Le voyage n'est pas encore fini
The semester has come to an end, and it is time to wrap up my learning project. Although I am writing my last post, I will not be dropping this language as I am so proud of myself for how far I have come. When setting out to have a learning project on French, I was unsure how it would go because one, I have never used to the internet to teach myself something this in-depth, two, I have not had a French class (with the basics) since elementary school, so I was in for a treat.
Within this next section of my blog post, I am going to summarize what I did each week through bullet points of what that week entitled and how it went.
This post was an introductory post about what I was planning on learning and how I would learn the new skill. I initially thought I was going to slow cook but quickly ran into a problem and then chose to learn French, as this was something I would do on the go and did not require a particular location like cooking would.
Introduction to project
Plan B
3 different apps I tried: Duolingo, Mondly and French Vocab
Practice French for 30 minutes a day
How I would keep track of my progress (Screenshots and videos)
Within the first week, I was able to get to level 10 in Duolingo with my commitment and dedication to the language.
Opportunities Duolingo has provided me with
An article that I found about why it is important to learn French, which continued to reassure me that I chose the right learning project
Set a goal for myself for the following week
Recorded myself speaking in French, for the first time
Discussed how I would use a YouTube channel to help me with certain terms and pronunciation
This week I changed up from using Duolingo to trying an app called, Mondly. I struggled with this new app and discussed the struggles I was having with online learning.
App did not provide the same things as Duolingo (Had to pay for the app, not as intense and no opportunity to practice orally)
Made a goal for myself for the following week
Faced my struggles by being critical
An article I found about the benefits of learning French as a second language
This week I discussed how I was able to make it to level 23 in Duolingo, but there were struggles that came with it.
I used French podcasts that were provided through Duolingo which allowed me to listen to different current events in French
I discussed what type of learner I am
Posted a video about learning styles from a different perspective
Made a challenge for the end of the semester: To have the app completed
This week the primary focus was a conversation between a friend and me that took place over FaceTime. Due to circumstances, however, I could not videotape our conversation, but I provided the discussion with questions and comments in the blog.
Level 41 in Duolingo
Post an article about why titles in French are not capitalized
Change of my semester challenge due to a comment Katie brought up about how the app is never ending. Decided to change the challenge to get to level 63.
I posted a video of me speaking French on Twitter
I posted a video about how our language habits reveal many different things about who we are and what our minds are thinking.
An app, Larousse English-French, helped me with the conversation with my friend
An article about why I still continue to learn French
This week was all about showing off my French orally through reading a book and talking about my journey. It also involved trying new apps and being critical of learning (of course!)
Level 48 in Duolingo
I used a ‘Reading A-Z’ resource for finding online books to read in French
Posted a video about what it sounds like to have an American accent and how my friend, who is fluent in French, had stated that I have a Canadian accent and the struggles that came with that comment.
Tried another app, French Vocab. I provided my thoughts on it and what I would do differently next time
Posted a video of how the process of learning French has been going
I thought French was a very challenging language and therefore, I posted an article about how French is one of the easier languages to learn, to see if my readers agreed or not, as this was something I was unsure about in my own experiences.
Ended with how I want to teach my students to learn how to learn because this online experience was valuable.
10 Take Aways
Making goals and sticking to them is a helpful tactic that I discovered throughout this process. If I hadn’t made goals at the bottom of each blog post, I would not have been so successful.
Asking questions in posts involves the reader more and helps with my learning and theirs. I struggled at the beginning to involve readers in my post and make them as engaging as possible. This simple strategy, allowed me to do this.
Posting my blog posts on different social media platforms held me accountable for my learning and was a way for PLN to help me with different resources and suggestions.
Online learning is something that does not have to be scary because let me tell you, at first I was so scared and had no clue how it would go. There are so many resources available that allow you to learn pretty well anything you want and be successful at it. If you do not like one resource, well there are probably hundreds of others!
French is a challenging language, no matter what anyone says. With dedication and commitment, it is possible to make it happen. Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible.”
Having a website with all my classmates' blog posts is beneficial and something you should NEED to take advantage of. It is a space where you can be inspired and learn from one another.
If given feedback, do not take it to heart and use it as a learning opportunity. You cannot be perfect at everything you do. Everyone starts somewhere, and feedback is a useful tool to help you along the way, DO NOT ignore it.
Set time aside for your learning project. Do not just squeeze it in as it will not be as authentic and meaningful
If you set your mind to something, you can accomplish it! Take this learning experience as an opportunity to bring into your classroom as a teacher and do something similar with your students.
Finally, online learning is FUN!
6 Things I Would Do Differently If I Did This Again
Not do so much at once and try to stick to a few resources. I began to be overwhelmed so weeks which is why I was unable to include all my resources throughout my post as it just wasn’t reasonable. For example in blog 2 I discussed how I was referring to a YouTube channel; however, I never went back to that channel after that week.
Find more community supports. I only had two distinct community supports which were both my friends, Eric and Daniel; however, I felt I did not refer to these supports as often as I could have. I think it would have been helpful to find another support that was not necessarily a ‘friend’ because it could get me out of my comfort zone and force me to try something new with my French.
Set aside some money at the beginning of the semester, even 20 dollars, to try out new apps and make a post strictly dedicated to a variety of apps with the pros and cons of each. I feel this could be beneficial for mine and others learning.
Blog more! I felt some of my blog posts had too much content in them, which could overwhelm the reader. Next time, I want to make shorter posts, more often.
Reach out to my PLN more often and ask for advice and constructive feedback. This is something I only did a few times and looking back, I wish I had done it more.
Choose a topic (for example, clothing) for each week, as this would have been a good way to focus and find more specific resources.
Final Thoughts
This learning project was a great experience, and I learned so much from different resources and supports. There are a few things that I would change if I were to redo this project but overall, I am happy with the progress that I made. French is a difficult language to learn, but it was a fun challenge that I committed myself to. If you ever have the opportunity to learn a new language, take advantage of it, if you can. I felt so knowledgeable knowing a new language and enjoyed trying to speak the language anytime I could. What a process this has been and je suis très content des progrès que j'ai faits!
