How I Learned French

🇫🇷 Learning French completely changed my life. It set the stage for learning 7 more foreign languages, writing dozens of language learning books, and starting a language learning company that employs dozens of people and reaches millions of people around the world. In this video, I share the story of how I learned French, and how it all started with heartbreak...

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - How French Changed My Life
1:50 - Heartbreak & Running Away to Paris
4:03 - Working at a Youth Hostel
6:15 - The Brute-Force Language Exchange
8:33 - French Romance
9:03 - Motivation & Action
9:32 - Living Abroad is Not a Panacea
10:51 - Lessons Learned

[tobybromfield]

French was my first foreign language too, got me a degree, profession, stepping stone to 2 other languages, and got it to a level where my university French teacher only realised I wasn't French when I told her, after the first semester 😅 Love the channel, Olly, an inspiration x

[JktuUekmw]

Wouldn't it be great if you said, "Hi everyone, I have learnt French by having been born and raised in France" and then just played accordeon for twelve minutes

[frenchwitharno]

Bon courage à tous ceux qui apprennent le français! Ce n'est pas facile mais avec de la patience et de la détermination, vous pouvez le faire! <3

[kumarvikramaditya]

Finally I am trilingual now, English, Hindi and Spanish at native level.

[MATTierial]

It's interesting, Steve Kaufman just put out a video specifically speaking about the "Loneliness in Language Learning" as well. I really think your story of that struggle in Paris is something that not many language learners talk about.

There is a mental strain that exists with learning a language and spending hours and hours not understanding or being understood... and that strain is enhanced if you are immersed in a foreign country. That, coupled with homesickness, can put you in a pretty rough place if you aren't prepared for it. Then, even after you get to the point that you can understand and can make yourself understood... there is still another period of time where you still have to acquire enough vocabulary to feel like you are able to speak your mind and really be understood at a deeper, more personal level. There are a lot of jokes that will fly over your head, double-entendres that miss their mark, cultural things that you misstep, etc.

I served an LDS mission to France and it was enormously taxing for a long time. It was something that I was completely unprepared for socially. While I'm really happy that I had that experience, it's not something I look to replicate in my life any time soon.


Thanks for sharing your story, and for all the work you do :)

[keithkannenberg]

The lesson I take from this story is that you can make dumb decisions and put yourself in a lousy situation but if you have drive, willingness and maybe a little luck you can turn them into positive experiences that help you grow as a person. Thanks for sharing.

[RM-ljbv]

Fabulous story. I lived with French co workers at the hotel I was working at and that helped me learn a lot of French plus working in French restaurants. I now would like to learn more than just the basics.

[rebeccamcfarlin]

J'ai acheté votre livre à la librairie. Ça m'aide beaucoup. Tu devrais faire une vidéo en français. J'aimerais voir ça.

[canthandlethisass]

"nothing happens until you make it happen" a very powerful message to remember in life thanks

[tonyhogg]

I took two years of french in the early 90s. After that I wanted to learn more. The problem of being in the center of the US was lack of materials. All you could get was maybe a 60 minute cassette tape with a "learn french" book. To get good at listening comprehension you need hundreds of hours of different types of audio. I tackled it off and on for 15 years. Mostly off. Then in 2015 I realized "well there is YouTube now". A total game changer. So I basically started from scratch. My french comprehension is so much better now.

[krakenkrispykremelivinthedream]

I was always confident that I would never be able to talk in French, and after 5 years of learning it in school I am proud to say that it's true.

[lochlandean]

Currently trying to learn french because my dream school is on Montreal. I'm thinking once I'm done my undergrad to move there for half a year and just get immersion in the language

[Garcia-elf]

been in montreal for 6 years and dont speak french. I must learn!

[norating]

French has been my first foreign language too and it has changed my life and began my journey of polyglot-hood, so did your podcast and blogs all the way back so many years ago. So glad to see that it has all grown into such a huge and well-loved language learning course and book series, who have been helping language learners all over the world. Recently I made friend with a fellow language learner who lives way across the globe and guess what, she and I are both big fans of your work!
Anyway, thanks for sharing a more detailed version of this part of your life, I thought I knew all already but apparently I didn't! Somehow it has given me some reflection and insights on mine too. Thank you so much, as always.

[deepaksubramaniyan]

Vous êtes vraiment ma inspiration, Olly! Je suis Tamoul (Indien) et j'apprends le français.

[foreverlearningfrench]

Quelle histoire inspirante, Olly ! J'ai dû regarder cette vidéo deux fois. Tu es une vraie motivation.

[polyMATHY_Luke]

Great story, Olly! French was early in my journey as well and holds a special place in my heart.

[pushthedesign]

Hey Olly, I've been learning French for more than a year now and I think I've noticed something. French speakers say "for example" way more often than English speakers. When we English speakers give examples, we usually just give examples without saying actually the words "for example." But I regularly hear "par exemple" in French, so often that I could probably make a drinking game out of it.

[bernardfong]

One of the challenges of learning French, Spanish or Portuguese is its diversity of regional accents, argots and grammar. This is of course very pronounced in French as even within France there is a cacophony of local dialects. A Parisian for example can hardly understand a Marseillais let alone a Corsican. Some of us are too enamored of the variety from l'île de France to appreciate the other types. Then we go to Quebec, Acadia (New Brunswick), Martinique, Haïti, Louisiana (Cajun) and are bewildered by how their versions of French have acquired unique vocabularies and quirks that reflect their histories and experiences. Simply Parisian French is not the one and only. I recommend that we watch les Carnets de Julie wherein la présentatrice gives us glimpses, cadences and tastes that in sum is France in its entirety. Bonne journée.

[hughjones]

I am using the story learning method and it feels like it’s working. Thank you ❤️💪👍🏼