Does the idea of learning French make you shiver? You are not alone! In today’s edition, we ask readers to give us their very best tips on learning French!
Whether you have improved your French with audio CDs, a tutor, or by participating in an intensive program–we would love to benefit from your experience. Thank you for using the comments box to share helpful ideas for language learning.
To improve your French did you use flash cards? Do you watch French films? Do you carry around a pocket-size French-English dictionary? Subscribe to the French version of Reader’s Digest? Do you attend a local French meet-up? Welcome exchange students to your home? Do you fall asleep to French music in hopes your subconscious will record it all by memory? Do you secretly follow Francophones at the mall, like I used to do?
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Thanks for forwarding this post to a language-learner who might be inspired by the many excellent ideas submitted by readers.
Thanks for keeping my book, Words in a French Life, in mind as a language tool. Here’s a review:
With its innovative and entertaining way of teaching the finer points of French, Espinasse’s memoir will be popular with travelers and expats alike. –Publishers Weekly
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Gosh, these are all great ideas. I would add: listen to the podcasts at dailyfrenchpod.com. Excellent series for intermediate speakers.
A big Thank You to Kristin for her inspiring e-mails. They will certainly give me a boost when I arrive in Isle-sur-Sorgue this June to paint.
I have enjoyed several CD programs, but find it very entertaining to casually read a French dictionary. I bought several from the thrift stores and scatter them everywhere including the car.
I forgot to mention another favorite way to learn: Children’s videos. For those in North America, the “Bob the Builder” and most Disney DVDs have a track in French (you can get them from your library). Also, there are a few things online. Check out the children’s videos on this site, they are pretty cute and fairly easy to follow: http://videos.tf1.fr/chuggington/
Cold (high of 45) and sunny in SLC today
You need to learn it like a baby wanting his needs met…the first phrase you should learn is “J’ai besoin de….” (fill in the blank) and then the phrase “s’il vous plait” because it gets your need met much faster. “J’ai faim” and “J’ai soif” are also very helpful.
The other thing to do once you learn some language is to say the phrase out loud, exaggerating the words, mocking how the French say it. The phrase will stick with you. (You’ll never sound as good as they do, so this is the only way you’ll even get close).
Best tip – don’t stop once you have got going (again) with french! I go to Alliance Francaise here in Christchurch and have done so for 6 years. France is a long way from N Z but New Caledonia is only 3 hours away and you have to speak french as many of the locals don’t speak english. One web site not mentioned which has been good for my vocab. is http://www.lesclesjunior.com – is for 12 to 14 year olds but plenty of new words for me. Agree with the watch french films with french sub titles.
I also watch the half hour per day french news and this year my goal is to sit DELF B1 – quite a challenge but is keeping me focused
My wife and i started a French Playgroup here in Sydney Australia, for local Francophone families. It’s been a great success, but we spend so much time administering it, that we hardly have time to learn French any more! Doh!
WE do a mixture of things: We took the big jump, and bought a house in France. But not in “Dordogneshire” where seemingly every second person is English (speaking). This has forced us to learn, and fast. But when we’re there we keep a dictionary in the car, or my handbag.
Sadly, we’re not there frequently enough to improve much, and every return sees us clawing for words and there is no Alliance Francaise, or French-speaking group, where we live (the Virgin Islands where, incidentally, it is finally sunny after a week of heavy rain). I tried to start one, but to no avail.
So instead we make do with the occasional French film with subtitles and a brush-up using Rosetta Stone before we go back to France. And then of course there’s Kirsten’s word-a-day for a tiny slice of life and language to keep me going!
I lived and worked (the French computer company –Bull )in Paris for 4 years during the late 1960’s..I learned French on the job with a private teacher fairly quickly .After a few months I visited one of our plants in Angers and was complimented in a meeting on my French and asked –how did your learn French so quickly??.I thought the word for teacher was “maitre” and since my teacher was a female I said I had a very good “maitresse”.Needless to say that brought quite a few laughs..Perhaps this is a way to learn French??
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!My mother-in-law is French so I practice with her through conversation and e-mails. If I make a mistake she will correct me and that’s how I am learning. I also try to think in French,do French crossword puzzles and work on my conjugation.I’m going back to France this year so we”ll see how well the lessons worked!!
I agree with Suzy. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and just go with the flow. Sometimes adults have so many inhibitions and are afraid of sounding stupid. Children don’t have those inhibitions. We lived in Belgium for three years in a town with no other Americans. “Have to” is a great motivator. I had to shop in the local stores, pay bills, talk to the neighbors, etc. I took French lessons at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels but really just talking to my neighbors helped so much. One linguist we met at NATO told us to just get some children’s books in the language you want to learn. I also really like the Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone programs.
total immersion is what does it for me. when i lived in paris, i always had a list of 10 new words stuck up en face of the toilet. it usually took only 2 days to master all ten, and put up a new list.
Years ago I responsible for our California company’s dealings with Canadian government officials (all of whom were bilingual). After one meeting I asked a few of them the best way to learn French. They replied “Get a French lover”. When I said I was married they said “Well, your wife should get a French lover also”. Instead, we enrolled in the French class at the local community college — not as exciting perhaps, but at least we’re still married!
Since I need all the help I can get these are some of the things I try. Magazines, watch the news in French (no subs there), rent movies, try free on line tutorials, and I do have two different sets of CD’s for learning. I also have 3 friends that speak it much better than I do…one from Algeria, another from Paris. I am a little embarassed at my pronounciation. Somehow it comes off with a little Italian twang to it!
All of this and I am still not well versed at all. I truly think the only way is come live there for 6 months or longer. That way it is sink or swim.
I live on the Monterey Peninsula where we have the DLI…Defense Language Institute. Unfortunately, unless you are married to someone who is taking courses there classes are not available to the general public. Occasionaly they are….I keep waiting for a French one. It is 8 hours a day for 6 months….it does work.
Bonjour!
I am already fairly fluent and teach French at a Montessori School. Whenever I get the chance to speak with a native speaker, I do. There are many French families in my community and many Hatians in the Boston area too. (We have a French School nearby.) I am not worried about making mistakes. You can only improve by speaking. I am going to start taking my children to the French Library/Alliance Francaise in Boston too. It is a great resource! I enjoy French films and try not to read the subtitles! I was much more fluent when I worked at a French school but I do my best to keep up my language!
fall in love with a frenchman!
Kristin,
I have wanted to learn French for a long, long (really long) time and took a year of French in high school (1967-68) and 3 semesters of French in college (1984-1986) but never learned to SPEAK it. I just hit that WALL…of fear, mostly.
So, I subscribed to your blog several months before I went to Paris in June of 2008 and I utilized some of the books that you suggested there: your book, Words in a French Life (of course) plus another you recommended, Easy French Reader. (Did you also recommend Quiet Corners of Paris? Wonderful book!)
I also listened to and learned the lyrics to several of Edith Piaf’s beautiful songs (it was the year of La Vie en Rose at the movies) and I ordered a few other helpful CDs (Bien-Dire Essentials series: Time, Numbers, Social Conversations, etc.) so I could HEAR the pronunciation as well as SEE the words.
Most importantly, I bought (and USED!!) the Rosetta Stone set of French tapes (I bought levels 1-3 but only got through levels 1 and 2 before my trip) — they were great…MUCH better than my classes in school. I found these courses truly excellent for getting past the wall of fear.
When I got to Paris, I had one major objective: I wanted to conduct at least ONE simple conversation or negotiation, however simple, in French every day that I was in France…and I DID! I was not successful each time, but I had some interaction with French speakers EVERY day! One very real result of my attempt to speak the local language: I had practically NO experience of the legendary-to-Americans-but-perhaps-mythical Parisian rudeness.
And I had a lovely time…took hundreds of pictures…and have wonderful memories. I have meant to thank you, Kristin, for YOUR part in making my trip so fabulous. Your blog is an enjoyment and an encouragement for all of us. Mille mercis!
Although my French is fading now, if/when I have another opportunity to visit France, I know that I have tools at my disposal to refresh it!
Merci beaucoup…
pjw
For Canadian students the government offers the five week Explore program to learn French. All expenses except for transportation to the location (often in Quebec) are covered. Students take French classes during the morning and have cultural activities in the afternoons and evenings. Homestays with French speaking families are available.
A very attractive 30-something young man from France, a new Canadian, began teaching evening French at a local university. Like most evening class attendees, we were mostly middle-age women – many of us there under the obligation of our Canadian government employers.
Well that group of women followed this young man for more than two years, from four levels of beginner classes through four levels of intermediate and into advanced classes until he secured the full-time day-teaching job he was striving to qualify for since his immigration.
The young man was not only attractive but vibrant, fun and energetic. Most importantly he made us feel young, fun and attractive again.
I can’t speak for the others, but I know my French training since then has been sporadic. I know I wouldn’t have come as far as I had without the happy luck of being in his first evening class, one week after he arrived on our shores.
When we lived in Paris, I took private classes, one-on-one, and small group classes and then realized that I would rather SEE and experience Paris than practice. Upon returning home to Texas, I enrolled in a French class at a junior college and much to the dismay of my Parisian French teacher, the instructor was from Bordeaux. She was horrified that I would have a provincial accent! Since that time, I have had exceptional native French teachers at the junior college level and the classes were inexpensive, easy to follow and enjoyable.
I have purchased all the usual French books, French Now!, The Ultimate French Review and Practice, Easy French Reader. I have Drive-time French, too. But the best practice I’ve gotten, aside from going to Paris and trying out what I could, has been watching French movies and listening to French music (Natasha St Pier, Nolwen Leroy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Axelle Renoir, to name a few).
I’ve done what some here have done, watch a movie I know well with French voice-overs, too.
…And I forgot, I’ve used the BBC Languages French pages… a lot! Ma France is pretty good!
Great suggestions. I live in Australia, and I agree with an earlier poster who mentioned the french news on SBS. I have some other ideas as well.
I got a part-time job as a waitress at a french restaurant. It certainly forced me to learn, but it was tough and I didn’t last long.
I began learning french at an adult education facility (one lesson per week of 2.5 hours duration). I got my Certificate II in Applied Language (French), but it took 4 years. I was in a class of 20, and the same people seemed to get the opportunity to speak, while others missed out. The teacher in the last year was a tyrant and everybody was scared to answer her questions, just in case they got something wrong, which is NOT the way to learn. I switched to private lessons, which were expensive but which I highly recommend. I gained my Certificate III then Certificate IV in Applied Language (French) in about 9 months.
I have a Nintendo DS and I recently bought the intermediate version of My French Coach. It wasn’t available in Australia, I had to get it on eBay UK. It works out to about 40 minutes per day of french. It’s another useful tool.
I have an advanced french course called “Ultimate French – Advanced” by Living Language. It contains 8 cd’s and a 400-page course book. I highly recommend this. I have tried Pimsleur, but I didn’t find it as good as Ultimate French, but that is probably because in addition to audio resources, I like having something in writing that I can refer to.
I guess practice is the key, along with good listening skills. A french-speaking man couldn’t hurt also!!
I did employ most of the suggestions you made, but I would like to tell one more which I found very helpful, if not everywhere available. I was priviledged to study French at Purdue University. In doing so, I was able to sit in and use the facilities of the language lab. I believe my accent is much better than one who has not done this sort of work. The headset let me hear my own voice in addition to the French speaker’s voice, and compare the two. I found it very helpful.
My favorite way to learn (and brush up on ) French is to listen to french music or movies. Watch Amelie (try to turn off the captions) or listen to Emmanuel Moire, Benabar, Christophe Mae (just to name a few) and pay attention to the words. Some of the videos on Youtube have the french and english translations that are on the video. Even if you pick up a few words every day, that’s a few more words you didn’t know the day before!
Hi , I agree Michel thomas c.d,s are wonderful. I am also learning Italian at my local community centre . Choosing a subject that you like is very helpful.
Lots of great ideas here. I went the classic route: majored in French in college, lived in France for several years. But I never stop learning. Currently I love to watch France 24 on my iTouch (free!) and also subscribe to TV5 on Dish Network.
TV5 web site has great language resources. There is SO MUCH available online. BBC has excellent language lessons. Many library systems have portals to language learning sites. Ask your local librarian.
Alliance Française courses are expensive, but they also sponsor a variety of free and open events. Of course travel to France is my favorite way to keep exploring this wonderful language and culture.
Do your everyday tasks in French . . . grocery list, post-it notes, diary, whatever. Jot down what you are wearing every day in French. Increase your level of detail in describing your clothes.
If you have French-speaking friends, send every email to them in French and speak to them in French as much as possible.
Join the French Library (we have a fabulous one in Boston) and just go there and talk to people about anything!
Read the directions to your new appliance in French.
Get a French TV channel, such as TV5MONDE, from your cable company. Start with the news and weather (perfect grammar, Parisian accents, stories you are probably already familiar with). Work up to movies and talk shows.
Listen to a French radio station over the web. Try RFI. It’s on the iTunes menu under Radio/International.
Bonne chance !
Nothing replaces full immersion in a place that speaks French, but you could try practicing online with interactive software, like Babbel.com (http://www.babbel.com), which is a favorite of mine.
I listen to French podcasts on my iPhone while I am running or commuting to work. I find I sometimes walk into work speaking French to my coworkers!
Watch your DVDs on the computer — it is much easier to hide the subtitles for a few moments and it is much easier to rewind as needed.
Try “Learn French by Podcast”, quickly found on the web. It is perfect for the intermediate learner.
I did the opposit I’ve learnt english but learning a langage follows always simple rules
Being passionate
Dig in and never let go
Never be shy
Lesson speak breathe the langage
Never cease to learn
Heya!
I would honestly say that the best way to learn french is to go and live in France for a couple of months.
The next best thing is to get a french girlfriend (or boyfriend if you are a girl).
After that, I resorted to learn french software that helps me stay on top of my french so I dont forget everything I’ve learnt up to now 🙂
Merci beaucoup!
Diggy
http://www.rocketfrenchhq.com
At least a few of you have made reference to podcasts, which I heartily recommend. For those truly committed to learning French or any other language, making it a part of your daily life – every day – is critical, and an iPod or other MP3 player can serve as a wonderful tool when immersion isn’t possible. Buying one of these devices, downloading free iTunes software, perusing the iTunes store for free podcasts and investing in an FM transmitter for your car – following those steps have taken me far in my study of several languages. Most of the podcasts are 10 minutes long or shorter – parfait for commutes, shopping errands or a walk around the lake. I practice pronunciation as I listen and drive (no laws against that yet, as far as I know.) For French, I recommend http://www.RFI.fr and its many podcasts – One I listen to everyday is “Le journal en francais facile,” a 10-minute broadcast of international news is slightly less complex language. Other podcasts I’d recommend: frenchpod.com, onethinginafrenchday.com, dailyfrenchpod.com, learnfrenchbypodcast.com. BBC offers wonderfully thorough (and free) sites for studying languages, including French (just Google BBC and French and up it pops), that appeal to a range of learning styles. And languageguide.org offers a broad menu of vocabulary by topic – just hover your mouse over each word to hear the pronunciation. On the low-tech front, I simply speak words and phrases out loud (when I’m alone) based on cues around me – focusing on simply looking at an object and saying, for example, “un arbre,” while making an effort to shut out the English “tree” from my mind. Or imagining a range of questions and considering what my responses might be. People may see my lips moving and think me mad. “Tant pis!”
For intermediate-level users one of the best tools for becoming fluent in French is, in my opinion, a wall-chart system based on the idea of a calendar. I’ve used The Essential French 1 calendar a lot and I have to say it works. It can be ordered from http://www.langlcal.com
Sorry, that link should be http://www.langcal.com
I am at the very beginning stages in learning French, at times it seems I’ll never get it but I keep trying by listening to Podcasts, French songs. I find reading it most challenging. The fact that I don’t have anyone to practice with makes it difficult too. I’m happy I found this blog, hoping it helps me further along in my wish to learn French
Bonjour~I don’t know what works for adults. However, I was put in a French class when I was about 4 years old, and some of my greatest memories are from that class. A woman who moved from France to our small town decided to teach French classes to kids. Jean’s French classes opened up a whole new and exciting world to me through words. When I hear people speaking French and I understand much of what they are saying. I have taken many language classes in my life since and languages seem to be pretty easy for me to learn. I guess, what I am telling you people with little ones, is put them in a French class. I just happened to be lucky enough to be in Jean’s classes. Au revoir. Jacqueline
I started learning French 2 summers ago using the Michel Thomas CD course. Listening every day..all day to RTL in the car and 2 other radio stations on 162am and 621am wavebands while I’m on the move. Have bought a french novel and a parallel text book with stories by french authors. Haven’t been to France since 1970’s but am intending on visiting nxt year. Buy several french mags and newspapers every so often, and look at the bbc website on languages. Do SOME french in whatever context everyday no matter what. I wish I knew what I know now when I was younger!!
I like your tips, you can tell you have spent time in France, merci pour partager votre connaissance!
A tip for more advanced speakers is to get yourself a Petit Robert dictionary, and read French literature or popular fiction or newspapers or anything, looking up words you don’t know in the Robert. It’s a literary dictionary, so for every definition, you get quotes from French literature to illustrate the various uses and meanings of the word. And it is not a translation dictionary, so you are immersed in the language.
Bonjour! I am trying the Fluenz French language system. http://www.fluenz.com I have learned other languages in a classroom and with a private tutor which also have advantages but I have to say the Fluenz method seems to be working for me. I am impressed so far. It is a little easier to work in to spare timeslots if you have a busy schedule.
HELP!!! I am looking for an intense French conversation course to take in Provence, France during October 2010 for about 2 weeks. Please send all recommendations to me at me e-mail address: Ro@rosemarydepaola.com
Many thanks,
Ro
Arrgh! I have been saving my F W-A-Days since this Feb, when I first learned of this fabulous spot, nay, artistic and worthwhile website. Today I pushed the wrong button and they have all gone into the black hole!!! It has been so valuable in preparation for my trip to visit relatives in Bordeaux this fall….now they have disappeared! Is there any source for all those emails I’ve lost? Help please! Merci, Bill
I have just finished reading all the comments and enjoyed them so much. I have Michel Thomas CDs but especially love the Pimsleur….
the voices are wonderful and I feel comfortable with these people. However, from all of these comments which I appreciate, I understand that a trip to France or close contact with a French-speaking person is necessary. In the meanwhile there’s lots to do! Thanks so much.
Yes, I agree about marrying a frenchman and living in france. Is the best way (;p).
I also did Assimil and other online resources.
I think we need a good mix of different resources otherwise we get bored.
I also started very soon to search info in internet using just the few words I knew. Is very good to read it into different contexts.
Well just my 2 cents, congratulations for the site, I am coming back for sure.
1. Of course, subscribe to this site.
2. Learn grammar. At school I was never taught all the parts of speech, and a good part of the battle to learn French is knowing what things like a subjunctive and a past participle are.
3. Be brave. Don’t worry about how bad you are, just go for it anyway. The efforts you make will be appreciated, and you will get a much better reception in French towns if you at least try.
4. Give yourself a working holiday. I did a two week intensive French course in Antibes, which was surprisingly inexpensive. You can organise your own accommodation, stay on site, or stay with a French family, to really get your speaking skills up to speed! http://www.cia-france.com/ They have courses that are really focused, or ones which involve classes in the morning, and fun explorations and activities in the afternoon.
5. Purse your lips. Seriously. Try saying “merci” as you normally would. Now try it again with your lips more pursed forward, and hear the difference.
Ok, I’ve one that I’ve not seen as I’ve scrolled through the lengthy post thread: I have a Blackberry and downloaded the Verbuga Francais verb tool……….. I spend hours standing in lines or waiting for things in my business and rather than be bored I practice my verbs. It’s brilliant, and having it so handy makes sure that you use it frequently. It would be good for commuters too.
We spend 3-4 months a year (in 2 periods) at our business in France. We deliberately bought in an area where there are few Brits (we’ve been expats for over 40 years), so speaking French is a requirement. We’ve made friends with the owners of our local bar and the staff of the local bricos too. I have no problems in picking something up and asking “comment dit-en ..?” They are so happy that we try so hard and never do us the dis-service of speaking English to us. A pocket dictionary in my handbag, and a superb dictionary of French building terms in the loo helps enormously.
We’ve tried Rosetta Stone and, to be honest, I didn’t like it. It’s too much rote learning, and no facility to understand why things are done for my taste, but, to be fair, I will say that it did wonders exhuming ancient and rusty school-girl French before we first went over.
Back to France on 3rd April. Yippeee!
First off, I just want to say that I heart your site. 🙂 I stumbled upon it while googling for French resources and was delighted to see your puppies and other tidbits.
Personally, I’m using a modified version of Barry Farber’s approach to learning languages – that is a multiple track attack. I agree with several people who commented about the Pimsleur programme – I love that I can confidently say stuff right away, something my high school classes could never help me with. I’m also working on the Berlitz program: I have the basic and intermediate books. I also have a couple of French grammar books which I’ve been reviewing side-by-side with the other programs. Also, I’m a bit of an app whore, so I download whatever freebies I can get my hands on to do on my iphone or ipad while commuting, waiting in line at the grocery, etc.
I also appreciate flashcards. Berlitz has some that came with my deluxe language pack, but I also make my own when I come across words or phrases I want to remember. Then I carry them around and read as I go about during the day.
Apart from listening to music, watching movies and reading books, I also like to go through magazines. At first, I was just trying to understand headlines and captions. But now I pick on article and slowly go through it, highlighting words I don’t understand, trying to figure grammar patterns and what not. Google translate has become my best friend for this, even if it gets things wrong once in a while – I appreciate the Listen button at the bottom where sometimes you can hear how a word is supposed to be pronounced.
Finally, since I’m mostly self-studying, I’ve made it a point to study everyday. Most of the time it’s listening to my Pimsleur lesson while I workout. Other times, I’ll sit down to do a lesson from Berlitz or a grammar book. And sometimes it’s just as simple as making a point to browse French websites like Vogue and Elle – I get my fashion and French dose rolled into one.
Hope this helps!!
Something I found helpful,once you have some basics, is to buy yourself a monoligual
dictionary,which gives you synonymes,antonymes, and the contexts in
examples.Many french words are explained in terms which are easy to understand.
I have a Larousse compact, which has been a great help to me in the last 2 years.