In the article we’ll explain you how to learn French fast and easy.
France… The Eiffel Tower, croissants and the beautiful French. But what does it take to immerse yourself in this environment? That’s right! Understand how to learn French in a short time and go practice it! Let’s deal with the first point and open the possibility to realize the second one.
Surround yourself with a French-speaking environment
This can be accomplished by book reading and listening to French music. Even without using a dictionary, a huge number of words can be picked up intuitively. Inquire about language programs because hearing the language spoken by a native speaker is crucial. Naturally, native speakers can vary greatly; some have a pronounced accent or are too verbose. So be mindful of the people you listen to.
Ask anything you don’t understand to a native speaker in a chat or over the phone
This has major significance. By doing so, you can pick up a wide variety of words, including slang (where appropriate) and other words that add variety to the language and broaden your vocabulary. Inquire about the other person’s life, interests, and family. Simply ask the person to translate a word or phrase into English if you don’t understand it.
To do this, you can use special platforms designed to communicate with native speakers:
- Ablo;
- HelloTalk;
- HiNative.
Film and songs
Watching the same film twice, first in English and then in French, is a fantastic alternative. The songs, too! Listening to the songs of Françoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, and many more talented singers will help you experience the language. Finding something familiar and native to French culture is necessary if you want to learn the language effectively and efficiently.
Learn French with phrases
It is considerably more beneficial to learn phrases and stable expressions all at once rather than remembering words, although there is some benefit to doing so. It is often the case that many established phrases are rarely used by the younger generation of native speakers. Therefore, both strategies are effective, but it is still advisable to try the first one in the beginning.
Communicate on social networks and chat rooms
You are not by yourself. There are hundreds of organizations made up of people who have similar interests to yours and want to study this lovely language. Go ahead and establish a public chat room where you may communicate in French! Utilize video communication; individuals frequently state, “I kind of understand, but I can’t say anything.” But this is not true, because very soon you will stop being afraid to speak French.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
A sentence that should have come earlier in this article 🙂 It’s okay to write and say something incorrectly because everyone makes mistakes (even in their native language). It will get easier, and you’ll start to enjoy learning a language once you realize that mistakes are only experiences.
Record yourself on video and recorder
In this manner, you can constantly hear your areas of weakness, pinpoint where your errors are, and practice your accent. Yes, you can pay a little or a lot of money to get your accent reduced at a language school, but why not attempt it yourself at home? The desire is what matters most!
Translate your computer, phone, or tablet into French
Such a large number of words and phrases! They are incredibly helpful. You see them all the time, and you will undoubtedly utilize them in your speech. You’ll hear words like “call,” “cancel,” “send,” “message,” and many others every day. And repetition is the mother of learning, as the saying goes.
Read more news, articles, and books
Read about topics you are interested in, such as sports, fashion, photography, and style. Keep the translator open and read more frequently. If you can’t determine a word’s meaning from the context, look it up. Additionally, advertising is a live language used in daily life.
Try to think in French
Try thinking of these sentences in French: “I promised to call my mother,” “I need to buy bread and milk,” and “There are four hours until the flight.” Start a journal and enter your plans in it. If you’re still shy, you might also start a blog that you can keep private. Even just a few words a day can help.
Be fearless. Everything will be alright!
How long does it take to learn French? About 600 hours
It all depends on the purpose of studying. There is a chasm between wanting to ask a Frenchman “How to find a hotel” and needing to work at BNP Paribas. And that chasm is the level of French language skills.
If you are wondering how long does it take to learn french, the answer is quite simple – about 600 hours.
French is a category 1 language at FSI (Foreign Service Institute). Most English speakers take 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours) to learn French. This makes French easy (and quick) to learn. French belongs to the Romance group of languages. So if you knew or know Spanish or Italian, French will be easy for you.
For those who are wondering “Is french hard to learn?”, we can easily say “no, it’s very similar to other Romance group languages and English. If you know one of these languages or are a native English speaker, French will be very easy for you.
Self Development
This is the most popular goal. This goal is set by people who love French culture, want to “pump the brain,” and flash French phrases in front of friends.
Required level: from A1 to C1, depending on how deep you want to “drop the subject.”
Required vocabulary: from 300 to 7000 words.
Restore language proficiency
You learned at school or university, forgot, and now want to remember. After school and university, you expect to be usually level A1-B1, sometimes B2, with a vocabulary of 500 to 5000 words. Your recovery level depends on how many years of practice and how long the break was because during the break, active vocabulary turns into passive.
Required level: B1/B2
Required vocabulary: 3000 words
For study/work/internship abroad
Here it is necessary to distinguish between “everyday” French and “professional” French. About “every day,” see the next paragraph. About “professional,” learn in this paragraph.
Required level of proficiency:
- linguistics, teaching, literature, languages, communication with clients – C1/C2
- technical professions – B1
- business professions – B2
Required vocabulary:
- linguistics, teaching, literature, languages, customer communication – 5000-8000 words
- technical professions – 2000-3000 words
- business professions – 4000 words
For Living Abroad
Just the same as “household” French; for example, to communicate with a French husband, buy a car, arrange a child in kindergarten, etc.
Required level of proficiency: A2/B1
Required vocabulary: 1000 words
For traveling abroad
No long-term residency or work.
Required level of proficiency: A1
Required vocabulary: 300 words
Take the DALF/DELF exam
Depends on the level of the exam.
- A2 level – 1000 words;
- B1 level – 2000 words;
- B2 level – 3000-4000 words;
- C1 level – 7000 words
- C2 level – 8000+ words
To communicate with friends/relatives/native speakers
Required level of proficiency: basic communication – A1, free communication – A2/B1
Required vocabulary: basic communication – 300 words, free communication – 1500 words.
Understand songs/movies/books in the original format
You can watch movies and read books from a beginner’s level. But you need a B2+ level to be able to do this at ease.
Required level: B2
Required vocabulary: 4000 words + slang expressions
6 short tips for learning French
There are a few great tips that will save you time and not let you fall into despair.
- Don’t learn the language from scratch by yourself. Enroll in a course or hire a tutor. It is very important to improve your pronunciation and learn to read correctly. Without these skills, no one will understand you even if you memorize all the rules of grammar.
- Properly organize the process of learning vocabulary words. This way you will save yourself a lot of time and you will always be able to articulate your thoughts and desires correctly. For example, Langavia’s personal dictionary service is perfect for this purpose. There is a convenient systematized functionality of the personal dictionary and interesting game trainings.
- French is very jealous, so it wants you to devote your all to it. If you plan to study for fifteen minutes a day, you won’t get anywhere. “All or nothing!” – that’s the condition for those who aim for results.
- Listen a lot! Even if you don’t understand anything. You should at least get used to this extraordinary language first. Allow your ears to distinguish sounds, words, and phrases. Especially good in this case is listening to your favorite music (preferably with subtitles), besides it’s just a nice thing to do.
- Be sure to find a friend or mentor who agrees to talk to you on different topics. This will allow you to not be afraid of your speaking mistakes.
- And the last tip: set a specific goal (for example, the level of B2 in a year) and make a step-by-step plan. Decide how many hours you are willing to devote to learning French on a daily basis.
The truth about learning foreign languages
Unfortunately, all these tips will not work if you do not have the right system of learning a foreign language. So…
We have compiled everything we know in the mini-book that represents the master plan of your study: from beginner level to fluency. You can follow it step by step and learn French or any other foreign language at a high level as fast and efficient as possible.
Click the “get it now” button below to get your copy of the guide.
