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Few tips for learning French

1. Start immediately – Don’t delay start now procrastination do more harm than good. The longer you leave it, the more that initial excitement will fade. There is no time like the present, and the sooner you begin, the sooner you will be speaking in French. Have you wondered you could have starting the conversation in French already if you have started 2 months ago.

2. One step at a time – No one is the same when come to learning a foreign language some can learn faster than the other, so don’t give yourself pressure when you are not progress to your expectation. Usually the right study methods and discipline, you can learn a language quite quickly be patience and wait for your ears to tune to hearing the new language once is  ’tuned’ it will all fall into place and your understanding will drastically increase overnight.

3.More short frequent lessons – Spend 30mins twice a day everyday  is better than 2 hours  twice a week when, this is not only to help the working population find time, it is actually considered the most productive time span. The mind is perfectly adapted to small bite size chunks of information and will soon ‘turn off’ if too long.

Reading and Listening part 2

Speaking in any language is all about emulating other people. You want to be able to speak the language fluently, you do not want to think about what words to use or grammar when you are having a conversation – in fact, you do not do normally that when you are using your native language. Appropriate sentences just come to you. Actually, your brain automatically recalls sentences you have seen or heard. If you want to speak a foreign language fluently, you have to learn it the way you learned your native language – by massive input.

You need at least 1 million words input (reading) and 40,000 output (writing) annually in order to be proficient in the language. If your brain has enough correct sentences input, it can replicate them, producing similar sentences to express the meaning you want.

Reading and listening will help you develop language instinct. It is all about putting many correct sentences in your head. Every time you read or listen try to take note of the useful vocabulary, soon you would be able to use it when speaking and writing. More than that, you would able to decide what sounds good or bad from the language instinct you developed.

If you observe how children learn language, you would notice that before children go to school, before they even know what grammar is about, they are able to communicate with you fluently.

The children learned the language firstly from hearing, then mimicking, exploring and finally practicing. We help children learn the language by talking to them, by telling them bedtime stories, by patiently repeating instructions to them. We teach them how to read from flash cards. We do no teach them grammar until they are much older.

Research show that children who listen and read a lot do better in the English examination then those that do not therefore when it comes to learning a second language you should listen and read a lot. The more the input, the better fluency you will achieve.

Why George wants to learn French

Motivation can easily be sustained if is out of love. For instance, a father works overtime to provide for his family; a wife learns to cook delicious foie gras because her husband likes to eat this dish; a mother learns to drive so that she can ferry her children around. As shown in the examples above, the overpowering love keeps motivating them towards achieving their goals.

My friend George is a Chinese who knows nothing about French language besides a few common words like bonjour (good morning), Merci! (thank you!),  Oui! (yes!) that he picked up from the French movies and he told me he has no interest in learning French at all even though he is working for a French company because he thinks that he is not intelligent enough to learn this language, and that he does not think that it will help him much for his career as he is just a mechanic but things took a change when he was sent to the company headquarters in France for a job training for two months. During his stay, he met this beautiful French girl whom he fell in love at first sight. According to him, she looks like Kate Moss – ya right! The problem is, she does not speak Chinese so when they tried to communicate, they relied a lot on sign language which was a tad troublesome and sometimes resulted in miscommunication, even though they clearly enjoyed each other’s company. Before too long, the 2-month training stint was up and George had to return home.

So strong is George’s love for the girl that he decides to learn French. He attends short courses, reads French newspaper (often times referring to the dictionary), watches a lot of French movies. He is always seen with an MP3 and headset during lunch breaks. Soon he does not need to behave like a mute actor when he Skypes with his girlfriend, from being able to speak only a few words to a few phrases to long sentences and he now speaks fluently. As a result of this additional language ability, his company sends him to France yet again, but this time, as a Business Development Manager to handle and facilitate the Asian business. George has since married his French girlfriend and is expecting their first child.

So do not ever deprive yourself of a chance to learn another language just because you think you are not intelligent enough, and do not think that it will not help you in your career – you just never know! Of course, being able to marry the girl of your dream (who speaks a foreign language) is an additional perk!

Reading and Listening

Should I learn another language? Even though it is not an easy task, definitely there are rewards associated with learning another language. For one you stand a better chance at getting the job than others.

First, we must focus on listening. With a foreign language, we deal with many difficulties. Every language sounds different and uses different intonations. Different muscles are used. The lips, mouth, nose, and tongue, along with breathing in or out; there are endless ways of combination so pay attention to the pronunciation, the vowels, the intonation, and the accents by listening to the radio, news, CD.  When watching news, listen and observe the movement of the lips, mouth, and tongue of the news anchor.  After listening, the next thing to do is to speak. Listen first, then speak and again repeating. Start from learning simple vocabulary and only much later proceed to learn reading and sentence construction.

The next thing to do is practice what you have learned, some people are too shy to use it in public, which is like buying a beautiful dress but only wearing it at home.  What you should do is learn some polite and basic expressions and some phrases related to shopping, for example, and venture out to the shopping center. You may be surprised to note that it breaks the ice of formality because most people feel closer to you when you talk to them using their native language.

The best method to learn French is to travel to France where the language you wish to learn spoken in every corner you turn, and to be surrounded by people who speak French, for about three to six months. However, this will cost you a lot of money. Since this is not a practical option for most people, the next best approach is to sign up for an online course.

Just listen to the audio several times and then repeat after the trainer. If you do that for 30 minutes every day, in a few weeks’ time you should be able to strike a basic conversation with others.

Reading – French

Learning a foreign language is never an easy task. Many people spend a lot of time learning phrases and grammar but spend little time reading thus slowing down the progress significantly. Generally to be proficient in a foreign language you need at least a million words input (reading) and 40,000 words output (writing) annually.

There are numerous benefits in reading books, for instance, it develops your brain, improves your general knowledge, enhances your concentration level, reduces stress, activates as well as sharpens your eye sight, improves your writing skills, enhances your analytical thinking, improves your vocabulary bank and much more.

However, do not choose a children storybook just because you think you have limited vocabulary. Instead, choose one with an interesting or engaging storyline so that it gives you the pleasure and incentive to finish reading the whole story.

One way is to choose a story that you have read in your native or first language rather than something new. Pay attention to the sentence instead of word. Do not focus too much in the meaning of the word as using the dictionary too frequently not only slows down the reading speed but it also kills the fun of reading. Instead, try to guess the word. There are many ways of guessing the meaning – one method is guessing the meaning based on the context. In addition, you can also try word building (such as the prefix, suffix), synonyms, antonyms. Of course, there are many words (especially some of the more abstract nouns) which can be very difficult to guess. If you can understand the contents of the article without too much prejudice, you can skip those unfamiliar terms instead of focusing too much on them trying to guess their meanings.

Think in French – it is not necessary to translate to English, as it will slow down the reading speed and affect the overall understanding of the reading material.

Repeat reading the story a few times. You will find that it gets smoother, faster and your confidence level increased significant with each read.

Learn French – increase your job opportunities

Research show that, the more languages you know the higher chances you would get hired and paid more for it. 

Research show that more then 60% of the business professionals speak at least two or more languages. 

Research show that companies prefer bilingual workers as they can help company deal with its overseas operations. 

The need for bilingual workers is predicted to grow, according to the survey , almost 4 in 10 companies plan to hire bilingual candidates and half said, “If they had two equally qualified candidates, they would be more likely to hire the bilingual candidate.”

If you want to learn a second language why not French. French is one of the most sought after foreign languages for Europe jobs.

France is the world’s fifth largest economy by nominal figures. It is the second largest economy in Europe (behind its main economic partner Germany). 

There are at least 29 countries where France is the official language. French is widely well-known in Europe and speaks both as first and second language in many European countries. 

Every year, over 80 million people visit France. Paris, the capital of France, serves as the world’s number one tourist destination. Over 40 million people visited Paris in 2008, and the numbers have only risen since then.

There are many top French companies in the world, such as BNP PARIBAS, LVMH (Louis Vuitton), CARREFOUR, RENAULT, MICHELIN…etc.

The above-mentioned are some of the reasons you should study French if you are seriously consider to learn another language.

Greeting

If you have planned to visit French in the near future, you might want to makes the trip a little nicer by speaking some basic phrases since some of the French do not know English well it is always appreciated if you can say a few French phrases.

Order a glass of wine with perfect French.

All the romantic thoughts about the French really true. The famous Eiffel Tower dominates the panorama of Paris. Nice beaches bordering the bright blue waters. Outlets of bread in the streets enliven the morning air with the fragrance of freshly baked bread. Pairs of men and women seemed to be making out on the dock of the Seine, and the French inhabitants who always wore a dress style that no reproach. In addition, this country has such a diverse natural landscape in the territory,. However, apart from the amazing natural beauty, is that French culture is always an attraction for the visitors who come. Enjoy a cup of espresso at a cafe in the Marais while observing the number of Parisians who were milling around as if in a fashion show? Watch the sailboats luxury that was entering the harbor from the top of an elegant wooden pier in the city of Nice, the Promenade Des Anglais. Finally, get a sense of satisfaction when you can order a glass of wine with perfect French.

Why Online

Why learn Online, below are some of the benefits over Classroom lesson:

Flexibility:

You decided when to study. You are given the flexibility to balance work and study. Reduce the risk of making your boss angry for taking too many leaves

Accessibility:

Any time, anywhere as long as you have your smart phone or computer with you and internet connection.

Traveling:

No need to travel far distance by bus of train, save money and time.

Clothing:

Can do without if you like.

Time period:

Can choose to complete the course at your own pace.

Classmate pressure:

No need to compete with the fast learner. Classroom teacher cannot slow down the speed just for you only.

Cost of Education:

At fraction of the cost of the classroom lesson.

Learning Golf and French

If you go to the driving range and hit some balls and see your ball’s flying to the left every time, but you don’t know what has gone wrong and you started doing the adjustment, you do it by trials and error, from changing your grip to changing the ball’s position to adjust your swing pattens until you see the balls flew straight again. So you think you have got everything sorted out, but two days later you went back to the Driving range again and this time your ball’s flying to the right so is a never ending problems you either trials and error or you looked at the one in front of you and hopefully you can learn something from him. These problems will follow you to the golf course, I think you would make your friends happy by keep losing money to them.

Why did’nt you go for proper Golf lesson to help solve your problems, is it because you think is too expensive or you think you are a genius. You can play like Tiger Wood by just reading a few books or watch some video clips on the Internet.

When come to learning a 2ND Language many people make the same mistake by not going for class, hire a tutor, or sign on for an online course, This will result in making mistakes such as pronunciation, Grammar, wrong use of words…etc unknowingly. You need to be taught how to pronoun the word properly by learning the Vowels, the Consonants, the Accent. You need to be taught how to construct sentences properly by learning the Grammar, the Verbs, the Nouns, the Prepositions…etc. Be careful once it become a habit it is very hard to correct it.

When you go for lesson it will enable you to learn French faster with fewer mistakes makes and help build a strong foundation to allow you to go farther, most importantly you will know what is the mistake you make and how to correct it rather than trials and error.

So sign on for the course now and you will get off on the right foot.