A Non-Native Speaker’s Tips for Learning the French Language

When Elizabeth Castillo, the Programs Coordinator at L’Alliance New York’s Language Center, moved to France for a year and a half in 2018, she had very little knowledge of the language—save a crash course six weeks prior to her flight. But the two-feet-first approach worked in her favor, and five years later, she not only speaks conversational French abroad and in the L’Alliance office, she also dreams in French.

We sat down with Elizabeth to learn how she devoted herself to becoming a student of the French language, and what helpful tips she learned along the way. Beginner and advanced students alike will be inspired and enlightened by Elizabeth’s approach. 

 

Getting a Start Overseas

During her initial time in Normandy, Elizabeth kept a grammar textbook, workbook, and thesaurus on her, to teach herself as she went along. “I did an hour every single day in my little grammar book, and I had the habit of asking people for help all the time,” Elizabeth says. “I was able to create a really strong foundation when I was there, because it was so immersive.”

 

Bringing the Lessons to L’Alliance

Elizabeth joined the L’Alliance New York team in September 2023, and it’s been a game-changer for her study of the language. “My French has improved dramatically since then, because most of my coworkers are francophone,” she says. “I’ve taken some classes and it’s also just the nature of my work here…my email correspondence is mostly in French.” 

Elizabeth underscores what experts also say—consistent exposure to the language is key. “For me it’s easy—I just show up at work, and I hear French,” she says. “But for other people, I recommend that they turn on a French podcast in the background and read the French translation of their favorite English book.” She recommends French podcasts Entre nos lèvres, franceinfo: Les informés, and Ressentir. “So much of creating comfort with the language is presence,” Elizabeth says. “It doesn’t have to be every conversation in your life, but if you really want to learn, you should incorporate an aspect of French every day.”

 

Becoming a Devotee of French Language Trips

Elizabeth regularly returns to France—often, via L’Alliance’s Culture & Language Voyages. “I’ve done two this year,” she says, of the Voyages. “I just got back from Cannes, and I also went to Bordeaux in June. The Language Voyages are a really good way to learn, because you have instruction during the morning and then cultural immersion in the afternoon.”

She and her husband also went to Paris in February, for fun. “I can attest to the fact that, even as someone who feels very comfortable—especially in conversational French—my French is always better by the end of the trip, because I’m around French people,” Elizabeth says. “I have to think on my feet like, ‘How would I ask the concierge this in a way that sounds like real French and not a translation from English?’”

 

Two Key Tips for French Learners

“Always learn a noun with its gender,” Elizabeth urges. “It’s an important thing that English speakers often leave that out because we’re really used to just learning the word, but everything is so gendered in French.” She emphasizes that words often change phonetically depending on whether they’re masculine or feminine. “People will understand you if you get it wrong,” she says. “But grammatically, if you want to sound French, they never mess up with their genders because they learn it right away in preschool and it’s become an automatic thing.”

Elizabeth’s next tip centers on the intricacies of translation. “Instead of learning how to literally change a word or phrase from English to French, try to think about what you want to say, and then learn how a French person would communicate it,” she says. She gives the example of a phrase her coworkers use often: “t’as vu”. It literally translates to “you saw,” but in conversational French it’s used more as “can you believe it?” “I feel like, with this approach, you’re less frustrated but you also sound more native,” Elizabeth says. “That’s why French movies are so helpful—because you see how family members, a boyfriend and girlfriend, or coworkers, etc. interact in a movie, and you can see the differences that are recurrent. The more you watch and listen, the more you find the patterns.”

 

Managing Your Grammatical Moods

Once you’ve moved into a deeper use of the French language, it’s natural to become overwhelmed as you create more complex sentences. “If you’re struggling with the subjunctive, with the future conditional, etc., try to have a couple of things that you know really well in your back pocket,” Elizabeth says. 

She explains that—as language instructors often encourage—to arrive at a desired word or phrase, you should describe what you’re trying to say, or what the object or action looks or feels like. “Having a few phrases that you’ve perfected the grammar on—and you know are correct because you’ve checked with a teacher and you’ve looked in the dictionary—will make you feel a lot more confident, and you’ll have a way to express yourself, even if it’s not technically the perfect way.”

Has Elizabeth’s enthusiasm and knowledge made you want to dive into the French language? We’ve got classes or events for that. “All the activities that we offer at L’Alliance are great,” Elizabeth says. “The movies, the gallery exhibits, the classes. I think it’s important for people to know that you don’t have to be in France to feel immersed.”