French, as it is spoken today by a vast Francophone population, began to become standardized with

Charlemagne’s conquest of the Gauls and Franks in the 16th Century. The history of the modern

French language in France emerged with the combination of Latin and Provençal. French is used as

the official language of 22 countries and is the co-official language of several others, including

Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Madagascar, and Switzerland. It is spoken as a first language by 51 million

people in France and Corsica; in Canada by 7.2 million; in Belgium by 3.3 million; in Switzerland

by 1.2 million; in Monaco by 17,000; in Italy by 100,000; and in the United States by nearly 2

million (primarily in Maine and Louisiana)

We interviewed a group of BA (Hons.) French students in the English and Foreign Languages

University and some students who learned French as optional language as part of studies in the

university. The main objective of the assignment is to find out some helpful techniques and strategies

to make foreign language learning lucid. Our group is consisted of students of French as the optional

foreign language, and therefore we gave preference to develop methods for easy learning of the

French language in this assignment. Twenty people were interviewed in total and accordingly we

came up with the following report of the survey conducted by us in the campus.

•Do you read books and journals?

•Did you make use of podcasts and radio?

•Did you play online games?

•Did you translate from second language into first language and vice versa?

•Did you learn from online tutorials?

•Did you make use of a dictionary?

•Did you memorize?

•Did you chat online with native speakers?

•Did you watch movies and listened to music?

. Did you find it useful to think in your second language?

Name of

people

Movies News-

papers/

Books

Online

Chat

L2

Enviro-

nment

Music/

radio/

podcasts

Make

Sente-

nces

No fear of

Mistakes

Online

Tutorials

Games Dicti-

onary

Memo-

rize

Trans-

L2-L1

Under-

stand

Every

Word

Thin

k

In L2

Adithya Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Dee

Changte

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Vandha

a

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Nagend

ra

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Raza Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Shonali Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Sumeg Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Suman Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Pradeep Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Navneet

h

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Aman Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Nayana Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Mangilal Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Supriya Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Dharme

ndra

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Pranchi Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Richa Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Sushma Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Shyamil

i

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Pamir Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

0

5

10

15

20

25

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

YES

NO

LEGEND

A. MOVIES

B. NEWSPAPER/BOOKS

C. ONLINE CHAT

D. L2 ENVIRONMENT

E. MUSIC/PODCASTS

F. MAKE SENTENCES

G. NO FEAR OF MISTAKES

H. ONLINE TUTORIAL

I. GAMES

J. DICTIONARY

K. MEMORIZE

L. TRANSLATE L2-L1

M. UNDERSTAND EVERY

WORD

N. THINK IN L2

USING LANGUAGE IN DAILY LIFE:

•Taking a fun and casual approach-

Taking a fun and casual approach towards learning of a foreign

language can make it easier to learn. Watching movies, playing

games, reading books and newspapers, listening to music,

watching podcasts in the language which you intend to learn are

wiser steps because these audio visual effects fills up our senses

and makes remembering it possible at a quicker pace.

•Experimenting with the Language-

Trying to experiment and coming up with new ideas while learning

a foreign language is necessary. Experimenting with the language

using using different phrases and words by talking to the native

language speaker can improve language proficiency.•Practicing and utilizing- If you're learning a new language, it is

important to keep practicing the language in order to maintain the

gains you have achieved. This "use-it-or-lose-it" phenomenon

involves a brain process known as "pruning." Certain pathways in

the brain are maintained, while others are eliminated. If you want

the new information you just learned to stay put, keep practicing

and rehearsing it.

•Play of vocabulary and grammar-

Learning vocabulary and grammar is the most basic and

essential step towards language learning. Playing different

word games online and picking up words from the dictionary

makes the vocabulary stronger. A strong grammatical

background adds up to the language learning skill. It is very

necessary to practice grammar everyday to be thorough with

the language both verbally and written wise.

•Using language explicitly and learning from mistakes-

Just like a toddler when he starts learning a language, he keeps

mumbling and fumbling with words by using it explicitly, so

should we, not caring about our mistakes for only through

making mistakes we learn. To have a fluent grip on the

language, we should speak no matter what mistakes we make in

the process.

•Joining language schools and tutorials-

To have formal learning of a language is very important to

strengthen the background of the language being learned. It

gives you the right base because it is systematic and starts with

the basic material and then goes to the higher level. It is utmost

necessary for proper language learning.

•Learning about the history of the language- Learning about the

history and background of the language make it more

interesting. Knowing how the language sprang up that is origin

of the language and how much its spoken around the world,

which places of the world is very intriguing and make language

learning more interesting.

•Taking a positive approach-

It is very important to rid your mind of any prenotions you have the difficulty level

of the language you are learning. One should make sure to take a positive approach

to language learning to bea successful language learner.

•Simple and lucid self improving strategies-

We should make efforts on our own to develop the skills in the language by the

means of small self improving strategies like practicing spelling, grammar and

mechanism of writing.

•Attitude and aptitude-

Keeping the right attitude and aptitude towards language learning is very

necessary. It is beneficial in the long run. It helps in the improvement of the

personal ability to grasp the language and also to think and reflect what we are

learning.

Henceforth, according to the survey that we conducted we come to

the conclusion that people prefer to learn language through fun

means mostly like movies, music, online chatting and games etc

especially a language French which is considered to be one of the

toughest yet upcoming language in international scenario. Though it

doesn’t mean that other strategies could be ignored they are equally

important to make language learning successful. French is one of the

official languages of the United Nations and also widely spoken

around the world. We enjoyed doing the survey and it was certainly a

learning experience for us.

BY

GREESHMA

SHEETAL

SANJAY

PRASHANT