So you’ve been learning French for a while. But it seems that you’re slightly stuck. And you don’t know how to get better at French.
In this article, I’m going to give you 3 techniques you can use to ‘un-stuck’ yourself.
But before you start scrolling through this article waiting for the magic technique…
…let’s get a few things straight.
Author : Marie Drouvin
Salut! Je suis Marie and I'm on a mission to make learning French simple. You can find me on Youtube, or here, on this blog. And if you want to know more about how to learn French, take a look at my book.
Being stuck is a healthy symptom of progress
Progress is not a straight line. Never was. Never will. And contrary to popular belief, you do not get from point A to point Z by doing the same thing over and over again.
Progress is about hitting walls… so you can look for a door.
When I learned English, I actually went through 3 distinct and very different phases. (Which I talk about in my book).
Each phase brought me to a new level.
And I see the exact same phenomenon with my students. At some point, what they were doing doesn’t work anymore, and we work together to find what it is that doesn’t work anymore, and what they can do differently to progress again.
So, you are stuck. It means you have reached the maximum result your strategy can give you. It means you need to change the way you do things, so you can progress.
You are in front of a wall. Don’t blame yourself. Don’t try to go force through it. You have reached new heights. Just… look for the door.
And here are the doors you can open…
Door #1 - Immersion - but not freestyle!
One of the best things you can do for your French is to adopt an immersion habit.
I’m saying HABIT and not necessarily ‘method’.
Let me explain.
Immersion is powerful stuff. It’s how people have been learning languages since the dawn of time. And by ‘dawn of time’, I mean the time when babies started to speak. So it’s no wonder why immersion tends to give the best results when it comes to language learning. It’s organic.
And it’s also a stage through which all people who speak another language truly FLUENTLY have gone through.
So yes, immersion is a serious method.
That being said.
It’s not a method for all levels. Dropping yourself in the middle of France when you don’t speak a word of French won’t do much more than confusing you.
Remember that it takes babies YEARS to learn to speak. And babies are the ultimate fast-learners.
So no, immersion as a full method won’t work for you if you are a beginner. If you are a beginner, just aim for something simpler. More listening, watch a few movies in French every week, and try to find activities that you can do in French . Getting into the HABIT of doing more things in French.
And that’s enough until you reach an intermediate level.
Although, Immersion as a full-on method, is a great choice for you if you are already an intermediate and want to progress organically.
Door #2 - The Aim'n'Shoot method
Essentially, learning a language is just a matter of memorising some rules and words to be able to form coherent sentences.
In reality, culture also plays a super important role – but let’s assume culture is not a problem for you right now.
So when you reach a level where you feel stuck, it’s because there is something you can’t do.
Maybe you don’t know how to pronounce French, and that frustrates you when you try to speak. Maybe you aren’t able to understand what people say when they speak, so you feel foolish when someone is speaking to you.
Or maybe the matter is something entirely different. Maybe it’s sentence structures you have a hard time reading. Or you are always looking for words.
How to get better at French when you know what your problem is? By resolving it.
Either way, to get yourself ‘un-stuck’, you need to resolve this problem. So think logically. Look at your problem. How can you resolve it?
👉 Learning the 100 most common words – for your vocabulary problem.
👉 Concentrating for one week on one tense you have a hard time with – for your tense problem (with my Tense Mastery Course for example).
👉 Listen to audiobooks and read at the same time – for when you can’t understand when people speak. (Another solution would be doing those exercises)
…
I call this problem-solving mindset, an “aim’n’shoot” method. It’s very efficient to get yourself out of a rut, or renew your interest in French.
It’s a nice boost.
Door #3 - The good old teacher
When everything else fails, or if you know that your problem isn’t something specific, but rather a problem of mindset, you should consider getting help.
I often like to joke that I’m a part-time shrink, part-time personal trainer, part-time statue.
Shrink, because part of my job is listening to my students, and to their problems. Personal trainer, because I work to find solutions, and I push them to do better. Statue, because I often only need to show up and they do the work on their own.
How can that help you?
1️⃣ Pressure. Just knowing you have a meeting with your teacher/coach/whatever will motivate you to work.
2️⃣ Structure. Having clear instructions on what to do will make the job easier for you.
3️⃣ Recurrence. At the very least, you’ll speak a bit of French when you meet with your teacher.
Also, don’t underestimate the power of putting some money where your goals are. Always works for me.
I personally take very few students – so you need to be extra motivated to work with me. But if you’d like to do so there is more information about my coaching here.
If you’re not ready for a big commitment, you can start with, our partner, Lingoda -which is a platform that allows you to book personal teachers and follow group-sessions lessons. It’s quite affordable too.
