Take Beginner French lessons online or at home

Why start learning the French language?

There are lots of reasons to learn a foreign language. Even if English is the number one international tongue, it isn't spoken by everybody in the world and in some places it can be pretty useful to know another language. You can use it to speak with locals when travelling abroad or to communicate better with your business partners. Learning a foreign language is always a way to discover another culture with its specific idioms and manner of thinking.

Now, French is a great language to learn in all these respects. It is spoken by about 274 million people in the world and is especially present in Europe, Africa and the Americas. On top of that, French-speaking countries have rich and diverse cultures with very old literary traditions. Many of them are also Australia's important economic partners. Not surprisingly, French is often taught as the first foreign language in Australian schools and there are plenty of possibilities to study French at university. All this means that French can be useful not only when travelling abroad but also in your studies and professional life. 

In addition to being a very useful language, learning French is not exactly difficult. You may know that almost fifty per cent of English vocabulary came to our language from Latin through Medieval French. As a result, French and English have a lot of common words and sometimes we can understand some French texts even if we don't know the language at all. French grammar and pronunciation are, of course, very different from what we have in English and learning them perfectly can be challenging, still, thanks to the familiar words French soon won't seem so foreign to you.

Why take your first French lessons from a private teacher

Usually, when we decide to learn a foreign language we start by looking at the pronunciation rules. Each language has different sounds and intonation and beginners need to get used to them both to understand the language and to be understood.

Private lessons are probably the best solution if you want to learn the right pronunciation. Learning foreign sounds can require a lot of practice and hard work. When we learn a language in class with other students, the teacher simply doesn't have time to help everyone. Some students end up learning the language with wrong pronunciation and it can be extremely difficult to change our bad speaking habits later. A private teacher wouldn't let that happen.

French grammar can also seem difficult to beginners. French verbs have a lot of different forms and French nouns have gender. For example, 'table' is feminine in French and 'desk' is masculine. Some grammatical concepts of the French language can be challenging for learners. A private teacher will explain them in the best possible way and this will help you develop your grammatical skills more quickly. As your level of French improves, its grammar will seem more natural to you, but in the beginning, it's important to learn it well despite its apparent contradictions. With personalised help from a private tutor, it will be much easier.

Finally, a private teacher will tailor their lessons to your interests and needs. They will try to teach you the French language by working on topics that you like or that have to do with your professional activity. Each course will make you better understand the benefits of learning French and give you more motivation. You'll also start having fun during your classes. Beginners need to get passionate about what they're doing because it's at the early stages of learning a language that students usually give up. With a private teacher, on the opposite, you will wait impatiently for each new course.

Tips for developing your French skills between classes

When you start learning the French language, your private tutor will provide you with all that you need. But if you have some free time and energy you can also work on your own to move forward faster. On the internet, you can find some good online apps that can help you learn the language. One of them is Duolingo. It makes you practice the language you're learning by translating sentences between that language and English. It is playful and you can have a lot of fun doing a couple of courses on it. Another great app is Memrise. It helps you learn vocabulary and is great for beginners because you can listen to the pronunciation of each word. Memrise can even be useful at the university level as it has lists of specialised words that can be of help.

Another great way to boost your French language skills is French culture. It's extremely rich and you'll certainly find books, movies and music to your liking. It can be difficult for beginners to read Victor Hugo's novels right away but you may start by watching French TV shows with subtitles. It will help you get used to French pronunciation and maybe you'll pick up some useful words. And then, you'll learn more about French-speaking countries and their people. It will be extremely useful when you visit those countries.

Online apps and cultural products can be an excellent complement to your private classes with a tutor and will make you enjoy learning the French language even more.

Finding the perfect French teacher for beginners

A private tutor can be of great help to start learning French but you may wonder how to find a good one. Let us propose you a solution, which is Superprof. On our website, you will come across thousands of French tutors across Australia and find a lot of useful information about them on their profiles.

You'll know their prices, experience, location or the level of students they teach. You'll also be able to read reviews written by other students to learn more about each particular tutor. Superprof will help you find an excellent teacher close to you or you can take French courses online and have even more choice.