Grammar lessons and other theoretical learning are great base, but we need more exposure to the languages and their actual use - living the languages. No need to travel around the world (even though that’s still part of the plan!): in this globalised and technologically advanced period we are lucky to have plenty of resources to learn languages and get at least a glimpse of the context in which they are spoken. A few examples that helped me considerably are listening to audiobooks, to broadcasts, to songs even; watching various types of videos, from fictions to documentaries; and of course, speaking with native speakers. The most important one, however, is imperceptible and yet much more efficient: thinking in the new language. Forget that you know any other languages, imagine you’re back to early childhood learning your native language, and that’s when you’ll make real progress. I love translation and the great challenges that it entails, but it’s another story: learning/knowing a language is a very different thing and process than translating.

Forget about grammar... for now

Syntax and grammar are important, but we don't actually need them to understand or speak a language. Think of when you learned those for the first time (if you ever did!): it was at school, a few years after learning your native language(s). And you were able to communicate (you did, even if it was with a child's version of speech !) without knowing anything about grammar yet. My approach is based on that natural process, where we learn by imitation rather than theoretical / academic learning.

Listen

That's the first and the most important piece of advice in my opinion. Listen to podcasts, audiobooks, radios, videos (which you watch too, in that case seeing the word mouthing helps even more, see what the research says here)...

You don't need to be listening "actively"; being regularly exposed to the language keeps training your brain to the language's sounds and you process the words even if subconsciously. Listen to you favourite songs in French in any situations, while working or cooking for example. Don't know where to start? Here's a Spotify playlist with only good music and French lyrics.

Read

Read newspapers, books, even technical manuals, your devices and programmes in your mobile phone or computer...

Speak

You don't know who to speak with? Get a mirror and you'll see your perfect language practising buddy: yourself. You don't have to speak out loud of course, so this title could have been Think, but it is really important to practice whenever you can even if you make mistakes or don't know how to say something. It's even better this way, as it means you'll go and search for that term or formulation and you'll keep improving on a daily basis. Then of course you'll need to find other people to practise with, is possible native speakers of the language as they will speak correctly (with some exceptions of course, we can all make mistakes in our native language) and with a native accent. The idea isn't just to listen to them, otherwise these lines would be under the Listen section, but to have an active interaction which you remember better and in which some errors can be instantly corrected, whether your conversation partner corrects you directly or doesn't understand you and helps you find the correct way to express your ideas.

Write

Write your ideas about any subjects you would normally write about in your native language, when you take notes for example. Write to your native friends or pen pals and again, get your writing corrected either directly or indirectly if it created misunderstanding or confusion.

Some useful apps

Duolingo: translation method (usually literal)

Memrise: vocabulary-orientated, with samples of videos where native speakers say a word or sentence

Some useful websites

TV5Monde: an extensive list of resources and modules to learn French

Interactive IPA Chart

The French sounds in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Transcriptor fonético: phonetic transcriptor of Iberian Spanish into API symbols

Dictionnaire de la zone: glossary of French slang

Expressio: French idioms explained

Littérature audio: a large repository of audiobooks in French

Some useful Youtube channels

To learn French

InnerFrench: a native teacher who teaches French but also discusses about other linguistic, sociolinguistic and cultural topics, with very clear and concise explanations

Guillaume Posé: a native teacher who speaks slowly and articulately

To learn Italian

Italiano automatico: a native teacher who discusses many subjects and has a natural approach (automatic learning)

Some entry-level stories to read/listen to in French

Le Petit Prince (intermediate): read by InnerFrench

Some games to play in different languages with native speakers

Skribbl: similar to pictionary, it's a guess game based on drawing

Board Game Arena: a large collection of games to play online. Requires an account (free).

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