In France, there are times when it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it. I’ll be honest, I’ve not found it easy to learn French. I had schoolgirl French when I came here and after years of practice, I can understand French well enough to interview people, read a newspaper, watch a film and the news, I can even read French books. But even after all this time, I still struggle with the dreaded grammar rules.

To make it even more challenging to learn French, a lot of words have several definitions, baguette for instance doesn’t just refer to a long skinny loaf, it seems to refer to almost anything that is long and straight. For instance it means wand, baton and stick. Baguettes is also slang for skinny legs and your hair can be straight as baguettes. A magic wand is a baguette magique, and a handbag can be called a baguette. Context is important when speaking French.

Plus, there are some words which are so peculiarly French that there is simply no equivalent in English, like terroir which is used to describe the circumstances in which vines for instance grow, based on the local soil, weather and a few more things. Or flâneur, someone who likes to stroll just for the sake of it.

Talking French is about body language too – shoulder shrugs, eye rolls and hand gestures. And blowing raspberries. And other strange noises. ‘houp-là’s’ (whoops), ‘pfff’s’ (sigh), ‘oula’ (wow in a good way) and ‘oh la la’s’ (wow in a negative way). Occasionally it’s ‘oh la la la la la la’ – then you know it’s really serious.

So how do you learn French when it feels like nothing is going to work? For me it was all about immersion. Yes I live in France, but I speak English at home with my English family, I write and work in English, and my neighbours speak a different form of French from the rest of France – Ch’ti, patois with a very strong accent and a whole dictionary of words for things that are different from the French words.

Immersion for me was lessons on line with a teacher who kept me speaking French throughout the entire lesson. If I didn’t know a word, I’d have to find a way to explain what I meant in French. I’m at the level where I can do that, if you’re a beginner you’ll have a different experience. The first lesson was tough. I was exhausted afterwards, Léo, my teacher didn’t let me get away with anything! He sent me homework too.

I’ll be honest, I dreaded the second lesson, French grammar fills me with fear. But you know what? I got some of it right, and Léo coached me to understand why I was getting some things wrong. At the end of the second lesson I already felt I’d improved more than I had in months, possibly years! Léo was firm, but friendly and really encouraging, and you need that to keep going. Before the third lesson I’d been thinking up excuses to get out of it, but it went well. After that lesson I was thinking of signing up for more. I felt if 3 lessons  left me feeling so much more confident, what would ten do?

I signed up for more.

Within weeks I learned a whole new raft of words, and improved my grammar to the point that I no longer felt I was speaking like a three year old. And my confidence grew in leaps and bounds. The lessons are highly researched, designed to keep your knowledge, comprehension and confidence growing week by week.

Talking in French became more natural. My French friends noticed the difference, I got complimented for how well I was speaking French.

If you’re feeling like you really need or want to improve your French – you may find an online immersion is just the thing.

SLImmersion offer immersion courses in France, staying at the home of a teacher (which I did and found it was a really booster for my learning, a quick way to learn French), or online with a teacher (including Leo): slimmersion-france.com

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