Richard Good
Lists silently mock the idle language-learner.
You said you wanted to learn French, they say. Well here I am. Now go ahead and learn me.
It’s never nice being confronted by your contradictions. I’ll put it on my list of things to do, replies the idle language-learner. In fact I won’t. I don’t like learning from lists. I want to learn by experience.
The list stares back. See you in three months’ time, it says.
Finding a compromise
There’s a part of grammar that can be amusing, if you’re in the mood for it. Grasping a concept. Seeing things fit into place.
But then comes the apparent drudgery. The lists of rules and exceptions. The lists of conjugations.
And yet. Learning from experience is haphazard. We see patterns more clearly if information is structured. If we’re serious about this, we’re going to have to work at it.
Creating mental boxes
When faced with a list of things to learn, a good strategy is to break it down into smaller parts. One way of doing this is to create mental boxes.
Let’s take that example of constructions that introduce the subjunctive. Let’s imagine you’ve got the idea of the subjunctive sorted, you’ve got the conjugations sorted. But then. You turn the page of your grammar book and you find a three page list of verbs, with some that do take the subjunctive, some that don’t, some that sometimes do and sometimes don’t. The heart sinks.
Here’s a suggestion. First break down the types of usage. There are many ways of doing this and you need to make categories that are meaningful to you, but here are mine:
- Mirror
- Outcome
- Parallel Universe
Mirror constructions require the subjunctive because we are reflecting on something (emotional reactions, emphasis)
Outcome constructions require the subjunctive because we are imagining a possible outcome (wanting, desiring, demanding, ordering, necessity)
Parallel Universe constructions require the subjunctive because we are talking about things may never exist (doubt, uncertainty, unrealised actions)
Now you’ve got some mental boxes, give them an archetype to help you remember them. Here are mine:
- Mirror – je suis content que
- Outcome – il faut que
- Parallel Universe – il n’est pas sûr que
To begin with, leave your boxes empty. But now, when you come across a subjunctive construction that makes you hesitate, stick it into one of your boxes. So for example:
- Je propose que goes in your Outcome box
- Il n’est pas vrai que goes in your Parallel Universe box
- Ça m’étonne que goes in your Mirror box
Improving over time
There are plenty advantages of progressing in this way:
- You only work on what you need to know (constructions that you actually use and that make you hesitate)
- By thinking in terms of categories you’re reinforcing your understanding of the underlying concepts
- By revising your boxes, you’ll master the exceptions – the constructions that take the indicative – through their absence
You can use Flash Memory cards to help the memorisation process (I use Brainscape). But it’s important to practise recalling your lists without relying on technology: noticing them when other people use them and drilling them by yourself.
These mental tricks are only an interim measure. As you keep coming back to your lists over time, constructions that caused you hesitation will be banked as automatic reflexes. Problem sorted.
