HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN FRENCH? 

I learned English at school (I'm French). I always loved it and never stopped improving my knowledge, although I'm far from fluent. Today, I spend a lot of time translating from English to French. I'd say that learning a language takes an entire life. And that includes your mother tongue!

Raised by a French Canadian grandmother I grew up hearing bits here and there. Then, 2 years of high school french I sometimes dream in french but am FLUENT in my dreams..... What a joy

I have studied French in 3 different times in my life. I took 2 years in high school, I took 2 classes in my late 30’s and I took 2 years of classes in my 50’s while living in France. Even though I was living in France, I found it more difficult in my 50’s. I am now navigating medical French as I deal with a new diagnosis. I pleased when I can understand more than I think I do. I’m not able to completely answer back correctly, but I am able to get my point across. I do find I am exhausted after speaking French for a few hours.

Diane, I can’t even begin to tell you how much you have helped me in my journey to learn about French language and culture. As an American planning to retire in France in the near future I have taken your advice and continue to learn as much as I can about these things to help better prepare for the transition. As I am just beginning to move into the intermediate level, I realize that there is still so much more to learn and that it is a life-long process. But that excites me! People are always so quick to want everything to happen overnight and nothing in life works that way! I just wanted to let you know that you make this such a great experience for so many of us and we appreciate it so much.

It varies. But total immersion and the right support tools really help a lot. Bonne chance a tous!

When I studied German in high school the goal was learning to read German and learn how to look up German words one didn't learn in school. As an older adult, I've find that my goals are more related to learning to understanding spoken German and speaking it. That is a very different task.

English is my first (and mostly only) language, and I'm still learning it *lol*

Hi Diane, as you pointed out, there’s no universally agreed on definition of fluency. My definition is being able to converse with native speakers on a wide variety of typical topics without significant difficulty on either side. My French language exchange partners tell me that I’m fluent and a few different French teachers have told me that my French is advanced. But I still make mistakes and I’m still constantly learning. It took me 4 to 5 years and I started when I was 62. However, I am retired and have spent thousands of hours learning French. I have a lot more time than most people so my results are not typical. I also have a kind of obsessive personality, which drives my wife crazy but is useful for language learning.

I began learning French in 1967. I am fairly fluent but language changes over time. I'm doing duolingo and Rosetta Stone as review and what they teach now is subtly different than what I learned. (which is why I'm refreshing) Its a process that doesn't end.

Very well put Diane. It's like how long is a piece of string and just how motivated are you. We just immersed in it by only watching French TV which helped and speaking to our neighbours. There's no definitive answer,everyone is different. I'm learning every day and that's after 16 years here.

You’ve nailed this. I’m 53 and I know I can’t get by in French and even make jokes but I still can’t read a poetic description of the sea in French without checking the vocabulary. Everyday language is usually intermediate plus.

France is such a beautiful language . I took 5 years in school in my elementary years. Don’t remember much . Going to Paris 1st time last year I loved how beautiful the language is and I was so surprised how soft they speak and so elegant . 💝

I started learning French when I was probably about 7. studied it at school/college from 11-18 and visited the country 6 or 7 times and have been doing Duolingo for about 4 years.. Am I fluent in French? Hell no .. though I could probably order meals and drinks ok and have a simple conversation -but could I *fully* follow a play or movie or even a fast paced news bulletin full of colloquialisms and street talk.. nope. No chance

Your comments are all spot on (as usual when you discuss these topics). The questions are actually meaningless, but the people who ask them are generally seriously interested in hearing your response, so you don’t just brush them off. Want to be able to order your croissant and a café au lait in the café every morning? You’ll be fluent in about 3 days (as long as you don’t forget the magic words “Bonjour”, “S’il vous plaît” and “Merci!”). Want to discuss quantum mechanics with leading physicists? You’re in for the long haul! Hugo Cotton has a video (or maybe a podcast) on his channel “innerfrench” that gently points out the meaninglessness of the question by saying it takes a native French speaker 30 years to learn the language properly!

Your videos are always so timely and on point. Thank you Diane. Hope life is treating you well.

Great answers. I lived in France for a year and a half, have a masters degree in French and have taught it. I am more or less fluent but still am learning and will come across words and expressions I don’t know. It’s always a journey. That said with some topics like you said, I don’t even know all the words in English and it’s my native language. 😂 I would say most people need to expect to study a language for at least a year to get to the point where they are reasonably comfortable. I’ve also learned Spanish not as well as French, and that’s about how long it took for me to communicate with native speakers at a decent level.

I have been exposed to Italian for 4 years and I’ve been living in Italy for almost 2 years. I’m confident in communicating with Italian friends and I can walk in to any business and somewhat confidently explain what I want/need. Understanding Italians on the phone? That’s another level and may take a bit more time.

Bonsoir, everyone. I enjoyed your video, Diane. Thank you for your insight.

Great video, thank you. I studied French in school from the seventh to the twelfth grades. Could read French, but was never able to speak it. When I spent a month in Paris as an adult, I was surprised how much of it came back, and I was able to stumble through basic interactions. Now, I've been re-learning online for almost three years, using Duolingo and RU-vid. I'm better than I was at school, but am not having conversations with actual people. My studies are confined to time spent at my desk doing lessons. So I would definitely not say I'm fluent.

Thank you so much for this video. I’ve just finished my first year working in France and I still struggle a lot. When people back home ask me if I’m fluent I have no idea what to say (no, yes, sometimes??). It makes me feel like I should be more advanced by now. I was always told “oh, after 6 months there you’ll be fluent” but in my experience that is so untrue! I know I’m improving, it’s just a really up and down, slow process- and it takes a lot of confidence that I don’t always feel! Thank you for sharing your experience- it gives me hope it’ll be ok if I just keep trying xx

Terrific post! So many of the comments prove how spot-on you were with this topic. All of us who have been studying French for years know it’s never over! It’s a complicated language that even the French admit is a challenge! And languages have so many layers to success - written, oral, reading. Je ne parlerais jamais “couramment”, mais j’aime le défi de faire de mon mieux!!

Hi there! I really loved your video as I've been through conversations with similar questions as you mentioned. I've first moved to France in 2019 for 7 months. Back then I was 22 and I intended to learn some French, but only to make my life easier there. Since that, I've been moving back and forth between my country and France as my boyfriend is French. And we fell in love, he proposed me, so I will permanently move to France. And for me it basically took 1,5 years from level 0 in 2019, to eventually start speaking with people. Until one specific moment I just listened, and then something just clicked in my mind, and I started speaking at a soirée. And everyone was just looking at me like wooow. But until this point I had so many headaches at the end of the long days that I spent by listening to the language. And I truly agree, it's really a life-long process and there is always something new to learn! Really great video!!

just take 2 or 3 french boyfriends at the same time. you will learn faster and make a few guy happy along.

It sometimes depends on how fast someone speaks it's harder to keep up

I'm French and it's a common saying that learning English is way easier than the other way around

Wonderful presentation Diane.

In Canada (Ontario) we start French in Grade 4' and continue until high school. You can continue through high school as an elective if you want. I felt we got a lot of vocabulary and basic speaking through those years and studied grammar though it didn't stick. I did a minor in French through university but lost a lot after as I didn't keep practicing speaking. To me that's the most important skill, the vocabulary I learned is in there somewhere and once I keep practicing speaking the vocabulary resurfaces The grammar comes back too but people are forgiving of mistakes when you're making an effort.

I studied French in high school and college but I didn’t believe I would ever be fluent. I took it just for the grade. But many years later when I decided to move to France my motivation was very different and I'd experienced success in doing a variety of difficult things in life, so it was easier for me to stay the course even when it felt hard. Now I'm happy to say I passed the TCF exam which will allow me to apply for a 10 year resident card or French citizenship, should I decide to go down that path.😀

Like you, Diane, I am still learning! The slowest part for me is the actual speaking, as I have no people to converse with. Some day I may get around to doing one of the speaking apps to help. But I have been learning French since High School, which is way more than 50 years! So my advice is to hang in there and try to actually practice speaking with others. I can read the Bible in French, but that doesn't help when you're in a laundromat, trying to get change. lol Enjoyed this content!

I admire your honesty. The truth is that is never enough.... You learn the languge all your life.

Background: 67 year old native English speaker, born and raised in the U.S. I took three years of high school Latin, learned “tourist” German while living in Germany, and I took two years of college-level Spanish. I am somewhat fluent in Spanish. I also dabbled in Portuguese for a few weeks and gave up. I am currently learning French, having done so for three years. I would rate myself as an advanced beginner in French. How long does it take to learn French? I agree with what she says about how long it takes. It depends on the individual and how motivated you are to learn French. For me, Spanish was easy, after taking Latin in high school. As far as French goes, it’s significantly harder for me to learn than Spanish. Portuguese and German are more difficult to learn than French.

Agreed, language learning never ends. My first language is Russian, English language is my second. I bet, you can find some mistakes, even in the few sentences, I am writing here. I don't live in Russia for over 25 years now. But when I visit, I pick up a few new phrases or a new words. Languages evolve constantly, just like life. Sadly.

I did French and German at university for four years after studying both languages at school. Uni was full on learning and only after the end of my 3rd year did I feel “comfortable “ in both languages. We did get sent to live in both countries and that helped enormously. But it’s true you never stop learning -as in life generally !

In my opinion the question means after how long will you be able to have a fluent conversation in most of the situations of everyday life ? And my answer is : if you are literate and study a few hours per day = 3 years. But be careful : most of the people don't make this effort !

I had 4 years of French in high school and 1 in college. Never had the opportunity to use it much despite loving the language. I found your videos and decided to take a refresher course. Not for any specific reason but because I hope to visit Paris in the future. I just love learning the language and your blog and videos rekindled that passion.

It really does depend on the student and how much effort they're willing to put into it. Plus how fluently the student wants to speak French as well too.

Hi Diane. Excellent coverage of this topic. - Evan (from Canada)

Oof, so much nuance to answer those questions! I would like to answer with "How long did it take you to learn English?" On average, I'd say a 7-year-old child is fluent in English- they don't know all the vocabulary/grammar rules, but they can hold a sustained conversation. Note, however that the child has been in full, 100% immersion for the last 7 years. I like to remind myself of that when I feel despondent about my level of fluency in French (I've been living in France for the last 2 years, but I speak English at home with my husband, so no 24/7 immersion).

Indeed , well said , I've been studying french for only six months, it's starting to come , but you are right , it takes time and dedication to truly Master the language, I've been listening to native French speakers , talking at speed , and trying to understand as much as possible , and after six months I can understand more words and key phrases when I started , I could only make out Bonjour

For me, all I want is be able to feel comfortable in conversation. I live in Canada and have studied French since I was 7 years old until my first year of University. I feel like my French used to be pretty good and I could get around in any French speaking place. However, I have not used French in many many years. ( I am now in my 50s) i speak much more German now and I struggle to remember my French.After I had children my traveling stopped and it seems that I forgot a lot of my French language skills. i have been traveling a lot more since my children are now young adults. I travel mostly to German and i can also practice my German at home with my mom. I am traveling to France this May and I am nervous about my lack of conversational French, when in the past this was no problem.

I took 3 years in school then I just stopped. I didn’t think I’d use it again. A funny story was when I was in Germany my children needed to use the restroom and I practiced all the way up to the register and I got there and it came out in French which surprised me! The lady stared at me then the kids did the pee-pee dance (which is universal) and she pointed. When the pandemic hit I thought it was a good time to start again. I have been doing it online since.

People will often ask, “Do you speak fluently?” The problem is that everyone’s definition of fluency is different. Some people view being able to carry on a basic conversation and performing day to day tasks as being fluent. Others who can do those tasks still don’t consider themselves “fluent” especially if they don’t always know the word that they’d like to use and end up saying things a different way.

I think what's implied in the questions is how long does it take for french to sound reasonably comprehensible for the learner, and for the learner to sound comprehensible with it as well, with the given factors considered like practice, method and exposure.

Hi. They say French is the easiest language to forget! I’ve been studying French for years, but hardy ever practised it. Basically no chance to practise it! And when I do have a chance, my brain freezes! When a French speaker speaks to me, I go like : huh 🤔? I am seriously thinking to switch to Italian, far much easier. In Arabic, which is my mother tongue, we call Itaian language the language of birds. Absolutely love it. It makes me sad that I’ve not managed French, even after years! 😭. Sorry…..

I think you make the most progress one you overcome the fear of making mistakes. Also, you need to change the ratio of consumption to production to the latter. Find someone with whom you can practice either locally or online and just go for it ! You will never be "fluent" (as like a native) but you can shoot for "fluid" with success.

Thank you! I took Spanish for three years in high school. Am I fluent? Nah, but I can talk to people in Spanish and l love it! It is amazing how language does tie into culture and values. I'd like to learn Italian but I think I'll take some time to learn French. For me and my ears, it is hard for me to discern the differences in many French words. They sound so similar to me, so I will tackle the tougher one first 😊. I plan to take classes here at the University.

Thank you so much for this Diane. My dad is French but we mainly spoke English at home so I didn't truly grow up bilingual. Even though I've worked really hard to improve my French, I still have total imposter syndrome and am always correcting my friends when they introduce me to other francophone people as "the french speaker" of the group. I am trying to move to France in the next 6-12 months but am still held up by my fear that my French isn't good enough. Your videos, especially this one, help to boost my courage and confidence.

When I learned my second language, I felt like I was creating a new brain!! 😂

I feel so good reading, writing and even speaking, but my listening skills.... make me want to cry. I can never understand anything. And French is my second language. When I listening in Spanish or German, it is so much easier, but I feel so stuck with my French listening skills..... I legit can read books and understand the content, 85-90% but you could say something basic to me and it's like my brain cannot comprehend what is being said. I don't know what it is about French... I don't know how to fix it other than to just keep listening... but I can't get over the fact that everything sounds like it's being spoken at super sonic speeds. I do not experience this with German or Spanish (and these aren't even languages I really study - I have just dabbled a bit on duolingo because I teach ESL). Je me sens très triste....

I’ve lived alone in Paris and travelled all over France for 3 months. No French other than Bonjour, etc. I use English occasionally, but pretty much my communication is just going along with the context. Establishing yourself would be a different story, but just “being” in France is easy to do with little if any French.

A lifetime. I'm still learning

Before I started learning French, I would have asked that same question. To me, it means how long does it take before you can carry on a basic dialogue with a French speaker? I started learning French in the 90s, I have had dialogues with French people who knew no English, but my level waxes and wanes, depending on my confidence with and exposure to the language. I started learning Spanish a few years after learning French and I don't feel like I struggled as much because there are a lot of similarities with French, especially with grammar. Ultimately, it depends on the individual, how much time they are willing to invest in the language and their motivation to learn the language. I don't know if I will ever get to a really fluent level, but I'm OK with that. I just keep plugging along spending time daily on French.

Great video!! I took two years of French in high school. My teacher was an amazing lady from France. When I watch French language shows, I am able to pick out words that I remember but without the subtitles, I would be lost. Would it be possible to do a video on different French dialects? I know it would just scratch the surface a tiny bit.

I took two years of French in college in the US and then studied in Belgium at a Flemish university for 4 years and took one French course there to compare to what I had learned. One thing about community college compared to university classes in America is, at a community college, very often the instructor is a full professor, where at a university, the first year instructors are often student instructors. Not all community college teachers are professors, but you can find out which classes have a full professor teaching. Also the first year classes are much smaller at community college than at a university. For first year language classes, community college is often better than at a university, even for second year too.

Studying/lessons plus immersion is the only way.

I did French at High School for 6 years and then 4 years at university. I could read and write perfectly but conversation required a lot of thought. I then moved to France, originally for 9 months but stayed on. It's easy to claim to be fluent even though this involves thinking about an answer in your own language, translating into French and then saying the words perfectly. This isn't being fluent. Fluency is when you shut out your own language and think only in French. It took me a year or two to reach this stage and I eventually began dreaming in French. When I knew I would be returning to the UK, I found myself imagining conversations and having to translate from French into English. I am now perfectly fluent, even using the subjunctive without a thought and can have three-way conversations in English, French and German. PS: I forgot to say I've been living in France for 49 years and was even asked by a French lady to give French lessons to her son.

I started doing an online Italian language course to help me become fluent. I learned Italian in high school because my mom is 100% Italian so I wanted to be able to communicate with my grandma/nonna although she speaks English great.

Although I agree with you generally, you can also ask the question in a common sense way. of course someone could ask you " where are you? " And you can say that there are many ways to answer that question. That 1 is by saying that you are on planet Earth. The other one is by saying you are in the ground, another One is by saying you are. On the solar system on on the solar system. Just make a general assui think that they're asking you. How long will it take for me to be able to hold up a conversation with someone in this foreign language?

What I want to know from multi-lingual speakers is when did you start thinking in your second language (as opposed to taking the two steps of first thinking in your cradle language, then mentally translating to the desired language). I agree the time it takes any one individual to reach this point is fairly irrelevant since as you pointed out, there are so many factors affecting acquisition. Still, I'm curious to know. I'm tempted to say a rough, casual definition of fluent would reading aloud a mainstream newspaper without a native speaker struggling to understand your pronunciation/accent.

This is a decent answer but you could just make it to the point. In my experience you can become fluent in 2 years if you devote 1 hour a day. (B2) This will vary depending on your background. If you come from a romance languague or if you already know a different languague than your own because this will help with the mechanics every language has. Also you need to consider the skill. Passive skills such as reading and listening will be developed faster than productive ones such as speaking or writing. So you may be reading a lot sooner than when youll feel fluent enough speaking. My mother tongue is spanish and I speak english at c1+ and it took me 3 years to get there. My portguese is at b1 but i have never actually taken it seriously since the similiraties. Now at 38 im trying french for the second time mostly self taught and its been 5 months and im already at A2...but i feel my heavy accent even though i have a background in phonetice it feels like the sounds are really odd and tiring too pronounce. Anyways i know you need to make content but answers could be clearer and to the point it felt like you were avoiding an answer and for a teacher thats not very convincing to be honest

Well, I have been "studying" French for 25 years and I still can't speak a word of it. I have always lived in the US and for about the first 20 of those 25 years I would travel to France once in a while for about one to two weeks each trip. Because I traveled for business, I just used English because everyone in the French office I worked with spoke English. Also, I was an engineer and most engineers in the world can speak enough English to be understood by me.

Been learning French (definitely off and on) for 56 years so yes can definitely agree. Have recently put in quite a lot of effort so I'd say I've probably reached a C1 level but that took most of those 56 years! I think the "music" of French and English is/are quite different (although so many of the words are the same) so that means that French people have as much trouble with English it seems as we do with French!

Thank you for a wonderful video.

I have studied French in 3 different times in my life. First, grade 4 to grade 11. Second, formal lessons in my late 20s to early 30s. Third, informal and conversational lessons in my late 30s to early 40s. I’m still only at a low intermediate level, but my daughter is well on her way to fluency because of the efforts I’ve put in.

As a Frenchman, I think that perfect mastery of our language takes time, a lot of time. Fortunately, it is not essential, the most important (in my opinion) is to understand our way of life, which differs considerably from US culture and which often confuses newcomers. If you pass this cultural hurdle, the rest follows easily. You will be accepted quickly, therefore more relaxed and more open to learning. You won't have perfect French? And then, few French people have it and many are very limited, including natives, not only certain children of immigrants who remain in the culture of the parents and who have difficulties integrating.

I started learning French in the 7th grade in the early 80s and haven’t stopped. I got a B.A. in French and taught French in a public high school in California for 28 years. I took an early retirement last year due to COVID and now I live part time in France. If people really want to know their level, they should take an exam, such as the DELF, DALF or TCF. I took every level of the DELF and DALF, so I’m level C2. How long did it take me to get to level C2? 42 years! But that’s only because I didn’t know about level C2 until during the pandemic. Apparently B2 is considered fluent, and you only need B1 for citizenship and A2 for permanent residency. I didn’t need level C2 but I learned so much from preparing for it and it gave me more self confidence to be able to handle any situation in France. And even after passing DALF C2, I still make mistakes and still learn new things because like you said, a lot of it is based on the culture and French culture is so rich.

I'm a almost 55 Years old french man , i got 18/20 on french thesis and 19/20 on oral literature test (Moderato Cantabile from Marguerite Duras) / Baccalauréat....i was good....but French langage is endless and I keep learning ....

I speak German and Spanish fluently but have never mastered French nor felt very comfortable with it. I am ashamed of my bad pronunciation, and the nuances of the language just don't make much sense to me. I also become frustrated with courses in French which are analyzed by native French speakers and heavily criticized ("Oh, we never say that!" of "Oh, that's completely out of date!") At the age of 70, I'm ready to throw in the towel. C'est tout!😛

À mon avis on devrait également tenir compte de l'utilisation d'une langue étrangère, car si l'on peut souhaiter la parler, on peut également simplement souhaiter la lire, les occasions de parler l'allemand ou le russe en Amérique latine ou en Asie étant par exemple décidément bien rares... Personnellement je lis couramment l'allemand et l'espagnol, MAIS... cela ne veut vraiment pas dire qu'il m'est possible de soutenir une conversation dans ces langues! De toute manière, les occasions de les parler ne couvriraient que le temps de mes vacances annuelles, alors... Voilà donc deux objectifs bien différents, à distinguer absolument!

Dianne, you covered a lot of ground in this video. For me, when you stop learning you have stopped living. A milestone you did not mention was whether you dream in French and when that first happened? As a tourist, knowing a couple hundred words seems to put one outside the crowd. For me, I speak a few words of French, understand a bit more, but being Canadian picked up most from cereal boxes and kids TV and from, of all things, industrial regulations that were written in both languages and printed in two columns one in English, the other in French.

I’m a native speaker of English. I majored in English in college. I’ve worked in an English language-related field my entire life. I’m still learning English. Mostly vocabulary and regional differences in how the language is spoken or written. But still learning. I made the mistake in my youth of switching between three foreign languages in school with the result that I can’t speak any of them. French is my best language. I can read menus, read French-language historical markers with general comprehension, and I’ve even been able to decipher 200-year-old French birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records while studying my family tree. But it would take me years living in a French-speaking country while also actively studying the language before I would feel comfortable using French in everyday life.

I feel the issue is also that idea that French is ONE language... but there are regional variations, both within France (...chocolatine or pain au chocolat ? XD ) and outside of it ! There are words that are French, but in use only in Québec (especially with Québec's habits in "francisation" of English words). Numbers are read differently in France French and Belgium/Swiss French (quatre vingt dix or nonante). There are African countries where French is spoken but with vocabulary or even grammatical variations. And so on and so forth. So when is it supposed to end ? Of course, the people who ask these questions are rarely thinking (or interested) in these nuances, especially if they're not even aware of the complex history of French as a language around the world (francophonie is also a topic laced with History, and not always proud parts of it). Also, you don't mention it but "learning" a language is often interpreted as speaking it. But understanding it and speaking it are not always the same thing ! When you study a language in the comfort of a classroom, or even on your own with various learning methods, it's not the same as being confronted to people in real life, with different speech speeds and patterns, but also accents, etc. That also makes things more complicated than being able to have a theoretical conversation in the abstract. As a sidenote, I've tried to look if on your channel you ever talked about popculture in France. There doesn't seem to be such a video, but maybe I didn't use the right keywords in my search ? I'm someone who believes in using popculture to improve in a language. It doesn't teach you all of the language, but watching TV, listening to the radio, going to a movie, knowing the lyrics to a song... that can really be helpful. A lot of people have improved in English because of how easy it is to find and consume English-speaking popculture ! Do you have any content about your own consumption of French popculture ? And in general, what is your point of view as an American on what you see of French media ? I think it'd be a fantastic topic.

I'd say for english speakers who would like to give it a try, french should not be that hard to learn as french and english are quite similar in my opinion. Both are european languages and share a good amount of words. Now, if you want to learn, say, african or asian languages that's gonna be much different ! I think the hardest for an english learning french would be the conjugation and the adjective being placed (most of the time) after the noun instead of before (blue ballon -> ballon bleue). As for spelling or the gender of nouns, if you do a mistake french people can understand you anyway and it should improve with time.

My mom's side of the family was born in Quebec. My dad was a linguist and was fluent. I took French in high school for four years. Then an immersion weekend once. I am not fluent. We never spoke French at home. As I do my family history all the documents are in French. The little bit I do know helps a lot. All that said there's a man in NYC who picks up on languages so quickly it's amazing. His you tube channel could have sparked the question. He walk around the city and speak their language that they don't expect from a white guy. They get embarrassed he can understand. He sometimes gets discounts for knowing their language.

Hi.. ! I am french too... and interested in having your opinion.. I am going to live with a beautiful (... !) american Lady who does not know a single french word, excepted "bonjour, merci, bon appetit" !!!... We plan to live both in Austin (Texas) and France.. So I planned to teach her, using the way my school teacher taugh me (us).. it xas an interesting method even it was a basic english... our language, the french, is quite difficult, i do know it... and i noticed you are not bad in french ! how long did you manage to be fluent ???

You’ve learned well enough that I detect a French accent on your videos.

Ach! Understanding French people on the phone - this is the worst. When I have to make a phone call or answer the phone in France I go into a cold sweat, lol. 6:44

Fluency is "are you gonna struggle if I talk to ." We get super specific "very" or "extremely " or "college level". But when someone asks you "Can you drive?" They are not asking: 1. But have you driven in Los Angelos/Atlanta traffic 2. Could you be a driving instructor 3. Can u parallel park well. It's simple.....CA u get us to the store or nah?

Maybe another question is whether it is worth learning the language? I am learning it just for fun but I am constantly asking myself why am I really putting in so much time and effort. I love the feeling of being able to speak and understand another language, but is it worth my time? I am constantly asking myself that. I wish I found a definite answer. For now, I am telling myself, I will skip as much of the boring stuff for as long as possible.

I am a A2 in french and i want to study there so this video really stressed me out. Technically I have two more years to get my b2, and my c1 in English, but for English it seems that I have always been fluent and it was never so hard and overwhelming… does anyone have any experience with learning French to go to university❓

How did you manage or what method did you employ to learn the tenses? Apparently, there are 21!

I am french and my personal answer would be: it takes forever...including for the french themselves. The french master less and less their own language. It gets worse every year. And don't get me started about written french!

I am a French native, and I have a linguistic degree in French language. My first foreign language was German, second Italian, and third English. English has become my first language as I live in the US. My German and Italian have become rusty because I don't practice them anymore. Practicing everyday is paramount. The US is definitely a mono-linguistic country and it is difficult to find people speaking another European language. It also shapes the brain of people to speak only one language. To answer your question about fluency: it is when you mean to write in one language and you write in another without realizing it. Or you speak to a group half French half English and you start speaking English to the French and vice-versa. You do not make a difference between the languages anymore. You have shaped your brain to think, evaluate and "reproduce" the result in the language you choose. Being fluent in a language takes a lifetime.

I'm an American, who has always lived in America for all 15 years of my life, and I don't even know every word in English, even though i've always learned it, and still am.

I agree. Knowing a language is not a destination. It’s like asking someone “how long does it take to become a grown-up?”😂

so... how long does it take?

If someone asks if I speak French, I now respond, “Je me debrouille.”

I don’t hate French but I don’t want to be forced by someone to learn a language 8hrs a day if someone don’t want to, which is quebec doing nowdays, infact they don’t use a single word of English to help to learn in French. Idk what they excepting from me.

It annoys me when companies say you can become fluent in whatever common language used in a month or so. I'm like yes, people don't know what fluency is and assume it's native or close to that fluency. Fluency is how well you construct and say a phrase or a sentence. You can be fluent in French by saying a few words like where is the toilet, but it doesn't mean you know the language well.

Fluency needs to be redefined Lets think fluency of being: “which language do you think in?” Whatever languages you talk to yourself in- thats fluency

I am french and i dont think i known all of it yet.

I get very annoyed at books that are called for example Learn French in 3 months. Most people don't realise at all how long it really takes to learn a language. I've been living in an English speaking country for 30 years now and I still feel at a disadvantage when speaking English with a native speaker. It is very unfair to use English as an international language, that's why I speak Esperanto which is much easier to learn than national languages. I often hear the question how long does it take to learn Esperanto. Even with Esperanto it can take quite a long time. And it depends also on which other languages you know. Someone who is already quite good in say 4 languages will learn the 5th much faster than a monolingual. In any case I have now many friends around the world with whom I communicate in Esperanto.

I always say "for a French it takes a lifetime to speak, write an almost correct French" and most of us speak mediocre level.

Hey Dian, I’m a US citizen living on the west coast, I would like to move to france and become an English teacher like yourself, my question for you: is it hard to find a job as an English teacher? And dies it pay the bills?

Verrrrrrryyyyyyyy Loooonnnnnnngggggggggggg!!

The answer is 18-24 months. Next question?

that's me, fluid with lots of mistakes. c'est moi, fluide avec bc des erreurs

"I'll always be learning". LOL; um ok you are TOTALLY exaggerating. Yea, there is something to what youre saying. As someone who started taking French at the age of 11 and is now in my 40s and still isn't totally fluent (as I haven't had a real opportunity to live in a French speaking country) I can say that you are exaggerating or possibly learning disabled : ) Yes, there is a point where you are just fluent. thanks.

The fastest way to,learn French is to join the Foreign Legion. It’ll only take a few weeks.

53 ans 😂