What would a carpenter be without his tools? Right?Â
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Well, same things goes for you. As a language learning, you’re not expected to know everything. But, if you want to be an efficient language learner, you need to use the right tools to learn French.
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Careful, I’m talking about tools, not resources. Tools are the websites, apps, books,… that you use to do one specific thing. Resources are where you go to when you want to practice.
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So, in the resources you’ll find Youtube channels, novels, TV Shows, movies,… And, in the tools, you’ll find dictionaries, thesaurus, apps to check the pronunciation,…
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Clear enough? Let’s get started then, because I have 6 tools to learn French you should be using already.
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Also, they’re all FREE.
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WordReference
A good dictionary is ESSENTIAL to your learning. But, thanks to the internet, you don’t have to carry a huge book with you wherever you go.
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WordReference is a website and an app that does exactly what a dictionary do and more.
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Plus, it’s not only for French / English. So if you are learning multiple languages, it’s perfect.
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Use it whenever :
- you have a doubt,
- can’t find the RIGHT word,
- don’t know how to pronounce a word,..
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Yes, because WordReference is more than just a dictionary. Check out the video to know more about it, as I’m quickly showing you how to use it correctly.
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It is my NUMBER ONE tool, and I recommend it to anyone learning French, regardless of your goal, your level or your learning style.
Linguee
I’ve talk about Linguee in this article already.
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But, to be short, sometimes WordReference doesn’t have the answer you’re looking for.
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And it can be frustrating, as you know, you NEED the answer, right?
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So that’s where Linguee is useful. Not only it is a dictionary, it has a feature that WordReference doesn’t: a translation in context of sentences.
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What does that mean? That means under the usual dictionary entry, you’ll get a series of sentences (generally from government sources, or certified translated texts) that are translated for you.
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Pretty cool if you’re looking for a very specific term that WordReference doesn’t know.
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In most cases, you won’t need Linguee. But, it’s good to have on hand if you’re looking for a specific or technical word.
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PS – it’s also an app.
L’Obs La Conjugaison
One of the pain of learning French is the conjugaison… Am I right?Â
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Because of the different group verbs, the exceptions, the subjunctive,.. It’s quite hard to wrap your head around it in the first place, and then, it’s even harder to use it correctly when you speak right?
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Well, that’s where a tool like La Conjugaison comes in. And it’s pretty simple.
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You enter a verb in the search bar, and the website is working for you, conjugating the verb at all the tenses and forms possible.
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Pretty cool eh?
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I like this one in particular because the layout of the conjugasons is super clear. (Also, it’s a great way to check out how the French verb system works).
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Try it here.Â
Un Bescherelle
Actually, La Conjugaison is a modern version of something French people are familiar with since their early childhood and that they fear more than anything – LE BESCHERELLE.
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It’s basically a dictionary of conjugaisons. So you can imagine the faces of French pupils when the teacher ask for a bescherelle.
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I’m showing you how it looks like in the video, so go and check that out.
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Obviously though, you don’t have to invest in a Bescherelle, it’s up to you. But if you’d rather have a paperback version, look that up on Amazon (affiliate link).
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I recommend the brand Bescherelle (affiliate link). It’s the original, so you’re super sure it’s good quality 😉Â
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I’ll advise you to take the most recent edition, as you’ll get more ‘modern’ verbs.
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Scribens
Who uses Grammarly all the time? I do.
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Even though sometimes when I’m writing in French and English in the text, it’s bloody annoying.
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Well, Scribens is the French version.
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If you are writing an email in French to someone, or even a comment and you don’t want to get it wrong, check out Scribens.
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You need to go on Scribens though, as the browser extension is a premium feature. But it’s worth the hassle if want to make sure what you wrote is grammatically correct.
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No, it won’t catch everything obviously, but it’s a good start 😉Â
And finally, Google.
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Note I didn’t say Google Translate, but Google in general.
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When I have a doubt about a verb form or a spelling, I simply type what I think is right in Google. If it’s wrong, I’ll have suggestion, if it’s right, I’ll have examples of sentences in which it is used. So I can make sure the context is the same.
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If you are going to type a verb form though, remember to put a subject with it.Â
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Google Translate can be a useful tool. But please please please don’t use it to make complete sentences from English to French. You can use it as a translator from French to English if you want (be mindful of the punctuation though, it is very important for a good automatic translation).Â
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Use it as a dictionary, while keeping in mind that the same word can have several translations 😉Â
And, you’re all set with these 6 tools to learn French:
- WordReference
- Linguee
- L’Obs La Conjugaison
- Un BescherelleÂ
- Scribens
- And Google
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Is there an app or website you’re using as a tool that I forgot?
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Help me out and share this article with your friends if you found it useful.
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In the meantime, use the tools, use your French and I’ll see you next week for another article on Just French It.Â
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À la prochaine !
1 thought on “Tools to learn French 🛠you should already be using if you are serious about learning French”
You are so sweet 🙂 goodluck in your life!