Learn French at your own pace

The Benefits Of Learning French For Work And Travel

Just imagine sitting on the banks of the Seine as your special someone whispers sweet nothings in the world's most romantic language into your ear. Speaking French won't guarantee that your life will turn into a romantic comedy, but it will certainly make your holiday in France all the more enjoyable! Besides the practical advantages of getting around in French, it will also open a new window to French culture and add that je ne sais quoi to your experience.

Let's not overlook the fact that French is spoken in territories around the world, and it’s one of the fastest growing languages in the world (with most of that growth happening outside of France). It’s also an important language at some of the world's most important organisations, from the United Nations and Doctors Without Borders to FIFA and the International Red Cross. Adding French to your résumé will undoubtedly open new doors to your career.

Finding The French Course That Works For You

If you’ve taken any French before and are uncertain how to get back into it, Babbel has a few options for getting you on track fast. If you’re using the Babbel self-study app, you can take a placement test that will help you decide if you should start at the beginning or go to slightly more advanced course units. From there, you can also look through our many course unit options, deciding whether you want to tackle topics related to vacation or business so you can really focus on your goals.

How To Make The Most Of Learning French Online

French is a relatively popular language to learn, and as such it's usually easy to find French courses or lessons. Traditional in-person courses can be a great way to learn French if the schedule and location work for you. Make sure to do your research beforehand as the quality of the courses can vary greatly.

For many people, though, learning French online is the best way to go. If you’re wary of going that route, consider some of the benefits that language learning on the internet has:

• Flexible Scheduling: Learn French at your own pace and on your own schedule, fitting lessons into your lifestyle without the constraints of a classroom timetable. Babbel’s self-study app gives you lessons that work, even if you only have 10 minutes to spare. 

• Personalized Learning Paths: Benefit from tailored lessons that adapt to your individual learning style and progress, allowing for a more customised experience.

• Instant Feedback: Receive immediate corrections and feedback on Babbel exercises, helping you to quickly identify and focus on areas that need improvement.

• Access Anywhere: Study from any location, making it easy to learn during commutes or while travelling. Babbel syncs across devices, so you can switch from desktop to phone to tablet easily.

• Diverse Resources: Utilise a wide array of multimedia resources, including audio, video and interactive exercises, to enhance your learning experience. Babbel offers many of these, and we always encourage you to expand your French horizons by exploring more.

• Repeat Lessons: Replay and review lessons as many times as needed to reinforce learning without the pressure of keeping up with a class.

What Babbel’s French Lessons Have To Offer

If you want to see how Babbel effectively teaches new languages, you can test a free lesson right now. While you do, you can see some of the features the self-study app has on offer. Here are a few to keep in mind while you’re trying Babbel’s free French lessons.

• Set Clear Goals. Define what you want to achieve with your French studies, such as improving conversational skills or preparing for a trip. Babbel will help you create a plan for achieving those goals.

• Hear Vocab From Native Speakers. The Babbel app uses real speakers of the language to voice the lessons, so you get the best pronunciation guidance possible.

• Practise Speaking. Use Babbel’s speech recognition technology to practise pronunciation and speaking fluency.

• Review Regularly. Take advantage of Babbel’s review feature to reinforce what you’ve learned and ensure retention, based on the concept of spaced repetition.

• Explore Cultural Context. Learn about French culture and customs through Babbel’s cultural insights to enhance language understanding.

• Track Your Progress. Monitor your progress through the app to stay motivated and adjust your learning plan as needed.

Out 5 Best Tips To Learn French Quickly

One of the keys to learning a new language is incorporating it into your daily routine, instead of marathon study sessions.

• Spend a little bit of time every day practising French. Just 15 minutes a day goes a long way to making progress quickly.

• Add a French podcast to your routine. Find a podcast specifically for learning French, or a podcast on a topic you're interested in. Even if you don't understand much to start with, you'll be training your ear to decipher spoken French.

• Watch films or TV series in French with French subtitles. You can also use English subtitles if you’re still a beginner, but with French subtitles you'll really challenge yourself to understand the language. And if you rewatch one of your favourites, you won't have to worry about missing some of the plot!

• Listen to French music. Look up French artists in a genre you enjoy, and read the lyrics while you're listening to their music. Before you know it, you'll be singing along in French!

• Speak French with a language partner. There's nothing quite like speaking to someone else to put your language skills to the test. Find a French speaker who's learning your language so that you both can learn something new.

Learn French With The Babbel App

If you already speak English, you have a head start as 45% of English words originally came from French. However, French is notorious for its unusual pronunciation rules, which means it's crucial to make listening and speaking a core part of your learning process.

There are also a few grammatical aspects to get used to. All French nouns have a gender, either feminine or masculine, which affects how you use adjectives and articles (le, la) as well. And verb forms change endings depending on the subject of the sentence. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it sounds, and you'll quickly get the hang of it.