learned, I believe I could not have done it then. A couple years later perhaps, but life went another direction. This video gave me an entirely different perspective of the Legion and of discipline in language learning. I lived less than a mile from the DLI for 40 years and had many friends who attended. That seems a party compared to the Legion. Also a friend of mine was a DLI department head (department withheld) for 15 years. My gymnastics instructor in High School was a former Russian Olympics instructor and an instructor at the DLI.

[@alistairthompson8311]

DLI i.e. Durham Light Infantry?

[@XanthusBarnabas]

I live in Bram, just down the rode from Castelnaudary; during my morning runs on the Canal du Midi, I often see these chaps running, ruck marching and bicycling in formation as well, usually berated by their NCOs...as a former SF guy, it's great to see that level of training.

[@efallai1]

I learned French at school and loved the language so much that I carried on at night School. I was pretty fluent at 16 years old. I thought about joining the legion but I joined the British Army. My French came in handy as I was sent to work with Belgians as a medic and interpret. The Army allowed me to study German and Italian Too and to do A levels and degree. I have met Legionnaires and I spoke French to them.

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

I don’t struggle with motivation. Trust me! Most of my days are full of Swedish and Russian. It’s making the time.

[@MG42is]

I think if anyone needs to live or survive in a new environment,there’s a lot of motivations and pressures can let you learn something faster than normal situations.

[@flushjackson9545]

Olly, you're killing me with these awesome videos. Well done, as always.

[@rscott1459]

Excellent presentation! Thank you!

[@khangvutien2538]

Entertaining video. Yes, daily drill is the trick. I learned Spanish in 1.5 years with Duolingo. Now I’m starting Greek. It’s much more challenging.

[@brianmcguire5189]

4 years in USMC, 5 years in the Legion! Best years of my Life! I loved my 3 years in Africa!

[@triton_sj]

really nice video im from france and i learned a lot very original sponsoring too great job bro

[@CollieNike3]

This one was super interesting! Thank you!

[@storylearning]

Glad you enjoyed it !

[@angelt9862]

I really love these types of videos of yours Olly.

[@storylearning]

Thank you!

[@AGENTE91110384]

In fact, I'm here because I'm learning English. I use to see this kind of videos to practice my listening. Thanks a lot.

[@romainviry3185]

VERY good video, extremely good and funny feedback from Luciano. Respect à toi Légionnaire !

[@Animal-yb1rr]

LOL this was good and informative and nice build up for a VPN ad 5:28 😂

[@languagecomeup]

Oh this is going to be a good one! Ill come back when I can watch it all at once!

[@storylearning]

Make yourself an Old Fashioned and kick back!

[@lisanarramore222]

@@storylearning I want an Old Fashioned too.

[@khun_le]

Loving these Fastest Language Learners videos. Keep up the good work Olly.

[@gregorymccoy6797]

Well it definitely works! Total immersion. Those guys rock.

[@neilmorrison7356]

I remember chatting to a fellow Scot who had been in the Legion. I was in the British army at the time and we were chatting about equipment and at one point he said I do not know the English for a bit of equipment.

[@hlynnkeith9334]

The key to learning any language is motivation. I went from zero to fluent in Portuguese in nine months. My girlfriend was Brazilian and her English skills were low. She was my motivation. How did I do it? I bought 3 Brazilian CDs and listened to them at least 8 hours every day. (This was before the internet.) One CD in the car, one in the boom box at home, and one on standby to rotate in. No TV. Three books: a short grammar (boring), 500 Portuguese Verbs (excellent), and an English-Portuguese dictionary. . For me, my skill in Portuguese grew exponentially. What does that mean? After 6 months of daily dedicated listening and studying, I knew nothing. After 7 months, I could pick up a word or two in the songs I had heard hundreds of times. After 8 months, I could pick up phrases. After 9 months, I sang along with the songs, conversed in Portuguese, and dreamed in the language. When I taught English at a foreign university, I told my students they could learn English fluently if they did what I did. Out of 2,000 students, one did. He became fluent. He thanked me. That's how I know he did it.

[@MrViki60]

Pussy is a hell of a motivator.

[@hlynnkeith9334]

@@MrViki60 Yep.

[@TrevorD2502]

I enjoyed this video interesting topic thankyou.

[@mikerhine2311]

Awesome thanks for sharing!

[@jdstep97]

Interesting, learning a language that is targeted to a specific purpose. In university, the guy I dated was a native French speaker. French was his first language. But he learned English for purposes of attendance medical school in the US. I found it interesting that one day he told me that he'd prefer speaking English if the conversation would be about science or medicine. I wish I'd feel more comfortable speaking another language when talking about science or medicine. :)

[@user-og7ww3oj1c]

That really is true. My first language is chinese, but the subject courses I took in my school are all in English. And now I can say with some level of confidence that I'll be much more comfortable continuing my study in english than in chinese, even if it is not my mother tongue. The same goes for conversations regarding the subject. There are even times that I'll have to look up the dictionary and translate some words back to chinese when I'm having a conversation with another chinese person. And this situation occurs much more than I expected it to.

[@abooogeek]

Native French speaker here, and I have to say asking me to talk science and my research in French is awkward. I can fluently present my research in English, but in French? Aïe! I remember when I was in French Med school and science undergrad, instructors would be easily slipping Frenglish into their science words.

[@_NekOz]

Kinda like how I prefer English for casual text conversations and IT related discussions. For anything else, Norwegian all the way!

[@Nilguiri]

I moved to Spain 32 years ago without speaking more than a few words of Spanish and I can confirm that jumping in at the deep end really works. It is extremely frustrating at first and you feel like an idiot. I became pretty much fluent in about 3 months. I remember that one day, all of a sudden, it all seemed to click into place. My first job was teaching database design in Spanish after about 2 months of arriving! I was terrified but my students were very patient and friendly and I learned a lot from them. Moving to Spain from the UK was the best decision I ever made, especially now with f***ing Brexit!

[@Dah42]

¿Por qué te desagrada que el Reino Unido se haya salido de la union Europea? Para mi fue una buena decision si tenemos en cuenta lo mal que estan la mayoria de los paises de la union Europea.

[@johnd0e25]

I finally clicked on your video after having it suggested by the algorithm quite a few times and I have to say you've done a pretty good job (coming from a Frenchman). I also just realized that I had bought one of your books, Short Stories in Russian for Beginners :D

[@simontemplate]

What a super presentation Olly; kudos to you and Luciano - I have subscribed 😊

[@drafer100]

I'm french and watching a ton of videos in English (like this one) made me better at this language. In the beginning, I only watched english videos with friend subtitles. They (after quite some time) I switched to english subtitles. For a few years, I can listen to english videos as podcasts and most of the time. I lack immersion though (I'm very good at understanding written and oral English but it's harder to speak it myself and I don't think my writing is perfect

[@matthewclark4155]

Your writing is as good, if not better, than your average American. Keep it up!

[@charlesstoeng9166]

We must keep in mind that the whole purpose is to take 40 guys from all over the world, create a group. Break them down physically and mentally until the individual attitudes, “opinions” and cultural inconveniences disappear, and they become individually aware of their own complete uselessness. Then build them up individually and as a group in order to make a very basic legionnaire that can cope with daily life in a platoon.

[@FRLoca83]

It's no secret to no one. The Legion never tried to hide what they are and yet people still want to join. Because despite the difficulties,the rewards are great.

[@goldhawk151]

It’s basically to escape your old life and just kill people

[@charlesstoeng9166]

@@goldhawk151 boff... I was 19 and did not have much of a life to escape from. Killing is not very pleasant, and the people who wish to kill are not accepted

[@charlesstoeng9166]

@@goldhawk151 Well... People thinking that will be utterly disappointed ;-)

[@goldhawk151]

@@charlesstoeng9166 I heard a lot of people in interviews say that they like killing people

[@poladelarosa8399]

Fascinante. Merci!

[@secretariatgirl4249]

This was fascinating!!!

[@remifasolla2863]

You claim, he said "bol de feu", but he clearly pronounced it "boule de feu" (fireball), which would make a lot more sense and correspond better with what he said earlier about using existing french expressions, but with a different meaning... 🤔.

[@foreverlearningfrench]

Wow, c'est un moyen difficile mais efficace d'apprendre le français. Superbe vidéo Olly !

[@blessedheavyelements8544]

Great content idea! Best Regards!

[@TheChodax]

Fascinating video.

[@CharlieTheNerd91]

I served in the German-French brigade ( I am half German) We had to learn french commands as well, can't imagine how fast we would have learned if we did not have our native language as well :D

[@InevitableD34th]

This is really informative. I will be leaving the US to try to join the Legion in the coming months.

[@igoravonich2013]

@@mansionbookerstudios9629 she lies a lot

[@1972hermanoben]

Respect and thanks to Luciano - the GSMSG are a wonderful organization

[@mikewingert5521]

I met the FFL in Split, Croatia in 1993 for the relief of Sarajevo; they arrived by ship. I was British army on Op Grapple. They were deeply impressive looking but there was an element of fear too. They were almost over disciplined one might say and scared to make mistakes. A bit of a shame…..🇬🇧

[@ghengis423]

That was a pretty good ad transition ngl

[@lisanarramore222]

nogal 😄

[@mrjmorovis]

When I was learning French for fun I spoke it unknowingly with a Spanish accent, which is my first language. It was interesting that written French actually has more letters than spoken French or written and spoken Spanish. I described French as spoken shorthand.

[@robertsturgeonrs]

Good luck to u buddy best thing a young bloke can do.

[@Anthony4949]

Repetition makes a lot of sense. I remember looking at Marine Corp General orders which there are 11 and you have to know them within the first few days but you’re learning them constantly between other recruits and DI. It’s all about how fast you can adapt and being young helps a lot!!

[@practicalshooter6517]

Very much how Berlitz teaches languages, and it works remarkably well, without the pushups

[@peterschults5591]

you are right in all aspects of total immersion! i was born in holland went to sea at 16 took me less than a year to learn english worked on norwegian ships took me 6 months to get fluent in viking i found reading helps with vocabulary and sentence building especially comic books! i spent a year in israel working on a kibbutz (farm) i was not interested in learning hebrew because i was not going to stay but by the time i left i was able to get the gist of a conversation! also served 20 years in the australian army and was told there that after age 30 you lose the ability to learn language

[@Skiis44]

Only if you believe it. I have picked up 2 at past 70. Kicking myself for not starting Korean 5 years ago. Many Koreans at my gym and 5 years later they are still here greeting me in broken English,I could be having real conversations with then.

[@stewartmcfarlane2008]

I agree with Barbara's comment. To say that you lose the ability to learn a new language at 30 is nonsense. Chomsky would be horrified. I learned Thai in my mid 50s. Total immersion along with classes, easy enough to access both, as I live in Thailand. Now in my late 60s and there are many languages I still wish to learn. Learning the new stuff is not the problem, but I think you tend to forget more of the languages you learned before. As I learned Thai, my Mandarin Chinese, which was once quite good, tended to recede. BTW Barbara, you impress me going to the gym AND learning Korean! Many of my Chinese and Japanese language teachers knew Korean, as they were youngsters in the 1950s ie Korean War. If you enlisted and were a linguist, you were sent on a Korean course. I had a Chinese student from Hong Kong (Mandarin & Cantonese speaker) . She loved Korean Pop (KPOP), and was learning Korean to sing the songs.

[@casakaiser]

Also definitely don’t agree on that idea that after 30 (or any other age) one looses the ability to learn a language. I learned Japanese at 42 and Dutch at 44 and if anything I’d say with every language I learn it gets a bit easier because I know what works for me plus I have a better understanding of grammar concepts. (And obviously with some languages it also helps when you speak already a related language. Eg I know really complicated words in Dutch and Catalan (beyond what my level should really be) because I know German, Spanish and Italian.

[@kevinward3088]

Written Norwegian and also Danish , has clear similarities' to Nederlands ,which helps. Spoken is harder for either party to learn.

[@_NekOz]

@@kevinward3088 As a Norwegian, Dutch messed with my head so much. Sounds like a mix of English and German.

[@Holdit66]

I went to work in an office in France soon after leaving school and the people there were told I was there to perfect my (Irish Leaving Cert) French and that nobody was to speak to me in English (some didn't speak any English anyway, but some did and hid it well). Although I'd learned French through secondary school it was solely reading and writing, no verbal/aural tests at all, so when I arrived in a town where there was a distinct French regional accent I was at a loss for a while. But the shock treatment worked, and after six months I was even starting to think in French. I was also able to make progress by reading books from the local library that I'd already read in English, and watching movies in the local cinema that I'd already seen in English - and also some French movies. Alain Delon was very popular at the time. Decades later I still have a good command of French and have no problem holding my own in a conversations.

[@corujariousa]

Thanks for the video! Full immersion is the best way to learn any language. The punishment for mistakes that happen in the Foreign Legion certainly work to keep a high attention level. 😉

[@ruadhagainagaidheal9398]

Most effective language learning systems use ‘Planned Repetition’. My own trade training was based upon constant repetition - ten thousand hours learning then repeating tens of thousands of facts spread over 2 - 3 years. It works.

[@gnaskant3428]

I went to Aubagne to join ffl. Flew through half of europe, just to come infront of recruiting center, and i turned around, because of my family influenced me so much, to not go. But i know i made a mistake, and i will definitely return..

[@BrentMalice]

that was a 10/10 add transition holy moly

[@JB-gw8ee]

What a fascinating experience that must be

[@christianthompson1731]

I went to DLI to learn Mandarin. I was there for about two years and my Mandarin still wasn't that great. I wish that the US Army would incorporate some of these things into the DLI experience. At DLI they focus on lectures and grammar so much instead of actually immersing you (at least in the Chinese schoolhouse). I wish that they had simply had immersion and lots of conversation. I know I would've learned it much better. I learned more German in six months being in Switzerland than the amount of Chinese I learned in two years at DLI. Immersion is definitely much more efficient in my opinion.