Reading novels is a wonderful way to improve your French. These small windows into a world full of literary gems will help you perfect your language skills and increase your vocabulary. They will provide you access to quick and easy expressions to use in everyday communication. This learning method is seriously underestimated. And that's a pity, because you're depriving yourself of an inexhaustible source of knowledge.
So – how does this method actually work?
Let's start with 3 components that will maximize language learning through French novels:
- How do you choose a novel to read? What criteria should you follow when choosing?
- What is the methodology and how can you get the most out of reading?
- What is the greatest benefit of this process?
SHARED EXPERIENCE
'When I started reading my first French novel in 2012, it wasn't anything special. Believe it or not, I wasn't a big fan of reading novels at all. But it significantly improved my French language skills. Especially when the novel is at the right level for you to understand it. This gave me the opportunity to fill the gaps in my vocabulary by learning new words and phrases, which has always been a weak point for me.
Reading my first novel helped me realize my desire to discover and learn even more French. Now that I'm drawing the line, over the past few years I've probably read more French novels than all the books in Bulgarian combined throughout my entire life.'
HOW TO CHOOSE A NOVEL?
When choosing your novel, consider several factors:
– what genre do you like? Mystery, thriller, fantasy novels or romance?
– what time period do you prefer? Do you love reading classic old books or are you looking for some new bestseller?
– what format will work best for you? Hardcover, paperback, e-book, or do you have no particular preference?
The most important factor in determining long-term success in this endeavor, however, is the difficulty of the novel. If the novel is too difficult, you'll struggle with the book, which won't be a pleasant experience. If the novel is too easy for the level you've already reached, it won't be particularly useful for improving your skills.
A good way to determine the difficulty of a book is to pick 2-3 pages at random and read them. If you have trouble understanding half of its content – then the book is too difficult. That's why it's very important to be honest about your abilities.
Recommendations:
Whether you make your choice in France, or any bookstore anywhere in the world that carries French literature, we recommend you look for something like:
– book length of around 200-300 pages.
– paperback books are cheaper, durable, and easy to carry. Plus, you can easily mark where you've gotten to.
– it doesn't matter what genre you choose, but contemporary novels are preferable because they contain everyday speech and expressions. This will greatly help your communication skills.
METHODOLOGY
Once you've chosen your novel, quickly skimming through it won't be helpful in the long run. The goal is not to read the novel as quickly as possible. The main goal is to improve your overall vocabulary and your reading skills.
This is a methodology based on 2 steps and using 2 markers. With one color (usually yellow) mark the words or expressions you need to look up. With the other color (orange or red) highlight sentences you find interesting or expressions you'd like to use in the future in your everyday communication.
If marking directly in the book doesn't seem like a good strategy to you, then you could keep notes and records in a notebook or notepad as you progress through the novel.
Read the chapters in the novel to the end, then mark down the significant phrases or sentences. Don't dwell too long on any specific sentence or paragraph, even if you didn't understand it right away. The goal of the first pass is simply to piece everything together to clarify what the story is about… to grasp the essence. Once you finish the chapter, take a short break and look up the words and expressions you didn't understand, using a French dictionary, an online translator, or use a language website like Kabinata.com. Then go back and re-read all the confusing passages in the chapter to see if more things will make sense on your second read of it.
The 2-step methodology may seem tedious, but the process will help you spend more time with the material and extract benefits from reading novels.
Who can benefit from the benefits?
Students who are at intermediate and advanced levels will certainly benefit greatly from French novels if they take the time to find that novel which has the right balance between ease and difficulty. For beginning learners, this method may not be the most suitable, but they could also try with some children's novels or shorter books.