Introduction to French Reading Practice
French reading practice can be tough to take on, especially if the review in class doesn’t make you feel fully prepared. But as much as preparing for college, and taking an entire class to prepare for one test can be scary, don’t be discouraged! Finding authentic French text to beef up your French reading practice can seem like a difficult task, but it’s a game changer in prepping for the test.
French literature is among the world’s most celebrated and in your search for what to go over for the test you can also take a survey of a genre of literature that has shaped the world. It’s a win-win. Doing a few French reading exercises every day not only will get you on the way to that four or five, but it’ll also enrich your knowledge of French language and culture as a whole.
Learning to read in a new language is hard to wrap your head around because most of us don’t even remember learning how to read in English! Sharpening your French reading skills for the AP® is a matter of practice, practice, practice by immersing yourself in French text so that you’re comfortable reading in another language and sifting through context clues. The best place to start with your French reading practice is with the test itself!
Knowing What to Look for
The best way to start is at the source. The reading part of the test is almost 25% of the entire exam, but instead of letting that scare you, take it as a challenge you can overcome with a little bit of preparation! There are some examples of AP® tests online, and when getting ready to commence your French reading practice, it’s a good idea to look at test example pdfs online to get an exact idea of what they’ll be looking for and what kind of examples will be helpful to you. The collegeboard itself posts examples of free response questions from many different years, and while this isn’t the same as the reading section in the multiple choice, it exhibits the same level of reading you should be prepared to do, and there are more numerous examples.
When using this method, one of the things to keep in mind is the search for common threads. Pay attention to the difficulty levels, lengths, and tenses that often appear in the texts so that you can get used to them and broaden your search to authentic texts you think might show up on the AP® French exam.
Knowing the test is a good way to set the bar for your French reading practice. You now have a good idea of what the test is looking for and what level of difficulty you should be expected to be able to read without too much issue, and you can find practice pages from past AP tests easily enough through the collegeboard. With a little bit of work done to get you anticipating the material on the French reading exercises, you’re ready to delve into the depths of the internet for French text that’ll get you ready for the test and pique your interest as well!
Start Simple
Building a repertoire for your French reading practice can be a good way to find texts that interest you, and ease yourself into reading on a truly comfortable level. Direct translations won’t be helpful because they’re not written in truly natural sounding French. Versions of your favorite series (Harry Potter anyone?) adapted for native French speakers, however, are an excellent way to start your search for French texts and can be easy to find as well!
When looking for authentic, correct French texts, it can help to find pdf versions of books you’ve already read. Whether they’re books you’ve read excerpts of in French classes, books you’ve found on your own, or popular English books, chances are pretty good a pdf version of it will exist somewhere. A good rule of thumb is that you can search the title of the book followed by the phrase pdf en français and Google will direct you to a search page in which the majority of the results will be actual French pages. (Consider having a dictionary open in another tab to help you out!) The majority of university websites, and internet databases like Project Gutenberg have public domain French literature ready to access, and even if the full version isn’t available, you only need a survey of French text to get you ready to ace the reading portion of the exam.
By looking for familiar, accessibly written prose, or even re-reading the works you’ve already read in English-you’re getting yourself accustomed to written French and easing yourself into a vocabulary that may still seem foreign.
Another way to get into your French reading practice is to read French Blog articles. You can choose any topic that interests you. By doing a quick search for francophone travel blogs, I found lists of tons of travel websites including Vie Nomade. In general, with a few clicks, you can find a series of interesting French text that’ll keep you enthused, and make it easy to train yourself in reading your second language.
Now that you’ve eased yourself in and widened your search, great places to look can be periodicals, and classic French texts in pdf versions online. Reading news sites that French people look at every day will greatly help your French reading practice.
Periodicals
Periodical sources and excerpts of French classical literature are great ways to get yourself immersed in authentic French texts and learn about French culture. Both the bastions of culture that people reference in the most sophisticated studies and the newspapers that les français read in the morning with their espressos are amazing ways of not only preparing yourself for this exam but gaining a legitimate fluency in the French written word.
Some of the most popular French periodicals are Le Figaro which is a more conservative, right-leaning publication, Le Monde which is politically centered, and Libération which is a more liberal, left leaning publication. Going to the websites for these papers lends you many different articles that are relatively short, and informative on current events both around the world and in France specifically. It’s definitely interesting to see how French society perceives world events (like the US presidential election for example). What’s more, and most specific to French reading practice, is that all of them are written in a style that is professional, polished, and most exemplary of the way the French language is commonly written.
Charlie Hebdos is another source that lends itself to reading and helps you out with test prep. While it’s certainly politically charged as it’s satirical and pokes fun at basically every current topic you can think of; it provides a series of good reads that will get you ready for the text with their nuanced laïque style.
The Classics
If you’re feeling adventurous (and if you’re researching to study for the test on your own you almost certainly are), you should take classical French artists for a spin. Sartre is an author that is extremely celebrated in France and worldwide. By doing a pdf search on google for texts Sartres en français, you can find mainstays like La Nausée that are written in a classical French style but are current enough that you won’t constantly be flipping through the dictionary. Molière and Camus are great choices too, but the famous playwright and author would ideally be read in excerpts. Unless you’re already extremely confident, you may not be looking for entire books to read to prepare yourself for the exam.
While test prep can seem like a chore, remember the reason you started taking French in the first place. It wasn’t to take a test; it was to learn another language that almost certainly gripped you in some way. So look at all of this not only as a way to ace the AP® but to gain proficiency in written French and open a whole new world of literature up to yourself! Here are a few general tips to help you on your way, and while the AP® is a test that’ll help you out in your college career, it’s also a test of knowledge you decided to have for yourself. So take a deep breath, get ready, and have fun!
General Tips
- Buddy system! Make a Google Doc with people in your class to share articles to practice reading.
- Do a Google search for topics that interest you, but type them into Google in French.
- Research French idioms! Idioms are used a surprising amount in daily French speech and text, familiarizing yourself with idioms can make your comprehension of other French texts even better.
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