上班族一個月DELF B1衝刺

我很喜歡一句話：「伸手摘星，即使徒勞無功，亦不致一手污泥。」
最糟最糟就是考試沒過而已，其實也沒那麼可怕。

There is a saying that I really love, “When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either.”
The worst situation that I could imagine is just failing the exam. Nothing is more horrible than that.

還記得第一次接觸法文是2017年4月，當時申請上法國交換計劃，學了一些基本對話就去法國了，在當地的四個月，因為是英文授課，基本上不會用到法文，日常生活比手劃腳加上英文，就能打遍全天下，雖然法文還是沒有長進，卻開始對法文產生興趣。

I still remembered that it was April, 2017 that I started to learn French when I applied to the exchange student program. I started my 4-month journey in France after learning some greetings. Since the courses were taught in English, I didn’t speak that much French. With English and body language, I could handle all the situations. Despite the fact that my French skills didn’t improve at all, I fell in love with French.

回台灣後，我修了一學期的二外通識，工作後就中斷了法文學習之旅，然而卻一直很想念在法國的生活，直至去年一月才又開始法文補習班及團體小班，但是白天上班，晚上上課對我而言相當吃力，且實體班還需要通勤的時間，回到家接近晚上十一點苦不堪言，因此我開始每天聽RFI Facile、偶爾背單字、翻文法書、和外國朋友語言交換，但我的法文好像就卡在一個瓶頸，沒辦法再更上去，感受不到自己的進步。

After coming back to Taiwan, I took the course in college for one semester. I stopped learning French since I started to work. However, I did miss life in France. That’s why I started going to cram school and group classes to keep learning. Unfortunately, I could not take the burden of working daytime and studying at night at the same time. I quit the classes again and learned by myself: listening to RFI Facile radio, memorizing the vocabularies, studying grammar and having language exchange with my foreign friends. But still, my French was stuck there and I couldn’t feel any improvement.

改變的關鍵點是去年九月，那時和交換的朋友聚餐，聊到當時交換的時光，聊到我們的法文還是沒什麼長進，我開玩笑地說也許報個法檢B1，就會開始認真念了吧！他卻回答這怎麼可能，不要癡人說夢了。我知道他並沒有惡意，但聽到的當下，我感到很不服氣，總覺得不太甘願，於是卡一刷，衝動之下就報名了，但我馬上後悔，還特地打去詢問法協能否取消，但想當然爾是無法取消。

The key change is last September that I had dinner with the Taiwanese friend I knew during the exchange program. After we caught up with each other, I was joking that maybe I could take the DELF B1, so that I could make big progress on French.Nevertheless, he told me to stop dreaming. I knew that he didn’t say that on purpose, but still it hurt and that was the night I registered for the exam.

然而拖延症發作的我一直到了11月份才驚覺火燒屁股，甚至開始告訴自己就考個經驗，沒過就算了，反正當初報名就是場意外，一個月的時間怎麼可能通過B1。但理性的我又告訴自己報名費都報下去了，原本可以吃好幾頓大餐的！最後我告訴自己：就這個月全力準備，如果有過，就是上天眷顧；如果沒過至少我努力過了，沒有愧對自己！於是我開始啃網友們推薦的法文檢定書籍，每天早上聽TV5 Monde及RFI Facile，通勤時背轉折詞和單字，午休練習法語DELF考試全攻略，晚上寫題庫，訂正寫作，幾乎網路上找的到的題庫我都練習了。另一方面開始尋找法文家教，很巧的是Johnny就是Amazing Talker系統第一個推薦給我的老師，還記得體驗課非常緊湊，老師步調很快，快速掃過各部分如何準備，也很直白地告訴我不一定能考過，但在最後一個月努力幫我拉分數，全力衝刺寫作和口說。

To be honest, it was until November that I started to prepare for it seriously. I even told myself that it was totally an accident that I registered for the exam. Thus, just take it easy.
However, I felt guilty and made the determination of passing it. If I failed, at least I tried! There was nothing to regret. Therefore, I started to study the textbooks, listened to the radios every morning, and memorized the vocabularies when commuting. During the noon break, I took the notes and at night, I wrote and revised the essays. I almost finished all the exercises I could find on the Internet. Besides, I searched for the French tutor online and Johnny was surprisingly the first teacher that the system recommended. The pace of trial class was fast and Johnny even told me that it wasn’t that possible to pass the exam frankly, but he would try his best to help me. I knew that he was the teacher I was looking for.

我很喜歡Johnny課的原因在於課堂時間非常寶貴，能在課堂外做的事情就課堂外做，例如準備自我介紹的稿，以及寫作練習，我買了五堂課程，就寫了五篇作文，每一篇作文老師都非常認真地幫我改，修正錯誤、並解釋法國人寫作的邏輯及架構、起承轉合以及萬用的連接詞，我想這是非常需要時間摸索的，也非常謝謝Johnny在最短的時間幫我補強。其實到了準備考試的中後期，每天都壓力很大，甚至睡前就這麼哭了起來，對於好勝心強的我(或是貪小便宜的我)，說好的佛系準備，根本都是假的，我只能擦乾眼淚，努力地告訴自己就一個月，撐過去就好了！而最後看到榜單上有我的准考證號碼時，差點就在公司廁所尖叫出來！

The reason why Johnny's classes were so attractive was that he made the best use of every class. We did the things that could only be done during the class instead of doing writing exercises or preparing the script of self introduction. With five classes, he revised the five essays! He corrected all the mistakes and explained the logic and structure of French people. In addition, he taught me the skills of every part and encouraged me which indeed built my confidence. During the preparation, I was under tons of pressure, and even cried when being alone. The only thing I could do was trying my best and never quitting. I will never forget the moment when I saw my registration number on the list! I almost shouted at the toilet in my company.

我的學習歷程應該與很多人很相近，學習二外的過程一波三折，常常學了一點就放棄，想說從新開始，又覺得很浪費時間，覺得自己好像都學過了，想要往更高階前進，但是基礎不穩的情況下，東補一個洞，西補一個洞，永遠都補不完，最後走向放棄一途。但在準備這次考試的過程中，雖然很痛苦，卻意外地找回了當初對法文的那份喜歡，那是沒有原因的喜歡，也發現了自己還是有完成夢想的能力，算是個小小的里程碑。我會繼續學習法文，希望有一天能夠流利地、自信地說著法文。

My learning journey might be quite similar with other Taiwanese people. We have difficulties learning the second foreign language and when we restart, we feel like it’s a waste of time and take the classes at a higher level. Without a stable basis, we feel frustrated all the time and eventually quit again. Yet after the experience, I find back the passion for French and have the sense of achievement. I will keep learning French and hope that someday I can speak French fluently and confidently.