Introduction:

One way to get ahead in the business world is to speak your customers’ language. That might be exactly why you’re learning French—or it could just be an extra bonus that French is one of the top international languages. The more influential languages you master, the larger your potential customer base and professional network will grow. You’ve already reached a comfortable level of fluency in French and mastered many of its colloquialisms and idioms. But business French is a different ballgame. Set aside all the French slang you’ve worked hard at picking up. That won’t necessarily give you an edge in the business world. Au contraire (on the contrary), the French business environment is a very formal one, so that’s why learning business French can give you a competitive edge.

• Learn business is a French daily covering financial and economic news, including stock market news and reports. All of its articles are also available on its online edition.

• Choose one business article a day to read on the La Tribune website. Try to find one which relates to the line of business you’re interested in, otherwise, any business article will do.

• While you’re reading, jot down 10 words you’re not familiar with. Look up their meanings in a French online dictionary and write them down by hand in a notebook. Writing things down manually will help you to commit them to memory better.

• Review the words you’ve learned in tips #1 and 2 above, and underline the five words you think you’ll have the hardest time remembering. Write out each word by hand in your notebook, followed by its meaning—ten times each. Repetition is key when it comes to remembering new vocabulary, so the act of writing it down repetitively will help you commit it to memory easily.

• Choose a precise business topic you’re particularly interested in and look it up on Wikipedia. It could be about business intelligence, the global financial system, or the balance of trade… you choose. Read the description in English carefully, then click on “French” in the “languages” column on the lower left side of the page and read the French page about the same topic.

• Again, don’t worry if you don’t understand every word in the article; the aim of this exercise is to try to guess the English equivalent of any new terminology you come across in French.

• Reading an article out loud every day not only helps you get your tongue around difficult pronunciations, but it also jogs your memory. Aim to read a short article out loud every day. You can choose one of the articles on the La Tribune website mentioned above in tip #1, or read the Wikipedia article you selected in the previous tip.

• Choose a business book you’ve already read in English and find out if it has a French translation.

• By speaking business French, you’ll definitely have a more competitive edge with the potential to increase your professional opportunities and build up important business relationships with French-speakers.