Listening & Reading: Building French Comprehension and Pronunciation Via Film

It's likely that whoever teaches you your French is going to pass on to you their particular brand of the language. 

My first 'teachers' were wait staff at cafés in Lyon for 6 weeks. By the time I arrived in Paris for the first time, I had already acquired a Lyonnaise sound to my minimal French. ("No, no, where are you really from?" I have been asked.) At this point, French people still  ask where I learned my French and look pretty amazed that the answer is Minneapolis, MN. "You speak so well," they comment. I am often astounded that they understand my limited French at all!

My husband, on the other hand, learned his first French from an American instructor who worked as an interpreter (French-English) for the military. Phil's good at communicating in French to the French. They compliment him all the time at how well he communicates. What's humorous is that he sounds like the French of the 1950s era films to me. It sounds a little exaggerated. I have to believe this is exactly how his first instructor spoke.

Crazily, I don't think in 'good' French, but when I actually speak, it comes out better somehow.  Sometimes I don't recognize my own voice when I read things aloud to myself. There must be some unconscious force within us that gives us the ability to adjust our speech to eventually reach the goal of being understood by native speakers.

Using DVDs of Films and Television Shows 

To improve my absorption of French speech,  I've been viewing films and television in French. While taking Intensive French classes, I committed myself to one per evening. I continue to watch French films... probably averaging 3 per week.

It would be pretty difficult pick up a language just through watching films and television, although I know people have. Yet these play an important part in reinforcing what I am learning and an enhances my vocabulary.

Actively and regularly listening to different French people broadens comprehension. Also, by maximizing my exposure to native speakers, I hope to improve my pronunciation.

In classes I often don't understand what other students are saying. If French isn't spoken reasonably close to an authentic sound, I have much difficulty following what others are saying at all. While the instructor models the ideal, every other person in the room has his or her own set of mispronunciations. For me, this can muddle the whole effect of speaking the language for an hour.

People often say foreigners speak so fast. And that's said as if we don't.

Especially in the beginning, recorded French sounds like speed-dial gibberish. In fact, this effect is actually the beginner's inability to keep up with word recognition as the dialogue flies by. I was surprised in Paris this winter by my semi-comprehension of radio and this summer I could actually follow the national news on television. (It did help that we had no access to English language broadcasts for weeks.) I hear other students comment on how difficult this is for them.

To get past this problem, make a point of taking in French as many ways as possible.

With DVDs, I turn on the subtitles in English whenever possible to make sure that what I understand is what was intended. Over time, as I learn more vocabulary from other sources, I am able to follow the dialogue better.

One of my personal difficulties is understanding "who did what to whom" a lot of the time. It's really easy to lose the thread of thought because pronouns are found in a different place than in English and are often merely contractions such as l' . Having access to DVDs of films and Internet videos to practice comprehension is f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s.

Take Advantage of Canadian Media

I use subtitles in French with French material when available. These are actually not easy to find. However, a good resource for this is Canadian films and television shows. Canadian shows are filmed in one language and subtitles are added in the other. One TV show I have learned a lot from is "Burn Notice". This is an American show in English which is widely popular in the U.S. and Canada. I've rented a lot of these just because I can follow the English in French subtitles. 

Systematically applying these ideas makes for a great vocabulary builder. Further, it helps me to see and hear how a sentence in English would be expressed in French. And, it is best to learn the spelling of a word as well as its pronunciation at the same time.  As in English, there are many, many homonyms so it is best to know which word is being used in a particular context. (e.g. en anglaise too, to, or two)

Finally, there is great benefit to watching French films to learn their point of view on the world, their cultural assumptions which we may not have, and their tastes for entertainment. American film is very popular in France so I can't say we are all that much different. Maybe we just produce so many adventures/chase scenes/fantasies that there is no need for more in any other language. But my sense is that the French are more interested in love, ennui, quasi-intellectual portrayals of life, and plots that have no clear ending. The humor is more self-deprecating and less slap-stick. The tragedies are less dramatic and more haunting.

As you may sense, I now have viewed a lot of really bad French films as well as a lot of great ones.

If I were to begin watching films like this again, I would have been more selective about which films to watch.
I have found that some actors and actresses are much easier to understand than others. I don't learn much French if I can't understand their speech. One of the best for me is Gérard Depardieu. His elocution is excellent and he has made  a lot of films in various genres. If I am inspiring you to give French films a try, his films might be a good place to start

At this point I have easily watched more than 150 films. 

Some of the movies I have most enjoyed are Ridicule (1996), Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), and Les Miserables (1935). Besides having great stories, the acting and the language are great.  

Let me know what French films you have enjoyed. I will be sure to view them with a glass of French wine and a plate of cheese.

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