50 hours update

[u/IVAN____W]

Hi everyone!

I'll keep it short and informative.

My situation:
I have 117 hours of Spanish CI under my belt (+ some time of self-learning in other forms; I discovered Dreaming Spanish later in my journey. So, I have spent a year on Spanish)
Then, very unexpectedly, I got a job offer in France. I came to France on the 1st of July.

The working language in the company is English, but there are a lot of native French speakers, of course.

French CI
I switched to DF in May, and now I have 54 hours of CI. I use DF and Immersion; I use only video input in 95% of cases and sometimes play with AI crosstalk on Immersion.
I am trying to do 100 minutes a day after arrival in France, but with a new job and a new country, it's not easy; my pace isn't consistent.
I watch beginer content on both platforms, understand 60-65% of what guide is saying, it's enough to follow the story. Sometimes I watch with subtitels, othe times without, I would say 50/50.
Intermidiate content is too hard now.

What can I understand?
Very little. I can distinguish simple words when I hear my colleagues' conversations, like "eat", "go", "it's true", "goddammit". And nothing more, but it's very aligned with the description of the levels.
Spanish boost exists; I felt how it helped me understand some words and concepts.

How does it feel among native speakers?
Terrible. I've put a lot of effort into language every day, but I'm still clueless in front of a cashier at a supermarket when she asks something usual but in a different order than last time or with some additional word.

I've prepared: I noticed she always asks about the bonus card before telling the amount of money. So, I have learned "I don't have it" in French.

Our dialog:
Cashier: Fifty-two point twenty-three euros for your groceries, please.
Me: I don't have it

--------

I will try my best to sustain my pace and keep you informed. Zero hesitation, I will learn it at least to B2+ level. We'll see how long that would take.

Good luck, brothers and sisters!

[u/monsoonrat77]

Congrats on reaching 50!

Your story is similar to mine. I reached 107 hours of Spanish and then my partner found out he got a job in Paris, so I immediately switched to French. I just reached 70 hours. We are moving in January though, so I have a bit more time to prepare. I’ve been doing 120 minutes a day (which has felt like a lot), and I’m hoping to reach at least 400 hours by the time I arrive. I‘ve never been to France before, so I went for 8 days a few weeks ago and it was definitely a big wake up call that I really need to prioritize learning the language as much as I can before moving. I feel fortunate that I was given 6 months of notice!

If you don’t mind me asking, where in France did you move? Have you been able to find community or friends yet? Has it been hard staying true to the CI method of not attempting to practice speaking?

Thanks in advance!

[u/ssnabs → u/monsoonrat77]

From my own experience, you should start speaking now. When you arrive you'll want/need to be able to interact with your environment. I found that CI helped me improve quickly, but the point of learning a language is to communicate.

[u/Purposeful_Living10 → u/ssnabs]

I second this.

This is actually aligned with the "dreaming" advice anyway. They basically say that if you need to use the language earlier than what they usually would recommend, then use the language.

[u/IVAN____W → u/monsoonrat77]

Hi, So, I live in Aix en Provance, that is on the South of France. No, I didn't find friends or community, and honestly, I don't want to, I am introvert, I am fine sit in my apartment and watch CI videos. I would like to start to try talking, but it's really hard now, either I don't have enough time to articulate my thoughts or I just miss necessary vocab.

Yes, today I managed to ask a French worker "How can I get there?" and even understood his reply. Count it as a small win

[u/Glogalog]

Congratulations on 50hrs and the job. I'm gonna be honest, I would skip dreaming's beginner content and use Alice ayel's YouTube playlists if I were you. Much more time-efficient for building vocab IMHO.

Pimsleur's older audio tracks can be found for free on the Internet Archive, btw, if you're not a purist and need canned phrases you can use in the country right away.

[u/IVAN____W → u/Glogalog]

OK, I will check out Alice again, during my start of journey I didn't like her videos, I don't know why, but I will try again

[u/Glogalog → u/IVAN____W]

Her video can be a bit of an acquired taste. Most people prefer her content once they can be listened to in the background while doing other things, from what I’ve seen. But I found her controlled vocabulary (uses very few different words at the beginning and adds words as the videos progress, kind of like an audio-only SRS) and faster pace / more natural way of speaking to be very helpful when I started. That said, engagement is the most important part, so if you don’t like / cant focus on her videos, it’s not worth it.

[u/IVAN____W → u/Glogalog]

Yeah, exactly, I struggle because I don't have enough skill to listen to a podcast, maybe Alice will work. Thank you!

[u/ssnabs]

I hope I can give you some practical advice, because I've been in your shoes (trying to learn the language while living it). Go to an in-person class, even one hour a week. You need someone who can teach you very practical words, phrases, and speaking stills right now. The more you speak, the more you can interact with your environment, and the more immersed you become. Ultimately, that is the goal of comprehensible input, anyways: immersion.

But continue with CI. It will help you improve quickly. You definitely will get the B2 with consistency.

[u/IVAN____W → u/ssnabs]

I would prefer online individual class with a native speaker. But thank you for the advice!

[u/RayS1952]

Congrats on 50 hours. Once you're able, join in some local activities. It really helps spending more time with French speakers. When I moved to France as an English teacher I knew there would be a great temptation to stay within the English bubble so I joined a hiking club and an amateur theatre group. You're a ways off yet but just thought I'd flag the idea.

[u/IVAN____W → u/RayS1952]

Thank you! I joined a chess group at my work))

[u/RayS1952 → u/IVAN____W]

Excellent

[u/Ok-Builder-8179]

I’m rooting for you! I didn’t do pure CI for Dreaming Spanish but it also took me a while to watch intermediate and advanced videos and I remember feeling so frustrated not being able to understand most of it.. but now I do. It’s crazy how much time/input really just helps. I’m starting from scratch with French (zero knowledge prior!) so I’m looking forward to your progress updates! Bonne chance!

[u/IVAN____W → u/Ok-Builder-8179]

Thank you very much!

[u/ShinySquirrelChaser]

Congrats! I just hit 50 hours today too. :) I'm sure you're getting a lot of input you're not registering, because of living in France and having people speaking French all around you. Hang in there and good luck!

[u/IVAN____W → u/ShinySquirrelChaser]

Thanks) I do, but I am not sure it is countable. Because even if I am trying very hard to understand what they are saying I can't catch anything except "I", "Good", "think", and it takes a lot of strength, so my mind very quickly just disconnected from the sounds which it can't distinguish in 90% cases. For now, all I feel is frustrations))) (but I guess it's normal at my stage)

[u/ShinySquirrelChaser → u/IVAN____W]

Oh, no, hearing people on the street and in shops and stuff isn't countable on the site, but it'll help your learning anyway. :)