I want to attain fluency in French (around a C2 level), but I’m not sure which Memrise course(s) to use to reach that goal. There are so many different courses to choose from, and I’m not sure which one will be the best one for me. Of all of the French courses on this website, which one teaches the most content?
Sorry, but you’ll never attain C2 in any language with an online course. And especially not with Memrise, which is only good for learning vocabulary. I mean, you could learn a whole dictionary, you wouldn’t be fluent at all!
Talk to people, read books and newspapers, watch movies, sing songs: this will help you much more than Memrise to get to “higher levels”. Memrise is very useful to start getting known with a language, not more (nor less 
)
Best way to attain fluency —> studying, living and working for many years in the country.
Good luck! 
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once you learn the grammar rules, learning a lang. is all about vocab… so If someone learned an entire dictionary, I would be inclined to say they are fluent.
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Nope, not at all. It’s about knowing in which situations to use which words and expressions, understanding irony, humour, cultural references, knowing which words are usual and others “weird” or “old-fashioned” (even if both are absolutely correct), etc. etc. And of course, pronunciation and intonation (not only of the word itself, but in context). All things you don’t get by just learning vocabulary “dictionary-like”.
And by the way, learning the grammar rules isn’t as straightforward as it can seem either. You learn grammar while you learn the language as a whole, not separately. It’s not like you learn all the grammar first, and then more vocab. (well, they did so in the 19th century, but research into language learning has evoluated since then).
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I don’t disagree with some of that, but if someone knew 30k words (with even 50% retention), they are going to be fluent with a good foundation in grammar. Do you know how many words a dictionary has?
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While I don´t agree that you can only learn vocabulary with Memrise (you do learn grammar by learning sentence structure, the same way children do), I agree that you will never be truly “fluent” in a language by using Memrise alone. You need to practice with real people to get all the nuances of the language. You can probably achieve a B1 or maybe B2, if combining with other language learning resources.
I really think it depends on what you mean by fluency. Some people would say I´m fluent in Spanish, from what I gather I would probably make the C1 test rather comfortably (lived in Spain for 10 years), but I always cringe when I hear the word fluid. I make myself understood just fine, but am painfully aware that both vocabulary and grammar could use a boost (I blame working for an english company, so little spanish interaction.).
Usually some self reflection is needed to appreciate language. For one, natives don’t even truly understand everything about their own language. Especially grammar. I think people muddy up what is 2nd nature vs what is being fluid. Classically, being fluid is just understanding and being understood. It does not need to flow like a gushing river, just needs to flow.
I’ll probably be in the minority in saying this, but grammar comes after vocab. A baby learns words first, and grammar comes as it grows. You need vocab to use grammar, but you don’t need grammar to get a point across. I’m not saying grammar is not important, because it is, I’m just saying that vocab is more important.
Just to slam the point home: most people I see struggling to speak their second lang, is not because they forgot grammar. It’s because they don’t know the words.
???
according to neurologists, linguists and others professionals, babies learn structures… not “words”, but structures.
And “fluid” (gee), yes, if you want to order a beer as a tourist, you might reach fluency with memrise.
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Sometimes, we call structures syllables. Which are part of… while it’s obviously more complicated than that, it’s not rocket science to figure out the first words they say are the most common ones they hear.
I know you tend to express yourself in rude manner to get your fucking attention, but if you only get fluent enough here to order beer, then you would not be spending all your life on here. The only reason anybody is here is because apps like memrise are a vital part in the learning. Vocab is extremely important.
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Structures are not syllables. Babies do not learn words without context, or syllables, or parts of words. They learn words (meaning, pronunciation) as well as grammatical structures at the same time. But you cannot compare the way babies learn, and second or third-language learning as a teenager or an adult.
As a second/third…-language learner, you develop an interlanguage which has its own grammar. Vocabulary only is not an interlanguage. And learning grammar specifically is important for the adult learner to master a language. An adult cannot learn a language “like a child”, as his/her brain structure is different. Research into language-learning today absolutely shows the importance of grammar.
By the way, who (“we”?) calls structures syllables??
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I fully realize structures is also referred to how sentences are build, but often in research read regarding babies, they are talking about letter combinations and syllables, that they are more susceptible on picking up on than others. They learn by patterns. What word often is heard before this word, etc. This is not grammar, and don’t mistake it as such. This is literally memorizing sounds that becomes words and associating them over time with what they see around it.
I never once said grammar is not important. I said several times it is. It is very important to learn grammar right away when starting a language. But you can only learn so much grammar vs vocab.
In German, if you use der instead of die, or put the verb somewhere else it is not suppose to be after this clause, or dont separate the separable verb, it’s not like you wont be understood. I don’t know why why this is so hard to understand ironically… But it is.
Tell me, and be honest, when you struggle to say something, ask your self if you lost the grammar or can’t find the word.
I’ve found the Memrise created French courses (French 1, 2, 3, …, 7) to be quite useful. I use anything I can get my hands on, but at least here on Memrise, as far as getting the nuts and bolts down, I’ve been impressed. I can’t say to what level you’d reach at the end, but so far it seems like great start.
Outside of that, I tend to use memrise to help me remember vocabulary from whatever is I’m reading (or watching). You might find someone’s created a list of words for a novel you’re interested in, for example. Or perhaps you can make a list for yourself.