Silent Steps

Anyone that speaks English as their mother tongue should consider learning French if they are thinking about acquiring a second language. The first thing that is apparent is that English has many things in common with French. For instance, many words in French and English are spelled the same and have the same meaning. This can be a tremendous advantage when learning French. And it can even help you learn a bit more about the English language too.

French is spoken throughout the world and on most continents. It is viewed as a world language and this is seen by the number of world organizations like the UN and IOC that recognize it as an official language. Thus you can have a more varied personal life and have enhanced career opportunities if you are fluent in French. So if French is the second language for you then you probably want to learn it quickly. Being able to speak to people is the best part of learning a new language so it's easy to understand why people want to be conversant as quickly as possible.

Communicating with people is a good way to learn and can motivate you to work harder. Other elements of language learning like understanding grammar or verb conjugation can be a tad boring but are still vital to getting a rounded education of the language. So what's the best method to reduce the tedious nature of learning an new language and focusing on the good stuff ? This article will deal with the best way to learn conversational French.

The general consensus is that the best way to learn conversational French is to do an immersion course. Learning French in a country where it is spoken natively is the principle behind immersion learning. So you could do a course in a part of France or many other countries where it is spoken by the locals, like Switzerland or Belgium for instance.

However, doing a language course in another country is often not an alternative for many people. To start, you need plenty of free time to do something like this. Many people might do something like this in a gap year in between school and college. Thus many people choose to do it in between school and college or in between jobs. It will also take a fair amount of money, depending on where you plan to go and how long you plan to stay there. 

But the benefits are certainly there. I think there are two reasons why French immersion learning is good. The immediate reason is that you have to talk French. No one will be speaking your language so you have to speak theirs. You get out of the habit of thinking in English. You stop worrying about having a funny accent or being misunderstood. All the trivial excuses you might make if you where learning the language in your native land fall away.

The 2nd reason is that all the effort you put in seems to have a focal point. You can use what you learn. This acts as further motivation to continue learning the language, even the tedious stuff like grammar. So being able to order a meal or have a conversation in a bar will motivate you. And the sights, sounds and smells that you experience when you have that conversation will make it come to life and help you to understand more. It will also impact on your confidence in your French skills if you talk to real people.

Taking a French immersion course is probably the best way to be successful if you want to attain French fluency but it is not an impulsive action. It will cost in terms of time and money. This may not be practical for many people that have busy lives. Thus other ways that give more flexibility are classes or home study courses. In fact, some people even prefer to take a home study course as a primer before they undertake an immersion type course.

There are many self study courses available for French, Rocket French reviews gives you an in depth review of this popular course. It covers the French language tapes component and with Michel Thomas versus Rocket French compares it to another popular course.