How to become fluent like a native in French?
So, did you ever ask yourself this question:
“Is it possible to achieve native fluency as an adult with no prior experience in a language without living in a country where it is the primary language (for any period of time)?”
This is a very interesting question – what’s most interesting is that it has the needed details, which proves that you’ve done your research, or tried a few options.
Here’s what I think…
I’ll start by saying this:
when we speak a second language in a country where it is the primary language, for a period of time, we can lose our mother tongue.
ALSO
After we did all this, when we are very emotional (tragic situation, love, hate, anything very emotional), our mother tongue is still the one that comes out. And the accent.
Ponder on this.
This means that:
1. Our mother tongue is impregnated in our DNA, and we can’t get around it, nor can we achieve fluency at the same level in any second language, EXCEPT if we only use that second language and nothing else… still, our mother tongue comes out when our survival is at stake
I presented all these, so that we understand what ‘native fluency’ really means, it is a quality of communication that cannot be equaled in any second language.
2. That said, the goal is NOT to attain ‘native fluency’, but to attain ‘fluent clarity’ in a second language, which means that we can be fluent at a beginner or intermediate level too (think 3-year old kids thrown into all-French schools, who become fluent in 3 months – literally).
3. Aim for CLARITY of speech, rather than ‘native fluency’, and you’ll be fulfilled, you’ll feel good about your progress, you’ll be less preoccupied about your own performance in French, and invest yourself more in what you can achieve in relationships (personal and business) when you know how to use your French clearly.
Conclusion:
Use the second language as a TOOL for communication, rather than investing your whole energy paying attention to that tool.
Got a minute?
Let’s practice together with today’s episode from the Daily Minute with J’Ouellette® podcast:
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Immerse yourself as you FINALLY reach your dream of becoming bilingual, learn to speak Parisian French and BREAK your language barrier!
Let me guess.
Do you constantly have the feeling that you can’t hear what the French say and you don’t know how to read all the French words because they are written so much differently than they sound?
Learn 3 secrets that will help you be self sufficient in the way you pronounce French words – even if you don’t know what they mean – so that you can read that sophisticated menu in your favorite French restaurant.
…and now, please SHARE this article with your friends. They’ll love you for it! : )
À la prochaine,
Llyane
Photo credit: Tatyana Markovtsev, A.G. photographe
