subject: Good Ways to Learn French Language Skills [print this page] It's a challenge to learn French language skills. French has much different conventions of pronunciation and word order than does English and the language is challenging in terms of vocabulary. Additionally, many common words are pronounced in ways that differentiate them from others in only the slightest regard. This means that you have to listen, in addition to speak, to learn this language. Oftentimes, reading too soon can cause its own slew of problems, such as when improper pronunciation of a letter is reinforced by repetition in the student's mind.
One of the best ways to learn French language usage and conventions is to listen to stories. In stories, people's dialogue has to be realistic and practical. There is no place for lines that are overly-formal or forced in their sound, as people don't speak like that in real life. Learning the language from stories helps you to understand how people actually speak and helps you to understand how to use your language skills in real life situations. With a story-driven learning program, the motivation is as much about the story as it is about acquiring the language.
You can also learn French language skills as a family activity. Most often, people will pick up the language at different rates and will lock onto specific concepts and words more quickly than others. When you work at it together, your family can benefit from helping one another along in the process, and this can lead to considerable increases in the rate of learning. It also gives you an excuse to spend more time with your family doing something more engaging than staring at a television screen. Learning together tends to make what's learned "stick" better in your mind and makes learning more fun.
You don't need a practical reason to learn French language skills. In fact, you can do it just for fun, and it makes a good family activity. While it has obvious benefitseven financial benefits due to the fact that being bilingual is a very real skill in the workplaceit's also just a lot of fun to do. Learning to speak a new language means learning to see the world in a different way. It also means that you have access to a plethora of new materials, including books, music and film, in that language and that you don't need subtitles.
