Five Far From Academic Tips to Speak French Fluently

Academic rules are good but the experience is much better than the books or watching videos about how to speak French fluently, but that is just my opinion.

Here is a list of tips from my own experience that I have made myself when I was a kid! Trust me, they show good results.

TIP #1: GYM MOUTH

The French language has a lot of closed and round sounds. Examples:

FOURRURE- FUREUR
DESSUS- DESSOUS
Mur- Murmure…

So you have to do a little ‘gym’ for your mouth and lips.

TIP #2: OXYGEN

In the French language because of these closed and round sounds you have, try to SPEAK SLOWLY and take your time to BREATHE WELL. Otherwise, you risk making errors!

TIP #3: THE SPECIAL ONE

“R” is the specific sound of the French language. Example: LES ROIS ONT TRENTE TROIS ARMES POUR DÉFENDRE LEURS PATRIES (THE KINGS HAVE THIRTY-THREE WEAPONS TO DEFEND THEIR HOMELAND)

If you don’t know to pronounce it very well try this exercise (while supervised with an adult, use caution and try this at your own risk):

• Drink water and keep a small bit in your throat.
• Don’t swallow the water.
• Tilt your head up and try to speak!

Then the magic happens, you have the sound “R” in French!

TIP #4: CHILDREN SPEAKS

So for this one, it will be a bit funny. Watch some videos of French native children on the Internet. You can type in the search bar this phrase: “ Enfants parlent français”.

You will understand the process that children take to talk in short phrases and how they make pronunciation mistakes.

You’ll get the benefits of taking the correct process of how children learn to speak in their native languages.

TIP #5: FOCUS

All as we are, we love to have a French accent and speak like a native!

BIG MISTAKE! FOCUS ON PRONUNCIATION, THE ACCENT WILL COME EASIER LATER!

There are a lot of accents in the French language (French Canadian, Paris, Marseille, Toulouse…) You can choose one of them later, but the most important thing is to pronounce the language well!

Wrap-Up

Speaking French fluently sometimes requires other aspects other than those you learn in books and videos.  You have to dare to try to speak and pronounce the sounds of French. You will also need to develop a technique specific to you that will help you develop to the level that you want to achieve. Plus finding an online French tutor can help you accelerate your learning.

I hope that what I said above will be beneficial to you and believe me, you will be able to speak like a native.