I'm sorry if this has been asked before but I'm new to learning this(self taught), so I was wondering if there's any apps or sites that you would like to recommend? Or if there's any suggestions on where I should start with learning, or just tips in general. Thank you in advance and I hope you have a great day ahead!
Hi!
I'm a native french speaker, so I've only learned the language at school, but in my experience with other languages I've learned, I would say immersion through consuming content in your target language is the most important part of the learning process. (That is, if you're not in France already, cause that would be the ultimate immersion😅) So that could be TV shows, movies, YouTube videos, a french person on social media, etc. Hearing the language will help you a lot with pronounciation, comprehension, and memory. At the beginning, you won't retain much consciously, but your brain does remember things and it'll be easier when you study. You'll be able to call back to things you've heard and make connections that way, thereby making more out of your studying. Use subtitles to help you know what they're saying, so you can take notes when there's an expression or a sentence you want to remember!
I've used the apps Memrise and DuoLingo for languages. An app alone will not make you fluent, but it will give you a pretty good base from which to continue. I also recommend starting with an app so you can see if you actually enjoy the language!! Try it for a few days or more, and see how it feels. Maybe you'll be even more interested the more you learn, or the opposite will happen, and you'll realize you actually don't like the sound of it. Both are okay! If you're learning for leisure, don't pressure yourself with a specific idea that you have of a language. Get to know it a little so you can decide if you wanna dive in.
Then if you do want to keep going, do some writing exercises. Maybe write a paragraph or a sentence in a language you know, and try to write it a second time in French. Pick topics you love talking about, things that are central to your life, stuff you want to actually be able to say! You could even pick a celebrity, show or whatever, and write an introduction to them. The key, to me, is keeping the interest of learning alive, by using other things you're already interested in. That's another reason why immersion is important: you can find new things to like that are ALREADY in your target language, and it's very likely you'll be motivated by the desire to understand them without needing to translate.
Speak out loud to yourself!! Have fun with it! It will not be perfect, but you're learning, it doesn't matter! Repeat out loud sentences that you hear in the content you watch! I do this, and I love it. Exaggerate the accent, do impersonations of characters from shows or movies you watch. It lightens the mood when you study, and it also makes you remember what you're saying better.
When you feel you know enough to have a conversation with someone else, I'd definitely recommend reaching out to other people through apps like Tandem! If you're not exactly there yet, but you want some practice with interacting with others, try writing comments under french YouTube videos, or under posts by french people you follow on social media.
As for resources, I don't have experience with any bilingual website, but elearningfrench.com seems pretty good! If you're studying for school or work, I think the best option would be a grammar textbook. It's a resource you'll use throughout the learning process, so if you had to buy anything for French, it'd probably be that. There's gotta be more helpful websites for grammar, but I don't know them, unfortunately.
I hope this helps a bit! Thank you for your question, and I hope you have a nice day too. 😊 If you have any more questions, don't hesitate! 🐝
