Learn French as an Adult

Be realistic
I once had a student in an adult ed. class who thought he could learn French along with 6 other languages in one year. He had a terrible time during the first few classes, and then dropped. The moral? He had unreasonable expectations, and when he found out that French was not going to magically flow out of his mouth, he gave up. If he had been realistic, committed himself to one language, and practiced regularly, he could have learned a lot.

Have fun
Make your French learning interesting. Instead of just studying the language with books, try reading, watching TV/movies, listening to music - whatever interests you and keeps you motivated.

Reward yourself
The first time you remember that difficult vocabulary word, treat yourself to a croissant and café au lait. When you remember to use the subjunctive correctly, take in a French film. When you're ready, take a trip to France and put your French to the real test.

Have a goal
If you get discouraged, remember why you want to learn. That goal should help you concentrate and stay inspired.

Track your progress
Keep a journal with dates and exercises to make notes about your progress: Finally understand passé composé vs imparfait! Remembered conjugations for venir! Then you can look back over these milestones when you feel like you're not getting anywhere.

Don't stress over mistakes
It's normal to make mistakes, and in the beginning you're better off getting several sentences out in mediocre French than just two perfect words. If you ask someone to correct you all the time, you will get frustrated. Also see Overcoming speaking anxiety.

Don't ask "why?"
There are lots of things about French that you're going to wonder about - why things are said a certain way, why you can't say something another way. When you first start learning is not the time to try to figure this out. As you learn French, you will start to understand some of them, and others you can ask about later.

Don't translate word for word
French is not just English with different words - it is a different language with its own rules, exceptions, and idiosyncracies. You must learn to understand and translate concepts and ideas rather than just words.

Don't overdo it
You're not going to be fluent in a week, a month, or even a year (unless maybe if you're living in France). Learning French is a journey, just like life. There is no magical point where everything is perfect - you learn some, you forget some, you learn some more. Practice makes perfect, but practicing for four hours a day might be overkill.


What and how to learn | Learning do's and don'ts | Learn and practice

Previous

• 1
• 2
• 3

Next