Why learning French? Where and how to start?

 Why?  

If you are here, you must have your own valid reason for wanting to learn French. Yet, many are the people who gave up on the way because they thought it was boring, pointless, too complicated, etc.  Basically, not worth the time or the effort.

Truth is, what you are feeling is right. So I don’t blame you. In fact, I have also felt that way when learning Korean. Yet, how I wish I could have a conversation in Korean! But…I gave up. Lack of time, having to teach myself, thinking that I would never get the pronunciation right because it’s so complicated. Any excuse, right?! My point is, I know the feeling. I know what it’s like to study a language and give up. But I also know what it’s like to feel like giving up and sticking to it, becoming fluent in the language and feeling so happy to reach such a level. So maybe you’re wondering what the secret is. What it takes is: resilience, discipline and effort. No pain, no gain. And no magic wand!  

So how and where to start?  

 There are the traditional ways: taking classes, reading books about French, watching and listening to French medias (films, series, songs, radio, tv, podcasts) or going to a French speaking country. Why not?!   

Step 1. Set yourself a realistic and achievable objective. What I find is the best way to get into learning a language is to take baby steps. If you tell yourself that you want to become fluent and work on it every day for hours and hours, chances are you will give up. And that would be very human. That’s overdoing it. And overdoing it is killing it. So baby steps. That means having the big goal to reach, that you will break down into achievable chunks. Then prioritise the chunks. What matters the most to you? What can wait? That way the impossible becomes possible. I’ll use an example of my situation, of when I was fed up of having a poor understanding of English and I wanted to be able to watch series without reading subtitles and understanding what songs I was singing were actually about. So I started with one artist: Britney Spears. One song: “stronger”.  And I read the lyrics as I listen to the songs. Putting words on sounds I would hear helped me understanding what Britney was on about. Then I got a dictionary (yes, I know. Millenials Generation) and started translating the words. And then, a brand new world opened to me. And I did the same with another song. And another one. And I realised I didn’t need the dictionary as much because Britney uses a lot of similar words. Thank you Britney.  

Step 2. Ask yourself why you want to learn French. If you are learning French to please someone or it is just to try it out, as harsh as it sounds, I would say: forget it. If this is something that matters to you, chances are you will make it happen. But even then, we are all human and when we hit an obstacle, when it gets really hard and you feel that you will never get there, that’s when you’ve got to ask yourself again, as many times as it is necessary: why am I learning French? And the motivation will find you again. That’s when resilience happens. That’s when you thrive and reach a new level towards your final objective. In my own experience, whenever I would be stuck with those brand new songs and having no idea what the singers were on about, I would switch off the radio or only listen to the songs I understood the meaning of. But then I would say to myself “nope, I want to know what the lyrics are saying.” So I would keep on going. And it took some time. Even now I hear Britney Spears songs and I wonder “what even is she saying?”. And I look up the lyrics and figure out the meaning of that word I didn't know.  Still learning! That brings me back to step 1: baby steps - don't expect to be fluent from one day to the next. Good things take time. Be patient.  

Step 3. Schedule time for French and set a timer. Create a routine. Make it achievable and be consistent. You are in charge. You decide, and only you can know which time suits you best as in which moment of the day it is that you are most likely to concentrate and make progress in French. And do put a timer on so you don’t overdo it. Dedicate 5 mins a day minimum (otherwise what’s the point?) up to 30 mins a day, maximum. As time goes on, adjust the timer: more minutes, less minutes, same amount of minutes? Only you know what works best for you. So listen to yourself and don’t beat yourself up if you skip one or two sessions every now and then. Don’t make it up for it the next time by doubling the amount of time you missed. That would be counter productive and might make you feel overwhelmed. Personally, the evening is the time when I am most likely to be productive and want to listen to songs or watch a film. Apart from thanking Britney, I also need to thank the Harry Potter films. Every evening for months, I would put on the DVD and watch scenes of one of films. So, rougly that would be 10 minutes a day. For some reason, I watched 'The chamber of secrets' the most. I would watch a scene with English audio and French subtitles, then watch it with English audio and subtitles. And then I would know what the actors were saying so much that I would watch the scene without any subtitles. Eventually, I managed to watch the whole film in English, no subtitles. The moment of pride, joy and success when I would understand it all. I could visualise the words in my head as I would hear them and be able to say what the French was. The dream.  

Step 4. Environment  

Online classes or face to face? In a group or alone behind your book or screen? What works best is what matches your personality. It’s when you feel at ease and comfortable that you will make the most progress. Some people love speaking in public. Others don’t want to be put on the spot and would prefer to write everything down. I would personally hate speaking in class until the day my teacher told me I was improving a lot. Then I pushed myself and became the only one to put their hand up in class. Whereas in another class, people laughed and I never put my hand up ever again. No matter how you chose the conditions in which you learn a language, don’t let others judge your level. Always remember that trying is way more than others will do. Speaking in another language is brave so well done you for putting yourself out of your comfort zone.  

Step 5. Choose your resources wisely. There are so many resources out there nowadays. It is easy to get lost and confused. From buying a book with grammar and basic vocabulary that sometimes cost a lot of money, to websites and other online resources that are free, from native speakers to foreigners having learnt French, the choice is HUGE. It is up to you to decide what suits you best. Again, nobody knows better than you what you learn best with. All I will say is that based on your objective, some resources will work better than others. Ultimately, to check your talking and writing skill, an interactive tool works best. AI and chatGPT could be useful, having a French friend or relative would definitely help, and maybe going directly to the country would help. Just make sure that whichever way you choose to learn French, you don’t end up learning something obsolete or not being able to understand the words, or worse, pronouncing them poorly (been there. Some of my most awkward experiences to this day). Whichever way you learn, make sure to keep your notes organised and practice, practice, practice. When there are so many resources out there, I would be thrilled to gain your trust and help you reach your goal.   Hopefully this will be of some help! Bon courage ;)

Miss H