Before the 2020 pandemic put a definitive end to my GCSEs, the one subject I wasn’t worried about was French. Oh how I wish to say it was simply because I was good at it, but alas, it was more to do with the fact that I saw it as a subject in which I could simply memorise set phrases and call it a day.
Dès l’âge de 11 ans à l’âge de 16 ans, je me souviens des cahiers de français qui était remplis des papiers de vocabulaire et de ‘WOW phrases’ que je devais savoir par cœur sans une comprehension de comment les expressions sont construites.
Now, credit where credit is due. GCSEs taught me the foundations of grammar, with ‘Dr and Mrs Van Der Tramp’ verbs being ingrained in my mind forever, but herein lies the problem.
À part des films de temps en temps, ou une chanson de Edith Piaf, la langue de Molière est devenue liée avec seulement la mémorisation et la grammaire.
Even in our speaking exam in which one would expect some degree of spontaneity, we were told to memorise our answers to the questions months in advance.
J’aurais aimé dire que ce n’était que moi qui partageais ces sentiments envers les languages, mais je ne peux pas vous mentir, cher lecteur/ chère lectrice. En fait, il y a quelques années que l’incroyable Olivia qui a fondé Olea a crée et a envoyé un sondage aux étudiants de langues, et les réponses sont assez tristes.
Very few responders stated they picked a language out of pleasure, with the majority studying a language simply because they were required to by their school.
Evidemment, d’autres étudiants sentaient aussi mon manque de plaisir linguistique au collège.
So, given that I didn’t have the time of my life with French at GCSE, it seems bizarre that I picked to study it for a further two years, but I persevered with the language mainly due to my Algerian heritage.
Bientôt, j’ai fini par aimer les langues.
I do however think I needed a GP appointment for the first few weeks of Year 12 because I had whiplash from the difference between GCSE French and A-Level French; A-Level French felt like 5 subjects in one (Literature, Film Studies, History, Sociology, and Languages) whilst GCSE French was simply grammar and memorising.
Malgré cette difficulté, j’ai trouvé que je voulais, oui voulais, m’engager à découvrir les medias français, pas seulement parce que mon professeur nous a dit de le faire, mais parce que je trouvais enfin que je comprenais la culture française.
At A-Level, we had only one hour of pure grammar with three and a half hours of learning the cultural content. As our teacher never failed to remind us, that wasn’t to say that we didn’t touch grammar in these culture lessons.
Je crois vraiment que la grammaire que j’ai apprise durant ces leçons a resté avec moi pour plus de temps car je l’ai étudiée en tandem avec mes cours de culture.
Whereas 15 year old me was learning ‘je ne crois pas qu’on puisse nier’ with no real understanding of the subjunctive, 17 year old me was studying this lovely tense in conjunction along with the film on which we were examined.
Looking at both the survey and my own feelings, most students clearly become disheartened with languages from a young age, with their lessons becoming synonymous with learning by rote rather than an engagement with culture.
Mais quelle est la solution? Moi, je pense qu’elle est claire; on ne peut pas séparer la vocabulaire d’une langue de sa culture, et donc nous devons tout d’abord enseigner les coutumes d’une langue pour que les étudiants retiennent la grammar plus longtemps et surtout pour qu’ils aiment la langue!
About The Author: Sara is an Olea Ambassador (Team 1.0, March - Sept 2023) and is currently pursuing a BA in English Literature and French at the University of Manchester. She speaks English, Arabic and French.
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