French Language
French has long been recognized as the most romantic language in the world. Its capital, Paris, too is known as the romantic capital of the world. Indeed, French is a beautiful language with its raw nature, complexities, tongue-twisters, purity, and significance in the world language Ethnologue. It is one of the most widely spoken languages of the world.
It was taken to lands far and wide by the French colonists who migrated to continents for trade and later exercised their military influence on those lands, thereby establishing huge colonies and ruling the subjects or the lands’ original inhabitants. The French language began to be taught to the local populations to facilitate ease of communication while practicing trade and holding official positions to govern the populations.
Today, a large part of the European population, many people staying in a number of African countries, people settled in some parts of Asia, and a significant proportion of the population in some American countries speak French as either their first language or a second or third language.
Moreover, many people worldwide, especially philologists, archaeologists, language nerds, and linguaphiles, all those who have immense love for learning languages and new words, have always been fascinated and enthralled by the beauty and the secrets of the French language.
Learning French
Is it, but, possible for anyone to learn French without spending a huge monetary sum on French classes, or French learning courses? Is it possible to learn French from a distance without spending much time commuting to physical classroom training? Are there resources for learning French that come free of cost? How effective are they?
Yes, there are a few resources that are free of cost, available for learning French. Let us see what they are.
Free resources for learning French:
Google translate
Google translate is one excellent source to learn basic French vocabulary or core French words. When one types a word in English or another known language, and selects ‘French’ as the target language, the word is translated into French, letting a learner know what the word is called in French.
French phonetics dictionary
Online French dictionary or special French phonetics dictionaries assisted with audio recording of each syllable helps a beginner of French learning understand the sound of every syllable very clearly. One can listen to a character or syllable’s pronunciation or even a word as many times as one requires.
Online free words search and translation assistance software
On the internet, one can search for the meaning of a French word or search for the word or term used to mention something in French. Even translation aid tools provide a lot of help in learning new words. One can download these tools or softwares, and can get instant translation of words and phrases.
Youtube videos / podcasts
French language experts use this channel on a wide scale to help beginners with onboarding the learning process. There are many who wish to learn a new language, but hesitate to speak to anyone in the target language. Such videos or podcasts play a major role in making novices in French get the required confidence to start learning french, and speaking in French with a person who already knows French.
French BBC news broadcast
Listen to French BBC news broadcast over radio or television. If one watches the news on television, there is an added advantage in the sense that one can watch the videos and understand what word is used to mention something.
Free online French books content
There is content from a lot of French learning books available online. Lessons from the books are available to be read and even listened to if narrated in the form of stories, assisted by audio recordings or audio-visual recordings. Books could vary in subjects; it could be French grammar, basic French vocabulary, advanced French, French for beginners, essential to advanced level French, French for travelers, etc.
Story books for kids
Some might find this suggestion funny or even stupid. For beginners, but, it is an excellent source to learn the basics of a language quickly. Pictures accompany the text, making it easier for a learner to know what or whom the story is about. Core French vocabulary can develop quickly with the help of this resource.
Online apps
Language training institutes, nowadays, have their own apps to assist French learners in self-learning. These apps have lessons right from the basics of French up to the advanced levels. One needs to create accounts on these apps, log in to the accounts, and start learning a lesson. Some quizzes are fun to play and help learn a language by oneself.
All these resources are beneficial and helpful to a French learner in some ways. They are free, they can be accessed at any time as per the convenience of a user, etc. One must also remember but that not everything comes for free. Self-learning with the help of these resources does good to a learner of French language, but to a limited extent. If one wishes to master a language like a pro, one must look for a more reliable and trustworthy resource for learning French – Online French learning sessions. A systematic online French learning course benefits a student, anytime, more than self-learning does. Such online language learning classes are generally conducted via audio-visual mode, wherein, an instructor or French tutor can interact with the student on-screen, in real-time, and clear his or her doubts right then and there. A student can watch the movements of the instructor’s mouth to understand how to make the movement of facial muscles to make a specific sound.
Thus, we understand that to augment the learning process, one must complement the free resources to learn French with an excellent online French learning course.
