600 hours—that's how much practice experts estimate it takes to reach intermediate-level French.
This is a general rule. With the right techniques, you can reach your goals even faster! Not that you should be in a rush; language learning is a marathon, not a sprint. But the more effective your French practice is, the more you'll get back from the effort you put in.
Table of Contents
- How to Practice the Four Language Skills
- Effective French Practice and Study Methods
- Powerful French Practice Tools
- Keeping Up Your Motivation
- Here Through Thick and Thin!
The Four Language Skills
Mastering French practice starts with studying the four language skills. These four abilities complement and support each other. If your ability in one area lags behind the others, it will slow down your development. So to keep all of your skills evenly matched, here's a guide on how to practice and improve each one!
How to Practice Reading
French reading practice involves two simple strategies:
- Learning new vocabulary and grammar
- Using study methods so they stick
The first is the simplest step. Whether you're reading a novel, news article, or textbook, you'll run into words and sentence structures unfamiliar to you. When you do, look up their meaning and note it down. You can use our free French reading exercises to practice this and avoid having to look up words somewhere else.
Sounds simple enough, right?
The trick is remembering what you've learned. To do so, many people simply reread their notes. But there's a method that's 300% more effective than rereading: recall and reconsolidation. To learn how this study technique works and how to use it, see our full article on French reading practice!
How to Practice Writing
Writing is a production skill. Rather than taking in French, as with reading or listening, you're producing it yourself. Which can cause a problem: reinforcing your mistakes.
If you practise writing French alone, such as by keeping a journal, there's no second party to correct your work. You could end up teaching yourself incorrect grammar or phrases!
The solution—always have someone check your writing practice.
Many online communities of native French speakers are dedicated to helping learners by correcting their writing. Alternatively, use French writing exercises online. These interactive tools check your work for mistakes and suggest which topics you should re-study based on these errors.
To find the best tools to help you practice writing, check out our article on French writing practice.
How to Practice Speaking
There are two ways to practice speaking:
- With others
- Alone
Practicing with others is no doubt the most popular method. You can meet with native or fluent French speakers in person or online to practice conversing in a natural setting. We've partnered up with Languatalk, which is an amazing tool that connects you with professional, native-speaking tutors for 1-on-1 French practice sessions. LanguaTalk's tutors are experienced in giving classes that focus on improving speaking skills.
However, speaking solo is still a worthwhile type of practice. While you can't have a conversation, you can work on your pronunciation, rhythm, and spontaneity. For example, you could record yourself speaking and play it back to check how your accent sounds.
To learn more about how to meet French speakers to practice with, as well as solo practice ideas, read our article on French speaking practice.
How to Practice Listening
Many find the listening skill the most intimidating. But with two simple practice techniques, you can master it in no time!
The first approach is active listening. This means deliberately listening to audio clips with the aim of understanding every word. Listening exercises are a great way to test your skills and improve in this area.
To support this, add passive listening to your French practice routine. Play French audio in the background while you do other tasks. The goal is not to concentrate or understand every word, but to help your ears and mind adjust to the rhythm and accent of the language.
To find resources for both of these techniques, check out our article on French listening practice.
French Practice Methods
Once you know how to practice the four skills, you can move on to the next step of mastering French practice: using the best techniques. These French practice methods take your study sessions to the next level, taking you out of the textbook and into the real world.
Self-Study
Studying solo is one of the most popular ways to practice French. How can you make this go-to study method effective?
First of all, use the tried-and-tested recall and reconsolidation system we mentioned earlier. In other words, don't just reread your work or textbooks. Seek out French practice exercises to test your knowledge in different contexts.
As much as possible, use tools that spot and correct your mistakes. Textbooks usually include answers to their exercises. Interactive online tools can both correct errors and use this information to advise what you should study next.
For more solo study tips and resources, see our article on French self-study techniques.
Group Practice
The opposite of practicing on your own, group study sessions also have powerful benefits!
Learning in a group exposes you to a variety of accents, approaches, and ideas. It also takes the pressure off you as an individual, compared with 1-to-1 tutoring. And groups have more learning techniques available to them, such as games and competitions.
In addition, meeting others at a similar stage in their language journey is a great way to build your confidence. You'll hear others around you speaking imperfect French, but still be able to understand them. This can give you the courage to use your language skills even when they're less than perfect.
Learn how to find group study sessions near you in our article on French learning groups.
Immersion
Immersion is one of the most effective ways to learn a language—after all, that's how we learnt our mother tongue! This consists of being surrounded by your target language at all times. How you can add immersion to your French learning journey?
If you have the option to visit a Francophone country for an extended period, take it! It's the best way to experience true immersion and reap the benefits.
If not, you can still create immersion at home. To learn how, read our article on French immersion learning.
Daily Practice Habits
Daily practice habits are small, simple tasks that encourage you to use French throughout the day. This little and often approach reinforces what you learn in your focused study sessions. Various techniques either expose you to new vocabulary or help you recall what you've already learned.
Traditional ideas like leaving French Post-It notes around the house may come to mind, but there are so many more options! To learn six effective daily practice habits and how they support your learning, see our French daily practice habits article.
Using Technology
Online tools make learning French easier than ever before! The internet is full of apps, websites, and interactive exercises to develop your French. How can you make the most of technology in your French practice?
By choosing the most effective tools.
To identify the tech worth using, we recommend you look for these four features:
- Corrections
- Direction
- Advanced and practical materials
- Created by native teachers
If a tech tool has these hallmarks of quality, it'll probably help you improve your French! Learn more about each of these features and why they matter in our article on using technology for French practice.
French Practice Tools
Whether you study solo, in a group, or while immersed in a Francophone country, you need the right tools to improve your French. Textbooks have been the standard study aid for decades, and are still a great option which we'll discuss first. But there are three more tools we suggest you try too.
French Textbooks
Textbook learning involves working through written materials in a set order, learning and completing exercises as you go.
While this is a good option for teaching a class on French, it offers no customisation based on your current skills. Most books are also designed to be worked through with a teacher or tutor, so the explanations can be frustratingly minimal.
However, we've found some textbooks that stand out as the most comprehensive, even if you work through them alone. Read our recommendations in our article on French textbooks.
French Learning Apps
Apps for French practice are not limited to the likes of Duolingo. It's true that many apps stick to that formula, walking users through the basics of the language with multi-media features. But there are more options out there, you can find apps that:
- Test your recall
- Teach through audio
- Connect you with native speakers
Learn more about these apps and how they work in our article on French learning apps!
Online Communities
Online, hundreds of communities are dedicated to French learning. These are great places to meet native speakers. Some work like social media sites, allowing you to view other people's profiles before you connect.
Use them to practice chatting with native French speakers via message, phone call, or video call. You can even ask them to check a piece of written French for mistakes.
Alternatively, Q&A forums let you post questions about the language for native or fluent speakers to answer. You can ask anything from where a word and its synonyms fit best to the latest slang. Even if you don't post your own questions, you can search existing questions and answers to quickly learn more about a topic.
Find our list of suggested communities in our article on online communities for French practice.
French Podcasts
Whether you want to listen to French in the background or actively study French audio, podcasts have it all! Most are free, and many have transcripts attached to support your studies.
French podcasts exist on every subject imaginable, from cooking or the news to studying the language itself. Plus, podcasts designed specifically for learners usually specify their difficulty level.
To find everything from beginner to advanced podcasts, read our article on French-learning podcasts.
Keeping Up Your Motivation
Even with the best study methods and tools, you can't make progress without motivation. There are three elements to staying motivated:
- Having a good routine
- Pushing through plateaus
- Using long-term strategies
Here's how to put these into practice in your studies.
Create and Sustain a Routine
A consistent routine is a fast pass to fluency. The problem is many learners get too ambitious, overcommit, and then give up.
To create a routine you can stick to, honestly evaluate how much time you can set aside for focused study per day or week. Then, learn what this means for your progress.
For example, each of the CEFR levels takes approximately 200 hours of study to reach. With that in mind, compare the effect and expectations of these two schedules:
- 1 hour per week for 4 years = A1 level French
- 30 minutes per day for 4 years = almost B2 level French!
Once you know what your schedule can help you achieve, you can have more reasonable expectations – and not give up!
But how should you use this study time? For ideas on what tasks and techniques to fill your routine with, check out our article on how to set a French practice routine.
Overcome Language Plateaus
Even with the best schedule, everyone hits a wall of feeling like they're not making progress. These language learning plateaus are so frustrating they cause many to give up altogether.
But when you understand plateaus, it's much easier to push through them.
In truth, it's normal for the language learning process to feel like it's slowing down as you advance. But if you really have plateaued, there is a reason. To identify it and learn how to overcome it, read our article on French learning plateaus.
Long-Term Strategies
Sticking with your French studies long-term requires that you think long-term too. The simplest way to do so is by setting goals. When you feel like you're in a rut, these goals help you refocus on the future benefits of your hard work.
Of course, it's better to avoid learning ruts altogether! So keep your studies interesting by varying what practice methods you include in your routine. For more tips on long-term goals, milestones, and adapting your routine as you progress, read our article on sustaining motivation long-term.
Here Through Thick and Thin!
Mastering French practice isn't a mystery. When you practice all four skills with effective methods, tools and a sustainable routine, mastery is inevitable! Then all you need to do to achieve fluency is keep it up.
Kwiziq is here to help you through the whole journey. Whether you're a casual half-hour-a-week student or a hardcore 2-hour-a-day enthusiast, our AI-powered system will fast-track your development.
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