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I would appreciate any tips y'all have on learning a language(French for me) with ADHD

jessel profile image
6 Replies

I'm in French 102 for the 3rd time over 15 years because I need 2nd year language certification for graduating from my college. I've never been in a better place to accomplish this, but I still have moments of dread trying to stay on the path. I have already bought some french books and podcasts to give me something more exciting than the textbook to enjoy, and plan on getting a French pen pal.

Are there any ADHD-specific suggestions anyone has to do my best in learning a language? Thanks!

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jessel profile image
jessel
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6 Replies
Shnookie profile image
Shnookie

Hi Jessel. It's Shnookie. It sounds like you R on the right path. I love languages, and besides English, speak, read and write Hebrew,speak read and write conversational Spanish, bits and pieces of Yiddish from my relatives and smattering of different romance languages and even a little bit of Parsi because in Beverly Hills there is a large Persian population. The way I view languages is that they R like muscles that can become atrophied if they R not used regularly. When I was learning Spanish in High School, my family was lucky enough to have a housekeeper from Guatemala work for us. Every day, when I came home from school, I would practice what I had learned from my Spanish class and speak to her about my lesson.

Now the poor woman had the patience of a saint, but after a while, we started to develop

conversing on a higher level in Spanish. Not to paint a broad brush, but I loved the cultures of many Spanish speaking countries such as Mexico for its music and food. When I would go into a Mexican restaurant I spoke to the waiters and waitresses in Spanish. Obviously they knew that I was not a native Spanish speaker, but many of them appreciated the fact that I was reaching out to them in their native language. Though I have might have forgotten a little bit of Spanish, I still speak it well enough to converse with people that I meet in various places in L.A.

Jselwocki profile image
Jselwocki

Languages are awesome. I went on a site called

mylanguageexchange.com/

I became friends with a guy from hungry. He was trying to keep his English fresh and I was learning Magyar(Hungarian) way better than just a book

TryingToBeSeen profile image
TryingToBeSeen

Hey Jessel, I am not exactly fluent in French, but when I was learning it for an undergraduate course requirement, after having studied it in highschool, I found it helpful to listen to french music.

I find it helpful for my ADHD if I listen to music while doing other tasks, so this was an easy fit for me. I started out listening to french covers of songs I already new (like the disney soundtracks to Tarzan and Mulan etc), so that I could pick up on new expressions, then branched out in origial french music I liked and tried to figure out the lyrics as I went about other things.

Overall, it improved the oral quality of my french quite well and their music is great.

Hope this helps.

StuckInTheMatrix profile image
StuckInTheMatrix

I'm on a (fairly casual) French-learning journey myself. I do bite sized Apps like Duolingo, anywhere from 1-5 lessons depending how enthusiastic I'm feeling. On top of French music, you could listen to a French radio station to get some of the chatter.

Mille_5 profile image
Mille_5

Honestly dulingo is very helpful and fun. I have practiced different languages using it and it makes me excited to practice.

dgs2018 profile image
dgs2018

I learned Spanish more by listening to conversational tapes in a course format than I did in Coversational Spanish class at University. If you could find a language partner who knows French or attend weekly conversational French meet-ups in your area. Podcasts and radio broadcasts are also beneficial. Best way but $$$ is going to a French speaking country. Don't fear the journey my friend.

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