3 reasons why your French learning material isn’t good

I’m taking a huge step forward here, but I would bet part or whole of what you’ve been using so far to learn French is simply inadequate.

I have gone through a great many books that mean well – they think what they’re teaching you/how they’re teaching you is simply the best way (or worse, the only way) to learn French.

I have seen grammar books with explanations that were just wrong.

I have seen vocabulary books that don’t give you the gender of a noun.

I have seen conjugation tables with mistakes in them.

I have seen translations that were totally out of place.

I have seen reading material that was aimed at adults but was mostly kids material.

Although I cannot unsee what I have seen, I can give you a few tips on what it means for your learning 🙂

1. It doesn’t have correct French in it
   
   Well, that’s a bummer.
   Unfortunately it seems a few editors out there aren’t too keen about having their books proofread.
   What that means for you is you’re probably going to need some double checking from a native French speaker (most preferably a French teacher or tutor). Your French friend around the corner might help for easy stuff, but remember that not just because you’re a native French speaker means you have perfect French writing.
   
2. They don’t tell you how to do things
   
   Well, they do, assuming it works.
   Most of the time, especially for vocabulary and conjugation, they leave you to your own devices.
   Typically you’ll be left with lists to learn, as if anyone knew what to do with random lists of words in a foreign language.
   There are techniques to make the most of those lists.
   No one wants to learn the phone book and be tested on it. You would forget, and everybody forgets.
   
3. The material isn’t relevant to your interests
   
   And you lose motivation.
   It’s not your fault, it’s just not suited to you.
   Unfortunately I’ve seen very little reading material out there that was interesting to learn the language but also be interesting.
   That’s why adult students have to come to French children books and French fairy tales.
   Some of it can be good, but as an adult, it is very unlikely you will come back to that, and likely that you will forget the words because the context wasn’t very interesting, or too predictable.

For material that’s adapted to your learning as an adult, check out some more tips in my free ebook.