WHY YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND FRENCH PEOPLE - 7 very logical reasons you can turn to your advantage

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

What's the most helpful tip here? Quel est le conseil le plus utile de cette liste ?

[@christinedrinkstea]

J'apprends le français seulement pour le plaisir, alors c'est important que le contenu m'intéresse. Sinon, je laisserais tomber...

[@rogierdalsemvan8204]

Changer a sous titre en francais.

[@aldozilli1293]

My tip would be have a few drinks, you'll find your level and understanding increases dramatically once inebriated.

[@wudgee]

The shortcuts and listening to French daily.

[@mignonthon]

the difference of speaking french and writting it . But itsnt only a french language thing.

[@ADAMSIVES]

Cet vidéo m’aide. Joop mon mec

[@mackjay1777]

You do a great job of explaining why spoken French comprehension can be difficult for non-native speakers. As a longtime student of the language, who also lived in France for a while, I'd like to add one of the most useful things I've learned: whenever possible, repeat what you're hearing. This is easy to do when watching a film--and yes I totally agree about using French subtitles!. One of the best things you can do is repeat some of what you're hearing, because you're internalizing the language that way (this is what those annoying language lab exercises were doing in high school and college). If you've internalized the spoken language whenever possible, you're much more likely to understand something the next time you hear it. So, watching a French film with French subtitles it's useful to repeat what you've just heard (obviously, you're doing this when alone at home, or where you won't annoy others :) } You can do this anytime you hear the language, try repeating what you've just heard--hearing yourself say something internalized it and can be very useful---Also of course, speaking with native-speakers is essential.

[@johndavies4764]

Interest/Relevancy for me. I think when the topic is of interest and relevant then I am more likely to stick by it. For example I like watching rugby , so watching (and listening) to a rugby match in French regularly helps to pick up some of the language.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Yes! Interest counts for so much. It shouldn't be undervalued when navigating your way through the language. Thanks for sharing John.

[@JuanDCruz-nq5ic]

I'm not a native english speaker but somehow I feel better learning french through these kind of videos explained in english

[@RussBraby]

This 13 minutes and 49 seconds of my day with non-French exposure, ...but it was worth it :) All good and motivating advice

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Haha. Ça vaut le coup!

[@stitchgirl9741]

I just found this channel and live in the USA I want to learn French fluently and possibly move there. I am so grateful for your videos. 🇫🇷🇺🇸

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

So happy you found my corner of the Internet. Stick around :)

[@JustAnotherDudeHere]

I've to thank you Alex, I'm French so speaking it isn't a problem, but your videos also serve in another way, I'm improving my pronunciation and understanding of spoken English thanks to you. Please, continue like that 😁

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Haha. Happy to help!

[@lindaarmstrong5972]

Sometimes I feel a real failure for not knowing enough of the French language as I have been learning it for more years that I care to divulge. I hear and see you have learnt it so well in the 7 years you have been around it. It is wonderful that you have done this, I surely do need to listen to it more. Thank you for your videos x

[@KathysFlog]

You mentioning subtitles reminded me of a time we were in the cinema watching an English film with French subtitles. The dialect of the English actors was so strong I had to rely on the French subtitles to understand what was going on! Another good one, thank you.

[@donfzic7471]

Vous parlez très bien Français ! Félicitations.👍 Bravo.👏 Merci .🙏 Superbe.🤩

[@joelchomat17]

moi qui suis français je suis tes conseils pour apprendre et améliorer mes connaissances en anglais, Merci pour tes vidéos qui ont toujours de l'intérêt

[@foreverlearningfrench]

Tu as raison. Le niveau d'intérêt est si important. J'aime planter des fleurs et des légumes et j'ai récemment commencé à écouter des podcasts sur le jardinage. Ça m'a été très utile !

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ah chouette ! N'hésite pas à partager les noms de ces podcasts à ton commentaire qu'ils puissent être utiles aux autres avec la main verte !

[@roots_and_ruin]

Quel est le nom du podcast svp?

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

@@roots_and_ruin Forever Learning French m'a demandé de te répondre en son nom : Au jardin avec Rustica Podcast et Au Jardin Podcast. Learn French by Podcast Episode 202 et OuiPodcast Episode 372. Tous les podcasts sont disponibles sur Spotify, Google et Apple Podcasts.

[@roots_and_ruin]

@@FrenchinPlainSight merci!

[@BuffaloBuffalo-uc6zp]

Your written french is very good

[@user-tx3qp8zj8c]

It's not the understanding but actually being able to be understood

[@gileswilliams1886]

Thanks. Loving the series. The inside line on every day expressions is great.

[@corgiowner436]

I remember the first time I heard je sais pas. Thought they were saying chez pas and was thinking “house not”??

[@audreyc2505]

As a B1 level this video was so helpful! I wish I’d found this video when I first arrived in Paris to study abroad but I’m excited to use these tips for the rest of my time here. And furthermore, it was very encouraging to hear this- I’ve lacked so much confidence from the overwhelming amount of french i’ve been exposed to but your tips are so relevant and it was refreshing to hear you re-affirming some of my thoughts. Excited to watch more of your videos!

[@BGTuyau]

This is another essential video for French learners, with a wealth of great points, practical and theoretical, about the psychology and mechanics of language learning and oral comprehension, not limited to French -and too infrequently touched on by most language teachers in most formal language-learning situations. Nice job.

[@thedavidguy01]

Good tips as always! I would emphasize that in order to understand the spoken shortcuts of everyday French, you need to listen to a lot of everyday French. When you get to the intermediate level you need to spend less time listening to material made for language learners and material with professional speakers who always speak clearly and listen to regular people. For example, I found two podcasts very helpful : "Les Pieds sure terre" and "Transfert". In these podcasts, ordinary people tell stories about their lives so you hear lots of different ways of speaking, different speeds, different accents, and different expressions.

[@carolynsimon]

I agree with this. I started watching movies and watching French talk shows and after a few months of consistent effort my level of understanding increased by leaps and bounds. I might miss a few words here and there but then happens to be me in English as well and that's my native language.

[@kmichalene]

Good suggestions. Thanks!

[@stephanevilboux1706]

Bonjour. Je tiens à te féliciter pour la pertinence de tes conseils. Ils ont de plus l'avantage d'être universels car s'appliquent à tous les apprentissages. Merci car je prends des cours d'anglais en t'écoutant. Cordialement.

[@nttravel69]

very true! spoken like an experienced language learner! 👍

[@glurp1er]

My tip to learn any language : buy the DVD of your favorite movie with dubbed audio (French people dub almost every movies, so it's easy to find). Since you already know the story, and probably even the dialogues, it will be crazy easy to understand every words.

[@gabrielbattais4185]

i can relate to what you said for the subtitles, i'm french and i used frenchs subtitles while i learned english but the problem was not as much that i didn't trained my ears but it was more the aproximation of the translations, especially for the culturals expressions or the puns, that's why if you learn a new language it is always better to have this languages subtitles even if you need to pause the video and search for the translation on internet, or write what you didn't understood and translate later

[@zoeingold545]

Thankyou for this video, it was very reassuring! My partner is French and I don't usually have too much difficulty understanding him but when visiting his friends and family it was a totally different matter. Really made me realise how much effort he puts in to be understandable to me!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

It's important to put things into perspective so we can stay objective and not get ourselves down when we step out of our usual bubble. Keep it up Zoe !

[@patriciarobin486]

Je pense que votre vidéo sera désormais mon introduction à tous les cours de français pour allophones que je prodigue à Montréal. Merci de votre initiative! Ciao!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Avec plaisir. N'hésitez pas à me dire comment ce sera reçu !

[@deidrebingham3856]

Thank you, just what I needed.

[@kayleighevans2828]

Je viens de te trouver, et je tadore 🌈🎉 j'appris le français depuis ma jeunesse, mais toujours, c'est difficile d'écouter bien les françaises. J'écoute a la radio française et je vois Netflix en français, mais toujours...! 😂 T'es un très bon mec et je t'apprécie ❣️

[@zulkiflijamil4033]

Bonjour Alex. Cette belle langue.

[@johnbit1471]

Interesting ..... my best experience of actively practicing French in France is in Taxis where the driver has to listen to you

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

And how do you do with understanding their responses?

[@slicksalmon6948]

#4 is the big one for me.

[@jimwilson4032]

Tres bien

[@catherinewarner9947]

Thank you, you've really encouraged me

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Very happy to hear that Catherine!

[@suhanii16]

Omg the earliest I've been! Awesome video mate! As a french learner (in high school) it would be helpful if you could break down more grammar complications like you did previously about lui etc they helped alot during exams, Ended up with 97/100 from 76/100! Thank you, You're awesome! Subbed to your newsletter!:)

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Wow. Congrats on your exam scores! More grammar breakdowns to come! I'm planning a sort of membership with exclusively grammar breakdowns. You're on the newsletter so you'll hear about it when it's ready!

[@suhanii16]

@@FrenchinPlainSight really awesome! Waiting eagerly, All the very best!

[@helenem4586]

I understand a reading of the news pretty well, and simple conversations, but a movie stumps me completely, even when I've examined what was said and listened again and again. It's just too swift, over before I can get my brain around it. So frustrating.

[@Marie.b]

Hello, I have just come across your channel and have watched loads. I just finished watching your vid about uses of" ca fait" and I said to myself ' ah here, just subscribe, everything is just so useful ' So here goes! Thank you. I actually feel I can begin to speak in french, even if it's just to myself!

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Yay! Bienvenue Marie. Thanks so much for the support and keep enjoying French.

[@kmichalene]

Very good points. For me, background noise seems to really impact my comprehension when I'm at a boulangerie, at a resto, if people stop me in the street, etc. When I first moved here I didn't know the bit about the shortcuts and I felt like I was listening to a competition different language than expected! "Shay pas" par exemple:-)

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

"At a resto". Brilliant franglais there!

[@michelgolabaigne595]

Bonjour Alex, J'adore votre chaîne, pas seulement à cause du français ..., ton anglais est si bon ... :) Ses conseils sont pertinents dans tous les contextes de langues étrangères. Personnellement, j'aimerais plus de français dans le cours de français ... :) À bientôt Michael

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Hehe. Merci Michel. J'ai répondu à tes remarques dans ton dernier commentaire. Je sais pas si vous avez vu? En tout cas, merci beaucoup. Il y aura plus de vidéos en français bientôt.

[@michelgolabaigne595]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Bonjour Alex, j'ai lu votre réponse trop tard car si vous ne me donnez pas un cœur, Google ne m'informera pas que vous avez répondu ... et alors je ne sais pas ce qui se passe ...:( J'ai vous repondu à avant-dernière vidèo...:) Merci beaucoup et À très vite Michel

[@Mostirrelevant]

I am absolute beginner 😊, bit I do understand struggles with learning new language and expect struggles and problems. I do think the learning will be awful experience. I have started learning it yesterday. I am somewhat familiar with French history and culture, but never was trully or deeply interested in learning the language. I prefered learning Germanic langauges, when I was younger, they are more orderly and more constructed than French, besides, it did not sound much romantic, on the contrary. I do not have big expectations, but I really think it would be fun to try and see what it will come out of this learning and will I be able to adapt and learn it, after learning English, Dutch, and German.

[@michelbrochu2521]

Même en tant que français de langue maternelle j écoute vos vidéos . pour ma habituer à entendre de l anglais. Le français est difficile pour les étrangers. Vous avez dû vous habituer à l accent méridional. Bon séjour en France. Michel

[@pandabearmonster]

Thanks!

[@devyanirlsingh5705]

good morning sir 🙏 😊 and I watch your video only today and I really like can you help me to learn French..

[@jacquelineboyce9003]

do you have a podcast on simple tenses please

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Not at the moment. What would you like to learn specifically?

[@florateoh560]

I too find that it's the liaisons that throw me off. As for subtitles, I use reverse subtitles. I would watch an American film in the original English and turn on the French subtitles. If I watch a French film with French subtitles, I would be frustrated by not knowing a lot of French words. With reverse subtitles, I would know right off the bat what it means in English.

[@ExquisiteTopHat]

Can you do a video on "du coup" ? Ive tried to understand it from websites, but the definitions never fit the context. Its almost like it means "so" or "basically"

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Good suggestion. It's what we call a filler word, so whilst it has an official meaning, it's used just to fill micro seconds of space while we think. Your 2 English terms are good enough interpretations! Now you've just gotta use it til it feels natural.

[@NekonataVirino]

The worst thing about watching something in French with French subtitles is the fact that they don’t match up. I find it worse because what I’m hearing isn’t what I’m saying - and I don’t mean pronunciation I mean different words and different sentence structures. However I’ve spent some time noticing how closely the French subtitles approximate to the English that is spoken if I choose to watch a film that way round.

[@wudgee]

I like the French subtitles for the TV, but I find some French people speak so fast I can’t read it quick enough let alone understand. Even if you slow it down it’s as if words are omitted. I find Macron is beautifully clear to understand. One problem I see with subtitles is that the translations often don’t match what is being said. Some dubbed programmes like Ice Road Truckers, I just catch what the English is and the French translation or subtitle is different, or the sub title doesn’t quite match he French. I wonder how many French actually say ‘La vache’ is it really used, I’ve not yet overheard a person in real life saying it. Subtitles are still useful.

[@cha55am]

It is far easier to understand educated french people than those who are not,and to make yourself understood.

[@marcbonnet1589]

Thanx for the occitan flag...

[@LannasMissingLink]

I moved to France 2 weeks ago and was so disappointed how low my level of French actually was, compared to how high I thought it was.... Reading and writing takes time but I understand a bit. But hearing the language I only get a few words when people speak

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Bienvenue en France Lanna! It's a big shock to arrive and find the difference in difficulty between learning at home and learning whilst living here isn't it? Do your best to stay objective while you adjust. You're not bad at French. You ARE progressing all the time. It can just seem harder to notice the progress.

[@LannasMissingLink]

@@FrenchinPlainSight thank you! Your videos are so helpful so I'll definitely try my best and keep trying improve!

[@tonyoliveira2509]

Where do you live in France?

[@mignonthon]

For me any English men/women are welcome here, my grand father natal birth house was sold to an english family ( its in normandy) We share regularly news beetwen us.

[@Mikemm-un3lb]

I think English and French has the similar grammar but French just have more rules. For the words, lots of English words were coming from French. So, French is not that hard for most English speakers

[@markhathaway9456]

La lumière pour ce vidéo, c'est trop dur. Le contenu est bon. Je déteste les sous-titres anglais lorsque j'ecoute la radio en français.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Comment ça se fait que tu aies des sous-titres lorsque tu écoutes la radio ?

[@markhathaway9456]

@@FrenchinPlainSight Désolée, le télé. Je lis des e-livres et peut écouter. Mais je regarde des films avec les sous-titres français.

[@juanfran579]

Unfortunately most French people are not good at all at adapting to foreign speakers. They expect you to take for granted that "chui" means "je suis"

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

That's fine. It's their language and we're in their world. We have to do the hard work.

[@cha55am]

Ca veut dire. Same as Ca va dire ? And what about Bah oui, Bah non, and Bah d'ailleur ? This may just be Breton.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Ça veut dire = it means. Ça va dire is an incomplete sentence. Bah oui, bah non etc are just exclamations. Often bah is written as ben. I believe it originally started as bien.

[@philippevigier2253]

Ok but don't learn your fellows that french expression "y'a pas d'soucis". On France Culture Radio we even had a 5 mn philosophy podcast on this great plague.

[@frenchvoicegarden]

Your shirt Sooooo French dude, haha

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

It's a Swedish brand 😂

[@geargail]

Realized... I didn't know OLD ENGLISH WORDS - are hiding in FRENCH.

[@anne12876]

When I was learning English and I wasn't sure of a word, I used the French word and put an English twist on it. Many times, I had something close enough to the correct word so the other person could understand what I meant and filled the gaps and give me the right word. I use the exact same trick in Spanish.

[@brucebaker810]

re #1. Also, in a bank you are, potentially, a customer. And the staff--also more likely than the average gar francais to speak English--will, thereby, likely try to accommodate you. Vs on the street...you're just an obstacle between him and the place tres important where he is going. An annoying tourist. Of no benefit. Just bother and delay.

[@FrenchinPlainSight]

Yes and no. Depends on your city and your bank. They may want your money, but this is France, and often that's secondary to just wanting an easy life. On the street, I was visualising a charity worker approaching you rather than the other way around, but you're absolutely right. Thousands of possible contexts, no doubt. The point is, be rational and objective and don't beat yourself up if there are one or many good reasons why you didn't understand or had a hard time.

[@brucebaker810]

@@FrenchinPlainSight ...or get off the street and ask directions in a bank? Salut