Are you looking for a little help learning French? French tutor Carol Beth L. explains how tutoring can help…
Learning French – or any new language – can be difficult, especially if you have little time or are not sure how to go about this gargantuan task. Hiring a tutor can help a lot in a number of ways, and can offer support in a variety of situations. Here are a few ways in which a tutor can help:
1) Pacing
Suppose you do not have time to take a class and must study French on your own. Many people in this situation have trouble finding a consistent pace for themselves. Their jobs and social lives get in the way, and pretty soon, learning a language has fallen by the wayside. Even if you do not meet with your tutor every day, by meeting with your tutor weekly, they can help you to make goals for the week to keep you on track. If you are taking a class but are having trouble keeping up, your tutor may also be able to help you.
2) Study skills
Most of us study a language in middle and high school, yet Americans are notorious worldwide for being monolingual. If you have never truly mastered another foreign language, or if you have but it was as a child absorbing it by osmosis, it may be more difficult to truly master another language as a teenager or adult. Your tutor can guide you with assignments that will help you
3) Speaking, listening, and conversational practice
Unless you have roommates, family, friends, or colleagues who speak French well and are willing to speak with or around you on a regular basis, it can be difficult to practice and correct mistakes in your speaking. Recordings and films can help enormously with listening comprehension, accent, and pronunciation, but even this lacks the interactivity and spontaneity of a real-life conversation with someone. Reading and writing are important too, but can be practiced on your own more easily.
4) French-specific learning techniques and games
Tutors are there because they know a lot about the language and (hopefully) a lot about how to learn the language. They may have songs, games, or other activities that will make learning French easier and more fun.
5) French resources
In addition to the previous advantages listed, your French tutor, with their French-specific knowledge, is likely to know about where to find certain resources you may find useful. This includes French conversation groups, French meet-ups, local French films, French restaurants, French websites, French literature (at your level), French penpals, and more. They won’t know everything, but they will probably know things you don’t. Even if they don’t know, they may have an easier time figuring out where to look.
Do any of these sound helpful? If so, you may wish to consider finding a French tutor to help you on your journey to linguistic mastery.
Carol Beth L. teaches French lessons in San Francisco, CA. She has her Masters in French language education from the Sorbonne University in Paris and has been teaching since 2009. Learn more about Carol Beth here!
Photo by City Year
Suzy S.