You are taking French lessons every week, using your learning app from time to time and watching French films whenever you have the chance (and the time!). That’s great, bon travail ! Being consistent is the key and if you carry on doing so, you will definitely succeed!
However, there are lots of little things you can do to spice up your French learning experience (apart from the conventional ones). Take a closer look at your surrounding French speaking world and practice, practice, practice!
- At a café or restaurant, choose to read la carte en français. As most cartes are written both in French and English, it’s a great time to check your understanding of the items on the menu. If it isn’t already bilingual, ask for two menus (one French, one English) and take an extra 5 minutes to improve your foodie vocabulary in French.
- Use the flyers and local newspapers you receive for free in your boîte à lettres every week as a reading exercise. You don’t need to read everything, just a few headlines or those words and expressions you keep seeing everywhere.
- While on the bus or walking to your next appointment, try to make sense of the advertisements and public signs around you. How many of these have you seen before? À Louer, À Vendre, Attention Au Chien !, Défence De Fumer, Ouvert, Sortie De Secours… Il y en a des tonnes !
- Invite your French speaking friends to meet you somewhere nice, lure them with a bottle of good wine and start a conversation about your everyday life in French.
- Interact with people using what little French you can remember on the spot, even if that only means bonjour, merci, oui, non. The more you will practice, the more confident you will become. If you don’t know how to break the ice in French, check our blog post for some good conversation starters: Making friends in French
- Make a reservation at a French restaurant. Call that lovely restaurant you always wanted to go to and greet the person when they answer the phone (Bonjour, comment allez-vous ? Je suis Madame/Monsieur... et j'aimerais faire une réservation pour ce soir/demain...). Then, ask to make a reservation (don’t forget to write or memorise the number of people, day and time beforehand).
Developing a new skill takes time and patience. I hope you now have more tools to boost your motivation to keep speaking French!
Sonia
Foreign languages have always been an important part of Sonia’s life. After getting her degree in Arts and Graphic Design and a Master’s Degree in Education, she moved from her country, Spain, to England where she has been living for the last ten years. She has worked in international schools and companies, and in 2013 she founded her own language school.
This journey has left her with countless life lessons that she feels privileged to have learned first hand. She truly believes that learning a language can change you in ways you probably don’t imagine, and she tries to transmit this message across Prêt à Parler social media by creating powerful images and meaningful content.
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