How I Learned French in 6 Months (From ZERO to B2 – By Myself!)

Are you trying to learn French, but feel stuck in the beginner stage? You've started multiple times. You tried apps, different textbooks, but you feel like you're not actually making progress.

Well, the good news, you absolutely do not need years of studying or expensive courses to become fluent. I learned French by myself in just 6 months, and in this video, I'm going to show you exactly how I did it, so you can do it, too. If you want more practical language learning content, be sure to like this video and subscribe.

And now, let's get started. So, first I'm going to give you a little background on why I started learning French in the first place and when I started. So, in 2020 I switched schools.

In my previous school, we were learning English and German. And now, in my new school, we were learning English and French. So, in order for me to be able to transfer to this new school, I had to learn a little bit of French.

I had to catch up with my classmates. And then in March 2020, I started to take French really seriously. So March 2020 is when I really started.

And then 6 months later in October 2020, I passed the Del BU exam. So yeah, that's kind of my timeline. And now let's move on to resources.

I used one main resource which was Fr. I started by watching his free videos on YouTube. And then I decided to purchase his courses.

And the main course that I used that I would highly highly recommend is Friv. And depending on your level of French, you can either uh choose level one, level two, or I think now he offers level three, but at the time there was only level one and level two. So because I already knew the basics of French, I decided to go for level two, which in hindsight it was a bit too difficult for me.

But I'm glad that I did it because level one mainly focuses on the present tense and very basic things. And level two starts with compos and then goes from there. So I would say if you have a basic knowledge of P composite or you just know the present tense really well and like the basics then I would really recommend to go for level two.

When it comes to choosing the right resources I really think it's a good idea to choose something that is a little challenging for you but not to the point where you just want to give up and uh you just cannot do it right. So a little bit above your current level. What I really love about Pier's courses is that they are entirely in French.

There is not a word of English and it works like magic. I don't know what's what the science is behind this but I started watching his videos and I understood like nothing and then like slowly you start understanding more and more and then one day you realize that you understand everything which is so cool. Another course that I really really recommend is this course focuses entirely on verbs and conjugation which is a very very important part.

It's very detailed. You have lots of exercises and really really liked it. Then he has other courses.

He has a course that focuses on pronunciation or on listening comprehension or on reading comprehension. And I also did those courses but I think if you just want to focus on one then I would really recommend Jose. So the other courses are also very very valuable, but you don't have to do them.

The only thing about these courses is that they are quite pricey compared to like a normal textbook. If you would like something more affordable, I think as a great option. Personally, I have not used it for French, but I use it for my other languages and I absolutely love it.

But if you feel like spending a little bit more money, then I would highly highly suggest going for Pierce courses. Later on, I started listening to Inner French, which is a podcast entirely in French. I think it's marketed towards intermediate learners.

Uh who is the creator of the podcast, he speaks slower than a native speaker would uh in a real life situation, which helps a lot with listening comprehension at this level. His podcast is an excellent resource because a lot of the things that he talks about are um the things that you can find in language exams for example during listening comprehension or reading comprehension or even during speaking. So yeah, highly highly recommend his podcast.

And then sometimes I would watch movies but I'm not a huge fan of learning through movies. I tried hiring a tutor online when I was starting to prepare my exam, but I couldn't find one that I really liked. In general, working with tutors is not something that I really enjoy.

But if you like that, then I say go for it, especially if you want to practice speaking or you are preparing an exam. All right, so now let's talk about how I actually learned and how I actually use those resources. First of all, I want to say that I don't like to follow a strict routine.

I like to learn when uh when I'm in the mood to learn. Sometimes I would learn for a few hours a day and other times I would take a week long break. That's just what works for me.

I think during the summer I took I want to say like four or five weeks off and then I came back and it was fine. I didn't lose any of my French. If you like following a strict routine then I would suggest doing at least one lesson per day and then you can get similar results in six months.

Now I want to give you a few practical tips. The first one is focus on pronunciation. Good pronunciation is very important in every language, but I feel like especially in French and especially if you want to go to France or a French-speaking country or you want to live there, um, it's going to make all the difference.

I'm a huge fan of the shadowing technique. So, basically, you listen to native speakers and then you try to mimic the way they speak. When I was doing the grammar exercises in my courses, I made sure to say every example out loud and really focus on the pronunciation.

Sometimes I would type it into Google Translate and listen to the pronunciation on there. Another thing that's super important if you want to sound like a native is in French they use a lot of filler words, words that don't really mean anything. I mean, don't overuse them because that doesn't sound nice either, but I think it's smart to learn at least a few and learn how to use them naturally in a conversation because it's just going to make you sound a lot more advanced.

So, the third thing that I want you to know is if you are currently stuck learning compos or a is that those two tenses are the most difficult tenses in French, then it just gets easier and easier. French is a very logical language and all the other tenses are kind of based on compos and so I say just push through them. It really does get easier as you go on.

Only thing that I would do differently if I had to learn French again is I would focus more on speaking because what I did was I focused a lot on input on listening on reading but I didn't focus enough on speaking. So when I actually went to France a few months later, it was um it was difficult. Let's just say that.

Okay. It can be quite tricky to start speaking a different language, especially if you don't live in a country where this language is spoken. What I would suggest is find a topic that you want to talk about and then just time yourself and record yourself and just speak for like 5 minutes or 7 minutes or 10 minutes, whatever.

But make sure you practice speaking. Or you can look for a French language exchange in your area, especially if you live in a big city. There might be a group that meets up like once every few weeks and yeah, just wants to practice French together.

Or you can even hire a tutor if you like. Just make sure you focus on speaking, especially if you want to go to a French-speaking country. It's going to save your life.

I'm speaking from experience, trust me. All right. Lastly, I want to talk about the exam that I took.

Should you take it? If you want to go to a French university, then yes, because it's one of their requirements. Or if you need it for work or for anything else, then absolutely yes.

But other than that, I really don't think it's necessary. Lastly, I just want to say that French is not as difficult as everyone says. It's a very logical language, and if I learned it in 6 months, so can you.

So, there you have it. That's how I learned French by myself in 6 months. If you found this video helpful, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe.

I would really appreciate it. All right, thanks for watching.