June 7, 2011. Paul Hixon
credit: noshaLearning a new language is easy; keeping it up and staying committed is not. Everybody usually starts off on the right approach: a feeling of optimism, determination, thoughts of “I can do this” fills our head and makes us feel that we can easily master the language in a week or less.
But the truth is, it can take far longer than a week to really grasp a language. Even with a language like French that can come easier to English speakers, you still need to give plenty of time. But with the new tools that you can use now such as audio lessons and language learning software, French is far more accessible than ever, so if you stay motivated and learn something new every day, you can learn French faster than ever.
Most language programs start by teaching you to memorize a few basic phrases in French, and that is the right approach, for if you start by deciphering French grammar, reciting verbs and conjugating tenses to any French person you meet is virtually useless. A good learn French website like bonjour.com teaches you how to read and speak simple greetings, numbers, while touring around and more. Once you’ve memorized important phrases, it’s time to move on to more comprehensive learning materials, like Rocket French’s learn French ebook and interactive audio lessons.
Ebooks and audio books will make learning French verbs, adjectives, tenses and other particulars more understandable and fun. A good way of committing what you’ve learned to memory is to speak the lessons out loud as you’re studying them. Not only will this make you remember them easily, it also allows you to practice your French accent, which is just as important. If you read and speak French everyday for an hour or so, you will find that learning French will get easier and can be faster than you think.
Updated June 7, 2011. Published May 28, 2011. Paul Hixon
