How to Start Learning a New Language: French

French is a language spoken in many regions and countries around the world with various dialects and vocabulary. The one thing I love about the French language is it has so many connections to Latin, and Latin is a whole other adventure of its own. If you want to be able to expand your French knowledge, learning Latin can always be super beneficial to the learning process overall. Also, it could help you build in enough skills for yourself to be able to speak MULTIPLE languages!

I’ve been studying French for three years now. I started French my junior year of high school and found a way to weave my path to French 4 by the next year. I learned a lot about grammar, culture, and learning in general. The class helped me build into my language skills more than I could have ever thought. French is extremely diverse and so beautiful, so learning the language has been a lot of fun for me and I think anyone who learns it will discover how much fun it is for them too!

How to Start

Learning another language can be intimidating, but with practice, it can be a lot less scary. I usually start learning languages by listening before even getting into vocabulary or anything like that. Here’s a list of music to listen to before even pursuing the path of vocabulary or grammar. Immersing yourself into the sound of French will help you learn the way children would learn.

• Stromae - "Quand c’est, Ta Fête, and Papaoutai"
• Indila - "Love Story"
• Pentatonix - "Papaoutai"

This song is a remix song to the song, “Papaoutai,” by Stromae, and it is important to compare the two different voices speaking French to help you build stronger skills in the flexible language.

After you’ve listened to these songs and picked a favorite, I suggest you listen more and more until you feel comfortable singing along with the vocals. Even if you are not entirely confident saying the words, mimic the words the best you can. Doing this allows you to start talking and working through the pronunciation. Listen and find out what words give you the most trouble.

Music and TV are the best routes for starting because as children, we always start like this. We hear our parents yell, talk, and listen to their own music and watch their own tv and this helps to understand the complexities of language as it is.

Vocabulary

After you have mastered the task of listening to French, go ahead and start learning the basic words any French toddler would hear, like Mom or Dad, son or daughter. Learn all of these words and let them stick in your head. Start evaluating how you can memorize and master each word. I typically learn language my best when I use the words for other languages and incorporate them into my own language. For example, I’ll call my mom the French word for Mom instead of the English one to help enhance my learning.

Figure out what works best for you. You will never learn other languages if you never try! Find a way to keep small parts of French in your everyday life. Never give up also, I have seen that most people love to just stop what they are doing because they think it is not working or that they are not learning enough. Even if you do not have enough people around you speaking the language, or maybe none at all, you have to stay consistent and listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, and practice every single day that you can! Practicing is vital.