les exercises d’écoute

[fathom dove]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[hearty crater]

She told me I needed to listen more to shorter audios, not just long form talking.

I switched from InnerFrench to EasyFrench because the former is just a flat and monotonous. EasyFrench feels more like natural talking

I tried listening to French dubs of shows whose script I know by heart then writing down the dialogue, but it feels very slow.

[fathom dove]

les exercises d’écoute

[livid hemlock]

So you're having trouble understanding what's being said? How hard do you find the french dubs?

When you listen to music, news etc do you feel like you understand everything just fine?

[rugged heron]

I find that following the audio and the transcript of a podcast at the same time is pretty helpful. Here's one that was recommended to me recently, which is higher intermediate/advanced material, the host often talks very quickly but I've been loving the accurate subtitles:
https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/affaires-sensibles

[hearty crater]

For regular shows/videos, difficult. For example, this latest clip on RTS: https://youtu.be/bqEnpkHP9LQ

I got the message: economics of the war, about sanctions about Russia impacting Europe too, including petrol prices, and lacking in agriculture. And something about manifestation of Russia in the US.

I missed all other details, especially when numbers come into play (too slow). I heard 150 euros but no idea what it is about. Missed the thing about people getting killed. Heard French people will eat something but missed what. Literally heard « Les Français mangent dix huit… » which makes no sense.

This is doubly worse when speaking to someone, because I’m mentally taking notes of what I hear and preparing what to say about it at the same time.

[livid hemlock]

Dix huit might be des huîtres (haven't watched it)
What I liked to do early on was just get comfortable in my discomfort, and noting down whatever I could even if I didn't understand it.
Sometimes I'd go back to check, sometimes not
Dictées would probably be quite helpful, starting with really low level dictées and working your way up. It helped me realize where I was missing context clues, and focused a lot on thing that could actually trip me up (similar/same pronunciation)
Music can also be good since it's easy to go back and relisten without getting too tired of it. At first i would get as much as possible in the first couple listens, check the lyrics, and try to see if I could hear all the words correctly. Eventually I worked my way up to listening over and over until I got as close to 100% possible without seeing the lyrics, and would write down what I heard for the bits I still couldn't understand, so I could compare with the actual lyrics

[vernal swift]

in my opinion, the amount of time it takes to learn oral comprehension is drastically underestimated. i feel like I've probably listened to maybe 600-700 hours of French at this point and I still get lost when ppl talk casually. just gotta keep grinding.

[vernal swift]

the accents I'm used to and the ppl i listen to regularly and the news, i can understand pretty well at this point

[livid hemlock]

It helps to have a lot of variety because everyone speaks a little bit differently, especially in different contexts

Voice actors for shows and movies, especially for kids, tend to put on WEIRD voices which can sometimes be harder than an adult talking casually if you're not used to it

Music sometimes twists pronunciation around to fit the rhythm and/or has effects added to the voice, or background music/noise that can drown out the voice

News tends to speak very very clearly but sometimes more quickly than the average speaker to save on time

Sometimes just talking to a new person can be difficult because their exact pronunciation or cadence might be slightly different in a way I'm not used to

[hearty crater]

Merci pour les conseils. Is this dictées ? https://www.lawlessfrench.com/listening/dictees/