Your French Study Plan

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

You bought several French audiobooks from French Today and would like to integrate them in a comprehensive study plan? Here is how.

You love my approach to teaching French and decided to support our small husband-and-wife company by purchasing several of our Unique French audiobooks. Merci!

Now, how do you proceed? Here are my precise tips.

First, I will offer guidance for popular audiobooks pairings, such as a level of our method and our French verb drills, and then will talk about our French audiobook bundles: audiobooks we have paired up for you in a logical way – with a bonus discount!

French Study Plan With Our Audiobooks

I dedicated an entire article to my best tips to study French, and another one will help you answer the questions: “what is my French level and what’s the right audiobook for me?”. This article will even point you to my unique French level test – with audio!

Unique Audio-Based
Modern French Level Test

20 Questions to REALLY test your modern French comprehension. All audio-based with full explanations. Completely free, no signup required

Let’s Start…

1. Linear Approach

If you’ve purchased several French Today audiobooks, the first approach is a linear one.

Start with one audiobook such as:

And just go through one audiobook after the other and follow it from beginning to end. No need to mix them, unless…

2. Mix Them up

To better suit your studying mood of the day, you may prefer a more tailored approach…

Some day you may feel like more drills, others more like listening and understanding… Some days you may want a challenge, others a pat on the back…

I can’t guess your mood, nor the studying time you’ll have available each day. Some people are very steady and study French regularly for the same amount of time. I tend to like this approach: slow but steady.

But this is not for everybody. That’s why I developed a very flexible program. Our French Today apps are smart: they’ll remember where you are in the audiobook, so you can easily go from one audiobook to the next.

How to study with this audiobook?

Each audiobook starts with a “how to study with this audiobook” chapter. I suggest you start there! I will give you precise studying tips tailored for each of my audiobooks.

Allow a bit of time to familiarize yourself with the material and ask yourself some questions: go over one or two chapters. Then see how you feel.

Questions to set up your own study plan

Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself:

  1. Is there a part of the audiobook that’s more “fun” (like the story part of my À Moi Paris method maybe)
  2. One that’s more “work” (like the study-guide part maybe)
  3. Are you spending as much time on the “work” part as on the “fun” part (be honest with yourself!)
  4. How long did it take you to finish one chapter?
  5. Would it be better for you to divide the chapters into sections?
  6. Would you prefer to go through the whole audiobook or maybe mix it with other subject specific audiobooks or verb drills?
  7. Are you allowing enough time to review?

Now let me give you precise examples on how you can study with several of my audiobooks together.

A very popular combination of audiobooks is any level of my French language learning method À Moi Paris, with its companion exercise book, combined with our French verb drills. So we’ll start by seeing that combination.

À Moi Paris French Method + French Verb Drills

“À Moi Paris” is your base. It will build up your French knowledge logically and progressively.

French Method

Any level of my method is composed of two audiobooks:

  1. L1 and L2 for the beginner method
  2. L3 and L4 for the intermediate method
  3. L5 and L6 for the upper intermediate method
  4. L7 and L8 for the advanced method
À Moi Paris Audiobook Method

A new approach to learning both traditional and modern French logically structured for English speakers.

(836 Reviews)

More Details & Audio Samples

Let me take a precise example and say that you bought the intermediate level, so in this case L3 and L4.

Start by L3. Then when you are finished, carry on with L4.

Companion exercise book

You may also have purchased the intermediate level companion exercise book. Here is how you could integrate it to your study plan:

  1. you can do an extra exercise chapter after you are done with each chapter of L3…
  2. or do an extra exercise after each section: once you are familiar with the exercise book, you’ll see there’s a part that complement the novel (exercises 1 to 3 usually) and another part with exercises to complement the study guide
  3. you can use the exercise book as a test…a couple of weeks after you studied the chapter… Oral or written test? It’s up to you…
  4. you may want to go over the exercise book at the end of studying L3, as a review, before you dive into L4

French verb drills

As for the drills, they are to be considered like you would consider a dictionary: a reference tool.

NEVER, ever drill a tense you have not studied and fully understood yet.

My method explains the present indicative tense in À Moi Paris Method -Beginner (L1 + L2)
The other tenses of the indicative mood will be explained in À Moi Paris Method – Upper Intermediate (L5: past, future…)
Other French moods in À Moi Paris Method – Advanced (L7: conditional, subjunctive…)

So, if you are studying with L3, drill all the verbs covered in my French Verb Drills audiobooks…but only in the present indicative tense! It’s the most common tense anyway and you really need to know it inside out. 

When should you drill?
Whenever you can… But not for too long.
Repeat the same drill until you really, really know it without even thinking about it.
Pronunciation first, spelling second… Once again, you’ll find many tips at the beginning of your French verb drill audiobook.

Precise French study plan example

Now, let me give you a very precise example.

Day 1:
– Study a story chapter of A Moi Paris – Intermediate L3.
– Listen, check your understanding, repeat out-loud.
– And add a drill of avoir in the present negative.

Day 2:
– Listen to the same chapter again. Do you understand everything? If not, spend more time on it.
– Then do some of the story based exercises in the A Moi Paris Intermediate exercise book to test yourself (usually exercises 1 to 3).
– Repeat the drill of avoir in the present negative with the Verb Drills.

Day 3
– Train on reading out loud the story of the chapter of A Moi Paris L3 again.
– Redo an exercise of the exercise book which you found challenging the day before. Is it easier today?
– Guess what? You repeat the drill of avoir present negative. Or maybe you use the audio as a dictation and check your spelling…

To really master a new spoken language, create reflexes and get over your fear of speaking, the key is repetition:

Take your time.
Go back.
Review.
Repeat and pour your heart and concentration into it.

You’ll see that with each mindful repetition, French will become easier: whole sentences will come naturally to you, your French accent will improve, and so will your understanding. Be patient and kind with yourself! Keep a positive attitude.

Now let’s see how to study with our French bundles.

How To Use Your French Verb Drills Bundle

Once you’ve downloaded your French Verb Drills bundle, you find yourself with four different audiobooks:

  1. Volume 1: Etre, Mettre, Faire and Devoir
  2. Volume 2: Aller, Vouloir, S’asseoir and Boire
  3. Volume 3: Avoir, Chanter, Prendre et Finir
  4. Bonus audiobook: French Verb Fundamentals
French Verb Audio Drills

Train your verb memory with short 6-minute drills in 25 different forms and tenses

(145 Reviews)

More Details & Audio Samples

Drills are pretty straightforward

I suggest you start by reading thoroughly the “Introduction to French Tenses” included in the audiobook, and the bonus “French verb Fundamental” lesson you received from purchasing this bundle.

Then, listen/read to the “how to use these drills” section to make the best of your French verb drills.

Pick a tense you’ve studied and understand in French. 
Pick a verb.
Pick a form.
Repeat out-loud.

  1. You may first pick a tense and cover all different verbs in that tense.
    Beginners should start with the present tense ONLY.
  2. or if you understand all the French tenses and moods, then you may go at it verb by verb, and cover all the tenses and forms available in these drills.

It’s really up to you: your needs, your goals.

Drill out-loud 

A big part of this audio tool is to master the modern glidings and elision which are not shown in written books. So make sure you take full advantage of it: if you only listen/read, you will not improve your own pronunciation. You need to say it out-loud for it to stick!

“Avoir” and “Être” are probably the two most important verbs in French, not only because of their meanings but also because they are called “auxiliary” verbs: they are used to form tenses: “passé-composé, plus-que-parfait, futur antérieur, past conditional….”. 

Since they both start with vowels, there are important glidings and liaisons that are often missed by students (who tend to know the way they are spelled but not the correct modern pronunciation), hence the importance to drill out-loud with these verbs. 

The negative form is also going to affect its pronunciation. You won’t have time to think about it when you speak. That’s why drilling in the negative is as important as drilling in the affirmative.

And of course, for French verb conjugations more than anything else: repetition is the key!

Understand the tenses you drill

These drills’ aim is to help you gain speed with accessing the various French verb forms and master their pronunciation.

Should you need help understanding when to use the various French tenses (unfortunately, you can’t just “translate” from English), I suggest you check out my audiobook French learning method:

  1. À Moi Paris Beginner L1 explains and illustrates the French present indicative.
  2. À Moi Paris Upper Intermediate L5 explains and illustrates the French indicative tenses of the past and future.
  3. À Moi Paris Advanced L7 explains and illustrates the French imperative, conditional and subjunctive moods.

Now let’s see my tips to use the French beginner ultimate pack.

How To Use Your Beginner French Ultimate Pack

When you’ve downloaded your Beginner French Ultimate Pack, you’ll find yourself with several audiobooks:

  1. A Moi Paris Method – Beginner (L1+L2)
  2. French Greetings and Politeness
  3. Secrets of French Pronunciation

The À Moi Paris series should be your base.
It’s been written to build up your French knowledge progressively.

Start with À Moi Paris L1, take your time to go through it, then move on to À Moi Paris L2. There is a large “how to use this audiobook” section at the beginning of the audiobooks, so I strongly suggest you refer to it and follow my tips to get the best results with this audio method.

Secrets of French Pronunciation and French Greetings and Politeness are both additional “in-depth lessons”: they will help you master specific points of French which I thought were very important and needed some additional explanations and drills.

The À Moi Paris Series

The À Moi Paris (meaning “Paris, Here I Come”) series starts with a free French audiobook, À Moi Paris First Encounter, which you may download for free from your account page or in your French Today app if you have not done so already. This audiobook is a sample so it covers several levels, but you may want to start with it, so you get the beginning of Mary’s adventures as she first arrives in the City of Lights…

À Moi Paris L1 is written with the total beginner in mind. It will go over the essential French grammar and vocabulary and illustrate it all with the lively story of Mary and her friends. Recorded at several speeds, the audio is invaluable and should provide you with hours of studying: remember, repetition is the key!

In À Moi Paris Level 2, you will expand on the basis you conquered in À Moi Paris L1. We’ll cover lots of everyday topics, and the study guide will tremendously expand your vocabulary and irregular verb knowledge. You’ll then practice your French with the Q&A section: make sure you answer the questions out-loud to get the best from this method.

French Greetings and Politeness

In the first chapters of À Moi Paris L1, you’ll study the greetings. At one point, I will invite you to take a deeper look at the auxiliary audio lesson French Greetings and Politeness. You may want to do that then, or just reach for that lesson when you want to review greetings and politeness specifically.

Hopefully, soon with the help of my audiobooks and your hard work, you will master French greetings successfully and will be done with that part of your studies :-)

Secrets of French Pronunciation

Secrets of French Pronunciation is a tool you should go back to often, mainly to train with the drill audio section. So this audio lesson is more of a reference tool which will help you throughout your French studies.

Secrets of French Pronunciation

In-depth audiobook covering the foundations as well as the difficulties of today’s French pronunciation

(76 Reviews)

More Details & Audio Samples

I suggest you train with small bits of it at a time. Choose a chapter. Study it and repeat out-loud. Use the drills daily if possible.

Which Audiobook Should You Start With?

Now, whether to start with Secrets of French Pronunciation or with À Moi Paris L1 is really up to you.

If you have had zero French before, you may find the pronunciation lesson a bit tedious: starting with À Moi Paris L1 will be more fun, and you can learn by repetition first. Then when you feel a bit more familiar with the French sounds, check out the rules and drill with Secrets of French Pronunciation.

However, if you’ve had some French before, you may want to start right away with Secrets of French Pronunciation, and go through it before you even start À Moi Paris Level 1 as to get the rules of pronunciation straight, and practice a bit.

Or you may prefer jumping from one to the other according to what you feel like studying that day: someday you may feel more like having fun with a story, and others working hard at repeating specific sounds out loud. The program is flexible, so you choose!

By the end of À Moi Paris L1, you should have already gone several times through Secrets of French Pronunciation audiobook. You should have mastered the pronunciation rules by the time you start À Moi Paris L2.

Then, when you are done with this bundle, you’ll be ready to be take the next step of your French studies: À Moi Paris Method – Intermediate, which is also part of my Intermediate French Ultimate Pack.

How To Use Your Intermediate French Ultimate Pack

Once you’ve downloaded your Intermediate French Ultimate Pack, you’ll find yourself with three audiobooks:

  1. À Moi Paris Method – Intermediate (L3 + L4)
  2. Mastering French Numbers
  3. Mastering French Adjectives

The À Moi Paris Series

The À Moi Paris series should be your base, it’s been written to build up your French knowledge progressively.

Start with À Moi Paris L3, take your time to go through it, then move on to À Moi Paris L4. There is a large “how to use this audiobook” section at the beginning of the audiobooks, so I suggest you refer to it and follow my tips to get the best results with this audio method.

Although there are three audiobooks before À Moi Paris L3 (AMP first encounter – free to download if you haven’t done so already, À Moi Paris L1, and À Moi Paris L2), you will be able to jump right into the ongoing story as each audiobook stands logically by itself.

À Moi Paris L3 covers a lot of French grammar and vocabulary and illustrates it all with the lively story of Mary and her friends. Recorded at several speeds, the audio is invaluable and should provide you with hours of studying: remember, repetition is the key!

In À Moi Paris L4, you will expand on the basis you conquered throughout the series. We’ll cover lots of everyday topics, and the dialogue will be longer and more challenging. You’ll then practice your French with the Q&A section: make sure you answer the questions out-loud to get the best from this method.

Mastering French Numbers

This audiobook will help you conquer French numbers once and for all. 

Mastering French Numbers

Master All Numbers From 0 To 999 999 999! The most in-depth audiobook about French numbers anywhere

(31 Reviews)

More Details & Audio Samples

You’ll learn the logic behind French numbers then train with audio to learn the proper French pronunciation including the glidings and liaisons. You’ll study fun expressions with numbers, how to tell the time and also prices in French (there are many different ways).

After each lesson, you’ll be able to test yourself with extensive drills of numbers out of order and at three different speeds. 

Mastering French numbers will take time and practice. For numbers even more than with anything else, repeating out loud is the key. I suggest you interspace studying numbers with your studies of A Moi Paris: after studying one chapter of À Moi Paris, you may want to study with this audiobook for a bit. Keep it fun and don’t hesitate to revisit the drills often to refresh your memory.

Mastering French Adjectives

Mastering French Adjectives is an in-depth lesson: it will help you master this specific point of French which I thought was very important and needed some additional drilling.

When to use it is up to you. In À Moi Paris L3, as we study general rules about adjectives, I will point you to this auxiliary lesson: you may do it then, or tackle it from the get-go if you think you need urgent help with French adjectives.

A word of caution: this lesson is long, and can be a bit tedious. So take your time to go through it. Alternate this “heavier” kind of study with funnier activities such as working with the story part of À Moi Paris or the Essential French Dialogues.

Where to go from there…

À Moi Paris Method – Upper Intermediate will be your next move: we’ll study the French tenses of the past and the future.

For additional audio practice, when you are done with this bundle, I invite you to take a look at my other intermediate audio novels:

Which both come with a Q&A section to practice your French out-loud.

I also invite you to take a look at my French Verb Drills to definitely tackle the French Verb conjugations and their pronunciation.

Conclusion

There are many advantages to self-studying. One of them is that you are in charge of your study plan: you can study when you want, where you want, and more importantly, what you feel like that day.

Not everyday is a good grammar day! Sometimes you want something light, or on the contrary, you had a great night sleep and feel it’s time to finally tackle the subjunctive of être… I believe the best person to know you is… you! So of course, you may follow my audiobooks’ logic – I did spend a lot of time deciding on the most logical approach to guide you through your French studies – but if you’ve bought several audiobooks, then maybe you want to mix them up a bit.

There are always ways to make studying fun. So, make your own program!

And remember: repetition is the key!

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 25+ years in the US and France. Based on my students' goals and needs, I've created unique downloadable French audiobooks focussing on French like it's spoken today, for all levels. Come to Paimpol and enjoy an exclusive French immersion homestay with me in Brittany.

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