Learning French in 9 Months: What I Achieved

[@JordanTaylorVideos]

2 questions for you: What language are you learning or want to start learning? Why did you get interested in that language? Check out Unacademy! You'll love it: unacademy-language-learning.onelink.me/ewRt/g6tuvoav

[@bcccfweirdo]

Congrats on your Baby!!! 🙌❤God Bless you Guys! I'm learning French too, I started through Rosetta Stone, but now I am in a place where I can read super well but listening and writing kill me 😂 I'm also kind of learning Brazilian Portuguese, but mainly through people speaking it where I live and the fact that it is similar to Spanish, which I speak, In Portuguese, I can read very well but since I learned through hearing people speaking I can listen and understand very well. Both ways of learning have taught me a lot, but I prefer listening and learning better since I can understand people naturally speaking Portuguese better than French. But I do know more French grammar than Portuguese grammar I guess 😂 Ps. I wouldn't suggest learning both languages at the same time, I never did it intentionally, and now I keep mixing up the languages in my head 😂

[@ruthmariestiegler6044]

When I was learning French, I ended up with a French Bible somehow and it was amazing at helping me to read French. The words registered in a different part of my brain because I was reading it in a different language so the verses were more meaningful and impactful and interesting, even though I'd read them in English many times. If reading is your struggle I highly recommend reading something you're already familiar with, but in French.

[@ericamaehenningisreal]

I restarted Spanish because… it’s just embarrassing that I’ve been trying to get past the novice stage for 20+ years.😂 I’m using Babbel for that and thankfully I am at an A2 level with that, so I’m not a complete newbie and didn’t need to start all the way over. And because of YOU and a boom series I’m reading that had WHOLE PARAGRAPHS in French that I didn’t even know, I started learning French a week ago. I’m using the Duolingo app for that and I can at least talk super basics with people. I got most of those sentences you read out of that book, and you definitely knew slightly more than I did. 😂

[@ericamaehenningisreal]

Book* series

[@valerielinares2068]

I want to learn Spanish because though I'm of Mexican heritage, I wasn't taught Spanish. Actually, it was more my dad. He didn't teach us Spanish because he grew up in a generation where the culture promoted this idea that Spanish wasn't needed. But when he got older, he saw that he was wrong. But, now that I'm an adult and see the benefits of knowing Spanish. That being said, one benefit is that I'm not starting at zero. I already know a handful of Spanish. I just don't know how to make it conversational.

[@j.8678]

Aaahhhh!!! The baby is here!! Congrats, Jordan and Sara! ❤❤🎉🎉

[@christinej3101]

This video couldn't have come at a better time, as after years of contemplating, I've decided to learn French. Thanks for sharing the apps and French KZbinrs!

[@theologygirl24]

CONGRATS JORDAN AND SARA!!!!!! So happy the baby is here safely!!!! Can't wait for the video on him 😍

[@JewelandHart]

Congratulations on learning French and even more congratulations on your new baby!!!

[@leahs7024]

Jordan, félicitations pour la naissance de ton fils! Je suis tellement heureuse pour vous et j'espère que Sarah se sent bien, je sais qu'elle a traversé beaucoup d'épreuves de santé. Je vous souhaite de profiter de chaque instant passé aux côtés de votre petit bout, ils grandissent si vite! Le français peut être un petit peu dure au début, mais en même temps très intéressant. Je veux te recommander le ap Chatterbug qui m'a aidé a survive en France pendant quelques années (je suis une expate). C'est très bénéfice pour apprendre à parler and prononcer correctement. Bonne chance! :) All the best, wishing you health and many precious moments together!

[@omega_sine]

I’ve learned Japanese in a very similar way. I spent the first few months going through a basic grammar guide and learning the most common words, while at the same time watching/listening to Japanese content. Needless to say it all sounded like gibberish at the beginning. But once you build up a core it gets easier and a lot more enjoyable. I started reading at about 9 months in if I recall, simply because I was worried there would be too many words I don’t understand/couldn’t read the kanji. As you explained in the video, it’s absolutely brutal when you initially start reading, but again once you build up a base it becomes much easier and rewarding. Four years later I can read Japanese novels with few dictionary lookups and can watch Japanese tv shows and watch the news just fine. This past December I recently passed the JLPT N1, the highest level of proficiency of a Japanese language test. The one thing I am lacking in is in output, since I don’t have anyone to talk with unfortunately. Keep going Jordan, you’ll get to fluency if you keep a steady pace!

[@TheMennomilist]

Awesome. I started to learn French a few years ago but when I got pregnant (baby is 13 months old now) I put it on the back burner. My dad started to slightly teach me as a kid (barely) and I am sad he didn't (his grandfather spoke it and was born there). I enjoyed hearing you speak it here. I never heard of the app you are using and I think writing it is a great way to learn! I was using italki for a while with Japanese pre-covid where I would hire someone to teach me who lives in the country of the origin of the language. It was way better. I learn best when someone can be in front of me teaching me rather than through an app type of thing. I need to do it with French. You have learned so much and devoted great time to it. Now you can watch the Olympics in a few days and understand it if you watch it in French with their channels instead of in the US with all the commercials!

[@rachelthebroken1031]

I was just thinking of you and Sara today! Congratulations on your baby and on your new language!

[@fireice9977]

Congratulations Jordan and Sara 🎉! Welcome to your new little baby. Blessings.

[@kaileybraff5601]

I love Easy French and A Piece of French! I learned French for years in school, and learned languages as a hobby for a bit. I haven't actively been learning French (or any language) for a while, but I like listening to videos like these to practice listening, and to see what I remember.

[@laurenc.590]

It's very interesting to hear your thought process/the methods and stages to your approach. It's making me think back to when I first encountered Mandarin. I wasn't actually expecting to learn it, so at first I just picked up a few basic words and phrases. Then I learned the anglacized phonetic system. Later, I went through a basic level textbook, and then unexpectedly moved to Taiwan for 2 years. I quickly became functionally fluent just by conversing, so THAT'S basically when I got to do the learn-it-like-a-kid part that you STARTED with... Now? Teaching Mandarin is one of the most fun and rewarding jobs I've ever had!

[@JordanTaylorVideos]

Really interesting!

[@austinwinters3281]

I've been learning French off and on for years now, and have found listening to the super easy french videos, emphasis on "Super" helpful. They talk even slower than the easy french ones do. Anthony is the guy who was doing them, I like to go back and watch his videos over and over again. I also had some success with pimsleur when I was using it as well. I'm not exactly sure why I chose French other than it sounds beautiful and for travel. Japanese should be coming up too at some point

[@garlandofbooks4494]

It makes me smile so big to see you learning and speaking French! Your name is still your name, but you could say it with a French accent 😂. It’s great to hear your ideas and what you’ve found! The last few months, I have added using the Refold French 1K Anki deck for beginners, with French native speaker audio sentences with each word. They recommend combining that with comprehensible input should cover the most common 2600 words. I add 5 new cards a day, and it takes about 10 mins daily. Then I’ve been tracking my hours and I’m at approximately 435 hrs. My goal is 600+ by the end of the year 🎉. I watched the French in Action 52 episodes, French comprehensible with Tintin 62 episodes, Alice Ayel videos. I have read Ollie’s 100 conversations in Easy French - with the audio, and started the one you showed in this video. I also have some graded readers from CIDEB. Definitely read and listen to audio at the same time! That’s is gold. Once I read through, I just listened to the 100 conv books a couple more times.

[@JordanTaylorVideos]

This comment was super helpful to me.

[@Markkos1992]

Congratulations!

[@karolinap.5484]

Salut Jordan, comme tu sembles aimer lire en français, je laisse un commentaire partiellement en français. Je suis vraiment impressionnée par ton niveau après seulement 9 mois d'apprentissage! Bien joué! :) Tu prononces vraiment bien la lettre "r" ce qui n'est pas toujours évident pour les personnes qui apprennent la langue. Quelques petites remarques : en français, le « th » se prononce comme un « t » (pour Arthur par exemple). Aussi, c’est « un » appareil photo, pas « une ». I’ll switch to English for a moment - in the case of that particular sentence, I would’ve used “caméra” instead of “appareil photo”. “Appareil photo” refers to a device for taking pictures, while “caméra” to a device used for filming. Nowadays, most devices can do both. In that case, you can use both words, but the typical approach is to use the word that represents the ‘function’ being used/highlighted in a given context. So, since you’re saying that you’re filming a video about learning French, the better word would be “caméra”. Hope that makes sense :) Merci pour la recommandation de la série « Lupin » dans une des vidéos précédentes - j’ai commencé à regarder il y a quelques jours et c’est vraiment top comme série ! En ce qui concerne mes conseils pour l’apprentissage des langues, je pense que tu fais déjà la majorité des choses - l'essentiel est de s’immerger un maximum dans la langue, par exemple en regardant des séries dans la langue donnée, en écoutant de la musique - je te recommande Stromae (chanteur belge), Zaz, ou des plus anciens comme Joe Dassin, Garou, Renaud. Aussi avoir des conversations dans la langue étudiée aide beaucoup, idéalement avec quelqu’un dont c’est la langue native. Finally, congrats Jordan and Sara!! Actually, I also have some advice regarding your son, if I may - if you have the possibility, allow him to learn a foreign language as soon as possible. I’m bilingual Polish/French, I grew up mostly in Belgium, so I was surrounded by French, but we spoke Polish at home. And I’ll be forever grateful to my parents that they insisted on me going to an additional school on Saturdays to learn Polish, because just speaking it at home wasn’t enough - the vocabulary is quite limited in everyday life at home. Knowing multiple languages is extremely helpful and enriching. And let’s face it…it’s much easier to learn when you’re little. I’ve been trying to learn German as an adult…it’s much harder. So the more languages a kid is exposed to, the better. But that’s of course just my opinion 😊 Fun fact - my cousin’s children speak 4 languages: Polish, Indonesian, German and English. Talk about a strange mix :D But I am certain it will help them in life. Sorry for the very long comment :D

[@lisamedla]

Nice work. I think you might benefit from watching cartoons in french with subtitles. I can read and speak french but I cannot understand it as much as I used to😂 I did teach myself Italian at some point

[@Ranstone]

I've been learning Ukrainian for a while and you keep me inspired. Problem is there's less Ukrainian speakers than most languages to practice with and less by the day.

[@horsesandbruins]

Dude this must be so cool with the Olympics coming up in Paris in less than a month... maybe you could try to watch some of the olympic sports you yourself have done from Paris-based announcers, to help learn more French regarding those sports, and practicing in general! :D

[@bekah80]

I dabbled in Russian a bit, never got past some beginner conversational phrases and some random words, but I haven’t worked on it for around a year now. 😅

[@Eclipce051]

I did this for Japanese

[@JordanTaylorVideos]

How did it go for you?

[@bekah80]

1st!

[@JordanTaylorVideos]

For some reason your comment is telling me to "Translate to English" 😂

[@bekah80]

That’s so weird. 😂