Are you so busy that at the end of the day you don’t have the time to study French? You’ve probably heard that learning French requires hours and hours of dedicated study, and that’s before you’re considered strong enough to speak the language. When you’re a busy professional, it can be hard to find that time in a day, but it is there. When it comes to learning French, it’s not about how many hours per week you put into learning, but how consistently you show up to study French. You may have a spouse, child, pet, or even just be someone solo, living the life you love. Time is at a premium in your life, and you’ve always heard that language learning requires large amounts of time. While that is true, there is a lot of time available to still live your life, be there for your loved ones, and learn enough French that you’d be able to use it every day. Here are a few tips you need to get you started on your French learning journey:
One of the four main competencies of French learning is listening comprehension. This one is the least thought about, aside from jokes made about how fast the French speak. That pace is the result of years of being immersed in French. Learners do not have the same level of immersion native Francophones do and need to find ways to build immersion into their day.
Replacing empty noise with French listening is one way to develop immersion. You can listen to French podcasts, French audiobooks, and even French music to get an understanding of the way the words sound. This helps train your ear to understand the flow of the language and can be done as we go about our daily errands. After consistent listening, your brain will be able to tell the difference between words and spot sentence structures easily.
It’s fine to listen to French all day. You will soon be able to hear the difference between words, but if you’re not consistent, you might find yourself knowing the difference between words but not understanding what the sentence means, or even what the individual words mean. All your progress can disappear before you realize it. This is where triggers come in.
Triggers are the things that cause a particular behaviour in a person when it is experienced. This can benefit a busy French learner because you won’t have to always remember everything as the triggers will prompt you into studying. For example, do you read the news with your breakfast? Why not put a French news app on your phone’s homescreen so when you do read the news you would see the French news app first and be prompted to try reading in French.
Speaking French is a pain point for most learners. Aside from the difficulty in pronunciation, many learners struggle to find speaking partners at an appropriate level. Here’s a quick tip to get in some additional speaking practice if you don’t have anyone to speak to: speak to yourself, out loud.
This method will allow you to practise the way the words feel when spoken and give you the opportunity to use your vocabulary in a low-stakes environment. You can do it any time. For example, if you’re in the shower and you’re penning your award-winning movie script, try and do it in as much French as you can.
If you’re more comfortable, try to record what you say and listen to it again. You can compare the words you struggle with against online resources like
Forvo.
This one can be a bit tricky. Thinking is an internal process and is done reflexively. You might not believe you think in a language, but you do. If speaking French out loud makes you freeze, then why not try thinking in French?
It’s easy; you can do it anywhere, any time, and it forces your brain to follow the grammar structure of the language even when you’re not in a French environment. Maybe you don’t know where to start, but it’s no different than learning any of the other parts of learning French.
Start simple.
Refer to things by the French names you know. Think in simple sentences or even translate ads or simple English communications. If you are one of the people who have an inner monologue, then try monologuing to yourself.
These are just a few tips—a way for you to get started—but these tips can put more French practice and learning in your day without a serious schedule overhaul. You still need to carve out the time for serious, dedicated study, but without frequent practice you will lose any progress you make when you do sit down to learn. By having consistency, you build a stronger French competency than you ever thought possible.
