Read for meaning

InstructionsPurpose of this step: to prepare you to match sounds to words in step 3. (In step 3, you’ll improve your ear.)
Instructions: There is no sound in this step. Read the translation to make sure you understand the meaning of the French lines. If you have a grammar question, put it in the comments and I’ll do my best respond.
You’ll know you’re finished when… you know the meaning of what you are about to hear.

Eye follow / Finger follow

InstructionsPurpose of this step: to prepare you for the pace of the speech.
Instructions: Listen 2 or 3 times. Don’t worry about the meaning and don’t worry about hearing every word. Just make sure you can generally follow along with your eyes. When you do your listening while following along on paper, we call this step “Finger follow,” because you are following along with your finger. Here on the web, we call it “Eye follow.” (You could use your finger, but you probably don’t want to make marks on your screen.)
You’ll know you’re finished when… you can follow along with your eyes and get to the end of the text at the same time that the sound ends.

Matching

InstructionsPurpose of this step: In this step, you match up the sounds you hear to the words on the page. This causes you to hear new sounds that you didn’t hear before. This step tunes your ear to the sounds of spoken French.
Instructions: As the sound plays, read the words, confirming that you hear each one. This may take 10 or 15 listens. If you don’t hear a certain word, listen for a hint of the word attached to the preceding or the following word. We call this step “Matching” because you are matching up sounds with words. You listen for each word in the transcript.
Here’s a trick to help you: click here for the video in which I explain the trick.
You’ll know your finished when… you can hear 80% of the words. (100% recognition will come in later listens.)
Note from Dave: You want to have the right balance between obsessing over individual words (it’s important!) and moving as quickly as possible through the interview. Time has taught me two things about listening: 1)If I don’t TRY to hear every word, my ear will never improve. 2)Some sounds that I can’t hear today (no matter how many times I listen) will become miraculously clear two months from now, just because I have continued to listen to recordings in this language. So my goal is to have fun: I move through a new interview as quickly as I can, trying to hear every word in a paragraph but then moving on if I can understand enough of that paragraph to be able to follow the conversation without looking at the transcript. That is why I recommend moving on if you can hear 80% or more of the words. Once you have worked through all of the lessons for this interview, I recommend downloading the MP3s (Email me if you can’t find the links!) so you listen to the interview on your cell phone, while in your car… You’ll find that your ears continue to surprise you by catching more and more of the words that are difficult for you today. I keep a stock of interviews on a USB key that I plug into my car radio. That way I can continue to listen to old interviews, catching new words that escaped me before. That is how I became a fluent listener.

Listen for meaning

InstructionsPurpose of this step: to make sure you can follow this portion of the conversation. (So that later, when you listen to the whole interview to continue your progress towards 100% comprehension, you can concentrate on listening for all of the words instead of having to stop and look at the transcript or translation.) This should be the relaxing step, where you just listen to the conversation and enjoy it, making sure you don’t have any questions about what the speakers are talking about.
Instructions: press the play button and make sure you understand the speaker. (If you need to peek at the transcript, do so: it’s not cheating!)
You’ll know you’re finished when… you can understand the conversation. (You don’t need to hear every word, but you need to know what is being said and what it means.)

I need to peek at the transcript

Read for meaning

InstructionsPurpose of this step: to prepare you to match sounds to words in step 3. (In step 3, you’ll improve your ear.)
Instructions: There is no sound in this step. Read the translation to make sure you understand the meaning of the French lines. If you have a grammar question, put it in the comments and I’ll do my best respond.
You’ll know you’re finished when… you know the meaning of what you are about to hear.

Eye follow / Finger follow

InstructionsPurpose of this step: to prepare you for the pace of the speech.
Instructions: Listen 2 or 3 times. Don’t worry about the meaning and don’t worry about hearing every word. Just make sure you can generally follow along with your eyes. When you do your listening while following along on paper, we call this step “Finger follow,” because you are following along with your finger. Here on the web, we call it “Eye follow.” (You could use your finger, but you probably don’t want to make marks on your screen.)
You’ll know you’re finished when… you can follow along with your eyes and get to the end of the text at the same time that the sound ends.

Matching

InstructionsPurpose of this step: In this step, you match up the sounds you hear to the words on the page. This causes you to hear new sounds that you didn’t hear before. This step tunes your ear to the sounds of spoken French.
Instructions: As the sound plays, read the words, confirming that you hear each one. This may take 10 or 15 listens. If you don’t hear a certain word, listen for a hint of the word attached to the preceding or the following word. We call this step “Matching” because you are matching up sounds with words. You listen for each word in the transcript.
Here’s a trick to help you: click here for the video in which I explain the trick.
You’ll know your finished when… you can hear 80% of the words. (100% recognition will come in later listens.)
Note from Dave: You want to have the right balance between obsessing over individual words (it’s important!) and moving as quickly as possible through the interview. Time has taught me two things about listening: 1)If I don’t TRY to hear every word, my ear will never improve. 2)Some sounds that I can’t hear today (no matter how many times I listen) will become miraculously clear two months from now, just because I have continued to listen to recordings in this language. So my goal is to have fun: I move through a new interview as quickly as I can, trying to hear every word in a paragraph but then moving on if I can understand enough of that paragraph to be able to follow the conversation without looking at the transcript. That is why I recommend moving on if you can hear 80% or more of the words. Once you have worked through all of the lessons for this interview, I recommend downloading the MP3s (Email me if you can’t find the links!) so you listen to the interview on your cell phone, while in your car… You’ll find that your ears continue to surprise you by catching more and more of the words that are difficult for you today. I keep a stock of interviews on a USB key that I plug into my car radio. That way I can continue to listen to old interviews, catching new words that escaped me before. That is how I became a fluent listener.

Listen for meaning

InstructionsPurpose of this step: to make sure you can follow this portion of the conversation. (So that later, when you listen to the whole interview to continue your progress towards 100% comprehension, you can concentrate on listening for all of the words instead of having to stop and look at the transcript or translation.) This should be the relaxing step, where you just listen to the conversation and enjoy it, making sure you don’t have any questions about what the speakers are talking about.
Instructions: press the play button and make sure you understand the speaker. (If you need to peek at the transcript, do so: it’s not cheating!)
You’ll know you’re finished when… you can understand the conversation. (You don’t need to hear every word, but you need to know what is being said and what it means.)

I need to peek at the transcript