Benjamin Houy - How to Learn French in a Year

Contents

How to Learn French in a Year

Benjamin Houy

frenchtogether.com

All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this ebook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

The author does not guarantee that you will successfully learn French.

Whether French is the first foreign language you learn or the fifth, you have probably heard many different opinions about the right and wrong way to learn French. Some people say French is difficult to learn; others say it's easy. Some consider grammar to be the most important aspect of a language while others prefer to avoid it for as long as possible.

Unless you are an experienced language learner, you probably have a hard time figuring out who is right and who is wrong. You probably dont know where to start and may even fear that you will never be able to speak French fluently. We all have these fears that are the result of years spent studying languages the wrong way.

After years spent studying English and German at the University, learning Korean on my own, helping people like you learn French, and researching the best ways to learn a new language, I have found a fun and effective way to learn languages.

I wrote this book to help you discover the tools and methods that I, and many language learners around the world, use to learn languages. These are tools and methods you can easily implement, to not only make learning French easier, but also much more fun. And you want to know the best thing about these methods? Most of them wont cost you a dime.

Please note that this is not a textbook. You wont learn French with this book. What you will learn is different ways to learn French that are both fun and effective. After reading this book, you will have all the knowledge and tools you need to finally become fluent in French.

Ready? C'est parti !

PART ONE

The fundamentals of learning French

Chapter One

The most common myths about French and languages in general

You need to be gifted to learn French

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work. Stephen King

Before you actually get started learning French, let's review the most common language learning myths. Some of these myths can considerably slow you down and keep you from learning French efficiently. In fact, these myths are the main reason so many people fail at learning French. Learning French is simply a matter of believing in yourself, and believing that you can succeed. You may not realize it, but your doubts can result in very real learning restrictions. If you think you are not talented enough to learn French, you will most likely never be fluent in French. The same goes for many other activities. If you go to Paris expecting people to be rude, you will find rude people; whereas, if you go with an open mind, you are likely to encounter friendly, helpful people. You cannot control everything, of course, but you can at least control your thoughts and actions, and make sure that you are mentally prepared for success and not for failure. You may have already experienced failure in learning French, but now you can choose to use proven and effective methods that will help you reach your goals.

Back in high school, I believed that people were either good or bad at learning languages, and that only a select few were good at learning languages. I also thought that polyglots were extremely gifted individuals who could learn languages effortlessly, and I was absolutely convinced that my inability to learn English was a sign that I wasn't meant to speak foreign languages.

At that time, I had been learning English and German for six years, and still couldnt say anything more than Hello, I am fine, thank you, and you? I felt terrible about my inability to learn after putting in so much effort for so many years. I knew people who spoke several languages fluently, and yet here I was, unable to master even one language other than my native language. Yet, deep inside, I knew that the lack of talent couldnt be the only reason of my failure. I didnt consider myself stupid, and teachers and friends had told me I was certainly smart, based on how well I did in other learning endeavors. So I always ended up asking myself why others could learn a new language and I could not.

Thats when I started reading stories from people saying they had found a way to learn languages fast. Honestly, it sounded a bit spammy. I had been trying to learn English for years and these people were saying that I could learn a language in less than a year? Were they trying to sell me something? They were not selling anything and this is what convinced me to give it a try. ; I had nothing to lose, after all. In the worst case, I would just remain a monoglot forever. In the best case, I would finally understand English and be able to discover a new world. I was more motivated than I had ever been.

Six months later, I was fluent in English.

Did I suddenly become more talented? Did I discover a secret pill allowing me to learn anything in a short time and without effort? Nope. Instead, two things happened. First, since I was more motivated, I started studying more regularly. Second, I started using methods like SRS, mnemonics (you will learn more about that in the chapter How To Learn Vocabulary And Never Forget It") and decided to do what I had always been terrified of doing: practice English.

After successfully learning English, I decided to learn German, and later, Korean. This time, I used the techniques and tools I had discovered, which allowed me to reach a good level in Korean after just two months. Considering Korean was much harder to learn (as a native French speaker) than English, I was proud of myself. I wasnt fluent, but I could have a basic conversation and it was enough for my daily life in Korea. Most importantly, for the first time in my life, I was having fun learning a language. If you struggle to learn French, you should know there is nothing wrong with you. You may simply not be using the right method and tools.

Successful language learners spend countless hours learning languages, acquiring vocabulary and practicing speaking. There is no such thing as a "gift for languages".." There are simply people who follow effective methods and people who do not know the most effective methods for them.

Sure, you could argue that some people have a higher IQ, that it helps them learn languages. And you would be right, but to what extent? If you read the biographies of successful people, you will see that most of them didn't succeed because of their incredible intelligence,; they succeeded because they did their best and never gave up. In fact, many people fail every day, not because of low IQ, but because they dont use the right methods or dont work long enough or hard enough. One thing you can be sure of is that anyone, at any age, can learn French. If you work hard and implement effective learning strategies, you will learn French much faster and much better than you ever thought possible.

The Irish polyglot Benny Lewis, famous for learning a new language every three months, confessed that he didn't know any language other than English at age 21. He even had difficulties speaking English at first and needed speech therapy as a kid. It was only years later, after discovering that learning languages is not as hard as he thought, that he learned several languages and became the polyglot he is today.