HOW TO LEARN FRENCH EFFICIENTLY ON YOUR OWN

Before I went to Lourdes, I managed to learn some essential French phrases for travel and every day life. Being able to speak a little French not only made it easier for me to interact with residents but also made it so much more enjoyable to visit Lourdes thus enabling me to make the most of my trip. The locals were happy that I made an effort to speak their language but deep in my heart, I wished that I could speak French like them. Even though they said that I was doing well, I still felt that I was not good enough and vowed to master the language because I have fallen in love with it during my stay in Lourdes. Thus it was in Lourdes that my French Language story began. The silent, private joy of peace that I experience each time my mind drifts to this place is my greatest inspiration to learn French.

To me, French is the most beautiful language in the world. But why French? Because it keeps drawing me closer to Lourdes, to the Grotto of Massabielle, the place where the Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to St. Bernadette from 11 Feb to 16 July 1858 (Please click here to read more about the Grotto of Massabielle). Massabielle Grotto is the heart of the Lourdes shrine. It is a place for silent contemplation and the silent, private joy of personal prayer that Bernadette experienced during the first apparitions is today shared by all those who come to pray at the grotto. It was at the Grotto of Massabielle that I spent many hours in the evenings waiting for the sunset. I feel very peaceful each time I read a French book because the language reminds me of Lourdes, especially of those peaceful moments when I sat in front of the Grotto of Massabielle praying and waiting for the sunset. Although I learned French because of my love for Lourdes, I feel glad that I am able to speak French because it is a major language of international communication and the second global language in the world, after English.

Frankly speaking, I have never attended any French lessons because I don't like to go for classes. As a daydreamer, I would only dream in class and that was why I preferred to study on my own at home. In this article, I would like to share my French learning experiences and French Language Collection with my readers. My French learning experiences are divided into three stages and these are described in detail below.


THE FIRST STAGE

In the first stage, I focused on simple French conversation, listening, elementary grammar, and vocabulary building.

Collins Easy Learning French Conversation & Get Talking French (audio course) by Jean-Claude Arragon. Communicating effectively in French isn't just about linguistic competence - it's also about cultural knowledge. To feel confident in a French speaking country, it is useful to know more about French culture and lifestyle. Collins Easy Learning French Conversation also provides the necessary information to enable a beginner to gain a deeper insight into the language, the country and its people.

By listening to these specially composed melodies with their rhythmic repetitions of French and English a few times, you can pick up over 200 essential words and phrases that will not just be on the tip of your tongue, but burned deeply into your long-term memory in next to no time. Volume 1 is your survival kit of essential words and phrases to get you by on your trip abroad. Volume 2 will have you talking about yourself, past, present and future, expressing your opinions, and chatting.

Adventures with Nicholas: The Missing Cat (a story-based introduction to learning French) & Berlitz New Basic French. I really enjoyed singing the songs that accompanied the story of the missing cat even though they were a bit childish. Berlitz New Basic French (my first self-study French course) comes with 6 CDs and includes a variety of language building activities, culture and language tips, pronunciation activities, easy-to-understand grammar basics and review exercises.

Adventures with Nicholas - A Visit to Grandma & The Five Crayons. I love my exciting bilingual adventures with Nicholas because I learned a lot from him! 

French by Association by Dr. Michael M. Gruneberg - an effective technique for learning and remembering Basic French Vocabulary and grammar. This innovative method can help beginners to remember what they learn. Please click here to read more about this book.

1000 French vocabulary study cards to increase your vocabulary. They really worked for me.

Berlitz French Vocabulary Handbook (with thousands of essential words and expressions covering everyday situations) & Berlitz France Handbook (packed with all the information you need to know about France).

These French visual dictionaries featuring a complete range of illustrated objects and scenes from everyday life provide a quick and intuitive way to learn and remember thousands of French words. A picture is worth a thousand words. When I was a beginner, I used to look at the pictures in these visual dictionaries and they really helped me to pick up thousands of French words in no time. 

THE SECOND STAGE

In the second stage, I began to learn French grammar. To become fluent, I had to learn how these language building blocks are used in everyday speech and writing. The only way to build my confidence in French was to practice, practice, practice. That was why I really took the trouble to do the exercises in my grammar books (below).

French Verb Tenses by Trudie Maria Booth & Complete French Grammar by Annie Heminway

French Vocabulary (320 exercises with answers) and French Grammar (578 exercises with answers) by Mary E. Coffman Crocker.

French Grammar by Didier Bertrand and French & English Grammar by C. Frederick Farrell Jr.

French Sentence Builder by Eliane Kurbegov & French Pronouns and Prepositions by Annie Heminway

French Verb Drills by R. de Roussy de Sales & French Verbs for Dummies by Zoe Erotopoulos.

At this stage, the easy to understand Berlitz French Easy Read Dictionary was like a Bible to me because learning French grammar also involved vocabulary learning. 

The Ultimate French Review and Practice (mastering French grammar for confident communication) & The Ultimate French Verb Review and Practice (mastering verbs and sentence building for confident communication) by David M. Stillman and Ronni L. Gordon. The Ultimate French Review and Practice (organized into 28 lessons) offers clear, concise explanations of all the grammar topics that intermediate and advanced learners of French ought to know. Each grammatical concept is illustrated with examples that reflect everyday usage.

Berlitz French Verb Handbook (a complete guide to French verbs) & Grammar Handbook (featuring clear and simple explanations on parts of speech, spelling and punctuation, syntax, types of verbs, verb tenses, and conjugations). 

Collins Easy Learning French Grammar & French Verbs with thousands of examples to show you the right way to use French grammar / verbs. 

Correct Your French Blunders by Veronique Mazet (warns you of hundreds of typical errors learners make and explains the reasons behind the mistakes) & French Grammar by William Rowlinson (where you will find all the basic grammar of French presented clearly, comprehensively, and succinctly).

Essential French Grammar by Jean Severy & 101 French Verbs: The Art of Conjugation by Rory Ryder.

Common French Expressions and Idioms & French Verbs Exercise Book by Jean Severy. Mr Jean Severy is a lecturer in the Department of Asian and European Languages, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University Malaya.

French Grammar Drills by Eliane Kurbegov (features more than 150 drills that demonstrate how the French grammar system works, including review exercises to reinforce learning) & Advanced French Grammar by Veronique Mazet.  After all the grammar practices, it was time to take my French grammar skills to the next level and tackle more sophisticated sentence constructions with Advanced French Grammar.

THE THIRD STAGE

In the third stage, after mastering French grammar, I began to read dual language books.

I started with 101 French Proverbs and 101 French Idioms by Jean-Marie Cassagne that are packed with mini-dialogues to enrich my French conversation followed by Better Reading French before I began reading the dual language short stories.

Better Reading French by Annie Heminway (a reader and guide to improving your understanding of written French) & Short Stories in French (a dual language book). Better Reading French brings you short passages that reflect real-life, contemporary issues and situations taken from magazines, the Internet, books, and newspapers. Following each article is a set of exercises that help your comprehension and develop invaluable reading skills including (i) skimming and scanning, (ii) using word formation, cognates, and context to determine meaning, & (iii) understanding idioms and artistic expressions.

Best Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant & Selected Fables by Jean de La Fontaine. 

French Stories (Ten short stories by Voltaire, Balzac, Gide, Camus and others in the original French and new English translation) & Nineteenth-Century French Short Stories (Stories by Merimee, Nerval, Daudet, Flaubert, Zola, and Maupassant). The short stories really motivated me to read and enjoy what I read.

Collins Robert French Dictionary (complete & unabridged) - my favourite dictionary. At this stage, I don't use visual dictionaries anymore. I want something more professional and, of course, this is the best dictionary for me now. What am I going to read next? The Bible in French. You may also like to read FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE PRESENT TENSE, FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE PAST TENSES, FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE FUTURE TENSE and HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH EFFECTIVELY ON YOUR OWN.

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.

QUOTES ABOUT NECKLACES

Necklaces have always played an essential role in enhancing our looks, as such, they have become indispensable in our daily routine. Today, more and more women are wearing necklaces to compliment their looks and create a stunning impression. In my previous article entitled THE ADVANTAGES OF WEARING FASHION JEWELLERY, I have shared photos of my latest batch of pendant necklaces with my readers. In this article, I would like to share some photos of the necklaces in my collection which I hope that my readers would like to see. You can also read the quotes about necklaces that accompany these photos to get inspired. I've collected 43 quotes on necklaces for this article. Buying, wearing, and collecting necklaces can be a very interesting hobby - much more interesting than collecting stamps and coins. Necklaces can improve your beauty and self image and make you feel more confident with yourself, so why not try out this new hobby? I'm sure you will enjoy it.

The necklace is the anchor; it's the classification of jewelry that says what the whole idea is about (Robert Lee Morris).

Colour is what gives jewels their worth. They light up and enhance the face. Nothing is more elegant than a black skirt and sweater worn with a sparkling multi-stoned necklace (Christian Dior).

It is true that in France, women put on less things. If they have a necklace, they don't put on earrings; if they have nail polish, they don't put on their rings and all their bracelets (Ines de la Fressange).

Impressions are like pearls; ideas are like the string that turns the pearls into a necklace. The string is invisible, but it is not dispensable and cannot be broken (Mu Xin).

A generation of the unteachable is hanging upon us like a necklace of corpses (George Orwell).

I get more compliments on accessories than anything else. I think they're kind of like herbs and spices. They give zest and zing to an outfit (Iris Apfel).

I see bold accessories as a woman's armor (Rachel Zoe).

I feel underdressed, if I don't have my pearls on. My pearls are my security blanket (Lady Sarah Churchill).

Obama doesn't run around wearing a Carrie Bradshaw-esque nameplate necklace that says 'Socialist.' But his policies, actions, words, background and associations speak louder than any ID necklace ever could (Monica Crowley).

A necklace has the power to be this one little thing that can make you feel unique (Elizabeth Taylor).

Every necklace tells a story (Gem Hunt).

Give a girl the right necklace and she can conquer the world (Marilyn Monroe).

A necklace is a very personal thing... it should tell a story about the person who's wearing it (Garance Dore')

A woman needs ropes and ropes of pearls (Coco Chanel).

 Words are beads on the strings of sentences. So make a beautiful necklace (Aneta Cruz).

Pearls are always appropriate (Jackie Kennedy).

Choice by choice, moment by moment, I build the necklace of my day, stringing together the choices that form artful living (Julia Cameron)

When you're on one of the Caribbean islands, sometimes it's hard to picture how they fit in with the rest, but when you see them all joined together like a necklace from space, you see the natural connectedness of them all (Chris Hadfield).

You can always tell what kind of a person a man really thinks of you by the necklaces he gives you (Audrey Hepburn).

True friends are like necklaces - bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style (Nicole Richie).

I've always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman's outfit (Michael Kors).

The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize (Olympia Dukakis).

Costume jewellery is not  made to give women an aura of wealth, but to make them beautiful (Coco Chanel).

What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language (Miuccia Prada).

A woman makes an outfit her own with accessories (Oscar de la Renta).

Put your money into accessories. You could create a million different looks (Iris Apfel).

Accessories are what, in my opinion, pull the whole look together and make it unique (Yves Saint Laurent)

Elegance is not about being noticed, it's about being remembered (Giorgio Armani).

Colour is what gives jewels their worth. They light up and enhance the face. Nothing is more elegant than a black skirt and sweater worn with a sparkling multi-stoned necklace (Christian Dior).

Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future (Coco Chanel).

White is pure and simple and matches with everything (Christian Dior).

Everyone knows that life is very expensive and you can change, you can turn, you can play with clothes with a lot of accessories (Sonia Rykiel).

You must, if it's possible, be born with a kind of elegance. It's part of you, of yourself (Hubert de Givenchy)

Matching your hat to your shoe to your bag, or your necklace to your earrings, has a tendency to look dated. Mixing your accessories adds interest to an outfit, and can make you look much more modern and polished (Stacy London)

Short stories are like individual jewel stones on a necklace, wonderful in themselves like standalone gleaming entities of semantic intensity (Vera Nazarian).

When a woman wants to look festive, she should add some shine, sheen or sparkle to her outfit, like a metallic clutch, an embellished shoe, or a blingy statement necklace (Clinton Kelly)

A big diamond necklace is noveau riche, really. People who have wealth a long time don't wear such things (Elsa Peretti).

The painful things seemed like knots on a beautiful necklace, necessary for keeping the beads in place (Anita Diament).

True style is not about having a closet full of expensive and beautiful things - it is instead about knowing when, where, and how to utilize your collection (Nina Garcia).

Accessories are like vitamins to fashion - as such, you should use them liberally (Anna Dello Russo).

I've never thought of my jewellery as trophies. I'm here to take care of it and to love it, for we are only temporary custodians of beauty (Elizabeth Taylor).

Jewellery is something that has to do with emotion. That aspect of jewellery really interests me (Ann Demeulemeester).

I always wear my evil eye necklace to ward off bad karma. I always wear one to protect me (Gracie Gold).