That’s a popular statement. French can be hard to learn. More specifically hard to speak. One of the reasons students pick up French is because of the way it sounds. They find it beautiful and romantic. Well, I have no idea why but that is what students say.

When you start to learn french with a teacher, or with a method, you have a lot of questions:

• Why French language is so hard to read? So many exceptions!
• Why French language is so hard to understand? You can’t figure out what words you heard exactly, although you know them!
• Why French is hard to speak? You can’t make yourself understood, but you pronounced as your french teacher taught you!Well, the reason behind the difficulty in the language lies in how they are used differently. There are two (or even more) types of French language.The first is written French. It is the French that you learn in schools and are taught over the textbooks. The second is spoken French. French that is not taught in schools but used all over France.

  Spoken French is more practical for everyday use. Here are some tips for you on spoken French:

• Never use the “ne” part of the negative.
• Never use “nous” but “on”.
• Shorten words as much as you can
• Learn the vocabulary of commonly used words in spoken French (slang)
• Learn to link words between each other and make sentences (heard about liaison’s?)

Now that you know how different French can be, focus on the type of French you would like to learn and you can reach your goal fast!To me, understanding and being understood is more important than knowing how to read and write French. Hence, I stress on spoken French more than written. After understanding spoken French, you will find it much easier to understand written French. Student tend to do the opposite, and they get all confused when they face the daily French speech!

Remember to speak from day one. And it will get easier! Good luck!