How To Learn French Fast

Learning a language like French has become increasingly important in our globalized world, but who really has the time it takes to learn it?

We want to learn French, and we want to learn it as quickly as possible. 90 days, 30 days, 10 days... But is it really possible to speed learn French?

Today, we'll look at what it actually means to learn a language and whether you can really learn French in just a few weeks or days.

Resources for further reading:

- Top 10 hacks to help you learn French efficiently

- How to improve your pronunciation of French words

Can I really learn French in just 10 days?

Most of the "learn a language fast" advertisements online promise incredible results like "learn French in 1 month," "2 weeks," or even just "10 days." They typically don't go into great detail about how they'll actually help learners achieve this, which leaves most wondering, "Is it really possible?"

Yes and no.

First of all, anything is possible with the right method, motivation and dedication.

Some language programs will definitely prepare you with practical language elements within the timeframe they promise, but you will definitely not be fluent. You won't be able to talk with anyone about absolutely anything in French, but you will know some basics that can help you survive in France without being completely lost.

Likewise, 2 months, 2 weeks, or 10 days isn't really indicative of the time and work you need to put in to learn French. These timelines are merely attention-grabbers that aren't promising you "instant skills," but are rather promising the basics in as short a time as possible.

This can be done through the use of learner-friendly teaching methods and by teaching you the most practical vocabulary and grammar first. It will, however, take much more time to be able to fully converse in French in a variety of different situations.

So how long does it really take to become fluent? Well, that depends on your definition of "fluent."

Defining Language Learning Levels

Before asking yourself how long it takes to learn French, it's important to define what "learn," "speak," and "fluent" mean to you.

Let me give an example.

I have a friend who went to Bordeaux for a few weeks and learned the basics to get around. She can successfully ask for directions, navigate her way through a train station, and order a glass of her favorite wine. According to her, she "speaks French," which, of course, she does. But she's far from fluent.

The moment a native French speaker starts to speak with her about something that isn't the way to the bathroom, how she's doing, or what she would like to order, she's stuck. She speaks enough to get by, but not enough to communicate fluently. While she may "speak French," I probably wouldn't recommend that she puts it on her resume just yet.

So what does it really mean to be fluent in a language?

It's all about the level. According to the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), a guideline used to define language achievements, there are three basic language level groups broken down into two levels each.

While there is no level called "fluency," the description of each level can help to give you an idea of your current French ability, goals, and what you really consider to be fluent:

Level A1:

At this level, you can:

• Understand and use familiar French everyday expressions and very basic French phrases.
• Introduce yourself and others and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where you live, people you know and things you have in French.
• Interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly.

Level A2:

At this level, you can:

• Understand sentences and frequently used French expressions related to very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment, etc.
• Communicate during routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information.
• Describe in simple terms aspects of your background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

Level B1:

At this level, you can:

• Understand the key points of communication on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
• Deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in a French-speaking area.
• Produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.
• Describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

Level B2:

At this level, you can:

• Understand the main ideas of complex French text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization.
• Interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native French speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
• Produce clear, detailed French texts on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on an issue with its advantages and disadvantages.

Level C1:

At this level, you can:

• Understand a wide range of demanding, longer clauses, and recognize implicit meaning.
• Express your ideas fluently and spontaneously with little obvious searching for expressions.
• Use the French language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
• Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

Level C2:

At this level, you can:

• Easily understand virtually everything heard or read in French.
• Summarize information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation.
• Express yourself spontaneously, very fluently, and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.

So what's your level?

On average, many speakers are considered fluent in a language by the time they've reached level B2 or higher. This is a level which allows them to interact comfortably in almost all social situations.

Many speed learning language programs, however, use the ambiguity of terms like "speak a language" to advertise A1 results in a short period of time.

Can you learn some of the French basics in 7 days? Definitely. Can you be fluent in 7 days? Probably not.

So if speed learning French isn't all it's cracked up to be, how long does it really take to learn French?

French Language Learning Timeline

Let's look at the best estimate for how long it really takes to learn French.

This is where the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) language learning study and timeline come in.

In their study, the Foreign Service Institute examined a group of native English speakers between the ages of 30 and 40 who were studying different foreign languages at their institute. The students' resulting language levels were measured using the Interagency Language Roundtable Scale, with the goal being to calculate how long it took students to reach "general professional proficiency" or higher in different languages.

According to the FSI, the closer a language is to your native language (in this case, probably English), the faster you will learn that language. They divided their findings into three basic language categories based on the languages' similarity to English, which determined how long it took learners to reach general professional proficiency or higher:

FSI Timeline

Language Group 1

• Languages closely related to English
• Afrikaans, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, French, Haitian Creole, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish
• 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours)

Language Group 2

• Languages similar to English
• German
• 30 weeks (750 hours)

Language Group 3

• Languages with linguistic and/or cultural differences from English
• Indonesian, Malaysian, Swahili
• 36 weeks (900 hours)

Language Group 4

• Languages with significant linguistic and/or cultural differences from English
• Amharic, Bengali, Burmese, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mongolian, Nepali, Pashto, Persian (Dari, Farsi, Tajik), Pilipino, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese
• 44 weeks (1,100 hours)

Language Group 5

• Exceptionally difficult languages for native English speakers
• Arabic, Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean
• 88 weeks (2,200 hours)

Therefore, according to FSI findings, it will take you between 575-600 hours to learn French.

It's important to note the conditions of the study, however. The students' schedule called for 25 hours of class per week plus 3 hours of daily independent study, and their classes were small, with no more than 6 students.

These were almost ideal language-learning conditions, something that is important to keep in mind, since many of us don't have that kind of time to dedicate to learning French.

This study can be used to help you estimate how many hours it will take you to learn French and calculate how many weeks - or months, or years - it may take based on how much time you want to dedicate per week.

Keep in mind, however, that the quality of your study is more important than the quantity.

Tricks to Learn French Fast

If you really want to learn French as quickly as possible, there are a few things you can do. Let's take a brief look at some of the top language learning hacks:

Set Goals

Your New Year's resolution may be to "learn French," but what does that actually mean?

Try making some SMART goals to better define your language learning process. SMART goals, as advocated in the world of management, are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

Instead of simply saying "I want to learn French this year," set goals like "I want to be able to order in French at a nearby French restaurant by the end of the month," or "I want to have an A2 level of French by March." These are more specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound and realistic goals.

Start with Sounds

Once you have a realistic, smart plan for approaching your French studies, it's time to dig in and start to get your hands dirty. But where should you even start?

The answer is simple: sounds. Learning how to hear, pronounce and spell French sounds is a great place to get started even before you start memorizing words and their meanings.

Spend some time just focusing on sounds and spelling so that French words and sounds are no longer foreign to you. Study the alphabet. Listen to pronunciation guides on YouTube, watch movies or series with French subtitles, or use Rocket Languages’ Hear It Say It voice recognition tool to learn to recognize and repeat sounds.

Keep it Practical

Learning French requires learning a lot of new words. There's no way around it. However, we have some comforting news for you: you don't need to know all - or even the majority - of the words in French to be able to speak it well. In fact, you don't even need to know half!

According to the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule, you use 20% of your effort spent on learning new vocabulary for 80% of your comprehension of French. That means that by learning the most frequently used vocabulary first, you will be able to understand and communicate in French much faster.

Once again, the internet is your friend here, and there are countless sources that provide lists of the most frequently used French words that can help you start your learning the practical way.

Your Friends Cognates

Believe it or not, you actually already know some French words before you even begin studying it. While a foreign language may seem like "Greek" to you, the majority of foreign languages actually share some words or roots of words. These words that look or sound like words in your language and have the same meaning are called cognates.

Discover the French cognates. These cognates are your friends and can make your learning much easier and faster. Here's a handy list of French words that you already know thanks to cognates. You can find more with a Google search of "French English loan words" or "French English cognates". Take advantage of the vocabulary that you already know!

Mnemonics

Sometimes, pure vocabulary repetition just isn't enough. Our brains need a little extra jump start to remember words that always seem to slip our minds.

That's where mnemonics come in. Basically, mnemonics involve telling yourself a fun, goofy or memorable story, song, or rhyme to associate with a particular word. For example, one trick for memorizing the difference between "au dessus" and "au dessous" goes: If in the air you see a bus, it must be “au dessus.” If on the ground you see a mouse, it must be “au dessous.”

It may sound like a lot of extra effort, but you'd be amazed at how effective mnemonic devices are in making your learning faster. They're also fun!

Keep a French Vocabulary Notebook

Keep a journal, document, or book with all the vocabulary you learn in one place. If you're a member of Rocket Languages, the My Vocab feature, which lets you save vocabulary and compile a list for future study, is fantastic for this.

First, keeping a vocabulary journal helps you keep all the practical words you've learned in one place. In addition, just the process of writing down a word and its translation, notes, image or mnemonic device helps you to memorize it! It's also a fantastic future reference for studying and can be used anywhere and anytime you have a few minutes free.

Break Down the Grammar

Grammar provides the rules for the game in a language. It helps us tell a story. While French grammar may seem complex, it can actually be broken down into three basic operations:

1. Adding words: C'est facile. "It's easy." > Est-ce que c'est facile ? "Is it easy?"
2. Changing existing words: J'apprends le français. "I am learning French." > J'apprendrai le français. "I will learn French."
3. Changing the order of words: Tu apprends le français. "You are learning French." > Apprends-tu le français ? "Are you learning French?"

That's it. Suddenly grammar doesn't seem so bad, does it?

Keeping this in mind, you can use the grammar explanations you learn to help you break down the rules into easily memorized chunks.

Read, Watch, Listen

Movies, music, television series, books, newspapers, magazines and anything you can read, watch, or listen to in French are unbelievably useful for learning.

Reading, watching and listening have a remarkable effect on your brain. Simply by being exposed to French, your brain is put to work.

It starts trying to understand new words by making connections to previously learned words and seeks to make sense of any new structures. Basically, you're learning without knowing that you're learning.

After a while, you'll find yourself using words and constructions that you didn't even study thanks to your brain's ability to soak up vocabulary and grammar while reading a book or watching a series.

Interact... Without Traveling

Try to interact in French on a daily basis. Speaking out loud as much as possible is one of the best tricks to learn a language fast. This can involve:

• Speaking with a French-speaking friend, family member or neighbor in person
• Writing a letter to a friend, family member, or coworker in French
• Writing a letter in French to yourself or keeping a journal in French
• Visiting a local store or neighborhood where French is spoken and interacting with the locals
• Joining a weekly or monthly French conversation group or starting your own group
• Speaking French online with a friend, family member, coworker, or fellow learner
• Writing an email in French
• Contributing to a blog or forum in French (Rocket Languages has some great forums for this!)
• Singing along with French music
• Watching a French movie or series and repeating the character's lines (you can use French subtitles to help)
• Reading a passage from a French book, newspaper, or magazine out loud
• Talking to yourself in French (this really works!)

Make Mistakes

Unlike other academic subjects, learning French is a continuous, never-ending adventure that requires constant practice. Don't treat it the same way you would treat learning another academic subject and live in fear of making mistakes.

In the language learning world, mistakes are a sign of progress. Mistakes help you to learn faster. Don't worry about upsetting native French speakers for being too "bold" and trying to speak with them in their native language. Just go for it!

Odds are, they'll love it and want to help you. Don't let fear get in your way. Interact in French as much as possible, and you'll be amazed at how fast you can learn it.

Check out our top 10 French hacks for even more ideas on improving the effectiveness of your study time!

You Can Do It!

While it may not be possible to become fluent in French in just 10 days, it IS possible to learn the basics in a short period of time and move on to becoming fluent.

Don't be discouraged. You can and will learn French much faster than you expect. There are even cases (as the internet will surely tell you) of people who learn it in less than three months!

In the end, YOU decide how quickly you become fluent in French. With the right attitude, dedication, situation, and motivation, any language is within your reach.

Bonne chance !