I Went From Zero French to Upper-Intermediate in 8 Months

Just a year ago, like many who saw Moulin Rouge in the 2000s, my French was limited to politely propositioning someone. I mean, who doesn't remember singing "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" inappropriately in random places, right?

It feels like a dream now because after learning French for only eight months, I passed the official upper-intermediate French language exam, the DELF B2.

I still get confused these days after conversing in French about politics or watching the news in French. I always feel like that disoriented kid, David, after his dentist appointment. Is this real life? How come I understand French?

I'm not a polyglot, I'm not a genius, I didn't live in a French-speaking country, and I didn't pay for expensive intensive courses. I'm super average but I did it. Now, I want to make it my mission to spread the word. I want to demystify language learning.

You don't need a high IQ to succeed. The secret is using a practice-based method.

Ready?

Month one: All fun and games!

Duolingo is a language learning app that applies gamification. Basically, all that you do on the app is translate sentences from your target language to your native language and vice versa. But! Because of the way they present the exercises, I guarantee you will have fun with Duolingo.

I know many people are anti-Duolingo because it uses a lot of sentences that make little sense, and on that, I agree. However, the app helped me tremendously.

Duolingo will help you learn vocabulary, sentence structures, a little grammar, improve your reading skills, your listening skills, and pronunciation. Duolingo is also repetitive and therefore whatever it is you are learning there, sticks.

On top of using Duolingo, I strongly suggest watching TV series or vloggers in French as much as possible. You can use subtitles, obviously.

The goal is to familiarize yourself with the sound of words in your target language. When you are a beginner, you probably can't tell where one word begins and ends. So with TV series, you are "training" your brain to get familiar with a new language.

Tips:

Summary: 1 hour of Duolingo + 30 minutes to 1 hour of TV series/YouTube videos in French.

Month two: Understanding more

Continue with the activities from the first month and begin to learn basic grammar. I got my materials for free from Google or YouTube.

At this point, you can probably understand at least 50% of two beautiful French songs: Pamplemousse by Flavien Berger and Pays Imaginaire by Polo and Pan too. Congratulations!

Summary: 1 hour of Duolingo + 30 minutes to 1 hour of TV series/Youtube videos in French with the subtitle of your choice + 30 minutes to 1 hour of grammar study per week.

Month three: Time to get serious

Continue with Duolingo, but limit it to around half an hour a day. Keep reading two stories or more, though!

Now onto my favorite learning activity - having a conversation class. You can find them on Italki, a marketplace for freelance language teachers. I recommend once a week to start. Prices start as low as $5 per 30 minutes for a one-on-one class.

I can't recommend having conversation classes enough because speaking is the hardest skill when it comes to learning a new language. And when you get used to speaking in your new language, the other skills will feel a lot easier to learn.

Next, watch videos in French with French subtitles. I recommend doing this for at least 30 minutes a day. Start with videos that are made specifically for language learners.

If you want to advance quicker, or plan to take the DELF B2 (for entry to universities in France), it's time to start reading news articles. France 24 has shorter and simpler articles- perfect for beginners. It will not be easy but I guarantee that you will get used to it in no time.

Of course, I totally understand that when you are a beginner, news articles can seem intimidating. But it's not going to be that way for a long time. There are two things you can do when you read a news article with a lot of words that you don't know.

The first option is to read the whole paragraph first and see if you can understand from context. After reading one paragraph, copy it to Google Translate to see how accurate is your translation.

The second option is to translate every word you don't know as you go. This takes a lot of effort and I personally don't prefer it. But you should try both and see which one you like better.

It's also important to say out loud what you are reading. I began doing this very early in my learning and as a result, I improved my pronunciation a lot.

Tips:

• Italki: Before booking a class on Italki, make sure the teacher has good reviews and a lot of returning students. If a teacher has fewer than 5 stars, find another one. It is very easy for teachers to get 5 stars on Italki so anything less is kind of a red flag.
• Italki: If you have a tight budget, you can work with community teachers instead of professional teachers. These are mostly people without a formal education in language but it's not a problem at all.
• Recommended channels on YouTube: Inner French, Français Avec Pierre (watch the skits), Piece of French, and last but not least French Extras. French Extras is a must. It's a sitcom like Friends but with a lower budget. Super cringy at first but it will grow on you, I promise.

Summary: 30 minutes of Duolingo + 30 minutes to 1 hour of videos in French that are targeted for language learners with French subtitles + read a news article a day + 30 minutes of conversation class per week.

Month four: Stop translating in your head

You can start learning grammar more with textbooks or videos on YouTube. However, don't make it the main focus of your learning. You should focus more on actually practicing the language!

It's also time to watch real French Youtubers without subtitles. Yes, it's going to be really hard in the beginning and it won't be enjoyable. It's ok if you don't understand 100%. At this point, I understood around 40% of what's being said and that's good enough.

Just remember to stop translating in your head.

I'll explain.

So, in the beginning, when you watch something in French, you might want to or automatically translate the words in your head to your first or second language in an attempt to understand.

In my case, I would translate French to English, my second language. This slowed down my understanding process a lot. I had a hard time catching up even after I slowed down the video and turned on subtitles.

Stop translating and just know. I know this might sound so bizarre but this is very helpful in the long run. When you hear something in your first language, you just understand everything, don't you? So try to do the same with your target language. It takes time and a lot of practice.

You can try to visualize what you hear or read with images first. And after a week or two, try to just understand. It requires focus but not too much focus. I would enter a trance-like state of mind when I first started doing it. You will understand what I mean if you just try it.

My favorite French Youtuber is HugoDécrypte. He summarizes global news daily and he speaks very clearly. I also recommend EnjoyPhoenix because even though she talks really fast, she doesn't use slang that often. You can also try slowing down the video and using subtitles in the first two weeks to get used to her speech.

If you want to become an A+ student, start listening to podcasts in French. Inner French is targeted at language learners but it's not boring at all. Earlier episodes are very easy to understand.

Summary: 30 minutes to 1 hour of videos by French Youtubers without subtitles + 30 minutes of podcast + read a news article + 30 min of conversation class per week.

Month five, six, seven, and eight: Staying consistent

At this point, you just need to stay consistent and do pretty much the same things daily. Your daily routine should look like this:

• 30 minutes of French Youtubers and 30 minutes of the news. France24 or Euronews français have a live stream on Youtube.
• 30 minutes of podcasts.
• An hour of grammar per week.
• One news article a day.
• Conversation class at least once a week. I'd recommend twice a week though.
• On days where you don't have a conversation class, record yourself speaking French for 1–3 minutes. You can answer these 365 writing prompts in French.
• If you're planning to study in France and need to pass the DELF B2, you need to start taking a DELF preparation class on Italki once a week. When I did it, I told the teacher I wanted to just work on the speaking part and I think you should too. Once in a while, you can ask them to check your writings though.
• 250 words in French once or twice a week. You can journal, or write an essay reacting to a news article. For DELF B2 takers, write a letter, instead.
• For DELF B2 takers, on days you don't have a DELF preparation class, do the monolog of the speaking part yourself. This means, reading an article and prepare a 7–10 minutes monolog within 30 minutes, then present the monolog. You can record yourself to see your progress.

Recommended podcasts that aren't that hard to understand for French language learners: Les actus du jour - Hugo Décrypte, Only Up to You, Émotions, L'essentiel, True Story, Les Minutes de l'Horreur,

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Phew, that's it! Yes, I know it's a lot. I used to spend three hours a day learning but it's worth it. If you decide to do it, please remember to take weekends off.

Now of course you can learn more grammar along the way, but please for the love of God - practice the language more! Focusing on grammar too much will slow you down or overwhelm you as a beginner.

Best of luck!