5 French language learning truths you MUST remember when you're stressed out 

You are awesome with communication, learning, and raw, reality-based circumstances 👏! Will you in incorporate more French in these videos as they are? You're content is on point!

Such a great video Diane and things so many French learners will need to hear at some point. Often more than once! And number 5 is underrated, but as you say, the little things really do count!

This is great advice for language learners who are stuck or reached a plateau.

Thank you for the wonderful pep talk. I am so glad I found you. You are my pandemic binge :-).

Do any of your truths speak to me? All of them!! Great video, Diane, especially for people who are learning a foreign language. I went through ALL of this with German. I was a German major, but when I first came to Germany, my thought was also that the fun and games are over; this is now REAL! 😺 When I went to Paris for 8 weeks last year, I changed trains in Cologne and got on the Thalis, and I had exactly the same thought: Now it‘s REAL! There was also that sense of nervousness, but I realized that it was excitement as well. What a difference between the shy young man of 23 and the mature man with so much life experience now. Confidence is so important, and you can make yourself appear confident, even when you‘re not. Most of the students in my French class in Paris were young people around 20, and teachers kept having to ask them to speak up, especially with the masks. My experience in teaching English to foreigners also helped; I knew I had to speak up and I knew how to do it. Those poor kids became even more hesitant when asked to speak up. Ask the Bard said: Screw your courage to the sticking point! Speak up! You‘ll be surprised at how much confidence that will give you as well. Believe me, I know - easier said than done! But it becomes easier with time. And listen to Diane. Great advice!

Good, practical tips! Hope all is well with you and yours.

franchisement, j’adore la France spécialement: la culture Française, la campagne, fromages, patisseries Françaises et les pains.

Unless for very few ambigious words, making a mistake betweenn masculine and feminine does not hurt the comprehension. We in France know that French is a difficult, complex language, so we forgive many grammar mistakes. And I would add a sixth tip: make a complete sentence. for example if your are looking foir the toilets in a public place:, do not say "toilettes?", if you mispronunce the diphtongue "oi", nobody will understand that you need to go to the loo, but if you just say "où sont les toilettes?" then we will understand that you are looking for a particular place and we will easily guess it is the toilets. Making a full sentence creates context and helps a lot to the comprehension. The example of the toilets is a real story that happened to me. I was looking a the results of an exam in my univeristy and a foreign student came to me and asked "tohilet". I thought he was searching a student name is the displayed list, it took me some time to understand his real need. So make a simple but complete sentence, it helps a lot.

Thanks, all of your tips are useful. Like you I tend to beat myself up even now that I’ve gotten to a fairly advanced level. Now when I make a mistake, especially a simple mistake, I get so frustrated. I tell myself I shouldn’t make a mistake like that! I promise to work on it. Your last tip is practical and very useful. I’m soft spoken and the pitch of my voice seems to match background noise so people ask me to repeat myself sometimes. I need to use that tip even in English.

Wow look at those nails!

hello i'm a swiss man and i don't speak english....but for me a stranger people who try to speak my language..in first ..respect ! after the accent is nothing....all people have accent...in switzerland we have 3-4 differents accent in french...in france much more....and each region have one.....! don't focus your energy for erase your accent...and your accent it's you and not another people. an exemple... my best friend have married a english woman and now she have 20 yo in switzerland....she have always her cute english accent and she make always the fault with the female / male name....but it's understanding for a french people and she have no problems to talk because....she talk and if you are not happy.....F...ck off ! truth 5.....i'm very ok with you...and for me speak is better...some faults ? no problems and remember you that the french people make some fault in french too....be happy to speak with your accent and faults.....and make the choice of your friends because a good friends don't juge you....! sorry for my long text and my bad knowledge in english...my grammar faults, my accent faults ...but i try to learn again and more....! greetings from switzerland

Bonjour! I'm a American woman in my 50's..all my life I've tried to learn French and failed ..as you know most Americans only speak one language (English) even in high school there was French German and Spanish..I took French because of my name and looked French..lol!..no French in me as far as I know even if I lived close to Canada lol..French Canadian completely throws me off..lots of slang ..If I was thrown into a French family or France..maybe I would succeed a bit..but I find as I get older my attention span is diminishing..and my French friends are trying to understand me..its been a struggle all my life..but I still try in the darkest of times.Thank you for that uplifting message about French and confidence..especially when that beautiful language of French is so intimidating. Merci❤🌹

I’ve been trying to do a little French everyday especially during lockdown. Totally agree that consistency is key. I wish I could say I’ve come on in leaps and bounds but I have made progress (not perfection!) Great tips. Merci.

Diane, comme vous etes gentilles! I'm a Canadian that is relearning French and my listening comprehension has always been rather non-existent. Your channel is a gold mine. The retail therapy during COVID lockdown is an added bonus!

Love this, exactly what I needed to hear at the moment!

Dear Dianne. Love your short watchable videos. These truths are so valid for every day life especially the last one which I thought was not just applicable to learning a language but for life in general. Confidence is quite important and makes it easier for the other person as well yourself. Excellent

This is so helpful. I am intimidated in class and have taken a break. This makes me feel like I should start again and just be consistent.

An accent is not a defect.... as long as you’re understood.

I have a friend who is Lebanese, and she spoke french. I recall when she told me that the first few years in the US were the hardest. But, after 6 years, she started to dream in English! And that's when she knew she had a grasp at the English language. And now she speaks it very well. Accent and all. It is all about repetition and memory too. I am supposed to be a Spanish speaker because of my Hispanic heritage. But I am not. I am a very good listener but I still cannot grasp it only because they speak a sort of slang in this part of the state that makes it harder to understand. Tex-Mex is a slang between English and Spanish and it makes it harder to grasp the language because it can vary between proper Spaniard-Spanish or Mexican-Spanish. I tend to try and speak proper Spanish but it ends up coming out funny to actual Spanish speakers. Mainly I can hear and understand some of it. But I cannot answer you in Spanish, just English. It's kind of the same with french too. I hard to learn the cooking terms in culinary school at LeCordon Bleu. So I could say "Oui Chef" and answer the cooking terminology but not speak the full sentences. We have many german towns around central Texas so we do get to learn some German, Polish and even a little bit of Swedish. Great share. I look forward to many more of your videos. Thank you.

These advices are when learning any language!

There is something Diane doesn't say about French... We spent a lot of time to autocorrect ourselves. We also make a lot of mistakes in our own native language! So make mistakes, you will get corrected, you learn. Un/une quiche ! And there are tons of accents across France: a Marseillaise will sound different in Savoie! It's normal! Just be cool with it!

I agree with your tips. However, just being in-country is a huge advantage because one is totally immersed in the language and the culture. That in itself allows for the greatest learning in the shortest amount of time.. Don't be afraid. Jump in.. The water is fine.........

What you said about accent is so comforting. It is really helpful to hear that accent is nothing bad. Thanks for shaing this.

Bonjour Diane - this is the first video of yours that I have ever watched, and I would like to say merci. I needed this today, so much so that I wrote down your 5 suggestions to refer back to on a "blah" day. You give me hope. Je vous remercie!

Thank you, I'll watch this again the next time that I get discouraged. I noticed in one of your shots you had a copy of Resnick's Essential French Grammar. I have that but I also stumbled across a book in a used book store that I've found much more helpful, it's called "English Grammar for Students of French" by Jacqueline Morton. It does a good job of comparing and contrasting the grammar in both languages. You might want to look for a copy.

Prepositions are always the hardest parts!

I'm Just a Beginner to learn French : 1)More focus on Grammar or Vocabulary initially 2)Pls can you suggest some resources : Websites, Apps, Books etc - all data in one place 3) I am learning on my own, can get wrong on many points..if there is any suggestions from you..r welcome 4)in any French Dictionary there r Million words in series but I want to memories only ones that are more essential -do u have Any source of shortlisted Words? + pronounciation too so that I learn & know the right words instead of searching first in English & then French.. pls do suggest 5)do u have a whats app group? If needed for assistance sometimes.

You are absolutely charming - delightful!

Frustration: The better you get, the harder it is to see any progress! I've been speaking French for years and am somewhere between C1 and 2 . But my standards have risen and I want to speak like THEM - and obviously I never will. I live with it most days, but sometimes I really feel frustrated no matter how often the French tell me, "Mais non!" How do you deal with this, Diane?

You are an excellent teacher and motivator.

3:25 Exactly. Bad news first, 95% of foreign people I met had an accent when speaking french. Good news is 95% of french people I know love foreign accents especially american accent. So don't worry about it too much, as long as you do your best, it won't stop people from understanding what you want to say, and most of them will probably think it's cool anyway.

Diane, As you learn a language (I speak fluent French and German) your vocabulary keeps expanding. Nobody ever tells you that, but you have to learn food expressions; pharmacie expressions; medical and dental expressions; technical expressions; hardware terms; and it never stops. In Germany I very occasionally would hear a WWII German Army word; you hve to learn to stop the speaker and ask what that was and its meaning, because it might be a year before you hear it for the second time. Another thing to stress is open your mouth and talk.... your accent might not be correct; your grammar might not be correct; but opening your mouth and talking is the difference between not being able to talk with someone else and not knowing what they are saying. Don't be afraid to stop and ask... Then you make progress....

Great video! Thanks for the positive encouragement!

Thank you for sharing this. I am currently learning French using Pimsleur and really enjoying it. Your video is a great and useful addition to my learning experience. Thank you.

I'm glad you called out people's hang-up over an accent as I've watched many a You Tube videos which were focused on how to sound French, instead of how to speak the language to be understood.

Thanks for the encouragement and tips! Heading to France for a few months to practice after choosing learning French as my lockdown hobby. I’m going to need all the help I can get! 😊

What WONDERFUL advice. Thanks so much for giving it bb

Tes conseils m’ont beaucoup appris. Merci beaucoup, t’est tres gentil. ❤️❤️ Au fait, je n’ai pas parlé Français depuis longtemps! Alors, qu’est-ce que tu penses?

Please say something about ACCA job profiles in France

I've given up on trying to say on or under,it sounds exactly the same.i get round it by saying either la or en bas 😆

Where did you begin to learn French or do you have any apps that could be useful because I am unable to get a french teacher but would really love to learn the language🙂

You became so much French congratulations!!!!!!!

Merci beaucoup Diane Je needed to hear this! Merci 😊🙏

Loved the reminder that "you're going to get better at what ever you put the time and effort into".

Thank you so much. This is of great help !! Please do a video on how to find a house/apartment on rent in Paris.

J'ai pensé l'ensemble de l'UE a parlé de l'anglais comme langue seconde il y a comme j'étais dans les Pays-Bas et n'a eu aucun problème

Love this! It makes me feel better and ok with wherever I am in my French language learning.

Thank you for the tips and encouragement. I also appreciate your smiles and energy and enthusiasm for learning French.. and your blogs and RU-vid channel is very interesting, informative and entertaining. 🌷

I so appreciate your channel. I am so frustrated with myself whenever I think about my journey with French. I took French all throughout middle school and high school. By graduation, i considered myself conversationally fluent. Years later, I’ve lost contact with my European and French-speaking friends I met online. Now, understand more than I speak. Ugh.

I learned to speak a foreign language on my own. Didn't have a tutor or go to classes. I am Australian and learned to speak Indonesian while living and working in East Java for 3 years. Every day I would select two words from the Indonesian/English/Indonesian Dictionary. Useful words. Two words that would be used in everyday speech. I would ask my Indonesian colleagues (who spoke English) the correct pronunciation and use of those words and then I would go crazy and use those two words all day in as many ways as I could think of. . .. Often I was wrong, and my work colleagues would correct me. It didn't matter that I went on to two new words the next day. I was just immersing myself in the language. Often I would suddenly remember a word, weeks or even months later, that I had forgotten. It would just pop back into my memory. . easily. Without having to rack my mind to remember it. The other thing I would do, once or twice a week is to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger. I would, of course explain that I am trying to improve my language skills. It's amazing how when you listen to different people. Old people. Young people. City people. Farmers. How you will learn to LISTEN carefully to what is being said. People would sometimes use abbreviations, slang, sometimes even dialects. they would slur their words or speak very fast etc. I wouldn't always understand everything, but it really helped me to listen carefully and have to work out what was being said *quickly* by the other person . . Can't stop and look up a word or rewind and replay. . Just focus.

Just go to Montreal and practice your French.

You look very pretty

I do love these suggestions, those just hit the points when I learn French and speak French. Haha, just feel like I am not worst, I am just normal. Feel more confidence to continue to learn now. Thanks Diane. :)

I’m learning Italian because I’m planning on moving to Italy one day. I also learned French for two years in high school and I’ve forgotten a lot of it. I really want to get back to it when my Italian get to the intermediate level. French is a beautiful language besides Italian. I find your videos very helpful and inspiring. Thanks Diane. You’re great. Lily from Florida, USA

Oui 🌞 Merci

wise indeed

Thank you for this video! This is going in my saved file for when I need the encouragement :)

Thank you very much for this! I can be so hard on myself when I make a mistake while speaking in my Zoom French class. I am trying to learn to get past that!

P.S. I love your videos!

What is the proper and/or correct way to write "Knight of the Silver Clouds" in French? Is it "Chevalier des Nuages d'Argentis"?

Diana, you are right about being made fun of when speaking. I'm a French man who immigrated to California over thirty years ago, I did not speak a word of English and had to learn by going out of my comfort zone and meeting people. For several years I was frustrated by people making fun of the way I spoked asking me to repeat several times the same words when I knew they understood me perfectly, when I realized it was their stupidity and not my way of speaking, I decided to ignore those individuals and felt a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It took me one and a half years to learn and understand English, I was not 100% fluent but as you mentioned in time I learned more vocabulary and today I have no problem conversing. One thing a French man told me at the beginning was "the day you dream in English will be the day you can start speaking and understand," I have to admit he was right. For those of you who want to learn a language, don't be afraid, get out of your comfort zone, and surround yourself with people who speak the language, you will be amazed by your progress. By the way, I still have a strong French accent, and I'm proud of it. Pouvoir parler un autre language est tres gratifiant.

Please, change the echo in your room. Maybe add furniture.