No matter why you’re thinking about picking up French, you probably feel just a little bit intimidated. Most of the students we talk to feel like the journey is impossible, and that it’ll take them years to learn to speak this new language.

The good news is that this doesn’t have to be the case. While many courses and schools do still use outdated methods that make learning a new language seem a lot more like a chore, there are also some great self study courses out there. They use a wider variety of methods, developed by psychologists, to help you reduce the time and effort it takes to learn a new language.

While you might be thinking about enrolling in a course at a school or hiring a tutor, remember that these might not give you the kinds of results you want. That’s because most classes have too much of a focus on reading and writing, and not enough on speaking.

Since most students’ biggest goal is actually speaking French, this fact can be pretty frustrating. That means that one of the best choices is finding a self study program that allows you to learn on your own, and focuses on teaching you conversational French.

Here are a few tips to make your learning experience even better.

1) Remember what your mom said and be sure to listen

It really is amazing how much information you’ll pick up about another language just by listening to it. Even though you might not understand everything, there’s still an enormous benefit from listening to other people talk in French. You’ll understand the flow of the language much better and gradually pick up structure and new terms.

Watching French movies with subtitles in English is another smart idea. This method allows you to listen to the language while reading the meaning, and eventually absorb the French words.

In fact, one student once downloaded an entire season of a television series in French. She watched them all, and by the end had improved her skills significantly. She even picked up some interesting nuances and had a good grasp of slang.

2) Practice but don’t practice too much

You’ve probably heard that practice makes perfect, and this is true in many situations. However, one of the big reasons that people give up on learning French is because it begins to feel boring and like a chore.

You’ll need to vary how you practice, and make sure you do what’s needed to keep up your levels of motivation. It’s not a good idea to set a strict schedule to learn by unless that’s the way you learn best. Try to include a little French every day, in some form, instead.

That allows you to engage in the language without feeling restricted by a particular schedule.

3) Vary your practice and mix things up

Remember that while you want to include some French in your daily routine, you don’t want to do the same thing and bore yourself. That means you should mix up what you do and when.

Put on a television or radio show in French, do a lesson from your course, or talk with a French speaking friend or neighbor. If you read the newspaper, choose a few paragraphs and think about the best way to translate them into French.

There are many different ways to engage with this language.

Truly learning the language requires you to vary how you learn and use different parts of your brain to learn faster. You’ll retain more information and pick up the language much more quickly.

That’s why some online study courses have been so successful. They do a wonderful job of providing a good variety of material. That keeps students interested and helps them get the right kind of stimulation.

If you’re learning French, it shouldn’t have to feel like a full time job. If you go about it correctly, it can actually be exciting and fun. Find the right course of study, follow the tips here and stick with it, and you’ll be speaking the language in no time.

Author: Lynn Halladay
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV

The first French beginer problems you are likley to encounter lie in the realm of pronunciation. French is notoriously difficult for English speakers to pronounce well, but if you bear in mind certain factors, you can helpt to keep this problem at bay.

First of all, take time learning the French sounds, before you emnark on further study. Learn words and simple phrases to start off with, copying the voices you hear on the audio component to your course (and, by the way, a French audio comonent featuring native French speakers is indispensable, so dont try and learn without one), and comparing your pronunciation to that of the native speakers.

When you are comfortabel with the pronunciation, then you should start to learn the mechanics, or grammar of the language, using your course, be it book and CD, or software.

Your next obstacle will probably be the linguistic concepts of the language. What you hae to remember is that French and English are, gramatically, very different. If you have heard that you can just pick up a language without studying the grammar of that language, then you have been mislead. Such an approach is a recipe for disaster. Take your time to learn the basic concepts early on, and admittedly, while you might experience some frustration (which is a typical side effect of learning anything new, and nothing to be alarmed about) early on, you will find it benefits you greatly further down the line.

The third of the French beginner problems we shall look at, and a typical one I have noted is that of students complaints about being unable to understand French. In the early days it is to be expected that you will be unable to understand fluent French. The problem lies simply in not having the desired level of French at your disposal. Of course, some French will allow you to understand some, or on occasion, all of what is being said or communicated. But with patience you will find that, the more French you learn, the better your understanding of French will be.

The secret to learning any language is persistence. You will encounter problems, and difficulties but if you keep on keeing on, French beginner problems will soon give way to understanding and success.

Author: Christopher Byrnes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rates

Have you ever thought you didn’t need to learn French because you would never have the chance to visit France? Even in North America there are places where French is spoken – New Orleans and surrounding parishes has French speaking locals, Quebec in Canada is a French speaking province – so although you may never visit Europe there are still occasions when knowing some French words may give you an edge.

How easy is it to learn some French words?

Much easier than you ever thought possible!

You have probably noticed that if you listen to someone speak for long enough, you will pick up words and phrases that they use. Most regions have a style of speaking that sets them apart somewhat and makes it easy for you to spot where the person is from. Using the same technique you can learn to speak words in French.

Audio courses are available that make it easy for you to learn and pronounce the words correctly and you can choose how and when you listen to the lessons, making it a better learning experience.

If you could listen to a native speaking the words and repeat them as many times as it takes (practice does make perfect), you would soon be on your way to learning a second language.

Here are some examples of what you might hear -

“Bonjour, ca va?” (bonzhoor, sa va) translated means “Hello, how are you?”

“Au revoir” (oh rer-vwahr) translated means “Goodbye”

“Parlez-vous Anglais?” (pahrlay voo ahng-glay) translated means “Do you speak English?”

“Oui/Non” (wee/nong) translated means “Yes/No”

“S’il vous plait” (seel voo play) translated means “Please”

“Merci” (mair see) translated means “Thank you”

In a matter of weeks, listening to a native French speaker and utilizing the other tools which are available, you too could learn enough French words to springboard your way to being bilingual.

Author: Franck Silvestre
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: How Electric Pressure Cookers Work