Study Area

This article was translated to French for the benefit of francophone readers, and to demonstrate my abilities since taking language courses. To read said version, click here.

Last year, the Legault government announced that, from 2024 to 2029, it would invest $603 million towards preserving the French language in Quebec. According to them, its use in the workplace and in the household is on the decline. As an anglophone, I never quite figured out my stance on this issue, but I quickly realized that anyone who plans on staying in Quebec needs to be proficient in French in order to get by. 

I am an intern here at Global Lingua, and on my first day, I was asked which language I wanted to learn as part of my perks. Instead of opting for a brand new language, I asked to learn French: a language I already knew. This turned out to be a fantastic decision for both my personal and professional growth, for which I can thank the qualified teacher I was paired with and the personalized courses I was offered.

Why I Chose to (Re)Learn French

A study conducted in 1985 revealed that it only takes six months for a student’s language skills to suffer if unpracticed. Social factors such as your neighbourhood and inner circle can further shorten this window. Although this study is 40 years old, it still rings true. 

Having attended French schools from kindergarten through high school graduation, I was getting plenty of practice in. Although I lived in an English-speaking suburb, I read French books in my free time, and felt almost as comfortable speaking my second language as I did my first. However, up until recently, I pursued post-secondary studies at English colleges, and mostly surrounded myself with English speakers. Despite my early efforts to become fully fluent, I forgot key grammar rules and lost my instincts in written French in the span of two years.

As I switched over to a French university and entered the Montreal workforce, I had no choice but to strengthen my skills once again. When the opportunity presented itself, I chose to take advanced-level French classes with Marie-Josée. I wanted to refresh my memory on what I learned in high school, enrich my vocabulary, and work on my writing skills. I could not be happier with this decision.

A Course Structure That Optimizes Learning

Global Lingua sells their services in packages of 30-minute courses offered online through Google Meet. Of course, dedicating only 30 minutes per week to learning a new language is not exactly significant. This leaves you with two options: take two 30-minute classes per week, or book two classes back-to-back and create an hour-long one. In my experience, the latter allows you to dive deeper into the course material without interruptions, and allows you plenty of time to ask as many questions as needed.

Marie-Josée and I spent a lot of the first class getting to know each other. She informed me of her childhood growing up in Quebec and her years teaching second languages around the world. Then, I told her about my studies and my aspirations of becoming a project manager. Without me even noticing, she was making note of grammatical errors I was making throughout the conversation. At the end of class, I received these notes in the form of a feedback sheet, and was instructed to utilize what I had learned thus far to correct it. This routine – conversing about life and correcting my mistakes – became a staple of my Global Lingua courses. This was extremely helpful, as I was not simply being corrected in the moment and forgetting two seconds later, but I was actually facing my errors, seeing them written down, and working on them outside of class.

What Global Lingua Did For Me

Global Lingua courses, while mainly being centred around conversation, are fairly multifaceted. My teacher had lessons and exercises screenshotted from different textbooks that she would send me for us to go over together. She also created her own exercises on the fly for me to complete verbally or in the Google Meet chat, and tasked me with writing small texts in my personal time without the use of correction tools. All of this combined provided me with a comprehensive educational experience that improved my French in three fundamental ways:

Confidence in Conversation

Half the battle of speaking the language is earning the confidence to do so. Knowing that my French was not what it used to be made me more nervous while speaking, thus leading to more mistakes and mispronunciations. Getting to regularly practice with a party I knew would not judge me allowed me to gain some well-needed confidence, while still holding space to be corrected. Better to be corrected and never repeat the same mistake than to keep making it in front of strangers!

Enriched Vocabulary

Before beginning lessons, I requested that my teacher and I work on my vocabulary; I knew the basics of the language, but I sometimes had a hard time finding my words when talking about subjective ideas. The goal here was to come across more well-read and proficient when speaking in a professional context. Simply reading works of literature or listening to her speak helped with this, but we also delved into transition words and similar essential vocabulary for writing essays and assignments.

Improved Written Expression

This surely comes with expanding my lexical horizons, but refining these skills was more about learning to translate my thoughts, while retaining my individual writing style. French is tricky to learn when English is your first language, because so many direct translations from English lead to common anglicisms that are inadmissible in French. To combat this, I often sent Marie-Josée excerpts of texts I was drafting for my job so she could correct my grammar, syntax and translations of common English expressions. Any new expressions I learned were noted down for me to review and use in the future. This allowed me to better express myself in writing without losing my unique “voice”.

Why I Backed Away From Free Language Learning Apps

I know what you must be thinking: “Of course it is easy for you to recommend these paid courses, you got them for free!” That would be an entirely fair observation, but to that I say: it is well worth the money. I tried relearning French with free language learning apps, but it simply did not work for me. Since I was learning at a higher level, the AI could not come up with sufficiently challenging questions for me, and would feed me the same vocabulary exercises every day. They may be more efficient in teaching at a beginner level, but even then, you will need extra help if you want to make it far. 

These apps lack the feedback you would normally get if you worked with a qualified teacher. If you get a question wrong, the apps do not tell you why. So, you have no choice but to do additional research and pray that the Internet does not steer you wrong. If I need to get past a paywall to get higher quality education, I would rather speak with a real person to whom I can ask as many questions as I need to understand the material.

With $603 million being invested solely to keep the French language alive in Quebec, us anglophone residents have to keep up. Throughout the next four years, there will be less and less forgiveness given to workers who do not speak the language. Based on that fact, I decided to relearn French to prepare myself for the corporate world. Although I must continue at it in order to avoid losing my fluency again, I am grateful to Global Lingua and Marie-Josée for the headstart they have given me thus far.