Some context: I'm Canadian and have been practicing my French daily for the past year with the goal of reaching some form of fluency so I can converse with French-speakers in Canada, France, etc while traveling. The issue is that where I live in Southern Ontario is almost completely devoid of French speakers. I've been practicing largely by doing exercises on Duolingo, CBC Mauril, and consuming as much French-language content as I can. I was in Quebec earlier this year which my first attempt to practice my French in the real world and it quickly became apparent to me that I was nowhere near ready to converse beyond basic greetings and phrases. With nobody to practice speaking with, is French going to more or less just a hobby for me?
When you’re alone, you should speak aloud your thoughts in French! I find that helps me improve my speaking. But honestly if you don’t ever practice speaking, I don’t think you’d be able to use it in real life situations. I know this isn’t what you’re asking but if you wanna practice with other people, you can find learning servers on Discord and use voice chat! There are surprisingly many natives there too to teach and give advice.
Merci pour la recommandation!
Perso je pense tous les jours à lacher le français ca fait a peu près 2 ans que japprends mais je suis aussi loin de mon but de bilinguisme qu'au depart. Ce n'est pas pour rien que peu d'anglo Canadiens parlent francais, ca se fait tout simplement pas sans immersion
Tout ca pour dire, oui, je pense maleheuresment ca va problablement rester un hobby dans ton cas. A toi de decider de Ce que ca implique
en tout cas tu parles super bien
Find a language exchange partner whom you can meet with on line. You can find a French speaker who wants to improve their English. You can have half the conversation time in English and half in French. If you’re not yet at the level to have a conversation you can start with them speaking in French and you responding in English and gradually adding more and more French in your replies.
Keep in mind that it takes considerable consistency, time and effort to become fluent in a language
More details about how you actually achieve this would be very helpful.
Honestly, it's easier than one would think. I played an online mobile game called Vikingard a few years ago. My game was in English but I chose a francophone clan. I became way more addicted to that thing than I was supposed to so when my 'clan asked for us to chat on discord, I joined (I never did before). (I'm French so I didn't join with the idea of speaking more French, just playing the game more efficiently) And it wasn't just French people, you had an Algerian, a French Canadian, etc.
If you prefer PC games, check the ones you have that can be played in a multiplayer setting. Check if there's a sub for it, and if so, then make a post saying you're looking for French speaking teammates. You'd be surprised how many French speaking people there are on English speaking subs (and not just the Expédition 33 sub). You can also try the name of the game you want to play + "FR" at the end to see if there's a French sub for it. (If I recall correctly the Japan sub is just "JaponFR" in French)
You can start with r/language_exchange to find a partner. Or try the HelloTalk app.
For an extensive discussion of how to learn a language, check out the website refold.la.
discord french servers. introduce yourself, that you're looking for an exchange partner, how often you want to practice, etc.
I’m not sure you’ll get to fluent speaking without speaking. But I think that’s a ways off. There’s lots of reading, listening, learning grammar and vocab, etc. That takes time to get absorbed.
Fluent speakers can have 20,000 words in their active vocabulary, with an additional 10,000 they know but aren’t really used much.
Thinking you’ll have smooth fluent conversations with only a couple thousand words is unrealistic.
Moi, j'habite dans l'ouest du Canada. J'apprends aussi le français depuis environ un an. Je doute de jamais devenir bilingue, il ne me reste plus assez d'années. Pouvoir regarder des films, lire des livres, parler lentement et avec un accent horrible me suffira.
No it's totally possible! That said, as you noticed, you do need practice using French.
You will need to find people to use French with. They can be online tutors, online groups, penpals, etc. But you need to create this environment
If you continue learning, immersing, and then also using French, you'll get there.
Where do you live lol. There are Franco-ontarien communities all over just hard to connect with and mostly covert cause we’re bilingual and work in English spaces. Depending where you live I might be able to point you in the direction haha. Maybe try posting in your local reddit for French speakers. If your city has a French first language school (public or catholic) there are Francophones :)
I live on Vancouver Island in a region that, for many people living here, might seem to be almost completely devoid of French speakers. But there is a Francophone school and also a Francophone Association that is quite active and very welcoming of those for whom French is not their mother tongue and who are motivated to improve their ability in the language. In the past two weeks alone, I participated in five events. This represented about 15 hours of total French immersion. If you seek out similar opportunities, I’m sure you can find them where you live.
I am in a similar situation. I have to force myself to speak out loud when I practice by myself but I also try to talk to people from France and Quebec online. I would be happy to chat with you for more practice 🙌
Hello! I lived both, learning on my own and inmersion on the country and I would say yes to your question. Before coming to France, I had some basic knowledge of French but around 4 months before arriving I made a French friend online and I would listen to French everyday at least three times a day (3h ish), podcast, vlogs, videos, everything in French. My understanding of spoken French after those 4 months was quite good an I could keep a conversations, sometimes I would hold myself just because of fear but I progressed quite well, being on France was just a way to force myself to speak and get rid of that fear, not necessarely a way of learning, but of course it helps. Record yourself, imitate frenchies, listen to music, news, things you like, it will really help!
You can’t without a native speaker to talk with
If you know the words and freeze up when you try to talk, try the app Superfluent, which is a chatbot. It helps with getting you used to responding in French, even if it's halting at first.
If you don't know the words, even with time to think, you need to change the way you study. Try Anki for vocabulary and Kwiziq for grammar.
Once you are too advanced for the chatbot, the only way to improve is to talk to people, but you can find a conversation partner online.
De même, moi j'habite en Ontario pis il n'y a personne qui peut me parler en français. Mais, par la grâce de dieu, j'ai rencontré un amis qui est québécois! Il est trop gentil pis il m'aide avec le français. I'm still learning mais maintenant, j'espère que je fais de bon progrès!
Interior of BC here. Similar situation. But… keep at it. It will improve.
Take opportunities to travel to Québec.
Get a live tutor. I use Preply and I have an amazing tutor once a week.
Keep it up with Mauril. Also listen to Radio Canada (OhDio! app) and watch RC TV (Tou.TV app).
Lots of National Film Board content.
Switch the language on your cellphone.
Find francophone friends. Join the local Franco-Canadian club.
Etc. Tons of opportunities in Canada, even when you’re not surrounded by the language. You can actually ensure several hours of it a day pretty easily.
This is how it works for me: practice with a real person plus AI Role Play from Promova.
why don't you get a teacher off of italki ? you can practice speaking with a French tutor, which will really help you to see improvements :)
If you can't do iTalki or find people to practice with in exchange for English, you should hook yourself up with a lot of shadowing practice. It doesn't replace conversation, but the good thing about it as a form of practice and habituation is that you acquire grammatical ways of saying things. Talking to yourself is good exercise, but where's the corrective feedback?
I got to a C1 without ever stepping foot in France or another francophone country. Try finding natives to speak with online, or perhaps French-speaking expats in your country.
You won't become conversational if you aren't exposed to situations where you have to think on the fly.
But you also don't need to be fluent if all you want is to have casual conversations with francophones. Build up your vocabulary and your confidence, and get out there.
Yes.
First, I'd find an app, course, podcast, or books that teach actual grammar (not just The language learning jerk Duo)
I'd highly suggest getting a person who you can chat/talk with who does speak fluent French.
Take time to journal and speak in French daily. Do both passive and active immersion.
I also live in a place where French isn't spoken at all. I've visited France many times, had a casual French partner, and did all of the above, and it’s taken nearly 7 years for me to be confident enough to pass an official B2 exam. I read it at an advanced level, and can understand most spoken mass media, but personally, I'd need to live in the language and be forced to use it to advance my written and spoken skills enough to use it in a professional manner.
Being in a Francophone environment isn't nearly as crucial as you think
I've been learning for about 2 years and a handful of months. I always feel like I'm learning so much more and hitting and breaking through plateaus. I think it just takes a really long time to learn a language, and the focus should be on the journey and not the destination
Yes, I did it
You need to be able to converse with others though. If not in person, online (there are Discord servers for language learning, for ex.)
If you are a student, especially university age, you should look into the explore program! It’s ran by the Canadian government to help people practice and learn French
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