What Is The Most Important Aspect Of Learning French?

Language learning is a complicated thing and studying French is no different. It is completely different to anything else you might have studied before and it can be hard to know what is important and what you should focus on. 

You have probably had some experience of learning French in school and no doubt it was a disaster. If you are now trying to study independently, I will go though some of the most important aspects of learning French to help keep you pointed in the right direction so you keep making progress and actually get to where you want to be with the language.

(If you are wanting to learn French you can check out my unofficial French Course and get a grasp of the basic structure of the language)

It Is Important To Practice French

This sounds obvious, almost stupid, but really you need to practice your French. It’s too easy to spend all day learning about the best ways to learn. If you spend more time reading articles like this one you are reading right now, more than you study, your balance is off.

I know it’s easy and fun to read articles like this, looking for the secret key to success. While they can be helpful (so keep reading) you can reach a point where you need to stop learning how to learn and actually go and learn.

I am very guilty of this, I am forever looking for the best ways to do things, when really I should be sitting down and just practicing and studying. I would probably make a lot faster progress if I just focused more on actually learning. It makes sense right, the more you study, the better you will become.

Take some time at the very start to find out what to do, then do it. It’s a hard slog, but it works.

(You can read more about – How To Memorise French So That You Are Better At The Language)

It Is Important To Have Consistency When Learning French

For me, consistency is the key. Practicing and studying and doing the work is vital, but you need to keep doing it.

Watching Amélie every few months and doing a couple of Duolingo lessons every now and again is not going to get you anywhere. You need to be showing up regularly and doing the work and studying French consistently.

If you do this, you will learn French.

Set a schedule and create a plan and stick to it. If you can commit to this and keep your learning consistent you will see results.

You will very quickly notice the same words, especially verbs coming up over and over again. This constant exposure is going to really drill them into your mind and your long term memory. Being consistent will make things stick and will make your whole experience better.

It is hard to be consistent, but you will get the results this way.  

Input Is Important To When Learning French

When it comes to French and really any language, you need input. You need this to understand what is going on.  

You have to look at your brain as an empty glass; you need to fill it up with language. If you want to learn French, it isn’t going to materialise on its own. You need input.  

The two main forms of input are reading and listening.

Reading

This is going to expose you to a lot of the language and really help you see the language. You can go at a slow pace and analyse things. This is great at the start as you can take your time and figure things out and slow increase your confidence and skills.

Listening

Listening will do the same job, but it’s faster and just generally harder. If you are not sure about a word you do not have time to think about it as the audio will be carrying on regardless. This can be difficult at first but it is still important to do this as well as read.

Listening is excellent as it is going to give you an understanding of the rhythm and pattern of speech, but more importantly it is going to give you the pronunciations of the words.

French is full of silent letters and words that look like English words, but are pronounced differently. You also have accents on the letters and often words can merge together in spoken French. Reading alone will not give this to you; you need the listening practice to really absorb this information.    

Output Is Important To When Learning French

Having the input and slowly trying to decode French is of course vital, but it is only half the battle. If you want to be able to communicate then you will need to have some Output.

Language is all about being able to commutate, so you can’t really skip this. The two main forms of output are writing and speaking.

Writing

This is probably one of the hardest aspects of French, but like all things in life, the hardest things usually have the best rewards.

Having to form your own sentences is difficult, but it really is going to push your mind to think in French. You will need to know all the correct verb endings and make sure your genders all match up and check all the silent letters are there as well as all the other grammar rules. 

You will make a lot of mistakes, but you will also learn the most from doing this. Repeatedly writing things will make them solidified in your mind.

Speaking

Speaking can also be very difficult. There is of course the accent and just using your mouth muscles in a new way to form the correct sounds and pronunciations.

However, you also have the same, but opposite issue to writing. The spelling and pronunciation are often very different. When you’re writing you need to make sure all the silent letter and verb endings are there and are correct. In speech, you need to know when they are not pronounced or spoken in a different way to how they are spelt.

You really need to focus on both as they will help each other. Knowing how things should look and then how they should sound will give you such a deeper understanding compared to only focusing on one.    

Using The Language, Not Just Studying It Is Important To When Learning French

I know I have already said you need to practice, which is of course important. We need the input and we need to practice our output. We all need to focus on grammar topics like verb conjugation and tenses, and of course learning more vocabulary is always important.

Getting to grip with these is the core of learning French and you will get this practice through the reading, writing, speaking and listening.

What I mean by this is to use the language like you would your native language. You don’t sit down and look up words in the dictionary, or write verb tables or random lists of words in your native language, so don’t do this in French.

I know early on these can be very beneficial, but as soon as you have a basic grasp you should you should try and use the language. Try and consume content that you enjoy. Watch videos or read in French. Focus on things you would watch or read in your native language. You should also talk to real French people, in French.

You will gain so much more form this approach than just studying textbooks. 

Patience Is Needed To Learn French

The last thing you need to learn French is patience. Being consistent is hard, but if you can be patient enough to keep going, it will pay off.

You may spend months getting nowhere. Struggling to understand and feeling very lost. If you are patient and stick to the plan and stick to it consistently, you will make progress and you will learn French. 

(You can read more about What Is The Hardest Part Of Learning A Language?)

Conclusion

Learning French can seem like a real mountain to climb. If you just study the basics and study them well, you will get results. Keep your learning consistent and just keep practicing.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes, you will get there. You can learn French and you will be able to reach your goals. focus on the steps in this article and you will get there. 

(You can also read more information on – How To Make Your Own Study Plan For Learning A Language)