I’ve found that my ability to piece together the “gist” of a text has improved significantly. Even if I don’t know every word, I can use context clues and cognates to understand the narrative.

  • Moving beyond basic greetings into more specific topics—like technology, the environment, and daily routines—has made my expression feel more authentic.

Weaknesses

Native speakers or fast-paced audio exercises still pose a challenge. It takes a moment for my brain to “translate” the sounds into meaning, often causing me to miss the next sentence.

Remembering whether a new noun is masculine or feminine remains a constant hurdle, which then affects my adjective agreements.

Successes

One of the biggest wins this semester was finally understanding the nuance between a completed action and a descriptive state in the past.

I felt much more confident during my recent oral exam compared to French 101. My pronunciation of the “r” sound and nasal vowels has become more natural.

Struggles

Introducing the subjunctive was a turning point in difficulty. Learning when to express doubt, necessity, or emotion through this specific conjugation requires a lot of mental gymnastics.

While I can write a structured paragraph, thinking on my feet during a live conversation remains difficult. I often find myself reaching for words that aren’t there yet.

Looking Forward

As I continue, my goal is to immerse myself in more French media (podcasts and music) to bridge the gap between my reading skills and my listening comprehension.