5 FREE AWESOME WAYS I'M TRYING TO LEARN FRENCH

*Originally published 1/25/18

​I moved to France without knowing how to speak French. Yup...I’m kind of crazy! Also, because of said move across the ocean, I am on a VERY tight budget. So you could imagine I’m trying to learn French as fast as possible without spending any money. But how? Find out below.  ​

​​1. Listening to people's conversations
​    (AKA Eavesdropping)
OK, so I know you are generally not supposed to eavesdrop because it’s impolite but if I can barely understand what they are talking about does that count? HAH. Also, when I’m squished in between 2 people on the metro it would be silly of me not to try to test my French listening skills! So far I can only understand common simple phrases but one day I’m sure I’ll be able to tell who isn’t working hard enough at work or whose husband forgot to pick up the baguette for breakfast…again!

​2. Post-its EVERYWHERE
Don’t laugh. Just kidding. You totally can. I was while I was running around my apartment slapping post its everywhere. Everything in my apartment is now named in French with a bright neon yellow post-it. It’s silly but kind of funny because every time I inevitably see them, I say them out loud or to myself. So far it’s working quite well! I’ve had the strong urge to use these vocab reminders around the city but I don’t think Parisains will be as excited about it as I will. ​

​​3. Watching TV in French with French Subtitles
Every day I try to watch a different channel to mix up the variety but in reality I’m looking for a kids show that will teach me French. Kind of like a French Dora! That would be hilarious!
I was surprised that they play A LOT of American TV shows. In the 3 weeks that I’ve been here I’ve seen the following shows on French TV:
·      The Simpsons (PSA – French Marge's voice makes this unbearable to watch)
·      Dr. House (A favorite! I was so excited I probably woke up all my neighbors.)
·      Grey’s Anatomy
·      Pawn Stars
·      The Big Bang Theory (Another favorite!)
·      Friends (Yet another favorite!)

​4. Reading library books…for babies
If you haven’t laughed at me by yet you probably will now. I mean, at least chuckle. Imagine an adult at the library browsing through a selection of books for babies, selects a few and proceeds to plop down on a comfy child sized chair and read. Every thing is at least 3 times smaller than me and everyone looks at me confused, even the kids! Oh well, one day I will work up to elementary level and then hopefully to high school level books. These books pictured were all really fun to read!

​5. Translating advertisements (instead of ignoring them)
You know those annoying waste of paper advertisements you get in your mailbox? Yeah, I keep those. NAY, hoard them. And then I study each one and try to decipher the advertisements. Sometimes when I’m really into figuring out what it says I stop, look up and, as if coming back to reality, realize one thing; I’m studying an AD. HAHAH. ​

​Learning French to at least intermediate fluency is one of my goals this year so I’m willing to do anything and everything to achieve that. To my multi language speakers: Tips would be greatly appreciated! Have you ever done anything creative to learn a foreign language? I’d love to hear about it!