How to become fluent in French ft Andy - Expat in France for 12 years.

Learn from Andy, who's been in France 12 years and is well and truly what most people would say is the definition of a fluent French speaker.

He's got the accent down and natural speech patterns of French natives. What does he attribute to his success? Was it just a matter of being here so long? Short answer: that helps a lot but is far from the whole story.

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#SpokenFrench #SpeakFrench #FrenchTips

[alannohlgren]

Ah, a man after my own heart. Andy speaks of reading what you're passionate about. True, one if my early breakthroughs in French fluency came from following the Tour De France & never missing an issue of L'Equipe during those 3 weeks in July. But the vocabulary, while beneficial, was limited & repetitive.
My real breakthrough came when I finally decided to take the deep dive & do in French what I'd done in English my entire adult life: that is, to read novels, but in French. My first attempt was a James Michener book of 900 plus pages, on Alaska. I was already familiar with his approach, having read a half a dozen of his quasi historical, 1, 000 page tomes focusing on various geographical areas.
It went slowly, & I took copious vocabulary notes.
I went on to read many novels, of English or American origin, but also (later) of French authors. Gradually I came to need fewer dictionary references & vocabulary notes. And the whole time, I was hanging with some of the greatest minds of our time.
Now my practice is to read every other book in French, still taking notes when I come across new vocabulary. These last few years here in the souuth of France, old telephone booths or bus stops converted to free mini-libraries have sprung up everywhere.
One can find anything from classic literature to contemporary fiction, crime novels & everything in between, & it's all for free. At the present moment I have enough paperbacks & hardbacks in French to last me a good couple of years...so that between talking to my French colleagues & friends, & other opportunities that pop up on a daily basis, I have a vast quantity of rich resources containing ideas, philosophy & adventure enough to satisfy my curiosity for years to come, on every imaginable subject.
Reading books, obviously, is not for everyone. But if you're one of those expats who does read books & wants to improve your French, it's an approach I highly recommend. Voila.

[amyloo]

I know this was posted a while ago now but I only just saw it. I really liked this. I live in France and am trying and trying to get better in French. It’s really comforting to hear this advice and the fact that you guys too experience that frustration and insecurity sometimes but that it’s mostly in our heads and we need to push through! Thank you!

[urbanstylistmelbourne]

This was so helpful to hear - Andy and Alex you both gave me such enthusiasm and confidence, I've wanted to learn French for 20 years and next year I am moving to France and am learning French intensively now... I have always loved French and am so excited, therefore I do care and do have passion about the language and the people. How amazing that is~!

[mackjay]

I certainly agree with your points. If I can single out one, about "caring". I really think some of us are "language" people. When Andy says he was interested, or fascinated before took on French seriously for 12 years. This shows he is open to it from an early age, the way we might be very open to music, or another skill. I do think anyone can become better at learning a new language, but some of us are just born to excel at it because he never see it as a chore or, as you say, "homework". I applaud your advice to imitate when you hear French: by all means, this is an essential tool. If you don't know a native speaker, you can do it when watching a French film, or Youtube videos--repeat what you're hearing and listen to yourself as you do it. I lived with a French family for a while. They knew very little English so I had to speak and listen (plus, I wanted to learn it). I know we can't all immerse ourselves that way, but to me it was a major influence in my learning. If you're not a natural 'language person' don't despair, you can still pick up quite a lot.

[TheCMLion]

My husband often corrects me, while saying, "I know you want your French to be perfect." No, I want to be understood. Perfection may come in time, but right now, I just want to be able to hold a conversation. I want to be understood--and to understand. Trying to get an ear for the language (particularly with slang) is really hard for me.

[Scrotumdepoulpe]

As a french, I can say : yeah, he really sounds french.
Even when he speak english, he sounds french... =D

[RussBraby]

12 ans, increable! Merci pour cette video Alex!

[urbanstylistmelbourne]

oh my god the BLOOPERS at the That was so funny seeing you both cracking up... LOVE it!!!

[richardvergara]

That is a duo I'd love to French.

[kerrya]

Love the pins and love the advice! Great to hear about Andy's language learning journey... thanks for the inspiration :)

[mikehandley]

I work as a storeman at a local hardware store. I often look at the products, because instructions for what they're about and how to use them are often in several languages, and I like to read the French translation of the English instructions.

[idems]

For sure he used the right amount of mimic and gesture lilke a true french ( at least most of us)
laccent est tres tres bon

[theboyfromxtown]

Some very good suggestions there. Thank you Alex and Andy.

[amabledunn]

Thank you very good tips!! They really helped me!! Merci

[drmichaelelinski]

Les astuces dont vous parliez sont formidables. Lire au sujets qui t’intéresse est vraiment important. Cela enrichit ton vocabulaire. Trouver un francophone natif qui est patient m’aide beaucoup aussi. J’aurais aimé entendre parler ton ami. C’est dommage que ce soit entièrement en français.

[pinkbullcue]

Really good video and very inspiring. Thanks for the lesson

[rogernichols]

Les conseils pour mieux parler français sont excellent mais on aurait bien voulu entendre comment Andy se débrouille dans la langue.

[Januarymay]

Always find your content valuable! Oh I wish the video was longer!! Lol

[kimerswell]

Lot's of good advice from, Andy and yourself. From my experience of learning Welsh, advice given to me to concentrate on my pronunciation and imitating others was of great help; along with reading and using materials that interested me personally.
For my French leisure study I love watching and listening to, Sud Radio, who broadcast live on YouTube. This gives me access to lots of French news stories but also to watch peoples facial expressions and gestures. Good chance to hear loads of different voices too. Happy that - after a year I can follow about 50% and continually increasing my voculbary
Also, I actually enjoy making mistakes which have given me and others loads of laughs....Merci á tous les deux!

[bookspaintings]

This comment is for the algorithm. Enjoying the channel.