Courage! English teachers in France

Ce n’est pas un grand secret, les Français ne sont pas des champions en matière de langues étrangères.
Les Français

Let us talk about reality. The French just don`t speak English, and if they say ‘Yes, we do’ it sounds like this:

Do French people study English in schools? — Yes, they do.

Are there a lot of similarities between English and French?-  Yes, there are.

So why is it quite difficult for a French person to learn how to speak English?

A short investigation pointed to a number of current problems:

1) Most teachers don’t use the communicative approach.

The CEO of  Richmond Language Institute in Paris Bruno Vandenbroucke shared his secret of success working with French students in Paris — communicative approach. Probably, you will not easily believe that in the centre of European education in France, English teachers are not familiar with communicative methods of teaching languages. Of course, they are familiar if you talk about private language learning centres. However, in most of public French educational establishments teachers are using very old fashioned methods. Literally, English lessons in French schools  are still like this:

2)  Materials don’t foster speaking skills.

Elementary schools and colleges are still using the translation method of teaching languages. Check this out this French English textbook which looks like Maths textbook without numbers.

School textbooks are designed to provide basic vocabulary and grammar. There are no communicative tasks or lead in discussions, all the instructions, comments and additional information are provided in French. To practice vocabulary, there are only matching and translation exercises. Seasonal and cultural sections are delivered in French. So, English speaking practices in French classrooms sound like popular Frenglish songs where they communicate the ideas in French and highlight them with catchy English expressions.

3) The French are extremely demanding.

Savoir-faire attitude  — is applied to every little job and skill. Whatever you do must be done the best way possible. Therefore, when it comes to education the French tend to exaggerate the challenge itself. That is why the French learn languages only when they really need them for the future.

I talked to my few French friends who can speak English. For example, Antoine, we used to work together as extras for one restaurant in Paris, he failed his English exam being a second-year student of a medical institute. He was not accepted for the third year of studying, because of his bad English. So, he took a break and went to Australia. This is the most popular way of learning English among young people in France. I mean like 5 out of 10 who speak English had been working in Australia or the US.  What happens when they fly to Australia or America? Desirable progress.

Finally, French people start speaking English. But, here comes another big challenge French accent. And their inability to pronounce sounds H and S.

Tips for teaching English to French students would be following:

Love your French students, meet them halfway,  and practice the communicative method of teaching in your classroom because it is the most effective and fast way for them to learn English.

Learn French, because knowing French will help you to identify the similarities and differences between these two languages. Highlighting  the similarities between French and English can be a good strategy for teaching vocabulary in your French classroom. Categorizing vocabulary based on similarities, making mind maps and developing phrases and sentences using familiar vocabulary could become your favourite classroom activities.

You’ll be amazed how fast your students memorize and start using all the words in from your categories! And speaking will be your students`best skill.

Then, it is crucial to really really develop good listening skills and train your students to identify pronunciation differences. Understand linked and fluent English speech is a bit of a challenge for a  French classroom. So, planning your vocabulary and speaking practices based on listening news and songs will be a good idea.

Get to know more about French lifestyle and mindset, be curious. Teaching foreign students is a rewarding challenge, because you might find out that you actually learn more than teach.