Learn French

Learn French the Fun Way

Do you want to learn French in a creative way? Perhaps you've graduated from Introduction to French on to Advanced French and conjugating verbs with the best of them? Maybe you're feeling a need to absorb a bit of the French culture along with the classroom.

Maybe you don't have the budget just yet for a trip to France to try out your skills buying groceries at the patisserie or boulangerie. How about taking a trip to the French theatre? Wait, how does that work if you don't go to France? By having a French film festival right in your own home!

A really fun way to learn French is to watch a foreign flick. Listening and deciphering the dialogue helps you get a great understanding of how the language is spoken in everyday situations. For example, you'll pick up slang terms, colloquialisms, and decode the ways native French speakers shorten phrases, in addition to not pronouncing what seems like the entire second half of each word! In addition, you'll really get a flavor of the culture, especially if the film is shot in a French-speaking location. Seeing what the country looks like, how the people interact, what the culture's nightlife is like, and what their home life is like really helps you feel completely comfortable with the French identity.

Seeing the streets and names on the stores the characters visit will help your reading skills as well! You can watch the film in French and turn on the English subtitles to check your comprehension. You can also watch in English and run the French subtitles. This way you have all the benefits of learning French - seeing the culture, hearing the language and reading it as well. If you watch the film a few times, you can probably practice your accent by reciting along with the dialogue!

Invite your fellow French class students over to watch with you, and have a conversation (in French, of course!) reviewing the movie afterward while you all snack on some French bread, cheese and wine. You'll be feeling like a Frenchman in no time!