TEACHING & LEARNING FRENCH BY ASSOCIATION

St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of the art of trained memory (A 17th Century painting by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez)

In ancient times, there were no readily available note-taking devices, but the Greek and Roman orators were capable of delivering lengthy speeches with unerring accuracy because they memorized their speeches thought for thought, using memory systems. During those days, a trained memory was of great importance and the ancients knew that memory techniques could have an essential role to play in enhancing their thinking process. Cicero wrote that the memories of the orators of his time were aided by systems and training and in De oratore he recounted how he himself used memory techniques. It should be noted that oratory was an influential career during those days. As stated by the philosopher Quintilian, "We should never have realized how great is the power (of a trained memory) nor how divine it is, but for the fact that it is memory which has brought oratory to its present position of glory."

According to The Memory Book, what the early Greek and Roman orators did was, basically, to apply the association technique:

They associated each thought of a speech to a part of their own homes. These were called "loci," or "places." The opening thought of a speech would, perhaps, be associated to the front door, the second thought to the foyer, the third to a piece of furniture in the foyer, and so on. When the orator wanted to remember his speech, thought for thought, he actually took a mental tour through his own home. Thinking of the front door reminded him of the first thought of his speech. The second "place," the foyer, reminded him of the next thought; and so on to the end of the speech. It is from this "place" or "loci" memory technique that we get the time-worn phrase "in the first place."

The method of association described above is not confined to speeches alone as it can be used to memorize just about anything. All memory, whether trained or untrained, is based on association. For instance, many people can remember the shape of Italy because they know that Italy is a boot-shaped country. Since the shape of a boot is something they have already known, the shape of Italy can easily be remembered once it is associated with the boot. This simple idea is the basis of the Link system of memory.

French by Association by Dr. Michael M. Gruneberg

According to Tony Buzan (the originator of Mind Maps and the Buzan Organic Study Technique, as well as new developments in the theory and development of mnemonic systems and creativity), "You will recall anything which is connected better than something which is disconnected. You will more or less automatically be able to recall anything which is strange, unusual, out of context, or outstanding." In order to remember new information, it must be associated with something that you already know or remember in some ridiculous way. Known as the secret to a great memory, this method of association, also known as the linkword method, can be used effectively in learning the French Language. The following examples of learning French by association are taken from the book entitled French by Association by Dr. Michael M. Gruneberg, a memory expert. I find this book very helpful especially for beginners because it provides a quick and easy way to acquire a solid foundation in  elementary grammar and basic French vocabulary. The brain never forgets a ridiculous picture - that is why the grammar and vocabulary acquisition strategies suggested by the author are very effective in improving learning and memory retention. Further, the French exercises provided can greatly improve the French language skills of a beginner as they can immediately practise what they have learned. I have read this book countless times when I first started to learn the French language. In just a short while, I have learnt hundreds of new French words and was able to string these words together to form grammatically correct sentences. The knowledge gained from this book has enabled me to learn more advanced French efficiently on my own.


ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR

Since grammar accuracy is the foundation in language proficiency, I would begin with some elementary grammar rules and show how these can be easily remembered and understood using the association technique.


Gender

Gender is an important aspect of French grammar. All nouns in French are either masculine or feminine. As it is not possible for you to tell whether a word is masculine or feminine just by looking at it, you can use the following method to remember the gender of words in French.

• If the word is masculine, you can associate it in your mind's eye with a boxer. For example, rabbit is masculine in French - imagine a boxer punching a rabbit. Every time you see a word with a boxer, you will know that it is masculine.
• If the word is feminine, you can imagine the word interacting with a bottle of French perfume. For example, cow is feminine in French - imagine a cow with a bottle of perfume dangling from her neck. When you see a bottle of perfume with a word, you will know the word is feminine in French

It should be noted that you need not follow the above methods strictly if you hate boxers or have an aversion to perfumes. Much would depend on your creativity in generating your own mental images based on your preferences. For instance, I never like boxers and since The Incredible Hulk is one of my childhood heroes, I find it more comfortable to imagine the hulk cuddling a rabbit. As for the feminine nouns, I prefer to make use of flowers and in the above example, I find it easier to imagine a cow with a floral head wreath.


the (le, la, l' or les)

The French for the when the noun is masculine is le. The French for the when the noun is feminine is la. If the French is plural, then the word for the is always les. Finally, if a word starts with a vowel (like animal), then the word for the is l' (for example, l'animal or l'oie) irrespective of the gender.

• The gender of dog is masculine (imagine a boxer dog with a boxer) - le chien
• The gender of bed is masculine (imagine putting a boxer to bed after a bad fight) - le lit
• The gender of cow is feminine (imagine a cow with a bottle of perfume dangling from her neck) - la vache
• The gender of clock is feminine (imagine a bottle of perfume at the bottom of the pendulum of a clock) - la pendule
• The gender of goose is feminine (imagine a goose pecking at a bottle of perfume) - l'oie
• The gender of camera is masculine (imagine photographers photographing boxers during a fight) - l'appareil
• The gender of vêtements is masculine (imagine a boxer putting clothes on after a fight). This is a plural word. The word for the plural is les - les vêtements
• The gender of toilet is feminine (imagine a toilet where the smell is sweetened by perfume). Toilet (toilettes) is usually plural in French - les toilettes

a (un or une)

If you want to say a for masculine singular nouns like a book, a male friend, a horse, a garden etc., then the word for a is un (pronounced "en," something like the English earn).

• a book is un livre
• a male friend is un ami
• a horse is un cheval
• a garden is un jardin

For feminine singular nouns like a door, a house, a lady, a mouse etc., the word for a is une (pronounced ooN)

• a door is une porte
• a house is une maison
• a lady is une dame
• a mouse is une souris

my (mon or ma), his (son or sa), her (son or sa), its (son or sa)

The French possessive adjectives like my, his, etc. have two forms: one in the masculine and one in the feminine. For example:

• my computer (masculine singular) is mon ordinateur (MOHn)
• my life (feminine singular) is ma vie (MA)

In other words, the my is masculine if it goes with a masculine word, but it is feminine if it goes with a feminine word.

The same rule applies for his:

• his computer is son ordinateur (masculine)
• his life is sa vie (feminine)

You must remember that his is feminine when it is used with a feminine noun. Similarly, the word her is masculine when it goes with a masculine noun.


The French word for her  is also son  when it goes with a masculine noun, and sa when it goes with a feminine noun.

• her computer is son ordinateur (masculine)
• her life is sa vie (feminine)

Its is also the same as his and her

• its dog is son chien (masculine)
• its table is sa table (feminine)

Once you can distinguish between feminine and masculine nouns and figure out the gender of a word, you would be able to apply the grammar rules correctly. In the following section, I would like to share a simple trick on how to remember French vocabulary quickly and easily using the association technique.  Rote learning is boring, ineffective and outdated. It is being increasingly abandoned for newer techniques and thanks to Dr. Gruneberg's association method, learning a foreign language is no longer as difficult as it used to be.


BASIC FRENCH VOCABULARY

In this section, the approximate pronunciation of words is given in parentheses. For example:
The French for chair is chaise (SHEZ).
(SHEZ) is the way the word is pronounced.

Home, Furniture, Colors

• The French for chair is chaise (SHEZ) - imagine you have shares in a chair.
• The French for cupboard is placard (PLAKAR) - imagine a placard stuck to a cupboard
• The French for curtain is rideau (REEDOH) - imagine having to re-do the curtains after you have made a mess of them
• The French for armchair is fauteuil (FOTOEY) - imagine taking a photo on an armchair
• The French for pink is rose (ROZ) - imagine a pink rose
• The French for yellow is jaune (JON) - imagine someone yellow from jaundice

Clothes, Family Words

• The French for underpants is slip (SLEEP) - imagine you sleep in your underpants
• The French for dress is robe (ROB) - imagine someone robs you of your best dress
• The French for hat is chapeau (SHAPOH) - imagine taking off your hat when you enter a chapel
• The French for husband is mari (MAREE) - imagine you marry your husband
• The French for son is fils (FEES) - imagine having to pay school fees for your son.
• The French for daughter is fille ((FEE) - imagine selling your daughter for a fee

Shopping and Business Words

• The French for shop is magasin (MAGAZAHn) - imagine every shop you go into sells magazines
• The French for office is bureau (BooROH) - imagine a writing bureau in an office
• The French for mistake is erreur (EReR) - imagine being told that errors and mistakes cannot be rectified
• The French for accountant is comptable (KOHnTABL) -imagine thinking that your accountant is contemptible.
• The French for salesman is vendeur (VOnDeR) - imagine a salesman trying to sell you a van door.

CONCLUSION

Dr. Gruneberg calls this book French by Association because the technique used in this book involves remembering French by association with something that the learners already know. If they know how to associate anything they want to remember to something they already know, they'll have a trained memory. Learning French is as simple as that! (You may also like to read FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE PRESENT TENSE, FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE PAST TENSES, FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE FUTURE TENSE & HOW TO LEARN FRENCH EFFICIENTLY ON YOUR OWN)

References:

1.  Gruneberg, Michael M. French by Association. Passport Books.

2.  Lorayne, Harry & Lucas, Jerry. The Memory Book. NY: Dorset Press.
3.  Buzan, Tony. Make the Most of Your Mind. London: Pan Books Ltd.