This semester, I have continued my activity in the French Club here at OU. I have found that the continuous practice and exposure to French outside of my regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes is incredibly helpful to my learning of French and to keeping my study of the language consistent. The French Club this semester strayed further away from meetings that focused around delving into one event or topic and instead took on “conversation clubs” or movie-watching parties. One movie, “Délicieux,” I had to watch at home, as I missed the French Club meeting for class. However, its slow French and compelling plot were interesting to watch independently anyways.
Both of these types of events, though different from learning about French concepts or culture, taught me important skills about learning a language. For example, I have learned that watching English shows in French with English subtitles is a fairly effective study method for me. In the past, I have had trouble finding French shows that I can consistently watch (this may be because I have trouble starting new shows in general), but I can watch shows I am already familiar with very consistently!
Because of French club, I am also learning that it is okay to experiment and mess up; in fact, that it is necessary for the learning of a language to try and take risks, even if you end up saying something wrong. As a perfectionist, I have to fight the urge to write down my sentences before I say them. However, when you are speaking casually in an extracurricular instead of within a graded course, mistakes are welcome and even funny or entertaining! I think that participating in French club has vastly improved not only my French speaking abilities, but my willingness to speak up and challenge myself through education.
