France, known for its beautiful art, movies, and cuisine is an incredible destination that will charm you. To prepare for your trip there, learn some basic French phrases so you can navigate your way from restaurants to hotels more smoothly.
Holding onto these essential travel words can truly elevate your experience of France.
Learn French Through Art & Artists
Visit museums or art galleries when traveling in French is an excellent way to hone your language skills and broaden your lexicon. French provides numerous words for describing art works, sculptures and statues. Some phrases are direct while others use emotions as an outlet. You might say something like: “I like this sculpture because it’s so lifelike” or “I dislike this painting because it looks too simple”.
France is well-known for its artistic and historical legacy. The museums boast many paintings, sculptures and pieces dating back to Romantic era. Learning about these artists helps gain greater cultural awareness as well as master French pronunciation at once!
As part of any museum visit, it’s essential to know how to purchase tickets. When entering, simply say: “Combin coute un billet” (I would like one ticket) or simply “une entree gratuite”. Many Paris museums offer free entrance on the first Sunday of every month!
As much as traveling in a group can make you more confident, it may impede your language learning efforts. Traveling with someone may force you to converse in English instead of French which won’t help your French improve. Travelling alone allows for maximum immersion into a foreign culture and language learning experiences.
Learn French Through Music
Music can be one of the best ways to learn French, as its catchy melodies and lyrics will likely stay fresh in your memory, making it easy to incorporate vocabulary, slang, and expressions into long-term memory. Plus, many songs contain references to current social and political issues which were prevalent at their release time!
There are countless songs in French available to learn, from classics like Jacques Brel’s “Ne me quitte pas” to contemporary hits from artists like Zaz or Stromae. FluentU is also an invaluable way to access French songs broken down into easily understandable phrases allowing you to focus your language learning efforts in specific areas such as pronunciation or grammar.
Learning French through song can be used by learners of any level and interest – from beginners honing their pronunciation and developing vocabulary to advanced learners honing listening and culture skills simultaneously. Music makes learning French fun and effective – no matter if it’s at home or on the go! So plug your headphones and start singing along! With just some practice you’ll soon be singing and dancing along too!
Learn French Through Books
Learning a foreign language involves covering every base: grammar, vocabulary and conversation. Books provide a convenient way of covering these aspects when classes or tutors aren’t an option.
If you’re learning French independently, the All-in-One French book is an ideal resource to cover the core aspects of this beautiful language. This comprehensive textbook features chapters on vocabulary, pronunciation and conversation in French as well as conjugating verbs – an absolute must have!
Beginners to French can find many novels and story books designed specifically to aid learning. These easy to read novels often feature familiar tales, like Little Red Riding Hood. Reading such texts allows learners to focus more easily on vocabulary and grammar development rather than trying to piece together what the story means.
Roald Dahl offers another fantastic option in his book of children’s stories in French for audiobook listeners: his narration offers explanations and summaries throughout, making the language easier to grasp when practicing it. There are 15 stories available to listen to with a free PDF available so you can slow down and follow along easily; making this an excellent option for learners who prefer learning through listening repetition.
Learn French Through Movies
Movies can be an engaging and effective way to learn French. Not only will you get exposed to spoken French not usually covered in classrooms and textbooks, such as street slang and colloquialisms – they may even give an introduction into French culture!
As a beginner, watch French movies with English subtitles so that you can focus on understanding dialogue and using your dictionary to identify any difficult words. If there’s any word in particular you don’t understand in the film, repeating it out loud will help memorize it as well as practice pronunciation until it comes naturally.
Kirikou et la Sorciere, an animated film aimed at children but featuring useful vocabulary about feelings and emotions as well as French perfect tense grammar, is another good option for beginners. Alternatively, adults could watch Persepolis, an adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical novel set against Iran during the Islamic revolution.
Alternatively, intermediate French speakers should watch movies without subtitles in order to focus on pronunciation of individual words and phrases, along with how actors express themselves through facial expressions and body language. Watching foreign films is also a great way to expose yourself to new vocabulary and expressions; just keep in mind that French spoken in France differs significantly from Canadian French!