Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Learn French in France

Do you want to learn French? Everyone knows it’s just the sexiest language on the planet, and the ability to speak French is a real plus – if you want to be chic and add a little je ne sais quoi to your life!

Well the best place to learn French is France, of course. But if you only have a week or two free to go there, you need to get the maximum from your time here. Here are a few guidelines about how to get the most from you stay.

Try to find an international class

If you are American and you go to France to learn French with a group of Americans, you will find that most of the time you spend in France will be spent speaking English, and not French. I can tell you from experience that when given the choice, nearly everyone, myself included, will take the easy option. If you join of group where English is not the common language, you will have to communicate in French, and the more you practise, the more progress you will make.

Do some research about France

You might think that you have to go to Paris to find a language school. Of course, Paris is one of the most famous, and beautiful, capitals in the world and well worth a visit. If you are learning English for business purposes, Paris or one of the other major cities will help you to adopt a business-like attitude. If you want to learn French because you love French wines, for example, forget Paris and look for a school in the region of your favourite wine. This will give added motivation to learn. Just think about being able not only to enjoy a glass of wine right there on the territory, but being able to discuss its qualities in French!

Make sure that there is lots of conversation in the course

French grammar is hard. But studying grammar is not the best, or the fastest way to learn a language. The ideal language course will get you involved in living the language, through role-plays, discussions, and games. Ask the school about what’s on the syllabus, and try to find out a little about the teachers. If they are all academic types with only a teaching background, the course might be a little dry. But many teachers of French as a foreign language still have an adventuring spirit, and have taught abroad. These ones will have plenty of interesting ideas to get you talking

Learn as many words as you can before you go

Don’t go if you are an absolute beginner. Spend a year learning vocabulary and how to ask questions. If you know anyone who speaks French, practise with them as often as possible. That way, when you arrive in France to learn French, you will already have a solid foundation on which to build.

Jonathan Lewis is a teacher of English as a foreign language in Provence, France. He learned to speak French the best way – by living in the country and practising everyday. He has a site about that helps students to improve their learning abilities, apprendre anglais, and a blog about learning English. The advice he offers is invaluable for anyone wishing to learn a language, not just French.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Lewis

Monday, 9 November 2009

Want to Learn French Fast? The 2 Blunders You Want to Avoid

If you decided to learn French for personal or professional reasons, I am guessing you probably don't want to take a couple of years to do it. Often, people can't really learn a language because it takes them so long that they don't really see any progress and they get discouraged and bored. French is no different. So to avoid this and learn French fast , you must be careful to not make these two mistakes:

1. Read and read and read and... not learn much. I really believe that reading is one of the most important activities that people can do in their free time. Reading can bring great knowledge. However, when it comes to learning French (especially for beginners) it may be the opposite. It may slow down the process so much that it will be counter-productive. There are some things that can't be done by reading about it. Think about swimming or riding a bike... To ride a bike, you must get on your bike and try riding your bike. The same to learn French fast. You can learn some basis but then you have to get immersed in the French language and use it everyday.

2. Expect people to teach you . This is counter-intuitive but if you think about it, it makes sense. Were you ever told to learn some subject in school that you didn't like and didn't put any effort into it? It probably didn't work. You can have the best teacher in the world, if you are not involved, you can't learn... So to make sure that you succeed (and you can!), you must get yourself involved and find a system that works for you, that you can control, that you can learn from and that motivates you at all time! By doing this you will learn French fast.

You can find many French language software with integrated French language courses, audio CD, interactive quizzes to test and track your progress over time and some games so you can enjoy learning vocabulary and grammar effectively. So learn French fast and enjoy it!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yves_Leroy