Best ways of learning French

Advice on the best ways to learn French, from Carl Adkins…

I work from home and we will buy a house in the countryside so do I really need to learn French to live in France?

The short answer is, yes, especially if you plan to live there for longer than few months at a time. It’s true that lots of French people speak or understand some English but away from the large cities or when dealing with administration then a good level of French will:

• Encourage French people to help you more than if you just speak English slowly or point at your smartphone.
• Make you feel part of your new community and ease your integration into a new culture.
• Be required if you want to apply for French nationality and it is currently being proposed for multi-year visa applicants who previously only needed to show proof that they were learning French.

Many people have cited ‘failure to speak French’ and ‘not integrating into their new community’ as top reasons for seeing their dream move to France become a nightmare. They realised too late that staying isolated in an English bubble didn’t help them to learn French or adapt to their new adopted home.

I’ve read that apps and AI will soon be able to automatically translate French so what’s the point of learning French?

Well, you can get your nutritional needs met by gulping down a protein shake and a few vitamin supplements but it’s not as tasty or sociable as sitting at your local brasserie with a steaming beef stew and a glass of Bordeaux, is it?

You’ll hear the really useful, daily French conversations going on around you so don’t pop in your earphones or read through emails on your phone. At first, you won’t understand anything but over time you will start to hear common words and phrases that will help you to speak French when you’re ready. You can’t pronounce words properly until you can hear them and have had a few attempts at saying them, so this is the ideal environment to get a free French immersion, enjoy fresh food and become part of your new community. Isn’t that so much better than just being a new foreign homeowner with a translation app on their smartphone?

I don’t have time to sit in a classroom so what’s the best way to learn French quickly?

The bad news is that you can’t force it quickly into your head if you don’t enjoy it, so don’t try to learn French quickly! You’ll be much more successful at acquiring French if you do activities that you enjoy, and the more senses you engage will ensure your brain remembers them.

• Listen to French audiobooks, radio or podcasts in the background and your ear will become tuned to the sound and melody of French (try francaisfacile.rfi.fr). You don’t need to understand everything but picking a subject you already know something about in English will obviously help.
• Do an activity like golf lessons or horse riding in French and this will help you to acquire French naturally.
• Pin a notice in the local boulangerie to go for a hike or dog walk with a local so that you can practice your French and they their English, while munching on a lovely fresh croissant, of course!

This is known as neuroplasticity and it is why we can spend hours reading long lists of French words but can’t remember them the next week. However, when you combine learning those new words in the brasserie – de la viande, carafe d’eau – or while horse riding – on va aller à gauche then you will retain them. This is how we acquire French instead of trying to learn it. Which is great news for us mature/senior learners as it puts paid to the myth that only youngsters can learn a new language!

Carl Adkins is the founder of XPF Experience France, providing tailored French language immersions

Tel 07788 413871 (UK), 0033 (0)6 07 63 99 98 (France)

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