How to Learn Vous When Beginning French

Vous as a pronoun is used in two ways. It can mean either 'you', or 'you all'.

It's the least used pronoun, so don't worry too much about learning the conjugations.

Vous as 'You'

When used to mean 'you', vous is a sign of respect. Although it's use is dropping it is still a cornerstone of French culture and is used in professional situations and casual situations alike.

Do not learn to use vous in this way. No one is going to penalise you for using tu instead of vous. As you progress in the language you can start to pick up it's use through observation, but for the moment only focus on using vous for 'you all'.


Vous as 'You All'

Vous also mean's 'you all'. Use this when you are referring to a group of people you are with. Par example:

What do you all think of this?
Qu'est ce que vous pensez de ca? 

What do you all play?
Qu'est ce que vous jouez?

It's suprising how infrequently you use vous to mean this. If you're with a group then normally you talk about yourselves, using we. Example:

What shall we do?
Qu'est ce qu'on va faire?

Where are we going?
On-va ou?

Notice the use of on.

Often you don't ask questions to a whole group, usually you just focus on individuals. So instead of asking what is all your favourite bands, you'll probably just talk to one person and ask him/ her what is your favourite band.

This is the only way you should use vous as a beginner.

To start with only learn the vous conjugatons of these verbs:

What to Learn

Avoir	To have	Avez
Devoir	To have to	Devez
Être	To be	Êtes
Pouvoir	To be able to (can)	Pouvez
Savoir	To know	Savez

Tip

Using those five conjugations helps use talk about the past. If you swap vous for je with those conjugations (except êtes) you get the past tense*. You all know becomes I knew. You all must becomes I had to. Can you all becomes I could.

In fact, if you swap vous for tu/ il/ elle/ on/ ils and elles you have the past tense for all of those verbs. The spelling is different, but the pronounciation is the same. Pouvais = pouvait = pouvaisent = pouvez

Use these handles to make talking in the past tense easy. You can chuck on any infinitive to the end and you have a decent sentence. Par example:

Je pouvais courir
I could run

Je deveais courir
I had to run

Il devait courir
He had to run

Il savais venir
Hw knew to come

Ils savaient venir (remmebre the silent ent)
They knew to come

Je savais venir
I knew to come


*They are pronounced the same but spelled different.

How to Use On in French

You will have been taught that we in French is nous. Whilst true, in spoken French we often substitute nous for on. Since the conjugation for on is always the same as the conjugation for il there is no need to learn the conjugations for nous.

Don't learn any. use the same conjugation as you would for il and elle and just use on instead of nous.
Par example:

Nous y allons 
We go there, or let's go

Is replaced by:

On y va
Let's Go

Un autre example:

Nous avons beacoup de temps 
we have lot's of time

Is replaced by:

On a beaucoup de temp
we have lot's of time

Encore:

Nous mangons quoi aujourd'hui?
What are we eating today?

On mange quoi aujourd'hui?
What are we eating today?

Constructing a Basic Framework in French

What is a Basic Framework? 

Think of a framework as the bare bones of a language. Words like: the, have, I, for, not, person, year etc. Phrases like: there is, there are, can I, how are you etc. According to traditional categories these words include nouns, verbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions, determiners and exclamations. For our purposes lets just define them as functional words. These are the words that allow us to construct sentences and express ourselves.

Once you get the framework of a language you can concentrate on adding the meat (the vocabulary). More on that later.

Learning A Basic Framework for Conversational French

The traditional way we teach French in England is focused on learning the conjugations of verbs. This is great, but French conjugation is really difficult. Even native speakers struggle with some conjugations, and it's no surprise considering there are 53 conjugations for the verb être (to be), nearly five times as many as there is for the same verb in English. The thing is that when you are speaking it doesn't really matter whether you say vous êtes or vous est, you will be understood either way.

My ethos is that it's much better to learn a lot of words with some grammatical mistakes than it is to learn a few words that are all grammatically perfect. Getting to a conversational level is the most important thing when learning a language. It gives you reward for your work, it inspires you to learn more, and in the process of speaking with people you will slowly learn grammar subconsciously. Sure, at first people will correct you all of the time, and sometimes you will have such bad grammar that it'll be incomprehensible, but sod it. It's better to be speaking and to be misunderstood than to not have the words to attempt to speak in the first place. This guide is focused on getting you a working French vocabulary, and will actively encourage you not to learn too much grammar in the process.


How to Learn 

There's no two ways about it, repetition is the key to learning anything.

Studies have suggested that the average person needs to encounter a word between 5 and 16 times before they can retain it ¹. So that's what you're going to need to do. It doesn't have to be too boring though. There are hundreds of free apps, programs and videos out there on the net; all aimed at making French learning as interesting and effective as possible.

What's important is how you encounter words. You need to take as active as possible approach when learning your framework. Repeat words aloud and write them down to help cement them in your mind.

If you want to learn it within 2-3 months you need to put in a reasonable amount of time (1-4 hours) everyday. How are you going to spend those hours?

Apps

Apps are perfect for learning a language. Whenever you have a spare five or ten minutes you can pick them up and learn a little bit of French. Apps allow you to break up the learning into bite-size chunks throughout the day. But be careful, you still need to put in tens to hundreds of hours into these apps in order to gain your basic framework. As long as you put in the time and make sure you are using the apps for more than five minutes a day, you should be fine.

So what apps should you download? I'd recommend only two - Duolingo and Memrise.


Duolingo

Duolingo gives free language courses.

Make this a daily routine. Download it on your smartphone. Make a habit of doing a lesson or two here and there throughout the day. Don't worry about cheating by looking up the word, it doesn't matter if you remember every single word. The important ones that structure the sentence will keep popping up anyway and you'll remember them even if you cheat your entire way to the skill tree. If you reach the golden tree then make sure to redo lessons, but you can pick ones that you think are most applicable. You don't really need to learn too many words of things like carpet, colander and cake, things that you don't really need to mention very often and can generally point to when you're in a situation that you need to know the word.

Memrise

Memrise is essentially a fancy flashcard app. There are thousands of French 'courses' - lists of words - to work through.

Once again, download it on your smartphone and try to use it whenever you have a bit of time. Aim to use it at least five times a day.

Books

Simple books are a great way to learn a language. Buy Asterix or TinTin comics. Buy Martine books. Read through them and try to connect the words with what is happening in the picture.


Audio

Michel Thomas

I cannot give Michel Thomas enough praise. He is amazing. Download all of his French courses and work your way through them. If you can listen to music whilst at work then listen to Michel. Listen to him while you're driving, or sit down in the evening and work your way through his lessons. He will get you talking and teach you French in a way that will stick in your head.

Music

A great thing to do is find a song you love and then learn it word for word. Look at the lyrics in French and translate words and phrases that you don't know.
Learning through music is just an extra way to get a word stuck in your mind.


1. http://www.transparent.com/about/second-language.html

Learn French On Your Gap Year

In this post I will show you how to organise your gap year in a way that will allow you to reach fluency in French by the time you start university. And all without spending too much time studying.

Contents

Why Should I Learn French?
How Am I Going to Learn French Without Spending Time Studying?
What to Do?
Saving Up Money
Volunteering in France
Find a Job in France
Finding a Job By Yourself
Accommodation
Find a Job through an Agency
Travel


How Am I Going to Learn French Without Spending Time Studying?


Most of your learning will come from living in a French speaking country and interacting with friends, colleagues and locals. You will still need to study, but not nearly as much as you might expect.

What you want to do is learn a basic framework of French before you leave England. You want to learn functional words, the words that we use in everyday situations. Words like what, which, if, how, why. Phrases like there was, there is, I can, you can. These are the tools that we need to actually express ourselves and construct sentences in a language. 

The details on how to do this are found at Constructing a Basic Framework in French

What to Do?

There are four phases to complete during your gap year.

Saving up money

Volunteering/ Staying in France

Finding a job in a French speaking country

Travel

You have a lot of leniency in the way you carry out these phases. An example of how this might look during your gap year is this.

July-September : Full-time job, save up around £800. 

September : Grape picking job in Southern France

October - December : Volunteering on a farm in France

December-May : Full-time bar work in French Alps

May-August : Travel in South East Asia

By the time you leave to travel SE Asia you will be at a very high conversational level in French. If you wanted to progress further then you could travel around Madagascar/ the West-Indies. But even travelling around Asia (or any part of the world for that matter) you will regularly bump into French people, and blow them away with your new-found speaking skills.

The very first thing you need to do is to gain a basic understanding of French, that framework I mentioned, whilst saving up money. 

Saving Up Money


Unless you're so rich that money ain't even a thang, yo. You're going to need some money.

How much money you're going to need depends entirely upon what you plan to do for the year. 

In my guideline I have suggested spending two months volunteering. This is because it gives you a cheap and hassle-free way to get to grips with the language, before you go belly-flopping into the deep end. Depending upon where you volunteer you could spend as little as £300 during those couple of months 1.

 At the other end of the spectrum you might decide to spend two months renting an apartment in Paris. You're looking at €400 a month for a tiny room in a tiny shared apartment that's in the wrong end of town. €600 is more realistic for a still small, but livable, apartment. And with a caution (deposit) ranging anywhere from €500-800 you will need well over £1,500 just for rent and deposit. 

Whether you decide to volunteer or jump straight in there, I would highly recommend finding a grape picking job for the end of September.


Volunteering in France 


Planning Your Time Volunteering

It doesn't matter how or where you stay, the important thing is to immerse yourself fully in a French speaking environment. The reason I suggest volunteering over something like couchsurfing or renting an apartment is that it is a lot easier and cheaper.

There are many ways to volunteer in France. For a full review of volunteering websites please check out Volunteering in France.

During Volunteering


So, you have your foundation in French. You successfully arranged a two month volunteering stint, and you've saved up enough money to sustain yourself whilst volunteering with a bit extra for post-volunteer job hunting.

This is where it will start to get tricky. The first day you're probably going to wonder what the hell you are doing over there. Don't worry, it will get easier. 

The most important thing you can do during your first week is try not to speak, read or write any English. Let your mum know that you've touched down, sure, but other than that only speak French. 

If you've got down time ask your host for a children's book to read, watch French TV or listen to French radio. It's going to be tiring, but by the end of the first week you should begin to feel well on your way to speaking and understanding French.

After this first week continue to limit your English to a bit of facebook every few days. Don't browse the internet in English, don't watch English shows and don't spend hours on the phone every night. The only way you are going to improve your French now is by spending as much time as possible immersed in the language. Make sure that every night you are lying in bed before you fall asleep you are thinking in French.

After your first couple of weeks you should start thinking about what you are going to do when you leave. 

Finding a Job in a French Speaking Country

There are two ways to find a job in France - through an agency or off your own back. Getting a job through an agency will be a lot easier, but after spending two months in the country you should now be confident in speaking the language and finding a job by yourself shouldn't be too difficult.

I would recommend finding a job by yourself. You'll earn more money, it will be more of an adventure and in the process you are likely to find a lot more people your own age to make friends with.


Finding a Job By Yourself

The internet is your friend. You will be browsing a lot of websites, and there is going to be some pretty technical vocabulary so make sure Google Traduction is up and handy on a tab. 

Before you start applying for jobs you're going to need to have a CV. French CVs are a lot more to the point than English CVs, you aren't going to be telling anybody that you enjoy playing guitar and socialising with friends. At some point I will write a guide, but for the moment here is an excellent guide on writing a French CV.

One of the best sites to use is Pole-Emploi. You can choose the area of France and the type of contract you are looking for in the search button. Make an account.

Other good sites include:

Monster
Indeed
Emploi

Decide where in France you are going to want to live and work before you start searching. One thing to consider is living cost, Paris is probably not a realistic option. You could do it, of course, but it will be a lot more expensive than other cities. 

Once it looks like you have assured a job you need to start sorting out your sleeping arrangements.


Accommodation

In France it's pretty common for people to rent apartments by themselves. You could go down this route, but I would recommend finding a flatmate, or coloc. Not only will it stop you from getting lonely in the evenings (aww), having flatmates will also increase your chance of finding a decent social group outside of work. At this point your French is going to be quite good, but there will be a lot of vocab missing. You're going to be picking up words day to day just by having conversations with people, but you need to find these people to have the conversations with. Sharing a flat is great for that.

The best way I can advise looking for a flatmate is through E-Colocation. It's simple, easy to use and has plenty of available rooms for almost all large French towns.


Find a Job Through an Agency

Once again, the internet is your friend. This time though you're going to be looking at different sites to help you secure a cushy no-hassle job provided by an agency.

Travel

Yay, you made it. You've lived and worked in France for at least seven months and speak French fluently and confidently. Your reading and writing skills might need touching up, depending on how much time you've spent reading, but now that you understand French perfectly it will all fit together pretty quickly. 

You are free to spend the rest of your gap year travelling with the money you have saved from working these last few months. The destination doesn't matter, you can speak French now! If you feel you want to progress even further than go travelling in the West-Indes, or volunteer in Mali. 

If you're a little bit tired of French then go somewhere else. As I've said, no doubt that you will still bump into French people.

1. Based upon free food and accommodation, cheap travel and €30 a week for spending on extras. 

Volunteering in France

There are many ways to volunteer in France. But in this section I am going to compare the three biggest sites - WWOOF, HelpX and Work Away.


WWOOF France

WWOOF (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) France is a platform that puts volunteers and host farms into contact with each other. The site holds a directory of hundreds of farms throughout France currently looking for volunteers. The experience will depend almost entirely upon the farm you choose to stay with, but the work will always be focussed around organic production (e.g. cultivating fruit and veg, selling produce at a market, germinating seeds etc.).

Whilst there are exceptions, a driving principle for many of these farms is a strong ecological conviction and a belief in small-scale organic farming. I have spend a combined 5 months staying at a total of 8 WOOFing sites, and do not particularly share these values. No problem. You don't have to be a happy hairy hippy to have a great time at one of the farms. But if you are completely opposed to the ideals, you're going to have a difficult time. 

Pros

Cheap, after a €25 joining fee there is very little expense left. All meals will be provided, alcohol is often provided by the hosts and many of them will even take you out for weekend trips/ nights out. 

Most hosts are French, and most other WWOOFers are as well. 

Cons