Nowadays everybody wants to learn faster and be fluent in 3 days. At the same time it seems we can’t focus much time on just one thing. That’s a good thing we have a lot of tools available to learn French but here it can be a disadvantage.

Lack of concentration and focus is certainly the bad side of our modern society. Plenty of resources makes you don’t care enough and you just flit to a thing to another. It looks effective when you tried Duolingo and you changed for another because you didn’t like it and then you listen podcast etc. Without enough concentration and focusing, it’s like you are busy but not productive.

1- A habit

Create a habit can be good. Even a simple one, it’s still a habit. Swearing in French can be one of them. Several learners even live with French boyfriend or girlfriend but they have the habit to speak in English between them. It’s a habit. A simple habit can be using French in just some situations. Saying ‘bonjour’, ‘bon appétit’, … sounds simple but it’s not only a habit but it could trigger more French sentences. If you study silently and you know something it’s the opportunity to try. You can also get into the habit of reading out loud everything  you read in French. I think everybody is too silent when studying.

2- Copycat

I don’t know if parrots understand what they say but at least they try. They are different ways to improve your French pronunciation without going crazy. First, you can repeat a short sentence in a podcast or a method. Go stupid not crazy. Repeat 10 times, 50 times. Just once is not enough. Secondly, for intermediate you can pick a podcast or a longer dialogue (News In Slow French…) and repeat everything live like an interpreter. The same game you used to play as a kid, repeating and copy and adult going crazy because of you. You can focus on the vowels, the rhythm, the intonation or the melody (one at a time). Even repeating the melody only like singing the language can be very effective. Rhythm and vowels are the most important for French pronunciation.

Copycat is the best way to improve. Before creating something we need to copy. Great artists get inspired by the greater ones. Choose the best model and copycat.

3-French everywhere

I use English language to write this blog and it’s maybe more useful for me than it is for the readers. It’s a task I could do in French, but it’s more challenging and a good opportunity to use English (and I hope it’s better for French beginners to understand my blog). I try to watch news in English or surf the web in Korean. You can switch your phone into French language, or anything, I’m sure they are many ways to put this into practice!