Are you stuck in your learning of French? Remember that learning a language goes through different phases: you will find pleasure but also some difficulties on your way, but the satisfaction of reaching the end of the journey is worth going through this twisty travel. Here are some tips to improve your French in the most efficient way!
1. Set your goals
Ask yourself these questions:
- For what purpose do you need to learn French?
Do you need French for work, for daily life? Knowing that will help you orientate your learning in one direction. If you need French for your work, ordering a baguette won’t be your highest priority.
- What pace of learning should I adopt?
Some people google “how to learn French in 5 minutes”, but let’s face it: this is impossible! Do not expect too much from yourself. Starting to learn a language thinking that you will be fluent after a few courses will not lead you far.
What you should do is to set goals to yourself, for example by April I will know the present tense, by May the future, and by June the past. Or make daily challenges: 2 verbs, and 5 nouns by day. Ideally, give it a written trace, so you can look back at it and feel proud! If you are asking yourself what to start with, check out this lists:
- Am I aware of the language learning curves?
Just like any experience in life, learning a language goes through different phases, and it is important for you to know them before diving into the learning of French! Here they are:
- The honeymoon phase where you discover a new language and a new culture: you make quick progress as you have time, motivation and energy to devote to it.
- The hurdle phase where your progress start to slow down, and where speaking becomes frustrating. You have less energy and time and start to lose faith. But keep on! Remember this is a part of your travel!
- The stabilizing phase where your perseverence bear fruits. At this stage, you understand at least 80% of what you hear and read. You know enter a loop: the more you like French, the more time you spend immersed in it, and the better you become!
- The goal-reached phase where the language become no longer an object to be studied. You do not need to think before speaking, and enjoy having long conversations, and maybe even dream in French!
And remember what the French author/philosopher Albert Camus wrote “The more we can enjoy the process of achieving our goals, the happier we become”: we are never satisfied with the things we get and we will always want more, so the secret is to learn to enjoy the process and to mind so much about the goals.
2. Adapt your learning method to your profile
We are all different, and thus learn in different ways. Knowing yourself and how you function is a key factor to help you fasten your learning!
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I have a rather visual or auditory memory?
Knowing that will allow you make the best of your learning. If your are the first type, writing the new vocabulary in a notebook will help you memorize it. If you are the latter type, you will more easily memorize words that you hear, and should therefore focus on listening to the radio/podcasts or French movies!
- Are you extraverted or introverted?
This can also change the orientation of your learning. Indeed, extraverted learners have a social and verbal learning style and therefore like to work in groups. They give less importance to the preparation time of a speaking activity than their introverted fellows do. These latter, on the contrary, have a solitary learning style and prefer to solve problems on their own. Brainstorming and seeking theoretical exploration beforehand make them more at ease to speak.
3. Speak!
Learning a language without speaking would amount to learning the notes in Préludes Opus 28 of Chopin without touching the piano! So here are some options for you:
- Get a teacher, in the closest language institute of your city, or online. Millions of possibilities exist. Choose to be in a group (more interactive, but less speaking time) or a one-to-one lesson, that is to say you and the teacher only (less dynamic, but much more speaking time and the teacher can adapt 100% to your level and pace!) It goes without saying that crash courses are more efficient than regular weekly lessons. But if you are working full time, crash courses are probably not an option, as you will get quickly tired and possibly demotivated (unless you are one of the lucky ones who only need a few hours of sleep!)
- Another cheaper alternative if you live in a city is to attend a Café des langues. Wherever you live in the world, those events where you meet with other francophiles (and sometimes even French natives) are organized and often free (or cheap). Meetup is an example of organization which have these events.
- Chat in French on HelloTalk, which is an app where you can speak to French natives. You can either send general messages, or start a private conversation.
- Ask around you: maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to practice with you?
- Speak to your dog or cat! (or your plant). Or even to yourself. Why not?
Through one ore more of those ways, you will improve your pronunciation, and your fluidity!
While practicing your speaking, do not neglect the intonation, which is essential for making yourself understood! The French intonation is easy to master, as the stress is always on the last syllable of the sentence, or on the last syllable of a rythmic group. For instance: J’aime les croissants, mais je déteste les haricots.
With that little trick you can sound like a French native very early in your learning!
4. Read and listen to French
Reading and listening to French will help you improve not only your comprehension of French but alos your vocabulary and your grammar!
- Practice your reading on https://www.culturetheque.com/. You will find a good deal of online books, comics, audiobooks, newspapers and magazines in French. It is free but you need to make an account (available for 4 weeks). Then you can just make a new one, unlimitedly.
- Watch French movies and series on Netflix. Or watch documentaries in French with English subtitles on Arte: https://www.arte.tv/en/, which is free and without any resgistration required.
- Listen to French News in easy French (and read the transcription at the same time) on https://www.newsinslowfrench.com/ or https://savoirs.rfi.fr/fr/apprendre-enseigner/langue-francaise/journal-en-fran%C3%A7ais-facile
- Listen to French music by organizing a blind test with your friends with French songs: https://www.blindz.fr/ (Prerequisites: to have a deezer account, and to create an account on blindz, which are both free)
- Play (or sing!) with French songs with the app LyricsTraining. Select your French level, chose a clip of your favorite music genre and start either a multiples choice quiz or a karaoke.
5. Make it fun!
With any learning, having fun doing it has been scientifiquely proved to help you.
- Play games
Through games, you are led to not only communicate in French, but also to collaborate and work in teams. And according to the psychoanalyst Winnicott, playing increasing people (both adults and kids) creativity.
In French courses, many teachers use a lot of games. But If you learn learn on your own, nothing prevent you from organizing a game night in French with a couple of friends who, just like you, have some bases in French. Here are some games I recommend: Banagram, Comment j’ai adopté un gnou, Time’s up, Dooble, Pictionnary, Taboo, Dixit (for advanced levels), Cranium (for advanced levels).
- Simply follow your heart!
Is your passion in life baking? Start watching Le Meilleur Pâtissier on https://www.6play.fr/le-meilleur-patissier-p_19387! Or are you rather interested in art? Then watch D’art D’art on https://www.youtube.com/user/dArtdArtofficiel.
Because it is a topic your are familiar with, you will understand more than what you think, and have fun watching despite the fact that you do not grasp everyting!
6. Learn to become an autodidact
Autodidact comes from the Greek “autodidaktos” and means self-taught. Indeed, a trap is to have the illusion that you will learn a language just by attending the lessons. Unfortunately, there is more to that, (except if you are a genius) since the students are expect to learn and practice on their own between each class in order to assimilate the new knowledge. Therefore it is better to have one hour per week with a private teacher and do your homework, than 2 hours/week with a teacher and NOT do your homework. It just requires some motivation and moreover it is cheaper for you that way! So working on your own, combined with one hour of speaking per week is already a good goal, and will help you tremendously.
Whenever you come across a French word, look it up on a dictionnary. I highly recommand the apps Reverso Context where you can save the words you look up, and play with them later on though quizzes, which transform this translation tool into learning tool.
7. Repeat, and repeat, and repeat!
Last but not least, repeating help the memorization of words, so hearing a word once will not magically stick to your brain. You need to repeat it, as many times as possible to reinforce the memorization of the word in the long-therm. Repetitions can be done in various form (ideally mixed): listening and learning the word, but also pronouncing and writing the word.
A good tip is to repeat your teacher/ interlocutor’s answer, for example:
- You: -Tu veux encore de la soupe?
- French speaker: -Non, j’ai assez mangé, merci (the expression “assez mangé” is new for you, thefore you want to remember it)
- You: -Ah d’accord, tu as assez mangé.
Anki is a logiciel where you can create you own vocabulary flashcards, and help you memorize: https://apps.ankiweb.net/
To sum it up
To help you improve your French listening, understanding, and speaking, and writing, many options are surrounding you, wether it is in your city, or on the web. As a final advice, be curious! And stay optimistic!
Bonne chance!