I love to cook and I’m always trying new recipes. Recently I realized that there is a good recipe for learning French.
Start with the basic elements and build a solid foundation. Don’t over-complicate things. Keep it simple. Build it one step at a time.
Second, be courageous and start talking as soon as you know a little bit in French, even if it’s just to say “Bonjour!” You’ll be taking baby steps but these baby steps will give you confidence and that’s what you need more than anything in order to speak French.
Third, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Imagine a child that takes its first steps, falls down and refuses to get up again. How long would it take before that child could walk? The child has to get up again and again to achieve any success. Try and try again – that applies to you learning French too.
Fourth, cut yourself some slack. Some adults expect to do everything perfectly the first time and when they don’t, they beat themselves up and call themselves stupid. I’ve seen it and heard it happen countless times.
When you learn a new language, you have to expect that you won’t say things perfectly the first time that you try. Give yourself a pat on the back for making the effort. And keep on trying until you get it right.
If you’re Canadian, you probably learned how to skate when you were a kid. Remember how proud you felt when you didn’t give up after falling on the ice over and over again? The same feeling awaits you if you keep working at speaking French. My motto is “an old dog can learn new tricks if the dog is motivated”.
Last bit of advice. Speak slowly, emphasize vowels instead of consonants and break up words and phrases into manageable bits or word groups so they’re easier to say correctly. Articulate, keep your tongue flat when you speak and use your hands!
That’s the best recipe I can give you for speaking French!
Bon appétit et à la prochaine………..