🥐 1 Year Relearning French Update

300 Hours of French | French Feels Familiar

📝 Since The Last Update

It’s been a whole year of relearning French! In my 9-month update, I celebrated surpassing the false beginner stage, entering a phase where I could make connections and expand my understanding as a beginner. Now, this feeling persists as French gradually becomes more familiar. I find myself encountering more instances of French in my day-to-day life outside of work as if the language has become more prominent around me.

Interacting with families from diverse French backgrounds at work has made me feel part of a community. French, unlike many other languages, spans multiple countries, each with its different cultures. Exploring these diverse French cultures adds an interesting layer to my language-learning journey, which adds to my feelings of connection. This contrasts my school experience with French, where I felt disconnected. Now, I feel I’m able to create my own story with the language.

📊 Current Stats

As of November 4th, 2023, I have just under 300 hours (296 to be exact) of tracked study time. Once I started working in a French environment back in August, I estimated the exposure I got at work and tracked it as “immersion”. Since I was estimating I tended to underestimate rather than overestimate my hours.

None of my immersion hours are counted toward the 300 tracked hours. If I did include them, I would be just over 400 hours.

Tracking my hours serves to outline the activities I do in my target languages and how I spend my time. According to my French-tracked time on Toggl, I have spent most of my time listening (YouTube, shows, audiobooks, and podcasts) and reading. If you’re interested in reading what I do each week, you can check out my weekly study logs.

⏭️ Going Forward

Given my daily use of French at work, my aim is to attain a level where using English becomes a deliberate choice rather than a necessity due to gaps in my French vocabulary. This goal, essentially aspiring for complete fluency, is more of a long-term goal for me however I would like to achieve this milestone around my two-year mark in November 2024 or at least, sooner rather than later.

Improving my French proficiency aligns with my commitment to better support my students in learning French and communicating with French families. Whether I achieve 'fluency' within a year or longer, I'm certain that my consistent effort will result in progress.

Thank you for reading.