Foreign languages

Learn French on your own

In French one thing is written and another is heard — half the final letters are silent and words run together in speech. English speakers recognise a huge share of French words on paper and then fail to catch them by ear. So the most important thing for a self-learner is to tie spelling to sound from day one. The plan below is built around that problem.

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The main difficulty: spelling and listening#

French spelling is historical: it keeps how words sounded centuries ago. Final s, t, d, x and e are usually silent: in ils parlent the ending -ent is silent, and parle, parles and parlent all sound the same. The good news is that the reading rules, numerous as they are, are far more consistent than English ones — once you learn the combinations ou, oi, au, eau, ai you can read almost any word.

Sounds to work on:

  • nasal vowels — in bon, vin, blanc, un;
  • the French r, made at the back of the throat;
  • the difference between u and ou (tu — tout); English has only the second, so round your lips as for "oo" and say "ee";
  • closed and open e: é, è, ê;
  • pure vowels without the English glide: é is not "ay-ee".

Then there is liaison: a silent final consonant comes back to life before a vowel in the next word: les amis sounds like "lay-zamee". Because of this word boundaries disappear for the ear, and understanding speech comes later than reading.

An exercise worth doing all the time: dictation#

The most useful technique for French is short dictations. Take audio with a transcript, write down three to five sentences by ear, compare with the original and go through every mistake: did not hear it, did not know the word, or did not know how it is spelled. Fifteen minutes of dictation a day gradually closes the gap between your eyes and your ears. At the beginning, materials with slowed-down speech and a transcript work well.

Grammar in order#

Gender and articles. Every noun is masculine or feminine, and you see it mostly by the article: le livre, la table. Learn words only with their article. There is also the partitive article — du pain, de l'eau — for uncountable things, where English says "some" or nothing at all: je veux du pain, "I want bread".

The present tense. Verbs in -er (the first group) all follow one pattern. Learn the irregular ones first — être, avoir, aller, faire, pouvoir, vouloir: you cannot build half your sentences without them.

The past. The spoken past, passé composé, is built like the English present perfect — an auxiliary plus a participle: j'ai mangé — but it is used for finished past actions, where English says "I ate". Most verbs take avoir, but verbs of motion and reflexive verbs take être: je suis allé, elle s'est levée. With être the participle usually agrees in gender and number with the subject. The imparfait describes background and habits, like the English "used to" and "was …-ing".

Next. The future, the conditional, the pronouns y and en, and the subjonctif after il faut que and expressions of wish.

Age and other calques. In French you "have" an age rather than "are" it: j'ai vingt ans. Likewise "I am hungry" is j'ai faim. These are typical mistakes for English speakers.

False friends#

Shared vocabulary helps until it betrays you. Actuellement means "currently", librairie is a bookshop, not a library, sensible means "sensitive", and assister à means "to attend". Keep a separate list and add to it as you read.

Time benchmarks#

French is in the fastest group for English speakers in the US Foreign Service Institute ranking. At about an hour a day, by month three you can realistically read simple texts and build sentences in the present and past, by month six you can follow slow speech on familiar topics. Fluent understanding of ordinary spoken French usually comes noticeably later, and that is normal.

Notes for French#

Three columns for words: the word with its article, a transcription or a note on silent letters, an example. A separate list of verbs that take être. A "sounds the same" sheet — ver, vert, verre, vers — is useful both for vocabulary and for dictations. Review it all with spaced repetition.

How to check your level#

The scale comes from DELF (levels A1–B2) and DALF (C1–C2), the official diplomas of the French Ministry of Education. Preparation sites have sample papers with answer keys. For weekly checks a dictation and a retelling are enough: if a dictation of the same level produces half as many mistakes as a month ago, you are making progress.

Step-by-step plan

  1. Weeks 1–3 — reading and soundsLetter combinations, silent endings, nasal vowels, u and ou, liaison.
  2. Month 2 — gender, articles, the presentWords only with articles, the first verb group and the six key irregular verbs.
  3. Months 3–4 — the pastPassé composé with avoir and être, imparfait; a daily dictation of 3–5 sentences.
  4. Months 5–6 — speaking and a DELF sampleRecorded retellings, the future and the conditional, a sample paper at your level.

Start learning this in your own space

The plan goes into your repository: tick off stages, keep notes — the change history shows how far you have come.

Start the plan

Check yourself

1."Yesterday I went to the cinema": Hier, je ___ allé au cinéma.

2."She is twenty": Elle ___ vingt ans.

3."We are French": Nous ___ français.

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