Q&A for How to Speak French

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What is the hardest thing to say?

Lorenzo Garriga
French Translator & Native Speaker
Lorenzo is a native French speaker and French language connoisseur. He has many years of experience as a translator, writer and reviewer. He is also a composer, pianist, and globe-trotter, who has been travelling the world on a shoestring for almost 30 years with a backpack.

Lorenzo Garriga

French Translator & Native Speaker

Expert Answer

If you speak a Latin language or English, you will have a problem saying ‘R’ and ‘eu.’ These sounds don’t exist in Latin or English languages. The ‘R’ is from the throat, and when you hear American people speaking French, they have an easily recognizable accent. Americans put a soft ‘R’ on ‘Bonjour.’

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Is French a real language?

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Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Absolutely! French is an ancient language that evolved from commonly spoken Latin of the Roman Empire. It does have a lot in common with other Romance languages, including Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. There are nearly 100 million French speakers living in France and around the world.

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Question

How do I say April in french?

Community Answer

If you're talking about the month, April is Avril in French. If April is a name, you can say it normally because it's a proper noun.

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Question

How do I say "I love you" in French?

Dodo47

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"I love you" in French is "Je t'aime". Je = I / t' = you / "aime" (from the verb Aimer) = love.

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How do I say Raleigh in French?

Community Answer

As it's a proper name, you would say it the same way that you say it in English.

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Question

How can I learn to pronounce words in French?

Community Answer

Watch French movies with subtitles, listen to podcasts in French; this will help you get a feel for the language. You can also reference online French dictionaries and translators that demonstrate how to pronounce particular words.

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How can I say "you're doing well" in French?

Community Answer

Tu y arrives bien (familiar/sing), or vous y arrivez bien (polite/plural).

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Question

How do I say "would you mind showing me your city and telling me about its history" in French?

Community Answer

"Voudriez vous (polite/plural) me montrer votre ville et me parler de son histoire?" or "Voudrais tu (familiar/sing) me montrer TA ville ..."

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What should I do if I'm having trouble with French verbs?

Community Answer

You should write them down a couple of times by hand. That will hopefully help you to remember them better. Start by writing down all the forms of a verb in a tense of your own choice; it's easier to learn them if you focus on one tense at a time instead of one verb at a time. That will soon allow you to see the similarities between the verbs, which will help you to "guess" forms of verbs you haven't learned yet.

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Question

How do I learn French quickly?

Community Answer

Speak with native French speakers; if there are none in your area, consider practicing with another through an online video-chat service like Italki or forming a French club to find others wishing to improve their French. Watch French movies with subtitles off and listen to podcasts in French to pick up the accent and speech patterns, and read French-language publications. The more you immerse yourself in the language, the more quickly you'll pick it up.

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How long will it take me to learn French?

Community Answer

It depends how well you learn and how fluent you hope to become. Everybody learns at their own rate.

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Question

Where do I find a native speaker?

Community Answer

Besides France, there are many other places in the world where French is spoken. Go to Wikipedia and search "List of countries and territories where French is an official language."

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