How To Memorise French So That You Are Better At The Language

When you are learning French one of the biggest problems is not being able to remember things.

The concepts are fairly easy to understand, but when you suddenly face French outside of the text book it can be extremely hard to remember the grammar rules or the verb endings, let alone vocabulary, and this can be frustrating.

Really the only way around this is to just memorise things, which we can do in a number of ways and will make our overall French abilities better. 

How To Memorise Anything

If you want to be able to memorise French, you need to be able to know how to memorise anything. Luckily the process is very simple and really it just takes some effort.

All you need to is have plenty of exposure to whatever you are trying to memorise. The more exposure you get, the more comfortable you will get with whatever it is you are trying to remember.

Once you are very comfortable with something, it is much harder to forget it.

Repetition Is The Key To Memorise Anything In French

As I’ve just said, you need enough exposure to become comfortable with things. Once you have that level of comfort, you are going to remember a lot of French.

There are a few ways to get enough exposure, which I will go through below.

Write It Out And Test Yourself

This method of repetition does work in small bursts and while it is effective, it is very painful. This is probably something you did in school, so I’m sure it will bring many flashbacks of that horror.

You simply just have to write out whatever you are learning over and over again. Once you feel like you are getting use to it, you can cover up the information and try and recall it from memory.

If you got it right, that is super, if you didn’t, then you need to just keep writing it out and testing yourself until you do.

This method is very time consuming and extremely boring, but it will work. If you have something small you want to learn it will work.

I did use it to learn the verb ending in French. Yes, I know this is self torture, but it works. I then used different methods to retain this, but for the initial memorisation, this method works.

Use Anki /A Flash Card System To Memorise French

One of the best ways to memorise anything in French is to use flash cards. This is also not a very glamorous technique, but it does works.

Software like Anki is designed for repetition and memory retention. You can make flash cards for whatever you are learning (it can be anything, not just French) and the software will know the best time to show you it so that you do not forget it. It just keeps showing you the flash cards at staggered intervals which will help you remember it.

I find it very helpful for learning new vocabulary, but the main problem with this system is that words are out of context, but over all you can memorise a lot of French with this style of learning. if you do a little bit every day, over time you will learn a lot.  

To use Anki alone is not good enough; you need other forms of exposure to the language so that you can actually see the vocabulary you are learning in context.

(You can read more about – Using Anki To Learn French)

Immersion

Immersion is a huge part of memorising French, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Immersion is simply reading or watching things in French. All you need to do is read books or websites, or watch TV and YouTube shows or listen to any sort of radio or podcasts.

So long as you can get a basic grasp of what is going on it will be extremely beneficial to you. If you immerse enough you are going to see the same words repeat themselves over and over again and while you are not actively trying to remember them, they are just going to be seen so often that they get ingrained into your mind.

You will get very comfortable with French after a few hundred hours of immersion. You can even repeat the same videos/ reading material, so that you really get these materials into you and become very comfortable with the words used.

Immersion is also excellent as its puts everything in context. It has the vocabulary and the grammar and it is all used in a way natives would use it. Your subconscious will be picking up on all of this and it is very helpful for your over all French skills. It is a form of repetition, just a slow, subconscious form. 

(You can read more about – Learning A Language By Immersion)

Get French Into Your Active And Passive Memory

To memorise anything in French you need to first get it into your passive memory, then it will slowly move into your active memory.

Using repetition techniques will help you to recognise the word, which is a first good step. Once you can do this you will need to move on so that you can actively recall the word.

Again, repetition is going to help you with this process. The more often you can recall a word, the stronger it is going to become in your memory.

Once you can pretty much recall a word automatically without really needing to process anything in your brain, this word will be in your memory forever and you will not really put much energy into it again.

It takes time and effort, but you can get there with French.

(You can read more about – Active vs Passive Vocabulary, What Is The Difference)

Use The Language Yourself

To really push French out of your passive memory and into your active memory, you need to use the language. The more you use French, the stronger it will become in your mind.

When I say use the language, I mean to talk and write more.

Talking and writing forces you to recall your French as you actively have to engage with it. This is far harder than passively reading, so the more you can do this, the stronger you memory is going to become.

You have become so good at this in your native language that you just do it automatically now. You are just so comfortable with recalling words that they just now fall out of without any effort.

You can get to this level in French. The more use the language the easier it will become. Using it will ingrain it into your mind. 

(You can read More about – How To Use French Throughout Your Day)

Focus On Cognates For Easy Wins

If you are struggling with remembering your French, take a break and focus on the cognates. These are words that are very similar in both languages, so it’s an easy win.

A large number of French and English words overlap so you can use this to your advantage and spend some time focusing on the similar words.

It may seem like a waste of time, but it is still important to know what words are similar as well as those that are not.

Be Consistent With You French Learning

One of the most important things to do is stay consistent. It takes time to remember things and it takes even longer to get a word from your passive vocabulary in your active one.

You might even forget a word 100 days in a row, but on that 101 day you look at it and remember it. It’s frustrating, but stay consistent and keep reviewing and practicing and you will get there.

Be Patient, You Will Remember French Eventually

To be consistent, you need to be patient. If you can be patient and just keep working away you will get results.

I really hate remembering things, I feel that I am so bad at actively doing it, but I know if I am patient and just do the work I will get results. You will find that words you struggle to remember will slowly start to stick and eventually you will remember them easily.

You can do this too. Patience and consistency will allow you to remember anything you want in French.

Conclusion

Memorising and remembering things in French is a slow process. The best way to do this is to just get comfortable with the language. The faster you can do this, the sooner things will stick in your head.

If you follow the techniques above and do it consistently and be patient with it, you will get results.

You will find that words are just in your brain forever and more importantly you will not require much effort to recall them. It might seem impossible, but trust the process, you can and will remember everything you need to speak and understand French to a fluent level.

(You can read more about – Advice For Anyone Learning The French Language)