| Is one week enough to make any real headway | | | | despite its spelling, "oui" is in fact pronounced |
| with speaking a language like french ? It will all | | | | "wee", you can understand the need to hear how |
| depend on how you use that one week. The key | | | | french is spoken rather than just written. |
| will be how much you hear and say french words | | | | Get to grips with some pronouns like "I", "you" |
| and phrases, and not just how much you read | | | | and "he/she" to follow up. To get going, learn how |
| them. A quick plan of action will give you an idea | | | | to say the french equivalents and get creative. |
| of what you can aim to learn. | | | | Your french may not win any prizes for |
| Firstly, we need to start off by stating our | | | | grammar, but you will have a good chance of |
| assumptions. You are starting from zero with no | | | | communicating what you want. |
| prior knowledge of speaking french. In addition, | | | | Follow on with some of the useful verbs in french |
| you have a reasonable amount of time in the | | | | such as to want, to have, to go, to eat, to buy |
| allotted one week to devote to hear, say and | | | | and so on. Stick to the present tense to begin |
| learn the french language. | | | | with. You can "bend" the meaning by adding |
| Secondly, let's lay down a couple more conditions | | | | words to mean "now, yesterday, tomorrow". |
| for success. Whether you are working with a | | | | Again, no literature prizes here. We are on a |
| french course or with someone who speaks | | | | quest for a rough and ready solution that will help |
| enough french to be able to communicate it to | | | | you move forward. |
| you, you must have access to french sounds and | | | | Add in a basic form of negation ("I don't want", "I |
| pronunciation. The other option of trying to battle | | | | don't have", etc) and then names for the key |
| through the written words and their phonetic | | | | items such as the french words for "food", |
| equivalents just is not viable. Especially in a week. | | | | "sleep", "hotel", "car", "book" etc. |
| Remember to listen carefully so that you can | | | | If you've got this far, then let me tell you some |
| then dive in to start speaking. First the simple key | | | | good news : |
| words that are going to allow you to | | | | - you are motivated (an important factor) |
| communicate and get what you want. Then, using | | | | - these words will allow you to communicate even |
| some of these simple key words as "building | | | | if it is in "broken" french. |
| blocks", go for some very simple phrases. | | | | From then on (week two and beyond), you can |
| Here are a few "building blocks" to get you | | | | concentrate on mending the fractures in your |
| moving for that first week. Just remember, you | | | | french and extending your word power. |
| need to get the audio version and work with it to | | | | Remember to keep on with the "hear, say, learn" |
| see really solid progress. | | | | approach in order to maximise your results for |
| "Yes" and "no". So basic. So useful. In french, yes | | | | progressing with how you speak french. |
| is "oui" and no is "non". When you understand that | | | | |