Learning to speak French like a native French speaker? Can it be done?

There are several factors that are to be considered if learning to speak French like a native is in your sights. We are going to examine those factors that are essential if you are going to give yourself a fighting chance of achieving this rather ambitious goal.

The first factor, and an essential one, has nothing to do with the study of French itself. This factor is your mindset. If you are just starting out, you have a long way to go, and there will be challenges and frustrations along the way, for sure!

There will even be times when you feel like giving up, but dont! Im not telling you this to put you off, I just want you to know that learning to speak French like a native is a challenging task. If you enter the task with a massively strong resolve, you have a better chance of succeeding than most.

Next, you must undertake a course of hard study, or rather applied and focussed study over a long period of time. Start from the basics using a course that provides an opportunity for advancement in the language. You need a good, solid basic course with an audio component. Work at the language learning grammar, vocabulary, phrases and idioms, and use any opportunity you can to practise your French with others, preferably native French speakers.

Now lets look at the two elements that will make you sound more French. Taking it as read that you have acquired an excellent, practical knowledge of the French language, you will need to concentrate on perfecting your pronunciation, intonation and fluency.

Improving pronunciation and intonation comes through listening to French, repeating what you hear into a recording device, and picking out the minute details between your pronunciation and that of the native speakers. This should be done over time, as adjustments to ponunciation are only really effectively carried out over time. Listen also for the pitch and tone (the intonation) and emulate that too.

That just leaves fluency, and that can be improved through immersion and usage of the langauge, as well as intensive practice at home. Put simply, a high degree of fluency means that you can select the correct language you require fast, and use it to express your ideas without hesitation nor error. Before trying to increase fluency, make sure of your accuracy in French, and then practise, practise, practise!

In conclusion, if you are set on learning to speak French like a native, you can certainly come very close with the correct application to the task

Author: Christopher Byrnes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Smart cooker