1.1.5.1 First approach
Download the GigaFrench MP3 audio files from www.gigafrench.com/download. Before starting your Power Listening program (i.e., cutting the audio into portions from 2 to 4 seconds and listening to them with the AB Repeat Player), we advise you to listen to the entire audio once or twice while reading the English translation. This way, you’ll get familiar with the content of the text.
If you already know some French, listen to the entire audio file once or twice while reading the French text. That will give you a feeling of what you know and what you still have to learn.
1.1.5.2 Slow audio, normal audio
Each GigaFrench text comes with two audio versions: slow and normal. We recommend to start with the slow version but as soon as you can, work only with the normal speed audio. For the final test of “total understanding” you should, of course, use the normal audio.
1.1.5.3 Parallel learning
Are you
- on public transport?
- in your car?
- at the beach?
Are you
- going to the market?
- jogging?
- cooking?
In all these situations put on your headphones and listen to the GigaFrench audios files. There are two modes:
- Hyper-focused mode
- “Standby” mode
Both methods are precious. If you are hyper-focused, you’ll obviously learn faster. But also listening in “stand-by”, in parallel to other activities, has many advantages. Are you performing a complicated culinary recipe? Or are you doing a bit of handiwork around the house? Put your headphones on! “Something” will always reach your brain, for example the sound of the words, the music of the language and, more rarely, the meaning of a word. In any case, when you study French (with the GigaFrench PDF or book, with other grammars or while doing exercises), don’t do it without your headphones and the GigaFrench sound in your ears!
1.1.5.4 Close your eyes
After working several times on a text, do your first test of understanding. Put a sentence into an AB loop, close your eyes and listen. If you do not understand the meaning of every single word, open your eyes and read the sentence again. Today it may not have gone perfectly; don’t worry, in a few days you’ll succeed.
1.1.5.5 Second approach
After a few AB rounds, you will know the texts by heart, at least the English version. At this point, we advise you to intersperse normal listening sessions. Select the “Repeat a single file” mode and listen to the same audio file from start to finish 4, 5, 6, up to 7 times. As you listen, always read the French text.
1.1.5.6 Examination in bed
It’s almost midnight, you are with your partner in bed, have turned off the light and are starting to fall asleep. Put your headphones on briefly and listen to a text. Can you, yes or no, understand every single word? If you cannot, continue studying the text until you can. As you can see from Figure 1.3, you’ll reach full understanding of a text after only 5/10 rounds. The discovery of your “first islands of complete understanding” are marked in blue.
Figure 1.3 – The first 30 days of learning Russian. Worksheet of a 40+ year-old adult with no previous experience of Russian. Study of a manual of 18 texts (total audio time: 43 minutes). Daily average of Power Listening: 1’ 22”. The discoveries of the “first islands of total understanding” are marked in blue.
1.1.5.7 Better understanding of words
In our experience, you cannot understand 100% of a spoken script if you do not know all the words. We recommend that you check the GigaFrench word lists regularly.
1.1.5.8 Friends
It is easier to learn with friends. If you have friends or family who want to learn French, present them with the GigaFrench Power Listening Program and explain the benefits to them. In particular, teach them how to use a worksheet to document their progress. Describe the extraordinary feeling of conquering, one after the other, these “islands of total understanding”.
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