How I learned French from zero to C1 in 10 months / TEF Exam 

1 - duolingo (4 mo.) 2 - grammar work book (30 min/day) 3 - iTalki (spent $162 for 14 lessons, role played exam dialogues, writing corrections) 3.5 - got a second tutor from Canada that she better connected with 4 - French Disney songs (rhyming helped for memory and offers sentence structures) 5 - 4-5 hours per day 6 - looked up synonyms 7 - prefers learning grammar in depth on a subject vs. jumping around 8 - TV shows

The real test is whether or not Parisians switch to English when you start talking to them 😂

Very helpful. Thank you! And well done. That's impressive progress.

Your achievement is amazing and I really love your approach to learning and learning materials. I would prefer to learn the same way as you - but I didn’t take the time to rework the materials in a more sensible way! I REALLY appreciate that you took the time to go through your sources and evaluate them. An inspiration 🎉

I love your sincerity and authentic personality & approach to language-learning!

Thank you very much for the sincere sharing of your French learning journey! These days too many people label learning grammar rules as being nerdy. I do agree that mastering grammar is very helpful, especially when constructing difficult sentences at an advanced level. And I love the idea of singing Disney songs in French 💛

Thank you for this vulnerable and truthful video of your journey.

So nice to hear your journey! Thanks for sharing :D

Merci beaucoup for this wonderful, honest video! Congratulations for your great performance - it was the result of a lot of hard work. I have done DELF B2 but still need to become fluent in French. I am going to do my best to achieve my objective. Thanks again.

One of the ways I am learning vocabulary is to learn words in groups, so much easier to remember. For example, use a dictionary to translate parts of the body; travel words; furniture, or things found in a living room, bedroom, and bathroom.

Thank you for this video, you’re awesome!

Brilliant, such a wonderful detailed video, this will help me so much!! 😊 An amazing achievement 👏 you should be so proud of yourself, maybe more impressed that you finished Duo Lingo!! You give me inspiration as I am trying to learn French, so many ideas. Thank you again! 😊

Wow! That is insane dedication, congrats!!

What an excellent, candid, extremely informative video! Well done, and thank you!

Hello, my name is Otávio from Brazil. Thank you very much for sharing this content. Happy new year! Bonne année !. I am a languages lover.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I`ll try do the same!

you are an inspiration!

C’est super utile pour moi. J’essaie aussi de obtenir le niveau C1 dans un an. Now I’m at month 4 and feel a bit tiring. This is very inspiring for me.

Incroyable histoire ! Merci de partager. T’es vraiment exceptionnelle. bravo pour la persévérance. Si tu veux pratiquer la conversation (moi j’apprends aussi) - je serais ravi de le faire avec toi.

Thank you this was interesting to watch very helpful ❤❤

I looked into subtitles and closed captions and this is the general rule. Closed captions are strictly for deaf people and hard of hearing, and the text matches the dialog spoken word for word. Subtitles are more for people who can hear fine and have at least a decent understanding of the language being spoken. What they do is try to reword the dialog so if the person is unfamiliar with the word/phrase(s) in the sentence spoken they can look at the subtitles, and hopefully understand it with different wording. For example maybe the person doesn't know the word that is spoken like "forgo", but would know the word "avoid" used in the subtitles. It irrates me that US dvds refuse to include closed captions and only include subtitles, because when learning another language CC are more helpful when trying to figure out what is being spoken.

Thanks for being so crisp!

Bravo pour votre persévérence. J'espère que vous avez l'occasion de pratiquer le français régulièrement.

Je suis belge francophone de langue maternelle, en tout cas, félicitations pour tous tes efforts et ta passion pour la langue.. Salutations

Thank you so much ☺️ I’m starting french for TEF and this video thoroughly explains everything 😍

I have never seen someone take their new year resolution so seriously 😳 kudos to you wow impressive 👏👏👏

I have a challenge to get to B1 in 6 months. this highly motivated me

Merci beaucoup pour cette vidéo informative et vaste! У тебя впечатлителяющий результат! Вдохновляет на то, чтобы более упорно работать над французским языком😬 Было интересно послушать. Like! :)

Just found this video. I’ve been trying to learn French off and on. Also, I had Russian language in college, but can’t speak very well. But I have to say 6:47 ducks, eating dogs… That is the hardest. I have laughed in a long time. Spasibo !

GOAT 🐐, achieved c1 already in 4 months study and test. Honestly, I have become your big fan, the stories u posted in Instagram about ur situation in polluted city of Russia and ur dedication and motivation to fly to Canada. U r a star, honestly very deserving for PR. U should be proud of yourself, I am so inspired by you and studying for French currently. I will definitely buy ur study materials

Madmoiselle Ohiania, , Vous cette tres intellingente !

I have a 360 day streak using Duolingo for French. I understand reading it. But when I try to watch French TV shows they speak so fast and it sounds nothing like I learned. My french ear is not so good. I started listening to french music more to just get used to it but I feel like I should know more after doing this daily for a year. So frustrating.

I learned French in 2 years, so it's impressive

I just reached the part where you said that your notes have to look great and that you sound like crazy person I agree but very helpful video thanks a lot!

Huh, that's an interesting video! Many thanks to the author of the channel for the recommendations! The problem with many people is that they want to take a "magic pill" or get "secret knowledge" and immediately have skills and abilities. However, the truth of life is that knowledge, skills, and abilities do not come by themselves. You can't learn a foreign language without doing anything, without wasting your time and effort, just like you can't learn to ride a bike lying on a comfy couch, listening to lectures and watching videos about "modern methods of learning" on a bike. To really learn something, you have to really practice every day. You're going to fall down while you're learning, and you're going to get bumps - that's normal! The ups and downs of learning are an integral part of our lives. Motivation from success and depression from failure will always be your study companions. However, every student has problems in his or her studies that he or she lacks the knowledge to solve. It can be: poor memorization of words; no progress in language learning; the student can speak, but does not understand speech by ear; misunderstanding of grammar; incorrect pronunciation, etc. Agree that a problem you don't know how to solve is very demotivating. In order to find the answer to our question we have to spend a lot of time to read videos, articles and books by polyglots. In today's world, we have to solve problems as quickly as possible. I don't have time to study and analyze a huge amount of information. My goal is to master the basic knowledge of a foreign language as quickly as possible and already start earning money effectively in the international arena. I settled on the practical guide by Yuriy Ivantsiv " Polyglot's Notes: practical tips for learning foreign language". This book is always in my bag. If I have a problem while learning a language, I quickly find the answer in this book. There are many different techniques and tips for learning a foreign language in Polyglot Notes. I have made my own individual schedule and plan for language learning. Now I know what I am going to study, how I am going to study, when I am going to study and what results I am going to achieve. No problem could stop me! With an effective language learning plan my professional skills are more and more in demand internationally every day. Friends, don't stop there! Everyone has talents that millions of people around the world need! Learn the language and make your ideas and dreams come true! Thanks to the author of the channel for the informative and useful video! Your videos motivate me.

Hi, I wanna say thank you for tell me about Lingvist, I watched your video last year and since then I started to do lingvist everyday since november, I do around 200 words by day, now, in may, I am able to understand and read a lot of thinks, I made more than 5000 words ... I was very helpful in my learning

So essentially: Before 1st exam- 4 months of Duolingo and going through a text book and exam practice sessions with Italki tutors and this took you to an average of B1 level After 1st exam- you had varied inputs of the language from RU-vid videos to Disney French songs so the language can come to you naturally That’s super impressive to get to an average of B1 level by 4 months

TCF is better in the sense that not much improvisation needed. A good preparation will get you there.

NO! You don't sound like a crazy person when you have to re-write the notes just because of additional notes. I too struggle with that, because the layout of my notes has to make sense to me, and has to flow in a way that facilitates my studying. If there is no flow, it's got to go! ... also, thank you very much for the video :)

Congrats, and thank you for sharing your experience. This is the most realistic video on language learning I've seen yet. It takes a lot of time and commitment to reach your level. I cringe whenever I see a video of someone saying they did it in a few months while only studying 30 minutes a day. Are you continuing to strengthen your French studies, or have you moved on to other languages?

Thank You so much

Great video, I have a question tho, at 14:18 when you say that you watched a lot of shows dubbed in French, do you too find their voice cringy at first, or is it just the French natives that find it cringy? I’m actually super curious

👏 bravooo

Je passerai mon examen dans 2 jours et ça me fait peur de penser que vous avez eu un examinateur qui a soudainement changé son comportement ! En tout cas, bravo pour votre français et obtenir un C1 en étudiant pendant 10 mois est vraiment impressionant. Merci d'avoir partager cette vidéo.

18:15 😂😂😂 C'est ce que je me disais aussi. Je suis francophone, pourtant, je galère dans ma langue avec les discussions parce qu'elles sont improvisées (je suis autiste et ceci explique cela), d'ailleurs j'ai fait un gros travail de déculpabilisation avec les langues et mes résultats quand j'ai réalisé que mon TSA et mon TDAH influençaient ma compréhension orale, écrite, mon expression orale ET mon expression écrite déjà dans ma langue maternelle - donc, forcément, je ne peux pas avoir des résultats parfaits pour une seconde langue avec des problèmes qui me ralentissent déjà dans ma langue la plus naturelle :') C'est la raison pour laquelle je pratique peu à l'oral dans les langues que j'apprends, je n'ai pas fini ce travail de déculpabilisation 😂😂

After six mins of video .I am sceptical...listening on

Thank you. Je suis arrivé à la France depuis Septembre 2022 donc je veux prendre francais :(

My examiner Claudine was very cute and helpful. I think I will get the results I need:)

Было бы здорово услышать весь текст видео на французском

C1 in TEF is a completely different thing than C1 in DALF

Nice video

Could you give any notes on how to improve French production skills (both writing and speaking) ??? I am C1 in comprehension but still B1/B2 in production. Feeling stuck on this journey.

It took me 12 months to learn French but i was only able to say a few words like: "Maman" "pipi"

merci pour cette vidéo! je viens de faire ma chaîne :)

You can change Netflix audio in the app, it’s in the top right when you click in on a video

She has film star looks.

Hey, what should we do in a situation like your third interview? When the interviewer pretends to be rude to give you a chance to show your skills, how do we handle it?

I am learning French too and have finished 2 levels (A1 and A2) in 6 months. But to go from beginner to C1 in 10 months is an unbelievable achievement. I'd like to enquire about another language here, though. I am eager to self-teach Russian. I just love the Russian accent. There's an app called 'Rocket Russian' that I downloaded a few days ago and while listening to audios will (gradually) take care of the listening and speaking sections, writing and reading Russian requires understanding and interpretation of the Cyril alphabet (that's what is called I think). Could anyone help me with this?

Its nearly impossible to finish Duolingo French in 4 months ... there are more than 220 units !! Its one of the lengthiest course 😮🎉🎉 .. im currently on 80th day and on level 3 out of 9 levels (final level) .. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Why not doing that video partly in French?

My structure so far is: 1. Busuu (Paid premium version) 2. Pimsleur French 3. Anki 4. HelloTalk 5. TV shows, cartoons, YT videos or any consumable media I've never learned another language before as an adult, but I think this could be a winning formula

The question that pops up is why they spent four years learning a foreign language in universities (for major in foreign language). And after graduation, they also score C1 level. And in Russia to get admitted into such foreign language program, students usually study the language hard in secondary schools (sometimes with a tutor).

Yup, if you wanted to prep material for TEF, you should have chosen TCF instead. There is a lot online

I am in B2 in English but I don't know if that's enough to start learning a new language like French what do you think you guys

Great Video. Also, if anyone is studying French, please let me know so we can create a group. Thanks!

How did u learn English?

Hey I am planning to start learning French from a beginner level… and idk what sources to approach besides Duolingo

What is TEF? Who runs it?

no French was spoken in this video

16:17 Salut, je me demandais juste si tu étais au courant que les accents entre les "e" et les "o" donnent un son différent? Parce que c'est ce qui permet de savoir, au moins un peu, en dehors des exceptions (😅) quel "e" fait quel son! Par contre... sorry, je n'ai pas de solution pour les "u", "i" et "a", parce que même si en Belgique nous faisons toujours la différence entre les sons "â" (pâtes) et "a" (pattes), "î" (îles) et "i" (il), les "û" (dû) et les "u" (du), les français ne le font plus - alors que c'est un indicateur d'orthographe... 😑😅😂 D'ailleurs dans certains coins de France, malheureusement, même les différences entre "ô" (pôle) et "o" (Pol), "é" (préféré) et "è" (crème), "e" (petit) et "eu" (heureux), "è" (pèche) et "ê" (pêche), "ai" (j'aurai) et "ais" (j'aurais) deviennent inaudibles...

Что то не слышно с2 в вашем английском

Претензия насчёт «давать всё сразу» таки странная. Обычно путаница возникает как раз когда правила и исключения наваливают в одну огромную и непонятную кучу (например, так обычно делают с английскими артиклями или немецким прошедшим временем). Гораздо логичнее как раз дать сначала правило для 95% случаев, а исключения вынести в отдельную тему. Например, для немецкого PP правило hat ge+корень+t. Ну ок, скажет иностранец ich habe gefahrt, немец улыбнётся на это, но поймёт. Короче, это вопрос к конспектам, их структуре, а не к методике.

I've been trying to understand and use DeepL and Anki, can you help me with that please?

how did it take you to get from 0 to c1

I speak English as a first language. Am I a C1 too?

can you share your studying material?

Wow seriously? That's so good! Edit: ok watched to the end of the video and it's 2ys after that you got the c1 lol. 10mths is just not possible lol

How she learned French in less than a year? Answer is found under 1 min mark. She is a Russian! Therefore discipline and superhuman ability runs in her blood❤ (Joking but also being serious)

Thumbs down on this video because the presenter says she's been learning English from a very young age, but her English is clearly not very good. And she wants us to believe she learned French to an acceptable C1 standard within 10 months? If she speaks French the way she speaks English, is that what any of us wants at C1?

I think you have to re-English as well

I would like to begin by saying , if your french is half as good as your english then it must be seriously impressive.. No-one should have to put - up with or tolerate inexcusable behaviour from an examiner in an exam situation on the day of an exam taking place. I think you should honestly consider making a formal complaint to the examining body , but you might feel that it would have a negative impact on you for future exams. ?

Hahaha , one can reach A 2 B1level in 10 months but u are too cocky 😂