“HELP ME PLEASE” is probably what you want to scream if you’re wondering how to start learning French on your own.
You look at the books you’ve ordered, and it’s not that clear. You don’t want to waste time, but you don’t know what’s actually important or not.
But it doesn’t have to be this complicated or frustrating.
Yes, really.
In fact, if you take time to plan how you’re going to do it, it’s finger-in-the-nose kind of easy.
Allez zou, on s’y met ensemble.
This article is going to take you through all of the steps to create your own study plan, and start learning French YOUR right way. But, it is rather long. So you might want to save it in your favorites to come back to it later.
1. Get clear on the end result you're shooting for
If not, you’ll fall short… 😩
First step, (and you’ll find it is the first step to about anything you’ll ever want to achieve in life) is to really know what you want to be able to do.
Because there’s plenty of different reasons to learn French :
- In hope of a better job
- Because you absolutely need it in your day to day life
- To find love
- …
If you dig deep enough, there are as many reasons to learn French as there is French learners.
Why is it important to know your reason to learn French? Because your reasons will determine what you need to learn.
Maybe you don’t have to learn all about how to write a formal letter if you intend to speak French with your family only.
And maybe it’s not the best idea to primarily learn to SPEAK if you are only going to read, or listen to French.
You certainly have other things to do than to learn useless stuff right?
And I am super serious.
If you skip this step, you’ll end up frustrated and feel like what you are doing to learn doesn’t get you anywhere. You’ll then find you are not as motivated anymore. And you’ll either end up writing ‘learning French’ over and over again on your yearly resolution, or, worse, decide that you’re not cut for it…
NONSENSE, anyone is capable of learning French, if they know how to.
So spread this article around, it WILL help someone out.
2. Determine what you need to learn in order to achieve your goal
We’re diving in… 💦
Once you know what you want to be able to do, then it’s time to get a bit technical.
Don’t worry, c’est pas la mer à boire either.
If your goal is specific enough, it should actually be logical.
And if it’s not, go back to step 1.
Let’s take an example to make this more concrete.
Sam wants to learn French because she married a Frenchwoman and is going to meet her wife’s family.
Now, what should she be able to say in French?
- Greetings – Bonjour and all
- Small Talk
- Talking about herself and her family
That would be the very essential. And if she wants to dig deeper :
- Conversational French
- Making jokes
- Expressing an opinion
What’s also important here, is that she has to learn how to speak (pronounce) more than write, since she will SPEAK French.
See, we already have two parts. Firstly, she should concentrate on learning the first, and then, the second.
If you’re still lost, it helps to think in terms of situations.
In our case, Sam wants to converse with her in laws, and the conversation is probably going to be about her life, and their lives :
- What they do
- Where they live
- How they met
- What do they like
- …
Maybe if they live in the US, she is going to show them around….
Now, think about your own situation. And create a list of what you want to be able to say.
What kind of vocabulary, words, French verbs, do you need? What kind of sentences do you need to be able to form? Which conjugaison rules will be important? Is learning the alphabet really worth it? Do you need to learn about French culture?
If you aren't sure, you can start looking through these articles:
French verb endings are easy – French conjugaison 101
To be able to conjugate verbs properly in French, you need to know about French verb endings. What are they? When to use them? and how to use them? (Feat. Ryan Gosling)
What is French culture? NOT croissants and la Tour Eiffel!
French culture is not croissants and Paris, it’s not French songs or even its history – it’s much deeper than that. Discover what makes French culture in this article.
3. Create yourself a plan
YES that kind of plan!!! (You always dreamed of it too, don’t lie)
We’re getting somewhere right? You have your list with you?
I insist you have it before you continue reading. Go on.
….
Aright then, now that you have this list, you need to organise it in levels, or smaller manageable chunks if you will.
Because looking at a whole list, especially if it’s a long one, can be a bit overwhelming.
So, let’s take Sam’s case again:
- Greetings
- Small Talk
- Talking about herself, her family and her job
- Expression Opinion
- Joking
There you go.
At this point, you can even add details (like really specific things you would like to say).
For example :
- “I work for a marketing agency, I’m in charge of the FB accounts for several of our clients. And I’m also the point of contact for instagram influencers.”
- “I love your dress. It suits you so well. Where did you get it?”
Don’t write dialogues though. You’ll use those sentences as points of entry to expand on once you start a new ‘chapter’ of your French learning.
This is your study plan. It is what you are going to refer to on a regular basis to assess what you still need to learn and what you have achieved so far.
4. Assess how you learn the best
You might not be Sheldon, but you have your own capabilities 💋
Not everyone learns the same way. And, especially for language learning, it’s important to figure out how YOU learn the best.
Chances are, reading a book and doing grammar exercises is not how you learn right? If not, more children that go to school would be bilinguals by now.
Although, some people do. But you gotta be honest with yourself to be able to understand how to learn French.
So, what is it for you? Do you prefer to learn with a French teacher, to learn on your own, to talk with your cat,…?
Or do you need something more fun? Like learning with movies?
I have to say (received loads of emails about it) – there’s no shame AT ALL if you need a tutor or a teacher to help you.
If you didn’t know yet: learning French is going to be a great personal adventure to get to know yourself 
MASTERCLASS - The Art of Learning French with movies
Learn French in front of your TV
5. Determine how you need to learn
Si, si, it’s not the same. I promise.
Yes, those are two separate steps. Determining how you need to learn is based on what your goals are.
Sam, for example, doesn’t need to spend so much time writing. What she needs is listening and speaking.
And if she was not to practice speaking and her pronunciation, she’ll end up pretty disappointed in herself when time comes to speak to her new family.
Take a good look at your list, should you concentrate on writing, speaking, listening or reading? Maybe a bit of all of them?
In most case, I recommend sentence mining.
6. Create yourself a routine
Yes, this is a pepperoni slice. No I wasn’t hungry when I wrote this article…
Yes, learning a language comes with daily practice. AND yes, it is possible to learn a language even if you’re super busy.
Even if your goal is to become fluent (I have to say, this is not a super specific goal, and you should maybe start with a more manageable goal).
Take 15mins per day for three months, and you’ll be amazed by your results. No you won’t be fluent, but you can totally smash your goals!
But it’s really important to be consistent. Hence, blocking time for learning French everyday and making it part of your routine is a MUST.
Because, you can’t rely simply on your motivation. Motivation is unstable. Habits are not.
I showed you a few routine examples in French for busy people, but pleeaaaase, create your OWN.
7. Select the right resources
Listen to your mother…
Finally, if there’s one important bit you should remember is that you need good resources.
And by good resources I mean:
- Entertaining
- Relevant (to you and your goals)
- Accurate
You want to enjoy spending quality time with your resources.
I share ressources and tips to keep you motivated on the club.
I also have a lot of articles about ressources, here are some ideas :
- Blogs
- Podcasts
You can also check out what’s available right now on the school.
Keep in mind to alternate your resources You don’t want to keep your pool of French words too small either.
You don’t want to keep your pool of French words too small either.