Contrary to appearances, French is not so difficult and you do not need extraordinary skills to start speaking the most beautiful language in the world. How to speak French?
I can’t pronounce the French “r”
You don’t have to! While the difference between eg ‘ou’ and ‘u’ is very important (cou – ‘neck’ / cul – ‘ass’), pronouncing ‘r’ known to us as ‘French’ does not change the meaning of what we say. In addition, even the French and other natives speak “r” differently.
I can’t use all times
And good! French grammar is actually based on several times, knowledge of which will allow you to create statements at various levels. In everyday communication, four structures are enough for you: the present tense, two past tenses (passé composé, imparfait) and future tense futur simple. You need to learn these forms to speak French freely. Based on them, you will create both past-plus (future-parfait) and future perfect (futur antérieur), as well as all modes that will be useful in the future. Remember: grammar is best learned through successive communication. Learning must be in stages. It’s just like with sport – first you lift small dumbbells, and then you get to a fifty kilo barbell. If you immediately want to learn all the grammatical structures without proper preparation, you can get a “linguistic injury”.
I can’t speak quickly
And who said you must? Nobody expects you to speak as if French was your native language. You are not a fast Internet connection that answers your question in nanoseconds. Speak slowly, calmly, and even think during your speech. Contact is the most important thing in communication. If you don’t understand something, you can always ask. If someone doesn’t understand you, you can always say it again or try to say it differently. Do not give up.
I can’t translate what I want to say in in my language into French
Conversation in a foreign language, however advanced it is, is not a translation competition. Try not to think too much or transform English structures into French. Note how much time and energy you lose when you come up with an example sentence in English so that you can translate it later. From the very beginning, try to open up to the French way of thinking by repeating the structures typical of the French.
I can’t consciously use grammar
Great! This is what we care about when learning a language – we should use grammar intuitively. Learning a foreign language is like dancing or driving a car – at first we think about every move, until finally the required sequences become organic for us and we use them completely unconsciously.
Is it appropriate to speak with errors?
There is no better time to make mistakes than the time when we are learning. We all have the right to ignorance and lack of skills. We all also have the opportunity to develop. We are not born with full baggage of experience, but we collect it successively, every day. Our courage and openness help us in this. Do you have to be able to swim to get your feet wet in the sea? Get into the water of a foreign language, feel it on yourself and start speaking as you can. Move in your individual rhythm. You will see that your efforts will sooner or later allow you to sail far.
