7 Immutable Tips to Learn French

If you’re just starting to learn French, you might find it helpful to learn some tips about the language.

They say French the language of love, so it would seem to make sense that you grow your affection for the language. Think French as the language of friendship among people from different countries and races. Imagine yourself gossiping in French with your friends from Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Canada and France. Below are the tips…..

1.   Start with answering the question- what is your passion or hobby? It is important because you need to read and talk more on this topic in French. If you are a football crazy then you look for the websites, news portals or paper magazines, newspapers related to football in French. If you are a movie freak then you will dedicate your time for movie-related materials. Your passion could be literature, history, business or anything you name. But having a passion is mandatory.

2.   Never try to learn all the grammatical rules at once. If you learn any new sentence structure, practice, practice and practice until it comes from your mouth easily. A misconception needs to be erased that, French has many tenses and grammatical rules. True. But false. You don’t use all the tenses to be a fluent French speaker. For example, past tense is found in written documents but people widely use the present perfect form instead of the past tense. Present indefinite can make the same sense of Future tense and it is well understood. Use present indefinite, present perfect, imperfect, conditional

3.   Do not focus on grammar. Focus on reading more. Because French reading will enhance the familiarity of different tenses and expressions which will eventually enhance the understanding of the grammatical rules.

4.   When you read any article or story, don’t expect to know the meanings of all the words. Try to guess and make yourself realize the gist. Later, consult a dictionary.

5.   To overcome the listening problem, select a few movies, video clips or audio clips. Keep listening those again and again. It is true that French words are not pronounced as they are written. And it’s a huge drawback. Never try new clips before finishing the previous ones properly.

6.   If you want to write French like a native speaker, select a particular newspaper that is easy to understand like 20 minute or rfi.fr. Read everyday and try to copy the common expressions in your writing. When your level gradually increases, you can then follow Le Figaro and Le Monde.

7.   Think like a French while speaking. Copy the body language. French people are reputed to use their hands and facial expressions while talking. If you can pick this habit of using body parts, your speaking ability will improve. Because you are thinking like a French. 

Bonne Chance!