Learning French quickly

Learning another language isn’t easy to do quickly and I don’t think I’m an expert at languages by any means. But I wanted to learn as much French as possible in 5 weeks and didn’t really have time to take classes. So, I had to buy a Learn French language pack and start studying.

The hard part was going to be fitting in time to do the learning French vocabulary and practice speaking French as much as possible (preferably while nobody was around to hear me muck it up).

The language pack I bought was Teach Yourself Instant French which is a book and 2 CD’s.

To my surprise it’s easier than I thought and the author aims to teach you around 450 essential and regularly used words and phrases. Not sure I’ve reached 450 words but I certainly feel confident enough to at least ask for things while shopping etc.

450 may sound like a lot but many people have a working vocabulary of around 2000 words in their own language so it’s not so bad. The hard part is putting the words into meaningful sentences and then understanding when people speak back to you.

The key is practice practice practice. The more you practice, the easier it becomes and quicker you will pick it up overall.

I listened to the CD’s in the car most days and read the book alongside listening to the CD’s during my lunchbreaks. Listening while doing things like housework (an MP3 player comes in handy) also helps.

I also used Get by in French which really does help you to get a handle on the absolute basics, especially if you’re new to languages. We’ve had this one for some time and the currency they speak about is Francs.

An important thing to remember is that you don’t have to learn the language fluently, you only need enough to communicate. You’ll make mistakes for sure but the aim is communication and not perfection.

So, you’ve no excuses, get a CD and book and get cracking.