Learning a language can be hard and frustrating. Because it’s easy to fall into the traps of language learning.
I know, because I did it. When I first learned English I was making all the possible mistakes one could make when learning a language. That’s how I realised, after 10 years of learning English (yes, that’s right 10 years), that my English was not good.
But once you’re on the right track, you’ll see how fun the whole learning process can be. Because that’s really the key: having fun. After all, everything is easier when you actually want to do it.
So to spare you the waste of 10 years of your life, I’m going to outline three of the most common mistakes French learners make in their learning.
Reason #1 - You don't know your why
The first one could be obvious. But it’s not. And most people who are failing at languages are failing for this simple reason: they don’t know their why.
What do I mean by that? I mean, you need to know exactly why you are learning French.
Because if you don’t :
- You are learning blindly
- You won’t know how to learn
- And you don’t know WHAT to learn
That is pretty annoying if you want results….
So get clear and answer this question: WHY ARE YOU LEARNING FRENCH?
Your answer matters, because the more details you can give, the easier it will be to determine what you need to learn.
Of course, there is a base that almost all French learners have to go through.
But answering this question will get you far.
Is your learning routine reflecting your goals?
If it’s not, you need to change your routine.
If it is, then keep going! But make sure to go back to your goal regularly.
Reason #2 - You are focusing on the wrong things
I’ve had heated debates with people on this one, but I stand by my experience.
Grammar is not as important as most people think.
Sure, making correct sentences is probably how you imagined yourself speaking French. And you’ll get there eventually.
But I see plenty of beginners getting tangled in questions of grammar and conjugaison. And you know how they end up? LOST. That’s where most people give up.
Because French has a complex set of grammar rules that comes hand in hand with exceptions. It IS confusing at first.
So, lose it up! You should NOT concentrate all your efforts on grammar.
Instead, you should learn sentences and practice them almost immediately with people.
Here’s how your learning routine should look like (for beginners to intermediates):
- Learning a new word or a new sentence
- Repeating it as regularly as possible to remember it
- Practising it on someone
Here’s what most people language routine looks like:
- Learning a new word or a new grammar rule
- Taking note of it not to forget
- Forgetting about it because of lack of practice
If you want an easy way to put that learning technique into practice, I suggest you look up sentence mining.
I have articles on the subject:
French Sentence Mining : how to learn French without spending hours on grammar
One of you guys was asking me about the most common mistakes foreigners make in French (Thanks Ira!). And that was my answer : You
Reason #3 - You're loosing time translating
If you are monolingual, chances are this is going to confuse you a bit. You probably think translating is the only way to make sense of another language.
And you are right, not only to a certain extend.
Different languages aren’t only different words. Another language is also another system of thinking.
So to become fluent in French, you gonna have to leave your English thinking behind.
This is why on Just French It, I’m also insisting on learning about the culture.
But, the easiest way to do that is to stop translating in your head.
I know, it sounds painful. It’s not.
When you are saying ‘Bonjour, je m’appelle…’, you are not thinking about how the sentence is constructed grammatically, are you?
Well, that’s that kind of reflexes that you need to seek.
So when you are learning new vocabulary or new grammar rules, please make sure to learn the examples in priority. Not only, it will be easier to remember the rules, but you will also encourage those reflexes.
And it’ll be a breeze to remember them in the right context.
The Sound of French - Workshop to learn to listen to French
So how can you improve your French quickly?
Is there a magic technique? Is sentence mining going to make me fluent straight away?
No. There is no magic pill or magic technique. It requires time.
Sentence mining is going to help you on your way to fluency, but it is not magic. You will have to learn a bit of grammar eventually.
But remember the golden rules :
- Be clear on why you want to learn French, so that you can be clear what you need to learn
- Don’t forget to practice to remember what you are learning
- Accept that French is not English and that translating is not efficient
2 thoughts on “3 reasons why your French learning is not working”
Bonjour,je ne sais pas le réponse je suis tellement confuse je ne sais pas quoi faire.
Bonjour Michael!
Relax 🙂 Apprendre une langue ne doit pas être stressant.
It seems like you are speaking a bit of French already. That’s encouraging!
Pourquoi apprenez vous le français? Il peut y avoir plusieures réponses : parce que je veux visiter la France, parceque j’aime la langue française, parce que je veux avoir une promotion au travail,…
A simple answer is better than no answer at all 😛
Have you downloaded the Roadmap? It will help you figure out what and how to learn French.