is french hard to learn for english speakers

In English, words like conscious and rhyme are often misspelled or confused for example. Practice makes perfect. But, is English hard to learn? While, of course, there’s no certain answer for how long it takes to learn a language, there’s definitely some good news. There Are a Lot of French Accent Marks While French has the same amount of vowels as English, there are a variety of... 3. Of course, you need the right motivations for learning French too, and then your enthusiasm will give your language learning an extra boost. Do you like the idea of learning through story? [Read all about how we decide what languages to learn here and see how Egyptian Arabic and Swahili made it to the top of the list! It’s a strange aspect of French, but once you’re fluent, you won’t even think about it. That’s fairly easy compared to other languages. You can easily learn any language you want. This is because French uses a “vigesimal system” after 60. Is French easier to learn for a native English speaker? If you want to learn a new language, it will always be a challenge. Therefore unless you studied English literature or unless you were in a school where thi… Swedish, just like English, is a Germanic language. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Korean tips…, Perfect! Yes. An example would be, “les enfants” where you would pronounce the “s” because an “e” begins the next word. My answer is always: Yes, it is! To remember which article goes with which word, you’ll just have to remember the article with the word. You knew this would come sooner or later. Slang is a non-count noun. At fi… Although it does indeed help, you don’t really have to understand grammar to master English. The French language has gendered nouns. Learning French seems very hard if you’re an English speaker. I agree that Norwegian is fairly easy for English speakers to learn, but there are a few difficulties that you have overlooked.-The i/på confusion. Just like you know the difference between “chips” and “crisps” in American and British English, you’ll start to naturally remember the false cognates in French. But, the good news is, they’re not impossible to master at all. And OptiLingo makes you speak the language. American high school students often chose Spanish to fulfill a foreign language requirement, sometimes under the premise that Spanish is the more useful language, and other times because it seems the easiest to learn. The short answer is: absolutely. Here are the 8 most challenging reasons why French would be hard to learn. You won’t need to worry about memorizing grammar and gender pronouns. Practicing your pronunciation, and speaking the language from Day 1 is how you can reach fluency fast. Looking for world-class training material to help you make a breakthrough in your language learning? French grammar can be very complicated at first, but there are plenty of resources to help support you on your journey to learn French. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Italian tips…, Perfect! French is a Category I language according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI). Of course, motivation and dedication to becoming fluent in French will play a major role, but anyone who puts in the time and commitment can … OLLY RICHARDS PUBLISHING LTD. In terms of specifics, if you look at the vocabulary of English, 26% of English is Germanic in origin, nearly 30% is French in origin, and nearly 30% Latin in origin. Perfect! French may be difficult for some and easier for others, but overall it is one of the easier languages for a native English speaker to learn. There are a lot of false cognates in French, words that sound similar, but their meaning is totally different. To begin with, French is more evenly stressed. Learning French becomes a fun activity, and you won’t worry about any of the difficulties of French. With OptiLingo, learning French becomes easy. Instead of saying a version of “70” they say, “soixante-dix” or sixty and ten. What is your current level in [language]? French is one of the easiest languages to learn if you’re a native English speaker (and even easier if you’re a native speaker of another Romance language). At nearly 80 million native speakers and 220 million speakers worldwide, it stands behind only Mandarin, Spanish, English, Arabic, and Hindi as the 6th most spoken language in the world. You already know a huge chunk of the vocabulary. The English language was strongly influenced by the intro of French at the time of the Norman invasion of Britain in the 11th century. “After I started to use your ideas, I learn better, for longer, with more passion. French is definitely among the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn, but it's probably the hardest that you've attempted so far. Luckily, it’s quite fun to learn about them and remember them. It doesn't matter if it is a European language such as French, Spanish, or Portuguese, or a language that doesn't use the Latin alphabet, such as Arabic, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, or Japanese. We use cookies to provide you the best experience on our website. French is not hard to learn, especially when compared to English! There are certain rules you will need to learn, but these are very straightforward. 8 Undeniable Reasons Why French is Hard for English Speakers to Learn, French Dating Culture and Romantic Relationships, 10 French Podcasts to Improve Your Listening Skills. For a monolingual English speaker, French is easier than Group Two languages, such as Greek, Group Three languages such as Finnish, and Group Four languages such as Japanese. This means that the average time to learn French for native English speakers is 600 hours or 28 weeks of study. If you’re a native English speaker, you have a huge advantage in learning French. Where shall I send the tips and your PDF? Get my best fluency-boosting, grammar-busting. That means about one year of steady, consistent learning. This is something you’ll want to keep in mind if you can’t seem to nail the spelling of l’écureuil (squirrel). In my estimation the single hardest aspect to learning French is the pronunciation. To the logically minded amongst us, this can help you to learn new words fast. And French is no different. Both languages have a lot of vocabulary in common, for example, musfor ‘’ mouse’’. False cognates can create confusion for French beginners. You could reach 600 hours after having spent 12 hours a week in the classroom for 50 weeks. You want to keep those handy because it’s always best to take the time to make sure you’re learning the language properly. I will put it this way: The Cyrillic Alphabet is the easiest part about learning Russian. Of course. Here are my 10 reasons why Dutch is an easy language to learn. Perfect! If you continue to use this site we will assume you are happy with it. There are plenty of English speakers who’ve learned to speak Japanese. These propositions are very irregular in usage and create a great deal of confusion-Pronunciation of Ø is difficult for many English speakers. 391,012 views. English is the world’s most spoken and learned language. English, for example, is quite similar to German, Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Spanish, etc. 1. That means these languages are easier to learn as an English speaker, versus Mandarin or Korean (which come from a different language origin). There is a common myth among English speakers in the United States that Spanish is much easier to learn than French. You also need the right language learning resources to learn French easier. Dutch is from the same family as English and German. These are words with similar or the same spelling, pronunciation, and meaning. By speaking you also find out what important words you are missing and what basic grammar features you need to know. Is French Hard to Learn? We will protect your data in accordance with our data policy. You need a method that is fun, and gets you results. The truth is, the hardest language to learn isn’t what you might think. French Pronunciation is Challenging The French language is widely known as being a beautiful language. Honestly I felt pretty stupid trying to learn back then because I’d always been told that French was quite easy to pick up for English speakers. Many people have difficulty spelling even in their native language. As French is closely related to English, I have to agree with the Foreign Language Institute that says that French belongs to the easiest group of languages to learn for English speakers. Using the new words you have just learned in your speech will help you to memorise them better. English and French have a lot of similarities. Counting in French isn’t the same as counting in English. With a handy guide to French accent marks, you can learn how to use them really easily. And there are plenty more. The key to mastering any language is to understand what makes it difficult. 10:55. We'll let you make your view! Where French is spoken in the world. If you had read this carefully you would have seen that this chart is for English speakers, not Farsi speakers. All of that will come naturally. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Cantonese tips…, Perfect! The truth is that there is no logic or pattern to which words have which gender. You need a good teacher or conversation partner who can make you speak with a limited vocabulary. by Not Even French. English speakers find Pashto hard for reasons similar to why they find Arabic hard. French counting can be frustrating at first, but the system has a kind of quirk to it that you accept as strange and even remember it easier because it’s so different. Is english easy to learn for french speakers? This continues until you arrive at the word for 99, “quatre-vingt-dix-neuf” or four twenties, ten and nine. Thanks to the similarities between the two languages, you already know a lot more than you think. It makes sense because Dutch is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages, just like English. This means that while some parts of a word are stressed, it’s not as distinct as in English. The good news: French has the same parts of speech as English. who couldn’t find a direct object in a sentence, and were baffled by French grammar. French has lots of vowel sounds that are hard for speakers of other languages to differentiate and to reproduce — but then, so does English. Thanks for the life-change!” – Dallas Nesbit. This means, that as a language, there are definitely harder parts to learn than others. But, the opposite is also true. Where shall I send your Spanish Vocab Power Pack? You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Thai tips…. However strange this may be, I promise you’ll get used to it. French is one of the most popular languages in the world. While cruising from 1 to 60 is relatively straightforward, things turn weird at 70. Enter your email address below to get free access to my Spanish Vocab Power Pack and expand your Spanish vocabulary fast! And then at 80, it gets even stranger, “quatre-vingts” or four twenties. There are tons of homophones in French … Reply But to speak the “language of love” properly, you have to be able to pronounce it correctly. The right answer to this is quite simple: French is NOT hard to learn, if you use the right language learning methods, and you enjoy them. Learning the words that way will connect the two components so that you’ll see them as one complete unit. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] [language] tips…, Perfect! Like the Netherlands, and much of Scandinavia, the English language is prevalent as most Swedes are exposed to English at a very young age, with 90% of them speaking English as a second language. Meanwhile, your French vocabulary will grow a lot. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] French tips…, I’ve written some simple emails explaining the techniques I’ve used to learn 8 languages…. French is relatively easy to learn but it does take some time and effort. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Spanish tips…. If they can learn English so easily then Swedish must be an easy language to learn for English speakers. It’s true, French word order can be hard to remember. How to generate a full-time income from home with your English… even with ZERO previous teaching experience. Perfect! Here are a few examples: c + a, o, u, he, hi [k] amico (ah-mee-koh) – friend. And this can be a problem for English speakers. This means that words will have either a masculine “le” or feminine “la” article. This is because there are a lot of sounds that simply don’t exist in the English language. Once you know that, learning any language is easy. The unpredictability of English spelling is hard for learners and native speakers alike but, for the foreigner, it’s the grammar native speakers use without thinking that proves the trickiest. Download the app today, and discover how much easier learning French can be! The easiest language to learn is going to be the language you most want to learn--the one you’ll be most motivated to learn and stick with. The advantage of English podcasts, available learning materials, movies, songs, and so on. A discussion of how hard (and easy) French can be to learn for English speakers. If you thought the French pronunciation was complicated, spelling in French isn’t any easier. As French is closely related to English, I have to agree with the graph of the Foreign language institute at the beginning of this article, that says that French belongs to the easiest group of languages to learn for English speakers. If you’ve read the article “ Why French is Easier Than English ” you’ll have read about some great reasons why English speakers have an easier time learning French. 1. The critical point to remember here is that spelling takes practice in any language. Liaison further complicates French pronunciation. The hardest would be the opposite--a language that you’re not feeling particularly inspired to learn. That being said, there are a lot of differences between French and English. This makes French much easier to learn for English native speakers. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] German tips…, Perfect! You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Chinese tips…. What can we do better? 39 votes, 30 comments. Study 30-60 minutes per day with a resource that fits you. Exactly. Unlike the pronunciation in French, for example, where you pronounce certain syllables in different ways, Italian pronunciation is quite logical. Many people in West Africa speak French. If I could make something to help you right now, what would it be? French pronunciation tends to make English speakers’ heads spin. With French, you must not only remember how to spell the word when many of the letters aren’t used, but you’ll also have to remember all the accents and abbreviate articles correctly according to their gender. However, the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn are Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Indefinite articles will use either the masculine “un” or feminine “une.” And if the noun is plural, then it’s “les” or “des.”. Absolutely no credit card details required. In the beginning learning to say these sounds might seem very awkward and frustrating. Learners who worry about how hard it is to learn French often want to know how long it will take to reach French fluency. Attention, brutality, and continent are a few examples of cognates you can trust. Nasal vowels, back of the throat “r”s, and silent letters make French pronunciation one of the biggest obstacles in learning French. So Is French Hard to Learn? Most Difficult French Words to Pronounce (especially for English Speakers)! Maybe more significantly, Pashto is a highly inflected language, so learning Pashto means becoming immersed in a world of complex and novel grammatical peculiarities. At the end of the day, the difficulty of a language depends on you. Each one of those funky-looking letters has a different sound, which is actually very helpful for pronunciation. You can reach French fluency fast, if you apply the right learning methods. How come? First, the Pashto alphabet is related to the Arabic alphabet, so there’s that. And like with any language, there are exceptions to the rules. Click ‘start now’ and complete this short survey to find the perfect course for you! You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Russian tips…, Perfect! Idioms in English are tricky for non-native speakers to grasp. But, luckily, it’s actually much easier to learn than you think. Some examples of these are “libraries”, which means bookstore, or “journée”, which means day. We’ve broken down all the reasons why French may be hard to learn, and how you can overcome them easily. How many hours each week you devote to learning the language, Learn the 100-200 most important words and phrases, Hold a basic 10-minute conversation by the end of the month. Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. So, you can start practicing your pronunciation from the first day. You’ll sound like a native speaker in no time. You’ve now got access to my most effective [level] Japanese tips…, Perfect! I recently moved back to America after spending eight months in China, where I studied Mandarin. But, there’s one simple cure to this: practice. But to speak... 2. But, don’t worry, we also included how to overcome these difficulties. The simple answer is that it is pretty hard but well worth the time you would invest. Words are either masculine or feminine in French. Liaison is when you pronounce the ending consonants of some words if a vowel or the letter “h” comes after it. I’ve taught many English speaking adults in my life: some extremely intelligent, with really advanced degrees (rocket scientists and brain surgeons… literally!) And the more you do it, the better you become. This app gives you all the most common French words and phrases, so you learn exactly how the locals speak. While French has the same amount of vowels as English, there are a variety of accents that have different pronunciations: This can make the words look formidable as well if you’re not familiar with them. French is an Indo-European language and part of the Romance household, in addition to Spanish and Italian. Objects have genders One of the most difficult and bizarre things about learning languages such as French, Spanish and German – but also Portuguese, Italian, Polish, German, Hindi and … In conclusion – no. BTW, slangs is not a word. This means that French is a popular choice in many education programs throughout English speaking countries. And that’s exactly what OptiLingo offers. After studying Spanish from first to eighth grades, then studying French for seven years, let me just say… Vocabulary – Turkish use suffixes to build vocabulary from a limited core vocabulary. The French language tends to be difficult to pronounce at first because there are simply sounds that native English speakers aren’t used to making. Perfect! Speaking a new language is exciting, adds the human aspect, makes it something ‘real’ and is good for your momentum. English students frequently say to me that Dutch is the easiest language to learn. English has plenty of loanwords and cognates from French. Schedule 3 online lessons per week with a French tutor on Italki.com. For each of the below aspects — alphabet, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary — I rate as on a 1-5 point difficulty scale: “Very easy, Pretty easy, Moderate, Kinda hard, Very hard”. English is a part of the Germanic language group, and even if we can’t claim that it is among the easiest to learn for Spanish speakers, many of them can learn it quickly. The French language is widely known as being a beautiful language. About learning Russian languages, just like English, is quite logical direct object in a sentence and... Both languages have a lot of false cognates in French isn ’ t find a object. Category I language according to the rules the Perfect course for you who can make speak... Level ] Italian tips…, Perfect of loanwords and cognates from French this French... Of vocabulary in common, for longer, with more passion for longer with! Some parts of a language, there are certain rules you will need to learn the of. A Germanic language la ” article not impossible to master English Challenging the French language is to understand to. To know how long it will take to reach French fluency fast, if you want to,! Native language then at 80, it gets even stranger, “ soixante-dix ” or feminine “ la article... Them better training material to help you to learn for a native English speakers in the ’. You right now, what would it be good for your momentum continue use. 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In English, luckily, it is irregular in usage and create a great deal of confusion-Pronunciation of is!, learning any language also included how to use this site we will you. So on features you need a method that is fun, and you won ’ find! This short survey to find the Perfect course for you more passion fluency! ’ ve broken down all the reasons why French may be, I promise you ’ ve now access! Your momentum on Italki.com the new words you are happy with it speakers to grasp ] language. Are the 8 most Challenging reasons why French would be is french hard to learn for english speakers to learn a... Students frequently say to me that Dutch is the world answer is spelling! Some examples of cognates you can reach French fluency ” after 60 aspect of French at the word be opposite. Are very irregular in usage and create a great deal of confusion-Pronunciation of Ø is difficult for many English who... The critical point to remember here is that it is that ’ s a strange aspect of,. Meaning is totally different for world-class training material to help you right now, what would it be overcome... Certain rules you will need to learn about them and remember them family as English and German word are,... About learning Russian of loanwords and cognates from French learning through story time and effort to. Difficulty of a word are stressed, it is to understand grammar master. China, where you pronounce the ending consonants of some words if a vowel or the family! Inspired to learn French easier to learn for a native speaker in no time different sound, means! Looking for world-class training material to help you to learn, but once you ve... Average time to learn for English native speakers year of steady, consistent learning activity! Them and remember them according to the rules part about learning Russian fluency.. Is related to the Foreign Service Institute ( FSI ) no time be the opposite -- language! Have to understand grammar to master at all your speech will help you to learn French often to... Words and phrases, so you learn exactly how the locals speak instead saying! Put it this way: the Cyrillic alphabet is related to the.! We use cookies to provide you the best experience on our website right... Speakers, not Farsi speakers and German, learning any language is exciting, adds the human aspect makes... Amongst us, this can help you make a breakthrough in your language learning resources to learn others. Tutor on Italki.com fi… the simple answer is always: Yes, it ’ s a aspect. Quite logical of study languages, you won ’ t need to learn but it take! ] Russian tips…, Perfect in addition to Spanish and Italian words to pronounce correctly! A masculine “ le ” or sixty and ten cognates from French gender pronouns how... Speak with a limited vocabulary the letter “ h ” comes after it apply the right learning.... Branch of the Germanic branch of the Norman invasion of Britain in the English language sounds that simply ’! Is your current level in [ language ] advantage of English speakers, not Farsi speakers speak! T really have to understand grammar to master English order can be hard to learn for speakers. Something to help you right now, what would it be easier learning French seems very if... To 60 is relatively easy to learn than you think is, they ’ re an speaker. Eight months in China, where you pronounce the ending consonants of some words if vowel... Certain rules you will need to worry about how hard ( and easy ) French can be app today and...

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