Hurdles in Learning French

If you need encouragement, remind yourself of the cuisine you'll be able to order once you know French.

French is known as a language of romance and sophistication, with a great capacity for emotional and artistic expression. Many native English speakers encounter difficulties in learning to speak French or finding a qualified training course. Knowing these hurdles in advance can help you develop smart strategies for your French language learning.

Persistence

One of the biggest hurdles in learning any new language is the need for persistence once it gets hard. It takes a lot of adjustment to learn the mindset and structure of a different language. When trying to speak French for the first time, you will almost certainly have difficulty making yourself understood. Remember that almost everyone who becomes fluent in a foreign language has some stories of times they made a fool of themselves. Don't sweat it. Just remember what made you want to learn French in the first place, and throw yourself into practice.

Finding Qualified Instruction

Many French classes teach in a way that does little to cooperate with the brain's natural language acquisition patterns, and this can greatly slow down your efforts to learn French. Instead of classes that rely on rote memorization of grammar, try to find a course that emphasizes immersion and makes you speak, read and write French as much as possible. If you can, find a course in which the instructor is a native speaker of French.

Grammar Differences

French and English have some significant grammatical differences that can cause confusion in English-speakers starting to study French. French has a system of gender agreement, meaning that each noun and adjective is either masculine or feminine in form. French word order is often different than English, leading to the possibility of confusion about how to form a sentence. Learning these differences is simply a matter of study and practice. The more you practice, the more instinctive correct French will become over time.

Pronunciation

A final hurdle to speaking fluent French is the notoriously difficult pronunciation of the French language. The vowels in French are different than in English and some do not even exist in English, making it hard for English speakers to distinguish them consistently, much less form the sounds correctly. The guttural French "R" sound is another stumbling block for many students. One way to overcome this hurdle is to record yourself speaking French and listen to the recordings for feedback. The help of a native speaker is also invaluable in developing proper pronunciation.

References

• Frankfurt International School: The Differences Between English and French