8 Best Ways to Learn French on your Own

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

So you have decided to learn French as your new language to improve your prospects in the language world or the translation arena. Great decision! Knowing an extra language is always helpful for anyone, and for a translator, even more so.

Native English speakers usually choose Spanish, German or French: these are the most popular, followed by Chinese, Russian, Italian, and so on. The former languages are also easier for English speakers than the latter. In this article you can see which is the Top 7 Easiest Languages to Learn. 

Learning a new language can be an exciting thing; however, classroom learning may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Some people are simply not comfortable in such a setting, others may have schedules that don’t permit them to free themselves at specific times. Whatever the reasons, learning on your own is a good option for such individuals. It’s not as difficult as you may imagine.

If you’re a native English speaker, or if you have command over the English language, learning French on your own will be relatively easier for you than other languages. Below, we share with you best way to learn French on your own as this article is about some easy and practical tips to learn French. Remember that merely knowing the language is not enough. You have to be familiar with the cultural ethos associated with that language to do full justice to the job of document translation. Therefore, you need to absorb as much of the French culture as you can while you’re learning sentence construction, grammar, idioms and similes!

Without further ado, lets get started with this Guide on the 8 Best Ways on How to Learn French on your Own:

1. Online Courses

There are several sites that offer both free and paid online courses for you to learn french on your own. Usually, the free courses teach you the basic level, and to learn the advanced level of the language, you have to upgrade or go to a site that offers paid French courses. Not all sites that offer free courses are dubious!

Likewise, there are several sites, like BBC, Babbel, Rype, Duolingo, French tutorial.com, FluentU, and so on that give you access to easy and free lessons and courses for French Learning. Most of these lessons follow a pattern, starting from the very basics like introducing yourself, and moving on to asking directions, ordering food, shopping, and so on, with basic grammar concepts thrown in.

There are written directions and audio guides to help you learn the correct pronunciation too.  Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can scout for sites that teach advanced levels, or you can pay and upgrade to the advanced course. 

These are the best French online courses listed by Translateday French Translation Experts: 

The 6 Best Online Courses to Learn French 

1. BBC

The BBC has an entire section on their website where you can learn languages – they offer Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and many other languages. In addition to simple lessons, the resource page also contains specific lessons like Rugby terms, news, holiday phrases, vocabulary and grammar.

There are quizzes and tests available so you can check how much you have learnt. You can also do crosswords and other games to help you remember terms and words. There is an interactive video course for slightly advanced learners as well.

2. Rype

The Rype website allows you to book interactive learning sessions with tutors of your choice.

3. Babbel

Babbel gives you a short test, determines your language level, and recommends the ideal course for you.

4. Duolingo

DuoLingo is one of the most used websites to learn French. It is also the world’s most-downloaded education app! 

5. Frenchtutorial.com

FrenchTutorial.com is a web-based step by step lesson covering basics, pronunciation, but also grammar, vocabulary and everyday French.

6. FluentU

FluentU brings language learning to life through language immersion with real-world videos.

Do you already know the  Benefits Of Learning A Foreign Language?

2. Free Mobile Apps 

Yes, there are free apps to learn French. So relax and get comfy in your PJs, with a cup of hot coffee near you, plug in your earphones, and écoutez! (French for listen).

These are the best free apps for french learning listed by Translateday French Linguist Experts: 

Top 10 Free Mobile Apps to Learn French on your Own

• #1 – DuoLingo

• #2 – Memrise

• #3 – HelloTalks

• #4 – Babel

• #5 – Busuu

• #6 – SpeakEasy

• #7 – FluentU

• #8 – RosettaStone

• #9 – MosaLingua

• #10 – TandemFrench

Many of these apps have interactive videos, tests, progressive lessons, games and almost everything you can find on a website offering French learning courses.

3. Read Books or Magazines

You don’t have to purchase expensive books or magazines or set up an overseas subscription; just go online and try to read a few e-zines, or even web content in French; get used to reading the language and comprehending it.

Here at Translateday we will recommend you some Best French Websites to read Magazines or Books Online:

5 Best Magazines to help you Learn French Online

1. L’Obs

L’Obs is the most popular news magazine in France. It covers several news from politics to cultural topics. 

2. Paris Match

Since 1949, Paris Match features a mix of news and pop culture.

3. Le Point du FLE

Great magazine if you want to concentrate on the grammar part. LePoint is a weekly news magazine that tries showing news from different points of view.

4. Lemonde

You can try lemonde.fr – one of France’s leading newspapers in its online avatar. It will also give you a good idea of writing styles – how to create crisp headlines, providing captions for photos, writing news stories and so on.

5. RockNFolk

If you are into music you will enjoy RockNFolk. Rock, hip-hop and many other genres are covered in this magazine.

Also Read Best Ways To Improve Your 4 Basic Language Skills

4. Watch French TV and Movies

Initially, try to watch with the subtitles on – after all, the characters on the screen are not going to speak slowly and deliberately like in your online lessons. Native speakers can be quite rapid, and you may have difficulty in following them as they speak. After a couple of weeks you should try watching without the subtitles.

Where to watch French TV or Movies? – Everything is possible thanks to the internet. Just browse online to find French TV shows or movies on YouTube. You can also try downloading or watching from streaming sites like Netflix. You can also try listening to French radio stations.

Here is something interesting you can do: Look for a video tutorial in French about something you can do – say cooking a French dish. If you can listen and understand the instructions, and carry them out, it means that are doing pretty well in your journey of learning the French language.

Combining activities with learning is a holistic way of familiarising yourself with all aspects of a language. It’s all part of the whole immersive experience of learning a language.

5. Converse – A LOT

Converse with yourself in French! This is one of the best ways of how to learn French at home. It applies even if there is nobody else around you to speak the language, or you live alone, or even work alone (freelancer working from home).

In the morning, instead of thinking, what a beautiful day, say to yourself: ‘Quelle belle journee!’ and so on – you get the drift.

Start referring to your computer as l’ordinateur, your shirt as chemise, say rouge instead of red, and more.

Sure, some people may think you’re going nuts, you can just tell them you’re full of ‘joi de vivre’! it is very important to speak the language – passively reading or watching about it is not going to help beyond a certain level.

6. Alliance Francaise

No mention of learning French can be complete without mentioning the Alliance Francaise: This international organization that promotes the learning of the French language and culture.

There are various activities that happen regularly, and of course, on special days. The institute organizes lectures, ‘wine and cheese’ parties, concerts, movie viewings, art and literary exhibits, special language workshops, conversation groups, discussion groups and guided museum tours.

The institute offers group and individual learning sessions, as well as long distance courses, where students can interact through Skype.

If you have an Alliance Francaise Center in your city, or even one that is not too far away, I highly recommend visiting the center to get information about how you can access their resources, and enroll in their learning courses.

They also have vast libraries with the best of French publications, and you should be able to borrow books if you enroll as a member. It is one of the best ways you can learn French.

The teachers are mostly all native speakers, and able to provide a contextual approach to learning the language. They will also be able to familiarize you with things like idioms, nuances peculiar to French and so on, which you may not get from elsewhere.

A certificate from this institute is internationally recognized as well, and will stand you in good stead wherever you go.

Also Read  How to Learn Spanish Online Free for Beginners

7. Join Online Communities

Search online for discussion groups, forums and online communities; either of non-native French speakers who are learning French, or of native French speakers, for subjects you are genuine interested in, like travel, health and wellness, food, fashion, French culture, and so on.

A few times a week, login to these forums and engage in discussion and conversations. Here you will be actually writing French, so it will be good practice for you in your quest to learn French.

8. Stay Motivated

When you’re not in a classroom and going it alone, you may at times feel lazy to continue with the lessons; you may feel dejected, or not know how much you have actually progressed. You may feel like it’s not worth it, and to let go. There is no competition, nobody to push you.

So it is extremely crucial that you motivate yourself, and continue your learning. Remember that it is a language; the learning never really stops. Every day, new words may be created. Even after you’ve mastered the language, you will have to keep a lookout for new words and phrases, especially in the field you have subject matter expertise in. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you stumble either. Everyone has a few ups and downs, and it’s nothing to lose sleep over.

To Sum Up 

Learning a language has its own special joys; but for those wanting to become international translators, it is like acquiring an essential skill that will help you advance your career. Trained translators are much in demand. So what are you waiting for? 

We hope you found the above mentioned tips useful. Please check our Blog for more free articles on this and other related topics.

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