How I Became FLUENT in FRENCH in 1 Year!

Summary

In this video, Rory from Melbourne, Australia, shares his success story of becoming fluent in French within a year. He emphasizes the importance of learning phrases through a combination of listening and reading, using the Assimil textbook method. Rory stresses the necessity of commitment, including time, social, and financial investment. He argues against traditional language learning methods and promotes daily practice and gradual difficulty increase for effective language acquisition. Rory offers one-on-one calls to help viewers develop a personalized roadmap for French learning success.

Takeaways

• 📚 **Learning Phrases**: The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning phrases over traditional grammar-focused lessons and suggests using a textbook like 'Assimil' for structured learning.
• 🎧 **Auditory and Visual Input**: Combining listening and reading simultaneously is recommended for efficient language learning, as it provides dual input for better retention.
• 🚀 **Progressive Difficulty**: It's crucial to increase the difficulty of the phrases being learned to push out of the comfort zone, akin to 'growing pains' in physical development.
• 🌐 **Commitment Types**: Success in learning French requires three types of commitment: time, social/emotional, and financial.
• 📅 **Daily Study**: A non-negotiable daily study habit is essential for consistent progress and for the brain to prioritize the learning of French.
• 💡 **Brain's Retention**: The human brain retains information better when it is encountered frequently, which is why daily practice is so important.
• 🏠 **Social Sacrifice**: Social and emotional commitment involves making sacrifices in social activities to allocate time for language learning.
• 💰 **Financial Investment**: A financial commitment signifies self-confidence and serious intent to learn, suggesting that investing in language learning can save time in the long run.
• 📉 **Avoid Short-term Goals**: The speaker warns against short-term goals often promoted in quick learning videos, advocating for long-term commitment instead.
• 🤔 **Productivity Check**: It's important to regularly assess if the learning method is causing 'good growing pains' or if it's unproductive and causing frustration.
• 🔄 **Ups and Downs**: The speaker acknowledges that there will be fluctuations in the learning process, but with consistent commitment, the overall trend should be upward.

Q & A

What is the first key element mentioned for successfully learning French?

The first key element mentioned is learning phrases. The speaker emphasizes consuming a large input of phrases through listening and reading, and using a textbook like 'Assimil' for the first three months of language study.

What does the speaker suggest about the effectiveness of grammar-focused learning methods and language learning apps?

The speaker suggests that focusing on grammar and using language learning apps like Duolingo or Babel are not effective methods for learning French. He believes that these methods don't work and are not conducive to becoming fluent.

What are the three types of commitment mentioned as necessary for learning French?

The three types of commitment mentioned are time commitment, social or emotional commitment, and financial commitment. These are essential for prioritizing and dedicating the necessary resources to learning French.

How does the speaker describe his own language learning journey?

The speaker, Rory, describes his language learning journey as successful despite having no prior success with traditional language learning methods in school and no one around him who spoke a second language. He learned French on his own and became fluent in one year.

What is the role of the textbook 'Assimil' in the speaker's language learning method?

The 'Assimil' textbook is used for the first three months of language study. It provides lessons with French on one side of the page and English on the other, allowing the learner to simultaneously get auditory and visual input by listening to native speakers while reading.

Why is daily study essential according to the speaker?

Daily study is essential because the human brain prioritizes and retains information that is frequently encountered and focused on. Studying every day helps the brain to deem French learning as important, thereby facilitating better retention and progress.

What is the significance of increasing the difficulty of phrases as you progress in learning French?

Increasing the difficulty of phrases is important because it pushes the learner out of their comfort zone, similar to 'growing pains.' This discomfort is a sign of growth and progress, ensuring that the learner does not stagnate at a beginner level.

How does the speaker view the concept of learning French in a short period like 30 days as portrayed in some YouTube videos?

The speaker is critical of the concept of learning French in a short period like 30 days. He believes that this approach shortens the goal horizon and does not lead to long-term retention or fluency. It is more of a challenge rather than a serious commitment to language learning.

What is the role of social or emotional commitment in learning French according to the speaker?

Social or emotional commitment involves making sacrifices in social activities to allocate time for French learning. The speaker suggests that learners need to be willing to say no to social engagements in order to prioritize their language studies.

Why is financial commitment important in the language learning process as per the speaker?

Financial commitment is important as it demonstrates a person's seriousness and confidence in their ability to learn French. Investing money in language learning resources or courses can be a powerful motivator and a tangible sign of commitment to achieving fluency.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Mastering French Through Phrases and Commitment

The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning French through phrases rather than focusing on grammar, which he believes is less effective. He shares his personal experience of becoming fluent in French within a year without traditional language learning methods. Rory, a 23-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, stresses the need for commitment in three forms: time, social/emotional, and financial. He introduces his YouTube channel, 'French Success with Rory,' aimed at helping others achieve fluency. Rory suggests using a textbook called 'Assimil' for a structured learning approach, combining auditory and visual input to increase language acquisition efficiency. He also highlights the necessity of progressing in difficulty to ensure growth, likening it to the 'growing pains' experienced during childhood.

05:01

📅 The Necessity of Daily Study and Long-Term Commitment

Rory explains that daily study is crucial for learning French because the human brain prioritizes frequent activities. He compares this to his work in tax calculations, where frequency leads to proficiency. He warns against the unrealistic goals set by some YouTube videos that promise quick language acquisition, advocating instead for a long-term commitment. Rory believes that serious language learners should aim for a sustained effort beyond the short-term goals often promoted. He encourages viewers to think in terms of years for language learning and to prioritize French in their daily routines, even if it means making social sacrifices. He also introduces the concept of financial commitment, suggesting that investing money in language learning can motivate and facilitate success.

10:02

💰 The Power of Financial Investment in Language Learning

The speaker discusses the significance of financial commitment in learning French, arguing that spending money on education can save time and provide valuable knowledge. He uses the analogy of money's real value being in its exchangeability for goods and experiences. Rory shares his personal philosophy on valuing time over money, expressing his willingness to invest in learning to achieve long-term gains. He reflects on his own journey, where he committed to spending money to learn French, which he believes was a key factor in his success. Rory criticizes traditional language teaching methods for their ineffectiveness and advocates for learning through practical usage of phrases. He offers one-on-one coaching to help others develop a personalized plan for French learning, emphasizing his desire to help people succeed efficiently.

15:03

🤝 Offering Personalized Coaching for French Mastery

In the final paragraph, Rory extends an invitation for a one-on-one call to discuss personalized coaching in learning French. He expresses his readiness to work with individuals to develop a roadmap for success, based on the method he used to become fluent. Rory suggests that this approach can help avoid the pitfalls of trial-and-error learning and provide a clear path to fluency. He looks forward to speaking with interested individuals and helping them achieve their language learning goals more rapidly and effectively.

Keywords

💡Fluency

Fluency in the context of the video refers to the ability to speak a language smoothly and accurately, with native-like ease. It is the main goal the speaker achieved in learning French. The speaker emphasizes that fluency was accomplished within a year by focusing on phrases and making a strong commitment to learning.

💡Phrases

Phrases are recurring sequences of words that convey a single meaning and are central to the speaker's language learning method. The video suggests that learning and consuming phrases through listening and reading are more effective than focusing on grammar lessons or using language learning apps like Duolingo.

💡Commitment

Commitment in the video is portrayed as a crucial factor for successful language learning. It encompasses time, social, and financial investment. The speaker stresses the importance of daily study, social sacrifices, and being willing to spend money to prioritize and ensure the learning process.

💡Time Commitment

Time Commitment is a specific type of commitment that the speaker highlights as non-negotiable. It means dedicating a consistent amount of time to language study every day. The speaker explains that the human brain prioritizes frequent activities, which is why daily practice is essential for language acquisition.

💡Social Commitment

Social Commitment involves making sacrifices in one's social life to allocate time for language learning. The speaker mentions that it might require saying 'no' to social events or reducing leisure time to ensure that enough time is spent on learning French.

💡Financial Commitment

Financial Commitment is the willingness to spend money to facilitate the language learning process. The speaker argues that investing money in language learning tools or resources is a sign of serious intent and can provide a strong motivation to succeed.

💡Growing Pains

Growing Pains is a metaphor used in the video to describe the discomfort or challenges one might face when pushing beyond their comfort zone in language learning. It relates to the physical discomfort experienced during body growth and suggests that difficulty is a sign of progress.

💡Grammar

Grammar in the video is presented as a less effective focus for language learning compared to phrases. The speaker criticizes traditional language teaching methods that emphasize grammar, suggesting they do not lead to fluency.

💡Assimil

Assimil is a specific language learning textbook series that the speaker recommends for its conversational approach. The speaker used the Assimil method for the initial three months of their French learning, highlighting its structured lessons and dual-language format.

💡Input

Input in the context of language learning refers to the language data received by the learner, either auditory or visual. The speaker advocates for a large input of phrases through listening and reading to immerse oneself in the language effectively.

💡Productive

Productive in the video is used to describe the effectiveness of the learning method. The speaker encourages the viewer to assess if their learning activities are leading to progress, using the term to emphasize the importance of efficient learning strategies over time spent.

Highlights

The importance of learning phrases for language acquisition rather than focusing on grammar.

The ineffectiveness of language learning apps and the promotion of traditional grammar lessons.

Three types of commitment necessary for successful language learning: time, social/emotional, and financial.

Personal story of becoming fluent in French in one year without traditional language learning methods.

The method of using the Assimil textbook for language learning with simultaneous listening and reading.

The significance of daily progression in language difficulty to mimic 'growing pains' and ensure effective learning.

The analogy of 'growing pains' to explain the discomfort of pushing language learning boundaries.

The necessity of daily study to prioritize language learning in the brain.

The critique of short-term language learning goals promoted by some YouTube videos.

The concept of long-term commitment to language learning for lasting proficiency.

The social sacrifice involved in dedicating time to language learning over social activities.

The role of financial commitment as a measure of self-confidence in achieving language learning goals.

The ineffectiveness of traditional school methods for language learning due to their focus on grammar over practical usage.

Offering one-on-one calls to help individuals develop a personalized roadmap for French learning success.

The promise of providing a blueprint for French learning based on the speaker's own successful experience.

Transcripts

you want to learn French

you want to know how I successfully

learned French became fluent in one year

in a short period of time let's get

straight to it first thing phrases you

must learn through phrases I see a lot

of people promoting grammar grammar

lessons you know even gimmicky apps on

your phone like Duolingo or Babel or

whatever crap one they come up with next

they don't work secondly we're talking

about commitment you need commitment you

need a time commitment you need a social

or emotional commitment and thirdly you

need a financial commitment to learning

French if you don't have one of these

three you're not going to succeed in

learning French I'm Rory I'm 23 years

old I'm from Melbourne Australia and I

successfully learned French in one year

I was fluent in one year and that was

off the back of never having any success

learning language through school through

the traditional methods and then also

having no one around me who knew how to

speak a second language really I went

out and I learned all by myself and I'm

here now with you with this YouTube

channel since the first video I'm

posting and it's French success with

Rory so I had my friend success in the

year and I'm here to help you achieve

yours whatever that looks like I look

forward to helping you out let's get you

straight into this video so the first

thing phrases what do I mean by phrases

it's very simple you want to consume you

want to receive a large input of phrases

now that's three is listening and eyes

reading if you can do both at the same

time

that's efficient that's how we want it

that's exactly how I did it for the

first three months of my language study

what I did was add this textbook right

it's called assimil acid milk I think

it's a great textbook for the first

three months you go through and you

essentially have on one side of the page

it's around 100 lessons you have on one

side of the page of every single lesson

you'll have the French okay so it's 10

line items it's a conversation at the

cafe you know Hi how are you good thanks

can I please order

French conversation 10 lines on the

other side of the book

English English conversation 10 lines

now what I do was I put in my audio okay

use my earbuds and I load up the lesson

I press play and I'd read down as it's

playing as native speakers are talking

to me and narrating the whole lesson I'd

be reading so I'd be getting double

right I'd be getting two types of input

I'd be getting the auditory input and

also the visual input so with that I

would read through the whole thing take

my earbuds out then I'd read back

through again and then I go to the

English side and then I would read

translate back to the French skimming

you know just my eyes I'll be just

looking looking back and forth back and

forth and with that I'd be synthesizing

I'll be bringing together the two

languages

and something that is very important is

that every day you're progressing with

the difficulty of these phrases okay

we'll get into time commitment in a

moment but in terms of the phrases the

ones that you need to consume you need

to get flowing through they have to

increase in difficulty you can't just

stay at the beginner level you've got to

go a bit out of your comfort zone right

it's like when you're growing up right

if you remember back to when you were a

kid everyone had Growing Pains

now they hurt

they hurt bad right sometimes you

couldn't even sleep you'd wake up in the

middle of the night because your knees

were hurting because your elbows were

hurting right because your shoulders

were hurting

and

the pain is there

because you're growing right you can't

have growth without pain without some

sort of sacrifice some sort of you know

difficulty right now

with French how does that translate it

translates because when you feel a bit

uncomfortable with your French when you

you know

when you're progressing with your French

and you're increasing the difficulty and

you go oh wow this is getting pretty

difficult you know I'm not sure I can

handle it ask yourself

are these good Growing Pains

or am I just wasting my time and I'm not

understanding what I'm actually

listening to and what I'm consuming

because that's the only question you

need to ask yourself right is this

productive you're watching right now you

may not have started learning French and

that's perfectly fine right it's

actually it's actually very good news

because we can build those habits from

the start of learning French right

you're able to implement them straight

away and that's a good thing now for you

who is watching and you've previously

tried learning French are you currently

trying to learn French it's not working

out quite how you may have wanted right

you're not getting the results you want

you're frustrated you're a bit

disappointed you're unsure of what to do

things aren't working how you want

we're able to change your learning

method and get you large success get you

that French success

knowing the channel right that you want

just like I did

now

if we're talking about commitment we've

just talked about phrases let's talk

about commitment

time commitment you have to study every

day

it's non-negotiable

it's absolutely non-negotiable you have

to study every day because if you don't

make that time commitment

you're not going to succeed why is that

because the human brainer Works in such

a fashion in such a way that things that

it sees and it recognizes that that are

coming through your brain and you're

focusing on frequently

it deems them important right so me I'm

going to count it right so I'll be doing

tax calculations for companies and

individuals and you know for other

structures and I'm able to do those

quick because

I do them frequently right I do them

every day so what does that mean I'm

able to you know have those efficiencies

in my brain in my learning processes

where I can progress and continue to

progress because I'm doing it frequently

how does that translate to French

what's the meaning of that well the

meaning is if you're learning French

every second day right every third day

every week you know just one day a week

two days a week you're not going to

succeed you're not going to progress

the rate that you might want right

you're certainly not going to become

fluent in one year that's for sure I can

promise you that because your brain

isn't going to prioritize the French

Learning over the other things that

you've got right stacked on top of it

so you've got to prioritize your French

you've got to be serious about this I

see lots of people on YouTube

do videos such as how I learned French

in 30 days right How I Learned French in

two months in three months

and that's all well and good right those

videos are extremely entertaining I like

watching them from time to time they're

good to listen to the problem is with

these videos is that it shortens your

time Horizon it shortens your goal

Horizon because what would you want to

have a 30-day goal when you could have a

one year two year a five-year goal what

would you want your French to go away

after 30 days because that's what

happens with all of these YouTubers you

know some very rare exceptions they

continue to learn French and they have a

beautiful level and it's very good for

them

I'm happy

however there's lots of them where

they'll learn for 30 days and then I'll

go through the YouTube channel and I'll

look you know six months past that video

are they still learning French

and the answer is almost always no

they've just given it up they don't want

to yeah they might have just done it for

a challenge right

but it's a real translation because for

you you want to learn French you're

serious about this

you're just unsure on how to do it right

you haven't had success in the past or

you don't know how to go about it and

that's completely fine that was me a few

years ago

now if you if you're serious about this

you can't be thinking in terms of 30

days in terms of two months terms of

three months six months you've got to be

thinking beyond that me I was thinking

you know two to five years two to ten

years two to twenty years of my French

I'll never lose my French I'll continue

to study for the rest of my life

now

for you it may look different

maybe I wanted to learn French in one

year I wanted to be fluent I wanted to

speak like I was French I succeeded but

that was through study every single day

I made that time commitment to myself

now the second commitment is social or

emotional commitment

I put this into a category of all right

you get home from work you get home from

studying you get home from school what

do you do

you go out with your mates every day

after school

do you spend two three hours on the

couch with your partner right or with

your kids

watching TV and chatting with them yeah

you may all right you may do something

else for your time you may just scroll

YouTube right you may have fallen on

this video luckily you may do something

else your time

but you've got to allocate some of that

time to French

you've got to sacrifice socially okay

because we're social we're social beings

humans are social beings we love being

around other people not all the time and

not all the people in the world that's

for sure however we do have our social

groups and our social groups our friends

our family they want to see us they want

to spend time with us

and this is obvious okay but what's not

obvious is that you've got to make a

sacrifice here you've got to commit and

say no I can't go out and drink beers

with you okay friend group right said

friend group said family group I can't

sit on the couch with you for two hours

after dinner I've got to spend 20 30

minutes on French every night and then

we'll watch TV and then we'll go and

drink a beer right because

your time commitment is tied to your

social commitment and it's also tied to

your financial commitment now let's go

to that Financial commitment what does

that mean why does the saying put your

money where your mouth is exists

if you ask yourself that why does it

exist it exists because

it's asking you

how committed are you how much do you

back yourself

do you have confidence in yourself that

you can learn French the financial

commitment is key

because

it

the point is

your money right if that just sits in

the bank and you can never use it for

anything even an insurance policy let's

say it's locked in the bank you can

never spend it on anything or it can

never help you with anything what use is

it just numbers a random set of numbers

is written in on a screen right in the

back

that's all it is

but money it's real value is what you

can exchange it for as you know right

you've got a hundred thousand dollars

and you can buy a car you can put a

mortgage down on an apartment that you

want to live in right you want to invest

in right you can buy you know your kids

a t-shirt you can buy birthday presents

you can learn things with that money

you've got

now me I value my time so I'm happy to

spend you know a certain amount of money

to learn something

and then to save time because if I can

spend say you know for example five or

ten thousand dollars and I can get five

years of knowledge in a subject

you know on a subject right that is

valuable to me

that's worth it every single day of the

week I take that every single day

because

five ten years of my life

is worth way more than five or ten

thousand dollars

it just is right we're only here for a

certain amount of time

and there's only a certain amount of

things that we even have time to spend

on

right

there's only a certain number of things

you can even do

and for French I prioritized it I was

ready to spend some money to go and

learn French and that's what I did I

committed I said no in a year I'm going

to get there and to get there I know I

have to commit financially or I have to

commit social emotionally and I have to

commit my time as well

and once I did those three things and I

had the daily study through phrases as

we talked about before

things just fell into place every day I

got better and better every day

progressed now some days of course it's

an up and down right it's never a

straight you know

perfect line perfect right angle up that

way no it's never like that you're gonna

have ups and downs but the average it

was up every day

and that was because I commit it was

because I had that method of learning

French through phrases that I developed

you know over the years over seeing what

doesn't work through the schooling

systems through traditional classroom

learning right there's nothing wrong

with traditional learning when it works

but for language learning it's an

absolute joke it's a disgrace I'll be

completely honest

like if we just you know are completely

honest with each other 99 of people

don't learn a language

at school as in 99 of people who are

language classes at school don't learn

the language as in after the school they

just give it up or they didn't ever

learn anything when they were there

okay and that's just because of the

teaching method they taught phrases

they'll be successful and everyone would

learn languages and maybe I wouldn't

even need to help you right you would

just know a language and then you could

go and do it by yourself

but they don't they teach you grammar

right they teach you how to think like a

robot right in rules you know in

structures that are concrete and don't

vary out and don't change which are

unversatile and not practical in the

French that you want to learn and that

you need to succeed now we've covered a

lot in this video yeah the two pillars

to me learning French were one three

phrases and two through commitment

and if this video I spoke to you you you

feel like it's you know it's really you

know hit certain points you agree with

you think we you know get along and

agree on certain certain ideas certain

perspectives then go ahead and if you

want to learn French book a call with me

one-on-one and we'll just have a chat

I'll see if I can help you out so if

you're ready to commit right with your

time you know with your social energy

and with your finances as well then go

ahead and book a one-on-one call with me

we'll have a chat and I'm looking

forward to helping you out because I

don't like to waste time I know you

don't we can just go straight into this

and I'm going to work with you

one-on-one to develop your own roadmap

right your own game plan to learning

French so you don't have to you don't

have to go out and to go through the

internet

and find a way you know through through

failure and trying all the different

methods that are either learning French

just to fail in the end right I can give

you the exact blueprint I use to learn

in French and I can work with you

one-on-one to develop that to make sure

that you are going to succeed in the

fastest fastest time period possible

right for me it was a year I was fluent

and for you you may want to get there

even faster we can have a chat see if

our interests goals goals a lot now I

look forward to speaking with lots of

you and have a great day thanks for

watching

foreign