Introduction:

French has long been an international language of reference. It’s spoken by 700 million speakers and it’s the only other language, next to English, spoken on all five continents. It’s a working language of the United Nations and the European Union, and it’s the sole language of the European Court of Justice.

Although English has in many ways replaced French in the domain of business, French remains an important language in diplomacy, foreign affairs and trade. It’s estimated that 80% of future French speakers will be in Africa, one of the fastest growing regions in the world.

1. Read out loud and record yourself speaking

French, similar to English, isn’t a phonetic language. How you read a word isn’t how you pronounce it. It’s essential that you practice reading out loud to work on your pronunciation, because French vowels are perhaps some of the most difficult to master for non-native speakers.

2. Watch French movies with French subtitles

French cinema is world-renowned and has great diversity due to the global reach of the language. The two regions that produce the most Francophone cinema are France and Quebec due to heavy public investment, institutional support and political will to promote the French language.

To transition from being a beginner to being an intermediate speaker, switch off your English subtitles and opt for ones in French. This is very helpful as you’ll get proper pronunciation for many of the words you may have been pronouncing incorrectly.

3. Watch comedy in French, it’s hilarious!

French humor is very different and quite quirky when compared to English humor. Needless to say, it’s an important part of Francophone culture.

Comedy festivals are common in French-speaking regions, such as the Juste pour rire (Just for Laughs) annual festival in Quebec, Canada where Francophone comedians from all over come to perform.

4. Get a conversation partner

Contact your local Alliance Française to get the local intermediate group conversation schedule or go online and offer your English language skills in exchange for intermediate French skills.

Challenge yourself by preparing intermediate French topics using the conditional and subjunctive in advance. This has the added benefit of helping you avoid having the same conversation over and over or sticking to topics you feel safe with.

• Locate and contact your local Alliance Française Network
• Find a local French conversation meetup
• Find a language partner

5. Listen to simple pop songs alongside written lyrics

This is a great method to expose yourself to the array of Francophone artists out there and get tons of intermediate French practice with style and rhythm! If you’re really motivated to improve, print out your lyrics and highlight new words as you sing along.

6. Pick a Francophone country and study up

French is an official language in 57 countries. Boy, are there a lot of ways to speak this one language! Specify which countries you’d like to visit, work or travel to and get practicing the relevant slang, idioms and, most importantly, accent.