As you continue through your French journey, one of the biggest challenges you face is gauging your progress. If you’re not in a francophone country, there will be very few if any people to help corroborate your progress. What’s more, because progress often feels slow and incremental, you need a benchmark to understand where you are.
First, you should identify your goals. Fundamental French and The 500 Word Rule will be the goals towards which all your study should work.
Use the following questions to gauge your progress:
- What new words have I learned this week?
- Have I said them out loud and become comfortable?
- How many words did I write down?
- What new words did I understand while listening to French?
- How have I learned to better pronounce certain sounds?
- What new Fundamental French principles do I understand this week that I didn’t before?
- What step of the French journey have I better conceptualized?
You don’t need to come back to these 7 questions and answer each in detail. The French Objective Benchmark gives you an idea of the kind of progress you should be focusing on.
Keep your phrasebook (point #2 in the linked article) consistent, use this assessment, and keep in mind that there are a limited number of patterns and words you need to speak French.
At some point, you will find yourself blowing through barriers and becoming more and more comfortable with the language. Be patient, feel the need to learn, and enjoy your journey to bilingualism and beyond.