The easy way to learn Français

If you know me, then you know that I adore French. Almost as if it was my first language. Sometimes, I even think I was meant to be half French – half Kenyan. But since that’s not the case, I have to settle for the next best thing. 

Learning it.

With that in mind, one of my major life goals is being able to speak French fluently. So fluent that people actually think I’m French. Maybe that is why I picked it as my foreign language course in uni. And even subscribed to a French podcast on my mobile device. 

Through them, I was able to learn some basic French, like á bientôt and de rien. But still not enough to be regarded as a full speaker. I blame that on myself though. I didn’t practice every day like I was supposed to.

I’ve even thought of signing up for lessons at Alliance Francaise.

That was until I discovered Duolingo.

Duolingo is one of the many language apps available in your favorite app stores. However, users have called it the best language learning app (in the world). Why is that? Well, maybe that’s  because it allows you to learn a foreign language of your choice in a new interesting way.

 The app is made up of short interactive lessons, which actually feel more like games than lessons. These lessons are organized into language skills such as basic phrases, pronouns, and adjectives. It teaches you new words and short sentences at a time. And the words are constantly repeated throughout the lessons; I can already sense them getting stuck in my mind.

When I first tried the app, I was quite impressed by it. Almost every French word I encountered had audio, and an English translation too. Like how cool is that!

The five-minute lessons not only tested my translation skills but also my writing and pronunciation skills. It’s like the perfect language tutor who never asks you to attend any class.

With the lessons being so short, you have no excuse to miss doing at least one a day. This means you can play, I mean learn anywhere and anytime. Whether you’re having breakfast, chilling in a bus, or waiting for a date (why are they always late?).

You also get to choose the number of lessons to do in a day thus learn at your own pace. Sometimes, I redo them just because I can. And because playing is fun!

Through Duolingo, I also have the opportunity to learn any of the other free 14 foreign languages it offers, apart from French. I also love the fact that it is free from those annoying ads, and in-app purchases. Once you download it, it is yours forever. Or as Professor Bamba says, it’s free for life. All you need is an active Internet connection, and five minutes of your day.

It is also flexible. You can choose to use it on your mobile phone, or laptop if you like. Just make sure that the microphone is working properly so that the app can hear you pronounce those foreign words. 

(How’s my pronunciation guys?)

Now that I finally found Duolingo, I cannot wait to be throwing full French sentences in a few weeks, and people will be like damn girl!

Hey, my app just sent me my daily email reminder. Gotta go, it’s time to apprendre le français.