How can I practice speaking in French?

Learning French feels exciting, where you learn new words, explore a new culture, and learn a lot of things. Many learners, even those enrolled in French classes online or attending some French language courses, often find is speaking the most challenging part. And this happens because not a lot of tutors pay attention to the speaking skill as compared to the other 3, which should not be the case as speaking is an essential part of learning French. Speaking will help you understand real conversations. Speaking allows you to use grammar and vocabulary more fluently.

A student might pay a lot of attention to the grammar and vocabulary part, but still faces difficulties when it comes to speaking. The reason is not enough practice. 

When a student starts learning French, they soon realise that the most difficult part is French pronunciation. French, with its nasal sounds, liaosons, accents etc, sounds different from English. 

You can learn the grammar rules, vocabulary, etc, but you need to practice speaking regularly to get habitual to it. You can get better at speaking only when you practice.

Here are a few tips that you can use to practice French- 

• You can listen to French audios or podcasts 

Choose any audio or podcast on the topic you might be interested in and listen to it. Pause the audio after every sentence, and try to repeat out loud what you just heard. Copy their accents even if you don’t understand what they are saying. 

• Try to converse in French with your friend

You can ask your fellow French learner to talk to you in French. It’s fine even if you speak in broken sentences, but the more you talk in French, the more natural your sentences sound.

• Watch French movies and shows

You can understand real-life french conversations through french movies and TV shows. Pay attention to how the speaker speaks, their accent, and their tone. Pause and try to repeat anytime you find any common or everyday use phrases. You can use such phrases in your own conversations .

• Talk to yourself in French 

If you have no one to talk to in French, you can talk to yourself. Try to speak simple sentences. You can talk to yourself while driving or getting ready. See things around you and try to frame sentences in French.

• Record yourself to see how you sound and where you can improve  

Talking to yourself alone won’t just help. You can record yourself when you speak so that you can see where you are going wrong and where you need improvement.

• Try to speak French in class

If you are enrolled in any French language class or French course online, you must engage in your class to improve your speaking skills. When the tutors ask questions in the class, we often don’t answer, thinking that we might sound stupid. But this is where we go wrong. Speaking in front of the class will build your confidence. 

Remember, speaking French regularly is the only way you can master this skill.