French Grammar Problem And Trouble
If you’re a French language learner, you may be having some trouble adjusting to the new grammar you have to use in the French language. Grammar like the French subjunctive, using indirect and direct objects in different places and different sentence structure is all part of what we, French learners, need to learn and get used to in order to speak French.
If you’re having trouble learning a particular French grammar point, you should look for alternative explanations of the grammar point online. There are many free sites out there that teach French and you can find many explanations as well as free sample sentences explaining the particular French grammar point you are interested in. Getting a different perspective can sometimes clear up your problem especially if you’ve only been using one resource to learn like a textbook.
Additionally, if you are having trouble applying a grammar point in French to your own speech or you keep messing up when you are supposed to use it, it’s probably because you haven’t fully conditioned your mind to it yet. What you should do is, get a few sample sentences from native sources that use the particular French grammar point you are having trouble with and then memorize them or at least repeatedly expose yourself to them. If you can remember these sentences or memorize them, you will begin to get used to that particular French structure and soon you will be able to make your own new sentences using the same correct structure.
French grammar is really not so difficult if you are able to get sample sentences and expose yourself to the new structure. The only hard part is the time it takes to effectively expose yourself to the new structure so that it seeps into your brain and becomes second nature to you. Once you are exposed to the new French structure enough, it will become second nature and you will be able to use it just as easily as you use English grammar without thinking about it.
If you are looking for French resources and especially sites to help you with French grammar, you may want to check out my top 5 free French resources online page which contains many helpful links for French language learners.
Also, if you are attempting to learn French to a high level of fluency, I highly recommend checking out my language learning book that will have you reaching fluency in the quickest amount of time possible.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Hiring A French Tutor… Really Worth It?
Many French language learners, especially if they do not attend classes or are studying alone, might have considered hiring a French tutor to help them along in their studies. If you’re learning French and considering hiring a tutor, let’s take a look at this choice a little more closely.
French tutors, first and foremost, can be expensive. Perhaps that’s why you are pausing before hiring one and maybe even searching the internet right now to see if it’s worth it. If you are going to hire a tutor, make sure to check the tutor’s credentials. Just because someone can speak both French and English does not mean they are qualified to teach the French language to French learners.
Also, examine why you are considering hiring a French tutor. Is it because you want more conversation practice? If so, you should try checking out Skype or one of the many language exchange websites online. If you use Skype, you will have access to hundreds of native French speakers who are more than willing to chat with you in French for free.
Do you want a French tutor to answer grammar questions of difficulties that you have? You might want to try one of the online French forums where many French learners, as well as teachers, are willing to help you out as long as you post your question politely.
Do you need help with French grammar or vocabulary issues? If that is the case, you should check out the hundreds of free French websites online that teach grammar, vocabulary and more for free. They are valuable sites and worth taking a look at before hiring a tutor.
If after all this, you still feel that you need a French tutor, you may want to try some of the online tutors as they can usually provide their services for a lower price and you have the convenience of meeting whenever you want in the comfort of your own home… even at the late hours of the night. You can find these tutors by searching google or going to sites like edufire.com.
In any case, if you are interested in French learning, you may want to check out my page on the top 5 free French resources online for learning French. It should have you learning quickly in no time.
And, of course, if you are serious about learning French to a high level in the least amount of time possible, definitely check out my book on language learning. It will save you hundreds of hours of wasted study time.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
What Language Software Will Make You Fluent
I was asked about language software. More specifically, what language software will make you fluent? I’ve come across a lot of methods and software in my time learning languages so let’s take a closer look at this issue.
The truth is, to date, I have not come across any one specific language software program that will make you fluent in a foreign language by itself. Not Rosetta Stone or any of the other software programs like the Rocket series.
The problem with these programs is that they simply do not teach enough grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary to get you to fluency. They do a pretty good job of covering the basics and maybe taking you to an intermediate level, but they definitely do not get you anywhere near fluency. When I say fluency, I mean the ability to read newspapers directed towards native speakers of the language or the ability to watch the news in a country where the language is spoken. You may be able to get the gist of what is being said but you won’t be anywhere near 100% comprehension. You won’t even be close.
Additionally, no software program can “make” you fluent. You still need to go through the program and do each of the lessons making sure to work hard to remember what you are being taught. It seems that these days, many people are looking towards software as the new cutting edge product that will make them fluent in a foreign language without having to actually do any work.
So, if you’re looking to reach fluency in a foreign language, keep in mind that you will need to do your own studies outside of whatever software program you may use. These software programs can be a great tool to help you learn the basics or to help you learn part of the language, but you will need to go to other sources or do your own study to reach a true advanced level.
If you are serious about learning a foreign language to fluency, I highly recommend taking a look at my language learning book which will teach you exactly what you need to do in order to achieve fluency in the shortest amount of time possible.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
How Many Months To Learn A Language
I was recently asked about how many months it takes to learn a foreign language. This is an important question especially if you’re just beginning your language studies and want to know how long the process is going to take. The answer to this question depends on primarily two factors: your experience with language and your study methods.
Your experience with foreign language is important because if you studied a foreign language before that is very similar to the language you are studying now, you will find that you progress very quickly. For example, I know people who have learned Spanish in 3-6 months after they learned Italian to an advanced level. Since much of the grammar is the same and there is a lot of shared vocabulary, the overlap was great enough to speed up the learning process.
This also counts for English, too. If you attempt to learn a language very dissimilar from English like Japanese or Arabic, you will find that it takes longer to learn because you have to learn new sentence structure and a lot of the vocabulary is not the same. However, if you learn a language similar to English like Spanish, you will find that the process goes by much quicker.
Additionally, your overall experience with learning foreign languages matters. If you have studied three foreign languages before to an advanced level, you will have an easier time with the fourth language no matter what it is. The reason for this is because your brain is already used to learning new sentence structures and new vocabulary.
Now for the second factor, your study methods are very important. How long you spend studying each day and what you do when you study could make the difference between learning the language within months or within years! I can’t go over everything to do in this article but I will give a few tips. You should be studying a little bit each day instead of one chunk once a week. The little bit of studying each day will cut down on the time you spend reviewing and also keep the language fresh in your mind. Also, make sure you also do fun things in the language like watch movies or read interesting novels. Don’t just do grammar exercises or read textbooks, otherwise your motivation will soon run out. Additionally, you should have a way of recording or keeping track of all the new vocabulary you come across that you want to learn for the long term. If you don’t keep track of it, you will soon find yourself looking the word up again the next time you come across it because you will have forgotten it.
So, as you can see, the language learning process depends on these factors, however, I feel confident in saying that you can learn any language to an advanced level within a year, as long as you have the appropriate study method and are learning well. I gave you some introductory concepts in this article, but if you are really interested in achieving fluency in the shortest amount of time, I highly suggest taking a look at the book I’ve written on language learning.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Difficult Kanji: How To Learn Hard Kanji Fast
Many Japanese learners have to take on the task of learning kanji. It is an inevitable step in the process of learning Japanese. Even if you are not aiming at mastering all 1,945 joyo kanji, you still will probably come across a few kanji which you find particularly hard to remember or write. There are a few varieties of difficult kanji and I will teach you right now how to deal with them so that you will never forget them and will always be able to write them.
Some kanji are difficult to learn because they are too complicated. If this is the case, what you want to do is break the kanji down to its radicals. Make an association for each radical, maybe there is the “water” radical and the “person” radical in the kanji. You can make up whatever association you like depending on what the radical looks like to you. After you have broken the kanji down, make a story that incorporates all of these associations for the radicals as well as the meaning of the entire kanji itself. In this way, the story that you create will hold all of the pieces of the kanji together. The crazier or stranger the story, the better. These types of stories seem to be the easiest to remember. You will find that the next time you try to write the kanji, it will be much easier to remember, after having done this process.
Another type of difficulty Japanese learners have when learning kanji characters is confusing similar looking kanji. Again, in this case, what you’ll want to do is take the similar looking kanji and break down each one. What is most likely is that the two kanji are different by only one or two radicals. If that is the case, simply make a different story for each character involving the respective radical that is different. If you do this, you will have no trouble at all the next time you need to write one or the other.
If you are having trouble creating stories or attaching meanings to the radicals in the kanji, a great resource to go to is James Heisig’s kanji books. You can find these books on amazon.com and they are terrific because not only does Heisig introduce all of the characters but he does it in a systematic fashion so that you learn all 1,945 joyo kanji in an organized manner. It is truly a great book if you are interested.
Also, if you are trying to learn Japanese to an advanced level, I highly recommend taking a look at the book I’ve writte on language learning. It will cut down your study time significantly and have you learning Japanese faster than ever, so do yourself a favor and definitely check it out.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Learn French Through French Classes… Really The Best Way?
I was asked about French classes recently… whether or not they are effective in learning French. I think they can be effective as long as you don’t only rely on the classes to get you fluent.
It is important to remember that many French classes move very slowly are focus a lot on grammar exercises and vocabulary lists. This is a very slow way to learn a new language like French. Additionally, many classes don’t even cover enough grammar and vocabulary to get you to fluency anyway.
What you need to do if you are serious about learning a new language like French is to make sure you do outside study and review. This will move you along faster and you can use the class to your advantage by incorporating it into a larger French study plan. Additionally, you will be able to use your French teacher, a great resource, to help you if you have any questions during your self studies.
What I would recommend is not that you do boring grammar exercises and read textbooks like you are already doing in class, but rather do something fun like watch a French movie or read an interesting French book. When you come across an unknown word, note it down and learn it later. If you don’t note it down, you will almost inevitably forget it and have to look it up again when you come across it. So, note it down and then make sure you review it later in order to memorize it for the long term.
In this way, by using real, fun materials outside of class, you will be immersing yourself in French and substantially increasing your vocabulary and grammar comprehension in the language. You will find that you will quickly surpass even the best students in the class simply because you are putting more hours into the language and since you are having more fun, you are more likely to remember what you learn.
These introductory concepts should have you on the way to fluency a bit faster than if you had just relied on the class. However, if you are serious about learning French to an advanced level, you should definitely check out the book I’ve written on language learning.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Using YouTube To Learn A Foreign Language Fast And Free
Since you are reading this page, it is safe to assume that you know how to use the internet. If this is so, you have probably heard of a video sharing site called “YouTube” that provides you with free videos to watch that have been submitted by users. Let’s take a look at how you can use YouTube to your advantage for language learning.
There are two types of videos that you will use when trying to learn a foreign language through YouTube.
The first kind of video is the kind created by language teachers who explain a certain grammar point or give some type of lesson in the language. This is probably the best kind of video if you are just beginning. Often, you can get access to a variety of videos where people whose profession is to teach the language will sit down and teach you a grammar point or two. This is an excellent way to learn and you can find these videos by searching on YouTube for “learn Spanish” if you are interested in learning Spanish.
The second kind of video is the kind that is created by native speakers of the language you are trying to learn. You can find video blogs and other types of entertainment videos. This is probably best if you are at an intermediate or advanced level. Usually these types of videos are fun to watch, so it shouldn’t feel too much like “studying” or “doing work”. What you should do is watch these videos and use them to discover new words that you don’t know or sentence structures and grammar that you weren’t aware of before.
Additionally, if you have a camera attached to your computer and a microphone, you can create your own videos in the language you are trying to study and then invite native speakers to correct your language or help you out in other ways. This can be a great way to make new friends in the language you are trying to learn and have a fun way to practice the language.
Hopefully this article gave you an idea of the kinds of things you can do to learn a foreign language on YouTube. If you are serious about learning a foreign language in the least amount of time possible and want the advanced techniques, I would highly recommend taking a look at my language learning book.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
How To Learn Foreign Language Quickly Best Practices
I was recently asked what the best practices were for learning a foreign language quickly. If you are serious about learning a foreign language, there are a few ideas you should implement into your studies to insure that you will reach fluency.
First, make sure that you study each and every day, even if for only a little bit. It’s much better to study a little bit each day than it is to study for one large chunk of time once per week. The reason for this is that studying a little bit each day will keep the content fresh in your mind and allow you to build off of the last day’s work. If you only study for one large chunk of time at the end of the week, you will find that by the next week when you study, you will have forgotten much of what you learned and will need to spend a lot of time on review. Short sessions each day will keep you moving forward.
Second, vocabulary is very important for learning any new language. If you don’t know the words, it doesn’t know how much grammar you know, you won’t get the meaning of what you are hearing or reading. So, make sure you keep a list or have some way of keeping track of all the new words you learn in your target language. It’s best if you have a systemized way of memorizing and reviewing them so that you don’t waste any time on learning them or end up forgetting them by not reviewing enough.
Third, make sure you do something fun in the language you are studying. Don’t just sit around reading textbooks and grammar books all day. If you do, you will soon get bored and end up not learning as much. Instead, do something fun like watch a movie, read a magazine or visit a blog written in the language you are trying to learn. I guarantee that you will learn a few new words and if nothing else, you will be exposed to the structure of the language and become more used to it thereby increasing your progress in the language. By doing fun things, you will also likely end up spending more time “studying” the language than you would have if all you were doing was grammar exercises.
If you implement these three points, you will have made some good habits and will be learning your new language in no time. Of course, these are just introductory concepts. If you are interested in more advanced techniques to turboboost your language learning, I highly recommend checking out the book I’ve written on the subject.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Learn French On Your Own The Easy Way - By Yourself
Perhaps you are tired of French classes or feel that you just don’t learn as quickly as you could on your own. Maybe you don’t want to spend the money or the time is inconvenient. Whatever the case may be, there are ways to learn French on your own. Let’s take a look at how you can study French on your own.
The truth is that the internet offers you a wide variety of resources to learn French by yourself. You can either go for the structured route where you actually take free lessons at various websites that teach French or you can jump right into native French and start reading French newspapers, French magazines, French books, etc. online. The truth is that everything you need to study French is on the internet for free. You can access online French-English dictionaries, French grammar explanations and more.
If you are just beginning in French or don’t know anything yet, it might make sense to begin with a beginner’s course on the web. If you search on google, you will find quite a few free courses that will teach you beginner’s French. You can even start two or three of these and follow through with the one that you enjoy the most. If you do all of them, you will reinforce what you learn so this may be a good suggestion, as well.
If you are an intermediate or advanced learner, I would suggest moving into native texts as soon as possible. What I mean by this is find a newspaper article or magazine article in French that interests you and begin reading! When you encounter a word you don’t know, look it up. The important part here is that you should take note of all the words you find that you don’t know. Otherwise, you will find that when you come across the word again, you will have forgotten it and need to look it up again. So, make a list and make sure you review the words in the future to maintain them in your long term memory. You will find that you tend to come across the same words again and again and your French vocabulary will improve greatly.
It’s also good to try and make vocabulary goals for yourself. They can be as small as learning 5 new words per day. That way, over time, you will slowly build your French vocabulary to a great amount while the daily exercise won’t seem like much.
If you ever need to learn a French grammar point or want to learn some sentence structure, simply search for that grammar point on google, like “french subjunctive explanation”, for example, and many websites will come up showing you sample sentences and grammar explanations for the French subjunctive.
In this way, if you continue to read materials that you find enjoyable, you will probably end up spending more time “studying” French than you would have if you were in a boring class using a dry French textbook. This way, you will progress much faster.
As for speaking practice, I highly recommend using the Skype program and searching for French people. This voice chat program will allow you to find many native French speakers who will be more than willing to chat with you.
As for listening comprehension, you can actually watch and listen to French television and radio online for free! You can find more information by checking out my Top 5 Resources To Learn French page. Again, make sure that you write down all the new words you come across for later study.
If you are truly interested in reaching a high level of French proficiency, I strongly recommend taking a look at the book I’ve written on language learning since it will show you in detail exactly what you need to do to reach fluency in the least amount of time.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!
Fastest, Quickest Way To Learn French Vocabulary
One of the most important parts of learning a foreign language like French is learning the vocabulary. If you don’t know the words, then you won’t understand what is going on. Also, many times even if you don’t know all of the French grammar fully, you can get the gist of what is going on if you understand the words being spoken. For these reasons, it makes sense to make learning new words in French a priority. So, what is the best way to learn French vocabulary?
First, as part of your French studies, you should be trying to find as many words as possible from natural, real sources. That is, get your vocabulary from places that native speakers use such as regular TV programs, movies, books, etc. This way, you will be going over the real language as it is used by natives, not just language you find in your textbook or grammar books. This will become good practice since in the future you will be using your French with native materials, not textbooks. If you can, when you write down unknown words, you may want to write down the sentence in which the appear, as well. That way, you get the context for the word, as well, and it will help you remember it better.
Second, make sure you have some way of keeping track of the French vocabulary you find. If you simply look up the word in a dictionary and then move on, you will find that the next time you come across the word, you will have to look it up again. This may happen several times and becomes a waste of your study time. Instead, you should have some way of keeping track of your French vocabulary so that you can review it later and learn it for the long term.
Third, make vocabulary goals for yourself. I find that this is a good way to keep myself on track to progressing in French. You can make a goal as simple as making sure you find 5 French words per day that you didn’t know before. That way, your vocabulary will steadily increase until you have learned 1,825 new words in a year. Of course, if you have more time, you can always learn more than your goal which will further increase your abilities. At the very least, make sure you do your minimum each day no matter what.
If you follow these steps, you will find that your French will improve rapidly. Make sure, however, that you review the new words that you come across or else you will soon forget them. The best way to learn vocabulary for the long term is out of the scope of this article but if you are interested in the full explanation, I would suggest taking a look at my book on language learning. Suffice it to say, make sure you have a way of reviewing your vocabulary otherwise you will just have a long list of words that you don’t know.
If you want the fastest method to learn a language so that you will become fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months, learn thousands of words without worrying about forgetting them, master grammar and do all of this in an enjoyable, painless manner then you need to read Learn That Language Now!