Speak French Fluently
There is only one way to learn a foreign language, and that is practicing it. Practice is essential in all the areas, but it is especially needed when learning spoken French. Taking text-based lessons will not teach you how to pronounce the language and the right intonation. For that you have to listen to native French speakers and try to repeat what they said as closely as you can. When you listen and speak French, your brain will gradually get used to the new sounds.
Some more expensive learn French CDs have a speech recognition utility, which makes it possible for you to listen to the model sentence and then repeat it yourself. Does your performance sound like the model performance? Perhaps not in the beginning, but if you keep trying, you will be able to learn the correct pronunciation. If you don’t have this utility, you can try to find other French students from your area or online. For example Skype can be a free and a useful tool when learning new languages! And who knows, you might make new friends in the process!
One of the best things about the learn French CDs is that they have so much audio material available. You can listen to the lessons anywhere where you can take your mp3 player. Therefore you won’t even need to spend any extra time on your studies, just combine them with something you already do!
Vocabulary and grammar are often taught in separate lessons, which are in written form to help you understand the tiny differences and the structure of the language. You can print the lessons and take them with you to study them on your way to work, while waiting for the kids.. anywhere. You can then test your knowledge with online tests. Read the rest of this entry »