Why You (Still) Can't Speak French As You Think

Рет қаралды 19,699

Күн бұрын

I show you how to improve your French fluency every Saturday. Subscribe here: www.commeunefrancaise.com/you...
I've taught French for over 12 years, and I've seen the same struggle time and again: you know French in your head , but speaking it out loud feels impossible.
Today, I'll explain why this happens and share game-changing tips and resources to help you finally speak French confidently.
0:00 - Intro
0:52 - Understanding the Gap
5:10 - Common Mistakes
11:47 - Practical Tips
16:00 - Quiz
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At Comme une Française, we specialize in everyday spoken French. We focus on three unique aspects that are different from school French, self-study books, Duolingo, etc:
1. We focus only on the specifics of speaking/understanding/being understood in everyday French and have unique ways to help you learn it properly & faster.
2. We focus on shortcuts to help you make progress faster, which also means we tell you exactly what you can stop learning to prioritize what’s really important.
3. We use French culture as the subject to make it fun and interesting for adults.
Take care and stay safe.
😘 from Grenoble, France.
Géraldine

Пікірлер: 82

@IncredibleStan 18 күн бұрын

This was probably one of the most important videos a French learner needs to watch.

@baronmeduse 19 күн бұрын

Another worth practising is the contraction of words like 'mettre' and 'rendre' to 'mett...' and 'rend...' e.g. 'Elle va met(tre) son vélo au garage...' This is really common.

@michmash7888 17 күн бұрын

I recently spent about 6 months of doing some pretty intense “refreshing” my 1980s high school French before going on vacation there in May. I plowed through about just about every method-Duolingo, the entire set of Fluent Forever flashcards, working through an entire book of grammar exercises, watching lots of YT, a few sessions with an in-person French tutor, etc. These were all useful in their own ways once I got to France. However, watching all of Lupin and Call My Agent was especially helpful! First, my ear was more attuned to normal speech, so I picked up bits of conversation all around me-on public transport, in shops, etc.-I felt a little less like an outsider. Second, when there were phrases in the shows that I thought could be useful (like ordering a beverage or greeting people, etc.) I rewatched them and mimicked their pronunciation/inflection. I think this really helped me be less tongue-tied. So I would say practice talking with the characters on French shows! 😊

@bonjovi1612 6 күн бұрын

Agreed. My French is rubbish but, I have only ever been given respect for trying to speak it when I have been fortunate to be there. It makes a huge difference in how I am treated.

@wolfthequarrelsome504 3 күн бұрын

You can't be given credit for your comprehension or lack thereof, unfortunately.

@ishumai 18 күн бұрын

Geraldine’s content is some of the best for learners of French. Her material is practical, extremely useful, informative and very, very clear. Merci Geraldine 👍👍

@oundhakar 19 күн бұрын

Your tip of trying out conversations in your own day-to-day life is great. It'll help me build my vocabulary in the areas which will help me the most. Thanks.

@Commeunefrancaise 17 күн бұрын

We’re so glad this lesson helped, @oundhakar! If you’re interested in more lessons like this, please join our mailing list to get a new lesson each week: www.commeunefrancaise.com/youtube-welcome?&source=youtubecom -Lyndsie Comme une Française Team

@paulmccafferey9622 18 күн бұрын

Salut Geraldine, I've changed the language settings on my Amazon Echo smart speaker to French, so now all my interactions with Alexa have to be in French, From turning the radio on (Alexa, démarre RFM...) to ordering stuff online, and from checking the day's weather through to asking where and when Anne Sila is next "en concert" !!

@user-jn3in4rr1h 14 күн бұрын

Great video and truly helps take the fear out of speaking French. I have two friends in Paris who I visit every year and I am so afraid of speaking French with them. They are both very supportive of my efforts to at least try and your video just reinforces me that much more. Thank you so much. Boston, MA

@wemblyfez 18 күн бұрын

Great video, Geraldine, and so practical. I've lived here in France for 22 years and still struggle but these and other "spoken French tricks" you've taught have improved my confidence.

@roberttradd1224 19 күн бұрын

Thank you so very much for sharing this wonderful video❤. This is one of the best eposodes. You did a great job finding and editing all the wonderful images. Wishing you a happy week ahead. Looking forward to your next video

@Commeunefrancaise 17 күн бұрын

We’re so glad this lesson helped, @roberttradd1224! If you’re interested in more lessons like this, please join our mailing list to get a new lesson each week: www.commeunefrancaise.com/youtube-welcome?&source=youtubecom -Lyndsie Comme une Française Team

@Wolfofthedesert 7 күн бұрын

Going to France by the end of this month and trying to brush on my French on your channel 👍

@suzanneparis18 7 күн бұрын

In my daily life, I have a lot of contacts with english speaking people who struggle with french pronunciation. I usually tell them to stop speaking french with an english (guttural) mouth. Instead to try to speak very much in front by pointing their lips ridiculously forward and listening then to themselves how it sounds. They love it, because it really works!

@billkammermeier 18 күн бұрын

I didn't know about J'sais or T'es, T'as, etc... Thank you for that. ce qu into c'qu is also new to me.

@1947Keef 3 күн бұрын

This makes so much sense. Merci.

@justynmacfarland9322 12 күн бұрын

Your lovely and realistic comments and encouragement got me extra motivated to learn and practice French! I love everything FRENCH! Merci!

@sylviam9606 18 күн бұрын

J'aime apprendre le française. Merci beaucoup❤

@baronessbooks9909 6 күн бұрын

Love the added humor dogs and cats

@slicksalmon6948 19 күн бұрын

I believe you, but this seems like advice you'd give to a B1 or B2 level student. I don't know how a beginner or low intermediate puts this into action. It still seems like you have to learn the textbook version of French before you can transition to the informal, everyday version. How would you guide a beginner thru this process? Please address this question, because I'm honestly stalled and quite discouraged.

@carmenjoydoucette8488 17 күн бұрын

I've been at the "advanced" level for a few years now, so I have a tiny bit of experience. I get what you're saying, as the task seems insurmountable, however she is right. Speaking is a hard skill to learn, no matter how much vocabulary you have acquired. It's been described to me as "trails" in your brain: there's nerological connections that are well-trod when you want to say something in English, but you have to hack and slash your way through the jungle with a machete the first time you talk about something in French. I do believe that she gives great tips on absolute beginners speaking. The exercise about trying to do one half of a conversation and taking note when you don't have the words? Gold! Describe something for two minutes? Talk to you favourite tree/pet/stuffie? Super! The best time to start speaking is now. (Don't worry too much about the "don't be a robot" and "casual conversation has contractions" advice. The English we type is not the same English we'd speak on our front patio with our friends. That comes with time and listening.) I also understand the feeling "stalled and quite discouraged". I really do. I've been there many times throughout this journey. One thing I did was start a list of "successes" in the first page of my language-learning notebook. It had everything: the tiniest of "wins" and the date I achieved them. When it felt like nothing was happening, I would reread that list and realize how far I'd come. And, I also took breaks when feeling burnout. Anyway, sorry for the essay! Good luck with your language journey.

@slicksalmon6948 17 күн бұрын

@@carmenjoydoucette8488 I wish a more substantial discussion of this issue was possible. My question relates to what you teach beginners and low intermediates. Do you teach that "Je suis" is pronounced "Shui"? Do you teach that "Il y a" is pronounced "Ya"? Do you teach that words like "maintenant" are pronounced without the middle "e"? If you do, then it's hard to get from the spoken version to the written version of French. If you don't, then it's next to impossible to understand spoken French, making it difficult to learn from your environment. Also, talking to a tree or your cat isn't very helpful if you're still speaking a version of the language that's too formal. Neither your tree or your cat can correct you.

@carmenjoydoucette8488 16 күн бұрын

@@slicksalmon6948 I also wish a more substantial discussion of this issue was possible. Nuance almost doesn't exist through text. I don't teach, but I do believe that I learned fairly early that native speakers smush words together. To be fair, us native English speakers do the same. I only speak clearly when talking to someone learning my language. I certainly understand the dissonance between "embrace your mistakes as a learner" and "speak naturally and casually, not like a robot". No pressure!! Not every piece of advice is for every person at every point in time. For me, it's permission to emulate what I hear, nothing more. As a matter of fact, advice like this kind of makes me freeze, as I'm unsure if I should address someone with tu or vous. The advice about talking to your cat is not about perfection. It's about forcing your brain to retrieve a word and your tongue to spit it out. It's essentially "muscle memory". It is advice for the very beginner - or at least a person who has a beginner level in speaking. Often input (reading/listening) comes before output (writing/speaking). It takes courage to speak. I've been doing conversation classes and formal classes totally in French since summer 2020, and I still fiddle nervously with my pen or necklace when I do classes. I'm not nervous beforehand anymore, nor do I need "decompression time" afterward, so it has gotten better slowly, but it's still hard to do. As a matter of fact, corrections are so useless at a certain point that I asked my conversation partner NOT to correct me unless I couldn't be understood. I chatted with him via Facebook Messenger (ie. text) before I took formal classes. I grew up in Canada, so I started with basic vocab and conjucation skills. We chatted for years. At first, he'd correct me occasionally, as FB has a useful "reply to comment" feature, but honestly that went "in one ear and out the other". If I wasn't ready to learn it, I wasn't ready. Your example of "maintenant" is a good one. French certainly is tricky as there are so many words with silent letters. (A friend of mine - who is a anglophone french immersion teacher - was doing her masters in teaching kids to read in French, and told me that 63% of French words have at least one silent letter). It's certainly a hurdle to learning pronunciation, but not impossible. To be fair, French silent letters follow rules. English pronunciation is all over the place. So, without knowing your specifics, here's some general advice. I'll repeat the "take what works for you and leave the rest", but I want to encourage you to figure out how you learn a language. It will be different from my path above. Learning a language as an adult takes time, not because old brains learn slower than young ones, but rather because we have work/life obligations. Vary your learning tools. When things are hard, go back and repeat something easy. Find a variety of resources so you can change things up. I used to have a long list of (mostly) free resources, and I probably only used a third of them. Different resources will be useful at different times. Take breaks. You won't fall behind, but rather will come back refreshed. Learning a language is a large goal and can be challenging, but progress is happening even when it doesn't FEEL like it is. Since it's such a huge process, it's not a linear line of progression. There's lots of repetition and going back to relearn certain things. There's lots of self-doubt, but then things come together and you realize that six months ago, you couldn't understand that book, for instance.

@slicksalmon6948 16 күн бұрын

@@carmenjoydoucette8488 Thank you for your thoughtful response…a rarity on KZfaq.

@wendelmsall2716 5 күн бұрын

Great video. Thanks for posting.

@StillAliveAndWell499 4 күн бұрын

My challenge is more about hearing French. I have hearing loss and have difficulty understanding people who speak my native language of English quickly. When I listen to French spoken at normal speed, I only can pick up 20% of the words. When I read French, I can understand approximately 80%.

@stephenstuart9881 5 күн бұрын

I actually really enjoy reading in French, I'd probably be happy just reading

@chrisjoy8398 7 күн бұрын

Merci beaucoup ur videos got me through my exams😭🙌

@Commeunefrancaise 7 күн бұрын

We’re so glad this lesson helped, {N}! If you’re interested in more lessons like this, please join our mailing list to get a new lesson each week: www.commeunefrancaise.com/youtube-welcome?&source=youtubecom -Lyndsie CuF team

@shinyshinythings 7 күн бұрын

The big takeaway from this for me is taking the ‘ne’ out of negation … it’s going to be really hard because I learned French 50 years ago and the ‘ne … pas’ pairing was drilled into me!

@Bibir3321 18 күн бұрын

All of this so so much! It is batty that here in Europe, in francophone countries, they insist we learn French and we take their classes to pass their tests BUT even those classes don’t want to teach us to communicate in common spoken French like all our neighbors but these teachers insist we drill and drill the same bookish rules over and over then get frustrated we don’t just pick the entire language right up overnight and run with it. When I point it out to any teacher their autoresponse is, well it’s best to learn it right, like we should just know qu’on should become que l’on eventhough it’s never taught in any book and no teacher can ever give a good answer when asked, what is that. The vocab of our books is not the same as what our friends and neighbors use! That is cruel!

@bawhitham 4 күн бұрын

Bonjour Geraldine. Merci pour cet épisode, et aussi pour les conseils. Je vis maintenant en France où je parle français tous les jours, mais j'ai encore beaucoup de mal à comprendre le français quand on me parle. Sans doute, la raison est exactement ce que vous avez mentionné dans cette vidéo. Trop de Duolingo, pas assez de Lupin, etc. Ciao.

@vilkascott-kitching562 13 күн бұрын

Excellent advice, many thanks. This describes me perfectly, I do sound like an old text as I learned French over 40 years ago in Greece 😅. Much appreciated!

@sa21g22g23 17 күн бұрын

Merci beaucoup d' enseigner cette nouvelle thème

@LangueTech 19 күн бұрын

Thank you for roasting us Comme une Française. We really needed it😂

@laural6479 18 күн бұрын

This is so helpful, merci beaucoup ❤

@Commeunefrancaise 17 күн бұрын

We’re so glad this lesson helped, @laural6479! If you’re interested in more lessons like this, please join our mailing list to get a new lesson each week: www.commeunefrancaise.com/youtube-welcome?&source=youtubecom -Lyndsie Comme une Française Team

@waynemacleod5648 11 күн бұрын

Merci! Je parle avec moi souvent dans ma tête, mais j'vais commencer à parler avec un ami imaginaire. J'vais vous appeller si j'ai besoin de l'argent pour caution! 😂😂

@sw6118 14 күн бұрын

I’m always telling my ESL students that there’s English spoken in class (full sentences when one word would do, “yes I ate the cake” instead of “yes” ) and English in the real world (pronunciation differences “gonna” instead “going to”). Initially, students are extremely resistant to using contractions. They’re never going to use them. They’re too many etc. I always tell them that the most important thing is to understand them when spoken. Once they hear and understand them they begin to use them. It just happens; your brain is amazing.

@hollish196 18 күн бұрын

Love the use of Hiroshima, Mon Amour. Such a wonderful movie! Great advice; especially about French being a living language that changes every week.

@marksherry4475 13 күн бұрын

So true. But 7 months immersion in Poitiers where people are so helpful and few want to speak English breaks the brain freezes.

@sylviam9606 18 күн бұрын

Merci beaucoup,

@TMD3453 14 күн бұрын

Right on, Geraldine! I never heard this but it’s so true! Reading an ‘r’ and speaking it are two different things. Maybe speaking is structurally easier! - in some ways. I will definitely practice dialogues about every day things in a safe space for a couple of minutes. I think that’s great. It gives me time to reach for the dictionary if I need to. lol Merci beaucoup pour l’enseignement! Cheers 🇫🇷🇺🇸!

@tamaragrottker7677 11 күн бұрын

Yeah, growing up in the English part of Canada, I took French. In high school I still remember the many pages of writing out all the conjugations of French verbs. Later, I took 2 course of French in university hoping that I could actually speak French. But that never happened either. I still have French books on my shelf. Great tips for speaking. I still feel it would be hard for me to generate sentences. Would it also be helpful to read modern plays or scripts in French to get a sense of "authentic" speech?

@staciabalego2811 10 күн бұрын

Level 3 is very creative, how do I say 🤯 “this blew my mind” in French?

@christopherdieudonne 19 күн бұрын

Besides dropping the "ne" in negative constructions, what are the other grammar differences between written and spoken French?

@mer369 12 күн бұрын

I like learning French so I’ll keep going but I know in English we talk fast but we definitely don’t cut off as many letters or complete words as in French. I still call an apartment and apartment not apart. People mention gonna and going as an example but it’s hard to come up with a lot of examples. I think the French secretly like to gate keep their language.

@jameswisslead4533 Күн бұрын

I understand the idea of this video, but my problem is that if I were to say something in fundamental textbook French, even though it isn't the way an average French speaker talks, they should still be able to understand what I said and not be jerks because I didn't shorten up a word or drop the ne. They know exactly what I said so even if I "bored" them with my stiff French they can drop the bad attitude, the French people are the only folks in the world who treat people like this when we attempt to speak their language. EDIT; I want to clarify that this has only happened to me with about a quarter of the French people I've spoken to and I've only been to Paris.

@peetsnort 15 күн бұрын

Hence the expression Lost in translation. One of th most descriptive language is afrikaans. It was slighly influenced by the french hugenots. My favourite is...a gatvol. A hole full Or had enough

@bilahn1198 14 күн бұрын

Your English is perfect and very idiomatic. And don't try to change the lovely French accent! Just one correction. If I WERE.(Subjunctive).😊 I'm approaching the French I learned in school now again. Also trying to learn Spanish.

@RosemaryStrange 2 күн бұрын

Je dois practice plus chaque jour

@marijo1951 18 күн бұрын

This problem of stilted formal vocabulary and pronunciation occurs with all language learners. 40 years ago I tried (not very successfully) to help Japanese businessmen improve their spoken English. My worst failure was the man who would not accept that he should stop saying "I return to my residence" and should simply say "I go home".

@siddharth3408 9 күн бұрын

I'm an absolute beginner. What should be my first 5 playlists from your channel please ?

@Toastbearington 3 күн бұрын

Do you have classes on this? Or know of someone who does?

@mikehandley5355 17 күн бұрын

Salut Géraldine,salut de la Nouvelle-Zélande 👋. Ça va? C'est intéressant quand tu as dit que français peuvent être 'une galère ' même pour les Français.

@Lesrevesdhiver 15 күн бұрын

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="843">14:03</a> , Oh the cat will, he WILL! Tu peux compter dessus. Mais oui c'est interessant. Avant, je parlais toujours la version du français que j'ai appris à l'ecole et quelqu'un m'a dit : "Tu parles vraiment le français de grand-mère". I ain't perfect but yeah the "everyday" version sounds more relaxed, even for us novices.

@rominiyi1385 18 күн бұрын

Madame Geraldine Lepère, the exercises you have recommended require an AI interface to check colloquially spoken french pronounciation and grammar ... because people from different first language backgounds will naturally deploy the phonology of their first language if they are not repeatedly corrected by a human being or by an AI platform multiple times until it sticks ... sometimes hundreds of times! Remember that we use speech recognition AI patforms nowadays which rigorously enforce correct formal spoken french grammer and pronounciation. This is one trillion times better than not having speech recognition AI platforms at all as was the situation prior to this development as french pronounciation is known to be one of the most difficult if not the most difficult amongst the romanesque languages. Even if we try to religiously practice what you are telling us to do ... when we get back onto our AI interfaces which have taught us everything we know about correct formal french grammar and pronounciation ... and pronounce what you have told us to pronounce - we will immediately be failed mercilessy by the AI platforms ...

@lisaahmari7199 15 күн бұрын

Luckily for me, I am an old lady!😅 i can get away with speaking french in the old style. However, I still need to UNDERSTAND you whipper-snappers! So I have to study les nouveux regles and trends, too. Dammit.

@rominiyi1385 18 күн бұрын

Madame Géraldine Lepère, is it possible to develop a discerning ear for colloquially spoken french through actually studying it seriously without having to all of sudden try to replicate this in one's own speach as some people have spent decades learning from sources such as FSI French Audio, BBC Talk French Audio, Duolingo Speech Recognition AI, Rocket Languages Speech Recontion AI, Teach Yourself French Audio, Pimsleur French Audio, etc., and can easily cut back on the breadth of the grammatical structures they would use in a conversation but no so easily cut back on their by now ingrained formal spoken french ... as compared to someone who has spent a long time getting used to both forms of speech in France or Switzerland for example ... We may may appear very formal in speech even with a slimmed down grammer set but won't we be understood? I also believe that their are multiple forms and variations of colloquially spoken french depending on region, country, social class, etc. How many forms of colloquially spoken french would we have to learn in order to sound relaxed and authentic?

@johnalmberg7512 13 күн бұрын

It's also important to *listen* to informal French, since this is the only way to learn all these 'real French' shortcuts. Reply with your favorite informal, intermediate level French podcasts or videos. My favorite is the "French with Panache" podcast. Let's build a list of informal French resources!

@beldinhutts5168 8 күн бұрын

French Facile on KZfaq

@beldinhutts5168 8 күн бұрын

Et Peppa Pig en francais

@rddavies 15 күн бұрын

I remember being in Germany many, many years ago for a whole summer. Of course the Germans are great English speakers (and were then as well). But for some reason or other (I guess cause they all learned the same thing in school) in situations where we might say "it used to be" or "back in the day" they would all say "in former times" and this with a thick, thick British accent. Very much like your Jane Austen example. Of couse the meaning was clear but to be honest it really did sound a bit ridiculous. Or to give another example - a French person I know was like you working in England and was talking to his boss and used the word "thrice" in a sentence. Which of course is linguistically "correct" but no one would say that.

@andrewfletcher1341 13 күн бұрын

My sweet Géraldine, I see you in Grenoble ,you are a nice looking woman and a charisma girl ❤❤❤

@nawimal 19 күн бұрын

🎉🎉

@claude5923 19 күн бұрын

Merci! J'parle avec mes chiens presque tous les jours. Mais t'as raison. C'est difficile à supprimer les mots et les lettres, lorsqu'on a appris le français "correct" au lycée.

@earlofwickshire5416 9 күн бұрын

...but I was walking in n'import quel arrondisment vers minuit and suddenly je me suis trouvé in the Belle Époque and now my everyday French est trop futuristic, my girlfriend in current era is cheating on me et je suis tombé amoureux de Marion Cotillard. Help!

@alistairthomson8710 17 күн бұрын

Je vais parler a mon chat - il est un tonkinois tres amiable.

@ernestitoe 18 күн бұрын

In her book Merde Encore! More of the Real French You Were Never Taught in School, the author "Genevieve" writes of what she calls "la nouvelle conjugaison," "pronoun, on" followed by the verb in the third person. Is anyone familiar with this?

@michmash7888 17 күн бұрын

My French tutor lent me a copy of the first book, Merde! 😂 While it is mostly a compilation of French slang words, it does mention a few of the tips in this video, such as ne is dropped and pronouns get clipped. (It was published in 1984, so I’m sure some of it is totally outdated, and some is apparently standard vocabulary now-for example, I know Duolingo had petit/e ami/e and genial/e in my lessons.) 😊

@sarahv5868 14 күн бұрын

Yes! In spoken French it is much more common to use “on” instead of nous. Most of my real “speaking” tutors insist that I speak this way instead of using nous. And I hear it all the time in French media.

@edgaracostadavila204 14 күн бұрын

oh Your mom is Mexican!!! you are interesting, i am mx

@nigelperry8863 18 күн бұрын

I have lived in France for 18 years. I arrived with better than schoolboy French. I expected to improve quickly, listening to French people talking, and being part of normal conversations. But, no. Every other person wanted to practise their English. I would just continue with my French. It was, and still is, incredibly rare for a French person to correct my French. If they did, I thanked them. Now, I can converse quite well. But, I get annoyed, that French people haven't got the sense and kindness to speak more slowly than usual. It must be plainly obvious to them that I am not a French native, but they make no allowance for that. The attitude seems to be so often, "Not my problem. You are the one at fault, because you can't speak fluent French!" Social courtesy and conscience seems absent. Why? Do the French really hate us that much?

@leslieyoder8280 18 күн бұрын

You have not responded to a single comment question. Why? I found this video very helpful and subscribed but knowing you don’t interact with you YT students perplexes me. I know you can’t respond to every one because it would require a lot of time but not 1 or 2 or 3?

@New_Wave_Nancy 17 күн бұрын

J'aime l'idee de parler avec un faux ami. (Je pense que ma vraie amie demande ce video pour moi. ha ha J'ai besoin de cette information.) J'essaie de ecouter a francais plus maintenant pour ameliorer ma comprehension.