Hi everyone! This post is for those struggling to learn French and think they could never do it. I can tell you now, yes you can! And yes you will! And you know who encouraged me to speak more, French people. My old boss, my friends, my managers…the people at the restaurants even the managers at job interview. Not one told me that my French is bad. Ok one, for a communications post…lol, she said it’s ok for speaking with colleagues, but not for speaking to clients lol. That was two years ago and of course in certain situations, I wouldn’t volunteer myself…but it gets the job done and I’ll share how I did it.
Take French Lessons and study before going to class
Huh? Why would I pay for lessons when I have to teach myself? Because they’re crazy over there! So I went to my first french class, the teacher only spoke in French. I’m an adult and my teacher is bombarding me with questions and I don’t even know oui or non at that point. I just felt frustrated. But my mom paid already so might as well go on. For first class, just try to brush up at least the basic pronouns and some vocabulary that you see in the classroom. At least you don’t sound like an idiot.
Pretend You’re in France
I follow Law of Attraction a little bit and there was a point in my life in Shanghai that I really wanted to move to Paris. So I asked myself, if I’m living in Paris, what would it look like. So I bought french fashion magazines from this bookshop and spread it near my bed. Of course i folded and unfolded it so it looks worn out. The devil is in the details as they say. When I’m cleaning my room or doing something, I turn my computer and play something French even if i don’t understand a thing.
Don’t Use Subtitles
Ok I am speaking from my standpoint of growing up in the 80s in the Philippines. We have a lot of English tv shows and movies that were not translated. And we grew up without any subtitles. We can speak English with nice accents…at least far from the native accent and even if we mix up words here and there…you know that we recognize the sound.
We just grew up getting used to the sound and eventually learning what it means organically.
Now, living in France everyone uses sub-titles and i find myself reading them instead of watching the movie. And my boyfriend at one point was a bit annoyed because the movie we downloaded didn’t come with sub titles and he speaks really well like level 1000…I can’t believe he is so dependent on the subtitles. I told him, i’ll tell you when you don’t get something.
Ok for French, anyway, how it sounds and how it’s written is usually not the same so why bother. Just get used to the sound and take context from the scenes.
Immerse in an all-French activity
Ok for me, i think this one is the trigger. I took a fashion class in ESMOD and it was all in French. I had A level of french and that’s like level one. But even if i know the basic conjugations and I have decent vocabulary, I’m too shy to speak to the French. They speak too fast and they eat their words. Oh and it takes some time to get used to one’s accent. I think I might have cried a few times. But then, I have no choice. Like a child, I observed how they say things and the intonation. And no, I didn’t wait for my french to be perfect…i copied exactly how the say things, particularly, et alors (so what)??? lol. And “je suis d’accord mais…” (I agree but…)
Of course, my classmates corrected me for the grammar, regarding the articles and the gender…but it was in my early 20s and I didn’t care that time. If you’re older, just accept that you will be corrected and try not to be offended. It helps anyway.
Oh and no one spoke to me in English that time. So I saw in 3 months, I can already speak French without looking at the dictionary or translator.
Watch the News Daily and Don’t translate
Ok years after I left Paris…I ended up studying French again because I knew I would come back. My classmates in French class were studying for 2 years straight. And me, it’s been 13 years since I took formal lessons in French. But I could tell that I speak more than them. I’m not saying I’m better, but I think the focus was different. They were more concerned about the grammar and all but they did not have as much practice in listening and in speaking.
There is an exercise in class, which I love, wherein we have to listen to some audio sound and we have to write down what was said. It could be a news, an interview or a story. At first the teacher would give us a text and with blanks to help us. Then later, it’s a blank paper. I could guess almost 80% of the words even if i misspell it sometimes. The teacher was amazed. I was not even allowed to guess anymore after some time. LOL. Sorry not sorry. Later, my teacher asked me, how come your listening skills are so good when your grammar is awful. I should be insulted but actually I felt sad for her students.
I told her, you would not believe this but I listen to french news clips, like The Zapping almost everyday and I normally don’t look at the screen. I just play it on the background. I guess that made it easier for me to recognize the words and the accent.
Guys, this is super important….when you’re in the situation where you have to talk to a French person or in a group…there is no time for them to slow down or pronounce properly for a beginner…so you need to be used to it as soon as you can.
Prepare to Sound Like an Idiot
Ok despite almost 2 years of French class and the positive feedback I get, you’d think I’d be speaking non stop in French by now. However, I didn’t. I mostly kept quiet and people actually thought I’m a shy person. I just didn’t wanna sound like an idiot. I mean even till now when I hear my voice…i’m like oh my god what the fuck is that?! Spanish people when they speak English, they sound so sexy. Mine is just like ahhh! And also saying inappropriate words and my voice is naturally loud…the guy at the back of the room can hear me. All these things, hinder me from speaking.
However, there are places where no one speaks English and believe it or not, they are grateful when we speak French…at least we can start communicating. One guy in the factory told me, who speaks French well anyway…we all have accents here. He’s from Turkey. Then he chuckled, I never even paid attention to how i sound, I just speak.
In my case, I am overly self critical. So in times that I make a mistake, I try to take note of what I should have said and the accent and all and I tried to repeat it. One of the most difficult phrase that I had to practice was, “tu vois ce que je veux dire?” The other day, I heard myself saying it quick enough and I smiled because I remember how many times i repeated it everyday I drove people around me crazy.
Don’t say you speak French, speak French
I have been around many expat dinners, lunches etc and they all say they speak French, IN ENGLISH!!!!
If you speak French, I would hear French not english.
Another motivation to speak French, in my four years in France, I heard this from French people in my life:
During an internship and a colleague was reading emails from students written in english and she said, “why can’t they write in French? They knew they’re in France and writing to a french person, why write in English? I have to translate this in my head. I’d rather read broken French.” and another colleague agreed.
One of my bosses asked me ok, how should we speak, in French or in English. I said in French because I want to improve. She replied, “Ok good, because we will never tell you this, we don’t like it when someone speaks in English.” Ok she’s not speaking for everyone but I don’t know there’s some truth to it I guess. She’s probably one of the very few that I speak in French with, without switching to English.
Sorry this is extra long, but I already poured all out what I did to survive here. And as an old man in a restaurant told me once, “your french is good enough…don’t improve it so much.”
I said, “huh? why? I sound like a foreigner.”
He said, “well, if you sound like everyone here, that would be boring. just speak french, keep the jolie accent and be you.”
Awww, i never forget those words. So there you go. Bon courage!