Is French Laborious to Be taught? Trace: You Might Already Have a Head Begin
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Studying a brand new language can really feel overwhelming. You’re in all probability questioning, “Is French laborious to be taught?” The excellent news is, when you’re studying this in English, you’ve already received an awesome head begin—French is ranked by the International Service Institute as one of many best languages to be taught for English audio system. There are numerous similarities between English and French, making it an awesome possibility in your subsequent language-learning journey.
After all, you might encounter some difficult points when studying French, as with every language. Pronunciation and grammar prime that record. However, with the correct instruments and motivation, you’ll be talking French very quickly!
Difficult points of studying French
So, is French a tough language to be taught? The reply is each sure and no. Whether or not you wish to say I like you in French or be taught some French phrases for journey, there’s little doubt French is an exquisite language that may take you all around the world.
That being stated, just a few components are harder than others when studying French and French grammar guidelines.
French pronunciation
Particularly for individuals who know different Romance languages like Spanish, French pronunciation might be laborious at first. The excellent news is, you possibly can be taught guidelines that can assist you as you go. Beneath are frequent letter combos and customary brief phrases in French, together with their pronunciations.
| French Letter Combos/Quick Phrases | Pronunciation |
| ai | ay |
| ais/ait | ay |
| eau | oh |
| elle | el (just like the letter “L”) |
| est | ay |
| et | ay |
| la | lah |
| le | luh (just like the “u” in “put”) |
| les | lay |
| ois | wah |
| ou | oo |
Whereas that is solely a small pattern, it’s good to know that anytime you see these letter combos, they’ll at all times have the identical pronunciation irrespective of their place within the phrase.
Though some sounds in French don’t exist in English, Rosetta Stone will help you grasp all points of French pronunciation with its TruAccent speech recognition engine!
French gender guidelines
A key distinction in French is the existence of gendered nouns. Each individual, place, and factor is masculine or female. Some are extra apparent than others, like l’homme (the person; masculine) and la femme (the girl; female). Not so apparent are phrases like le prepare (the prepare; masculine) or la moustache (the mustache; female). It takes effort and time to be taught French gender guidelines, but it surely’s a key part to studying French.
French adjective settlement
When you’ve mastered French gender guidelines, you possibly can put that to make use of when making adjectives agree with their topics. A number of situations exist in English (assume stunning vs. good-looking), however total that is one thing new to be taught in French. Examples embody:
- Le stylo (m) est vert. = The pen is inexperienced.
- La pelouse (f) est verte. = The garden is inexperienced.
- Les livres (m) sont verts. = The books are inexperienced.
- Les voitures (f) sont vertes. = The automobiles are inexperienced.
The masculine (m) phrases require completely different adjective varieties than the female (f) phrases, in addition to a distinction between singular and plural. French adjectives usually observe this sample, though exceptions and irregular varieties do exist.
French negation
To make a sentence detrimental, or “negate,” it’s a bit extra difficult in French than English. The phrase “not” is just used after a conjugated verb in English. In French you’ll put ne/pas across the conjugated verb (or n’/pas if the verb begins with a vowel):
- Nous ne sommes pas français. = We’re not French.
- Je n’aime pas les chats. = I don’t like cats.
Within the second sentence, discover that in English you want a “do” in entrance of the negation, whereas this doesn’t exist in French.
Along with ne/pas, there are different comparable negation constructions in French:
| French | English |
| ne/jamais | by no means |
| ne/aucun | not any |
| ne/rien | nothing |
| ne/personne | nobody, no one |
| ne/plus | not anymore |
| ni/ni | neither/nor |
The construction ne/que additionally follows the identical sample, however interprets to “solely” (not a detrimental).
Forming questions in French
There are three major methods to ask questions in French. You should use tag questions or inflection for sure or no questions. In any other case, use “est-ce que” or inversion for all different questions.
- Tu as vu le movie, n’est-ce pas ? = You noticed the film, proper? (didn’t you?)
- Est-ce que tu as vu le movie ? = Did you see the film?
- As-tu vu le movie ? = Did you see the film?
After all, it is a very temporary overview—there’s nuance in realizing ask questions in French, relying on formality and verb tense.
Straightforward French language studying
Luckily, for English audio system, quite a few similarities exist between French and English. There are lots of of cognate phrases, and sentence construction could be very comparable in English and French. And though French has loads of verb tenses and moods, many observe comparable patterns to make studying them straightforward!
Cognates in English and French
A cognate is a phrase that appears and sounds the identical and has the identical which means in two languages. Cognates assist you to guess the which means of unfamiliar phrases as you learn or pay attention in French.
Do you know that due to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the English language truly has many phrases in frequent with French? And though linguists are nonetheless arguing, there are regarded as extra core phrases in English that come from French and Latin than from another language. Beneath are some examples of cognates in French and English:
| French | English |
| une banane | a banana |
| différent | completely different |
| immense | immense |
| l’hôpital | the hospital |
| une lettre | a letter |
| l’océan | the ocean |
| une desk | a desk |
| une statue | a statue |
| distinctive | distinctive |
Not all of those are excellent cognates, however as English audio system we’re in a position to decipher the which means of the French cognates. A number of false cognates (phrases that look the identical however shouldn’t have the identical which means) could make issues difficult, so watch out!
French sentence construction
Each English and French observe the overall sentence construction of topic/object/verb:
- Je mange une pomme. = I eat an apple.
- Il dessine le bâteau. = He attracts the boat.
Instructions are sometimes equally structured in French and English:
- Donne-moi le ache. = Give me the bread.
- Appelle-moi ce soir. = Name me tonight.
You’ll discover some variations as you progress in your French studying, however total French sentence construction is simple for English learners to decipher and produce.
French verb conjugations and French current tense
French has 21 tenses and moods, however most are much like what we use in English, together with the previous, current and future tense. Even higher, there’s just one current tense in French, whereas in English we’ve got three:
- Nous marchons au café. = We’re strolling to the café.
- Nous marchons au café. = We stroll to the café.
- Nous marchons au café. = We do stroll to the café.
Though French does have irregular verbs, many fall into comparable teams and conjugate the identical approach throughout tenses. French verb conjugation is just not as daunting because it may appear!
Figuring out which verb tense to make use of in addition to conjugate the verb you’re utilizing does take time and follow. Rosetta Stone’s research-backed methodology helps you be taught extra shortly and authentically with out flashcards or memorization.
5 ideas for studying French
No matter your targets for studying French, you possibly can speed up your studying in quite a lot of methods.
1. Watch a film or TV present
A quite simple approach to enhance your French comprehension is by watching a TV present or film in French to bolster your language studying. There are limitless choices accessible on streaming providers and on-line.
2. Take heed to a podcast
If you happen to’re driving or out for a stroll, placed on a French podcast! Whether or not you wish to concentrate on French grammar, hearken to the information, or dive into a distinct segment subject, there’s one thing for everybody!
3. Learn the information in French
To enhance your French studying expertise, begin your day with some information in French. You could find French information choices from throughout the globe.
4. Placed on a playlist at work or whereas making dinner
No matter your favourite music platform, discover a French playlist to have within the background! See what phrases you possibly can perceive whereas listening, and seek for a few new ones to increase your vocabulary.
5. Make studying French a bunch effort
Get your family and friends concerned together with your French targets. Having somebody maintain you accountable in your studying by no means hurts, and all the things is extra enjoyable with a buddy. Apply your dialog expertise collectively—you possibly can even add a e-book or some French delicacies.
Is French Laborious to Be taught? Make studying straightforward with Rosetta Stone
Whereas studying any language takes time and follow, the reply to “Is French laborious to be taught?” is that studying French is relatively straightforward to most different languages. You’ll must hone in on issues like pronunciation, gender guidelines, and adjective settlement. However, realizing English is a superb begin to recognizing cognates and sentence construction!
If you happen to’re prepared to affix over 321 million French audio system throughout the globe, Rosetta Stone will help you turn out to be extra assured in your French skills. The Dynamic Immersion methodology and bite-sized classes make studying French enjoyable and straightforward. And obtain the Rosetta Stone app to take studying French with you wherever you go.
