Five tips and tricks for succeeding in online French courses
Studying French online can help you make significant progress. Whether you're travelling, studying abroad, or getting a qualification, it's important to adopt good habits to succeed. Here are five useful tips for studying French online:
Set achievable goals
When you start your online training, it's important to know your current French level and to set goals with different time frames (one month, three months, six months). Preparing for an exam, making enough progress to follow a business conversation in French or being able to hold everyday discussions abroad are all goals you can set. Once you have a clear objective in mind, you can do everything you can to reach it. If you are taking a full year of training, intermediate goals, such as acquiring new words each week, can make it more manageable.
Choose a good working environment
Working from home may seem convenient at first. In reality, it is very easy to lose focus and efficiency over time when taking online courses. In order to keep your motivation up, you can choose an inspiring setting for your lessons. You can set up a space in your home, bedroom or office dedicated to learning French. You can keep course books, French newspapers, a map of France or of French-speaking countries you would like to visit in one place. Working every day in a quiet and pleasant environment will help you to make progress.
Immerse yourself in French culture every day
Thinking in French is essential to make significant progress in the language. To do this, you can try to immerse yourself in French culture as much as possible. If you have the opportunity, spending 10-20 minutes a day reviewing the basics will help you remember the important points. Listening to music or audio books in French, and also watching films and series in French, will immerse you in the language day by day. It may also be worth trying to have regular online exchanges with native French speakers.
Complement your lessons with extra activities
Your online lessons are only one step in your progress in French. The rest of the time, you may want to find time to review your knowledge and expand your cultural understanding. External resources, such as French-language documentaries or newspaper headlines, will be useful to build your vocabulary and discover new words in French.
Take advantage of all the resources on the platform
In order to improve every day, it is essential to make the most of the resources available in an online course. Multiple choice questions, vocabulary sheets and online tests can be provided at any time for students who want more practice. It is recommended that you work on your memorization and reinforce your knowledge in this way. Depending on your choice of distance learning, you may have access to an online revision platform which will allow you to continue practicing whenever you have the opportunity.
To make rapid progress in French, you can improve online or take a course with Swiss French School. Many centers are available, in Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, or Fribourg in particular, to allow you to take online courses adapted to your level.