(Last Update: 02.04.2024) As someone who has never had an interest in learning French at any point in his life, the fact that I had to learn this language as of 2012 and the adventures I experienced afterwards are tragicomic :) I wanted to share my experiences and what I know with people who intend to learn French or who are halfway there and think that they cannot progress, life is a little bit different for them. May it be easier.
Of course, you sit down and ask "What is French and how to learn it?" I'm not going to attempt to write an article saying. “What is the best course in Paris, how to get a student visa?” I don't need to answer questions like; There are already tons of sites that will help you with this.
My aim is to explain how I progressed through my own experiences, and while explaining the points that intersect between you and me; To share the problems I encountered and the solutions I found. When it became clear that I was going to settle in Paris, learning French became inevitable and I felt like a hot mess :)
When I got my Canadian residence and work permit in 2011, even though our dear friends living in Montreal invited us to live there, I said,If two worlds came together, I would not live in a place where French was spoken." he said, and I cast my vote in favor of Toronto :) Then this happened, this happened, that happened and I found myself in Paris "In the heart of a French-speaking country"I found it :)
One month before settling in Paris, in February 2012 a snowy Istanbul morning In our house in Koşuyolu, because our sofas were being repaired before we moved to Paris, I moved the table to the window in an empty living room and started studying for the first time to learn French! I got my hands on a simple yet enjoyable book called "French in 15 Minutes", made an mp3 from the CD and started listening to it over and over again. Of course, everything like me little by little For some reason, it wasn't enough for someone who was obsessed with learning, but it wasn't a bad step to start. At least I had an idea of what would happen to me when I actually started learning this language; I'm even more scared :)
Then, as of March 2012, I settled in Paris, because my residence permit was not ready at that time.Maybe if I don't get permission, I'll go to Canada, so I don't waste my time learning French.I resisted for a long time, but when the residence permit was finally issued, I had to. soon I had to start a course to learn French :) Actually, I got by just fine with English for the first four months. Don't believe those who say "French people don't speak English"; The one who knows speaks very wellAnd those who cannot speak cannot speak because they are afraid of making mistakes :) The courses were terribly expensive. Alliance Française He's lost his mind, what everyone said Sorbonne If you call the courses, they are the same. I had longer time to learn French, I just had to make a quick start and then move forward slowly, and my budget was not unlimited.
Accidentally at that time Campus Langues I discovered a course called. The center of the course is 19. boroughIt was in a bit of a cheesy place in , but luckily I found out that they were teaching at their location in La Défense during the summer and I signed up for a program that lasted 8 weeks, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. If I remember correctly, I paid a total of 800 euros for this program, which was the most reasonable price I could find under these conditions to learn French in Paris. Moreover, the building of the course Defense'gift of jewelry Great ArchIt was right next to , and when I looked out the window I could see the Grande Arche, which was also important to me so I could tell its story. in this link I already explained it in the article.
As of July 2012 Campus Langues'I took the first serious step towards learning French by starting my course in . Luckily, I met the most amazing teacher of my life there. A little girl named Laura, how sweet, how sweet, literally taught us the language from scratch, who did not know a single word of French. He was changing from one shape to another while telling the story, just like an animator, as if he were playing theatre; We were having a lot of fun and learning very fast. She did not speak English or Spanish to us unless we were in a very difficult situation. We were having so much fun on the course; I was very happy with my situation, both with the pleasure of being a student again and with the enrichment of being with a lot of friends from all over the world, each blended with different cultures but essentially struggling to survive.
Laura was doing her best to brighten the mood; If even one person did not understand, she would not move on from the topic, and only then would she explain another topic when she was convinced that everyone understood it. Once we were going to learn about clothes and accessories in French; He asked us to hold a fashion show, some would dress as stylishly as possible, and some would come to class wearing funny things. For example, that day I I wore black and went to the "podium", my Italian friend also presented my fashion show :) I'm watching the video above now, which is a memory of that day, and I realize how terrible our French is :) But of course, we were at the very beginning of the road then...
Of course, at first we were speaking English with our friends during breaks or after the course, so much so that I had friends from all over the world, as well as from England and Australia, and most of all, I was happy to see that I could talk to them comfortably; Because, just for fun, my English improved in France :) There was only one Indian friend, I couldn't understand what he was saying; I was relieved one day when I learned that my Australian friend did not understand the English of my Indian friend :)
We didn't do much after the course, although we rarely sat down and ate somewhere, everyone dispersed and went somewhere, so did I. After the 4-hour course, you return home and repeat 4 hours of French every day. I was doing it. Officially I attributed it to the psychopath. But I made such rapid progress :) Of course, I experienced frustration from time to time, boredom from time to time, and giving up from time to time. “No,” I said, “this won't happen,” but it happened; I mean, I can never say "it happened", but things are happening slowly.
Our course was good, but at the end of the second month, both for budgetary reasons and because the course was now in its 19th year. boroughDue to the fact that it will continue at the location in Campus LanguesI did not renew my registration at . Anyway, Laura was leaving her job as a teacher and was going to Madagascar to receive diving training :)
I learned from the internet that the municipality had courses and I researched them. I saw that the course in our neighborhood started in September, and I immediately went and signed up. Although it was 2 days a week x 1,5 hours, but okay; from now on "intense"It wouldn't be right to take a course, because I needed time to digest what I had learned and move forward.. Moreover The total fee to be paid for 1 year for the municipality's course is only 250 euroswas!… To attend these courses, you need to research the municipalities you are affiliated with.
The course started in September 2012; It was difficult at first to get used to our Czech-French teacher, Nadja. After a wonderful teacher like Laura, it would be difficult no matter which teacher you continue with. Because my Australian friend Rosanna is the 19th President of Campus Langues. boroughHe decided to continue his course in , but he was not happy with his situation either. Fortunately, I gradually got used to Nadja's style and started to like the environment, but Rosanna dropped the course. He asked me to tell him what I learned in the course, and we started meeting once a week and studying. So much so that Aside from learning French, I started teaching French to an Australian in English. Thanks to this :) Life is interesting...
Everything was fine, I had progressed a lot, I understood most of what was said, but my tongue was still stuck. Until I formed the sentences in my mind and started speaking, the topic was either going on, or I just didn't have the courage to do so. While learning a language, people also discover themselves; For example, while I was learning French, I realized what a perfectionist I was. I realized that there was a mistake in the sentence I was going to make, and because I was stuck there, I couldn't say what I wanted to say at all :) This was a huge mistake, and in my opinion, the way to correct this mistake was to take private lessons...
To learn French, or rather to improve my French, I looked for many private lesson options on the internet; Of course it was very expensive; well I thought I needed at least 100 hours of one-on-one training and its budget was at least around 2.000 euros. Of course, I did not attempt such a thing.
On the one hand, I continued to work on my own, but Someone like me who gets his most important work done thanks to the internet. Of course, he had to find a solution to this too. On a whim, I went online and said "language exchange” so I looked at language exchange sites and signed up for these three sites:
For example, as someone who wants to learn French or improve their French, you become a member of these sites and meet French people who want to learn Turkish. If you wish, you have the chance to meet and practice only over the internet or face to face. as it is. So kind of Opportunity to get free private lessons in exchange for free private lessons; awesome solution!
My goal was to find people to communicate with face to face; I would both practice my language and have the chance to make new friends. Of course, I was lucky again. In November 2012, Odeonat Starbucks in Elisa I first met you. My God, how can someone be this sweet? At that time, Elisa was planning to study Ottoman art history and wanted to improve her Turkish, which she had been learning for a year, in order to study in Istanbul. In other words, he had sufficient grammar, but he could not speak... We met with him two days a week for three hours and we chatted and studied for hours. Already to me in Paris StarbucksIt is primarily Elisa who makes us love 's; If you ask him, he goes to Starbucks because of me :)
I was lucky not only because Elisa was such a nice person, but also because we had so many common values and things to talk about. Talking about art, literature, religion, sociology, philosophy, and in other words, life, in both Turkish and French with a Frenchman studying art history was like finding a water well in the desert for me. That's why sometimes we even got lost in conversation and missed our school/course. Even though we could not meet with Elisa regularly after she started working, we continued to meet and chat and do things in common at the first opportunity. The day came, we even founded our companies together on the same day :)
I also met other friends during the first period when I started the “Exchange” business; heavy leftist Our first meeting with Fanny, whom I later realized was AntipodeIt happened in , and I was very cold 🙂 For our next meeting, “StarbucksShall we meet in ? when I ask deleted me from the notebook I guess 🙂 Still, she was a good girl, thank you, I learned a lot from her in the few lessons we had.
Then there was Catherine, her Turkish lover for the sake of his face He wanted to learn Turkish. And he told me Teaching Turkish in English and French to a French person who does not know a word of Turkish It gave me the opportunity 🙂 My mind was in confusion while trying to teach, but that's how I progressed a lot in French. Then, when Catherine broke up with her lover, her dream of learning Turkish faded away...
Then our deli I met Roger; confused, he decided that he would settle in Gaziantep :) We studied with him for a few weeks, then he got up and settled in Gaziantep. Now I don't know what to eat or drink :)
Then I met my friend Domingos, who is of Brazilian origin, such a big man, black, such a cute, sweet person. Extremely natural, extremely sincere. It seems strange to me that he learned Turkish with a little street dialect, but his childish speech suited his big body so much that I couldn't make a sound; It was extremely challenging for someone like me who cares about speaking Istanbul Turkish, but the French I spoke to him was also very educational. At one point, he went to another city for education and disappeared...
I had a Marine for a while; actress, cracked tile; What a beautiful girl; like this Amélie It's like something out of a movie; movie actor anyway; I'm sure he will become a very famous star soon. We met with him for a long time. Then I had Feriel; We are a girl of Algerian origin. His French was excellent, he was a computer guy, and he was pretty sane. We loved to meet in parks and gardens and sit and talk for hours.
Two other friends I met thanks to these sites were Fabrice and Charles. Fabrice is a lawyer, from Trabzonspor 🙂 Charles is an engineer, cyclist. Charles' dream was to go to Turkey by bike, he just left :) He couldn't keep up and traveled around Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran etc. and came back 16 months later :)
Vincent, on the other hand, despite his perfect Turkish, was persistently trying to improve his Turkish; Our meetings with him were always to my detriment, because I would take the easy way out and always slip into speaking Turkish :) There was also Franz, whom I met regularly for more than four years. Communications engineer, father of twins hellion A kind friend. We had dinner with him every Wednesday at noon. Choiseul Passagein.
That's just the way it is; I have always used such sites, which people tend to use to "seduce someone", to find nice people to practice my French with. I've never met a bad person even once. I would recommend it to everyone. Also in the video below We talked to Vincent about his tips on Learning a Foreign Language through Turkish and French; You can watch our pleasant conversation about France and the French, Türkiye and the Turks:
About a year after I started learning French, I started reading my first book. So, I took the book, pen, notebook, dictionary etc. and started reading, taking notes and understanding every line. It was like torture at first; You know, if you're someone who likes to lie on the couch and read on public transportation like me, I'd also like to get on a bus and dive into my dreams, line by line, with a book in my hand. One of the best methods of learning a language is such full-fledged reading.. I'm still reading; It works very well; The human word world and mind are enriched. I try to read and repeat the notes I took frequently in my spare time, on the subway or on the bus; It feels good.
For a while Facebookalso from, Twitteralso from, Ekşi SözlükI stayed away from Turkey to learn the language. Because such social media tools prevented me from thinking in French. However, I needed to construct my mental world in French. After a while, especially after I started reading books, I noticed that this started to happen, and I was happy.
Actually, I intended to start this blog much earlier, but I kept postponing it with the same anxiety. still a little regret I have it inside me. I've been sitting here writing these in Turkish for hours now, when I should be focusing on French. I don't know if I'm doing it well, but I really love sharing; I sit down and write for a long time about this; Just to be useful to someone...
After Campus Langues, I attended Nadja's course for two years, and at one point I exaggerated the situation by attending three courses at once. I was taking advanced courses, taking last year's courses from another teacher (Anne), and attending writing courses (Madame Béatrice). Finally, I attended an association's speaking courses (Bernard). I always looked for ways to meet with friends after the course, chat, and do something together, and most of the time it worked...
Of the courses I mentioned, Nadja and Anne's municipal courses cost 200-250 euros per year, and Madame Béatrice and Bernard's association courses cost only 30 euros per year (yes, writing I paid thirty euros! As long as you take this path, opportunities will be presented to you. For this You can look at the "centre culturel" of the municipality in the neighborhood you live in and the "associations", if any.. It is important to apply to the municipality you are affiliated with, especially for municipal courses...
I stopped going to courses as of 2016. I continue my journey by just continuing my daily life and reading a lot of books. Maybe it would be better if I prepared a "recommendation list of books to read in French", but for now, Riad Sattouf's six books L'Arabe du FuturI highly recommend it. It is very special both in terms of BD (bande dessinnée – comic book) and in terms of subject and content.
As someone who does not like watching television very much, I started watching French television after settling in Paris in order to improve my language and get to know the culture of life. I watch more Arté than TV5 Monde. Also as radio France Interand especially in the mornings France Blue ParisI recommend . Radio is definitely much more effective. My favorite production on television is the seductive travel program “Echappees Belles“; It is broadcast on France 5 television.
Listening to French songs can also be effective in creating a certain ear fullness; It will even help you gain an accent without even realizing it. I created on Spotify French Songs I have a list, if you wish My song list in this link You can start by listening…
This is my journey in learning French. Of course, there were things I forgot or missed, but this is where I am now. Apart from the distress of knowing that I will never be able to speak like a native, I am not that hopeless. Some people walk around saying they "know" a lot of languages. If they are like us, they cannot say that they have learned that language unless they can make all kinds of convoluted sentences with word games in the language they learn. That's why I say "I need to eat forty more bakeries of bread" saying. Otherwise, French has already become the basis for daily life, for example, we almost never use English now, I even forbade my native English speaking friends to speak English, we only speak French among us; I officially assimilate them :)
I don't view French as coldly as I used to :) Although May God not force anyone to learn this language. 🙂 But fate might have given me a different path and I might have had to learn a language that is less spoken in the world. At least I console myself by thinking, "French may come in handy in some other way in the future" :)
I have this fantasy about French: If one day I become a French citizen, I will enter politics and become a member of parliament, and then I will become the Minister of Education and Culture, whichever is necessary, which means "masculine feminineBesides the " distinction, I will find a solution to many other nonsense. : ) I got burned, at least others don't get burned; Just hold on a little longer :)
Leave that aside, learning a language is a good thing; I recommend learning at least one language and the second one at the first opportunity. I bow respectfully to those who speak three or more foreign languages.
Related Article:
75 Comments
Hello, in your blog post, you can see the French language school campus langues.
You were recommending la défense branch.
I sent an e-mail to get an acceptance letter from the school for my visa application. They told me that they sent me an acceptance letter for 110 euros for me to register on their personal website. This is the case in all language schools.
But in the website's system, they asked me to pay the full 1-year tuition fee. When I sent an e-mail to the school again, they told me to make the full payment. Frankly, this created a trust problem for me, because it doesn't happen this way in any language school. I wanted to make the full payment directly and let you know about it while my visa was not issued yet.
Hello,
I went to Campus Langues about eight years ago, and a friend of mine who moved to Paris recently also went; We both had a session at the time of application. Therefore, thanks to you, I learned that such a thing is required from those who do not have a session to register. This information will similarly serve as a guide for those who will register. If I had to pay the total fee for a year to get an acceptance letter, I don't think I would. So thank you very much for this information.
Definitely the most annoying thing is that there is a huge difference between the spelling and pronunciation of the words. When memorizing words, memorizing both the pronunciation and spelling makes the job twice as difficult, but we have to endure it to learn this language :)
I enjoyed reading the adventure.
When I was in the first year of secondary school, my father sent me to an English course. I had reached the advanced level in two years. Then, the Anatolian High School preparatory class passed with almost no study and fun. I persistently chose French as my second language in high school. I insist on it, because the priority was German. At least 10 students were required to open a French class. I convinced 12 students to open the class :)))) Lo and behold, the lessons were given by a Turkish teacher who I did not think could improve himself much in Turkish. Disappointment... A few basic things remained in my mind when I finished high school... My heart turned to Italian at university. After taking a single course at the Italian Cultural Center, I said "the environment is not for me" and ran away.
Finally, I started studying French again... When I took a break from my doctorate, a study gap arose. "Why not?" I said. Likewise, this issue never left my mind :)) My goal: To be able to watch a show of Gad Elmaleh (in French, of course) while laughing and singing :)))
I don't know how well this will work on its own.
I use Duolingo for basic practice. For grammar, I follow Passage TV on YouTube. I got to know Sıla/Passage TV upon the recommendation of the French Cultural Center. It's going pretty well.
This is how it is 🙂 Once you see, the other doors we mentioned will open here too. I'm hopeful!
It is so valuable that those who read this article share their personal journeys and experiences with us... What we write and share is read by people on a scale we could never imagine, and we touch each other's lives.
Wishing you to reach your goal as soon as possible…
Thank you dear Ahmet Öre…
Best regards…
Hello Mr. Ahmet,
I was able to find a language partner with the sites you recommended and the tandem.net application, and I was really pleased.
I also saw that it was not written, I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but;
I would like to state that I was extremely pleased with the Duolingo application, which I installed as soon as I learned that we would be settling in Paris, without knowing any French, and which I have been using uninterruptedly ever since. They allow people to find language partners by organizing meetings in your city, they publish podcasts, and their trainings and forums on their applications are really successful. Moreover, they do these for free.
Greetings, love,
Minute
Hello Ata Bey,
The information you share is very valuable, so thank you very much.
I wish you happy days.
Greetings, love.
Hello, I want to take a software and French language course in France, how can I do that? Can you provide information on this subject? Or are there any private course institutions you know that will provide professional software training that you would recommend?
Hello,
I shared my opinions about French courses in the article above, but since software courses are not in my area of interest, unfortunately I have no information on that subject.
Mr. Ahmet, this post of yours gave me courage. I've just started learning French too. You have written very well about your experiences and your adventure of learning French... Thank you. I follow your articles with pleasure. Also, you are always my guide during my travels to Paris. You explain it so beautifully that I feel like a Parisian thanks to you :)
You add color to my daily life with your live broadcasts and stories. I'm glad to have you. I wish you luck.
Hello Ms. Banu,
I was late in responding to your nice comment because I haven't been able to check my messages for a few days, please forgive me.
Thank you very much for your nice comment.
Hope to wander the streets of Paris in many live broadcasts.
Happy Days.
Hello,
J'ai quelques questions. D'abord je dois vous dire que j'ai envoye un message sur youtube. j'ai besoin de vous :). j'apprends le français depuis 8 mois en Tunisie. j'ai 20 lessons par semaine. maintenant, mon niveau de français est un peu plus a2. Peut etre il est b1.1..
Je continuerai jusqu'a la fin de mai. Apres mai, je pense que mon niveau de français sera b1 ou b2.1 . But what a trouve pas des personnes qui font pratiquer avec moi!. Donc, je m'inscirirai un cours de français en Français pendant 2 moi pour pratiquer et progresser mon français. Mais pour ça il faut payer combien d'euro? Je le me demande monsieur Ahmet. j'ai hate de votre reponse.
S'il vous plait vous m'aidez 🙂
au revoirr..
Hello Mr. Mustafa,
It is not possible for me to know the course prices by heart, and course fees vary depending on how many hours of lessons you take per week and your visa type. Therefore, it is necessary to click on the links of the courses I linked above and research the prices one by one.
Good luck.
Hello 🙂 thanks to your transportation articles and how can we travel most effectively in 1 week? Thanks to your many articles that answered our questions, we felt very comfortable during our trip to Paris :) Thank you for your efforts and efforts, Mr. Ahmet. Stay safe, best regards.
Hope you have many nice trips…
Thank you so much.
Hello Mr Ahmed,
There is a 99% chance that I will come to Paris before the end of this year. I don't know how it is written, but I have a cousin in a place called Pontuas. I am coming with his invitation and I will start living there. As you know, the latest situation in TR is not very encouraging, I decided to continue my life there.
I have been studying French for about 2 months, but it is quite challenging, it is actually very nice to speak :) I feel very happy when I pronounce the sentences and words I have learned. I'm dying to say stupid aphamidi :)) I signed up for one of the sites you mentioned to make friends and learn languages (polyglot club), but you made a lot of friends there. I hope we get lucky like you :) Especially that friend of yours who is learning Ottoman History is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. I guess it's a lucky situation. As long as they want to learn Turkish history and Turkish language, I will teach them day and night. If they give me French, that will be enough :)
I haven't read the other articles on your site yet, but I want to read them all as soon as possible.
I wish you success in your life. At 11:31 pm, bön aphamidi monsieur 😉
Hello,
First of all, good luck, I hope everything goes well and you settle in Paris before the new year as planned...
Learning a language is, first of all, a matter of perseverance, and learning French requires extra perseverance :) I wish you good luck in this journey.
Of course, finding an exchange friend is all about luck, I was really lucky.
I hope that the more than 500 articles on Pariste.Net will give you an idea about Paris and its surroundings.
Have a nice day.
Love…
Hello,
I wish I had come across your articles before, you have entertaining and useful articles both in terms of learning French and travelling, thank you. I very suddenly found myself living in the Alsace region of France. I couldn't spare much time to learn French, partly because of my own shyness and partly because of the intensity of my work, I only went to a course affiliated with the university. Even though they placed us in classes with an exam, the teacher who came to teach A1 even in the first lesson came with a game to divide us into groups and make us talk. What is written on the card, what should I say now? We left the "necessary" part to Google Translate and tried to pass the time. The next day he came with a lot of words and tried to teach pronunciation, the next day he approached teaching grammar, and the next day I had a nonsense experience of about 3 months, which continued with "let's play games". Then, due to my uneasiness about finding a decent course and especially my time problem, I tried a different path. With your permission, I would like to share the experiences I gained during my learning journey on my own, at my own convenience.
- "memrise", which offers the opportunity to learn different languages at the same time, is an excellent application for beginners, which I think is very fun and useful, makes you want to continue without getting bored, and makes you do various entertaining repetitions frequently;
– “Beelinguapp” is a very useful application by reading the stories you choose sentence by sentence, with the possibility of repetition and the translation of the text at the bottom. It also has various levels;
– Another similar application is “easy french stories for beginners”, but there is no text translation, only the meanings of some words they choose are written under the text, maybe you can create your own dictionary when the application is purchased;
– And “babbel” is an application that I find successful, which has the feature of both listening and making you say the word, and also teaches the use of words with the dialogues and exercises at the end of the chapter.
– Apart from these, “Learn French with Alexa” is also a very enjoyable and instructive YouTube channel. In addition to short videos of approximately 10 minutes, there are also 1-hour long lessons. Alexa erased the negative experience I had in the course and became an excellent teacher who motivated me. I definitely recommend it to those who are interested.
Happy Days:)
Hello Ms. Müzeyyen,
Believe me, your detailed comment is valuable as it sheds light on those who want to learn French... Thank you very much...
Hello, I have been living in Paris for a month and a half, and thanks to you, I have already found my first French friend with perfect Turkish on one of the tandem sites you mentioned here. Thank you Mr. Ahmet!
Your article reminded me of my experience with French, I would like to share it with your permission; I moved to France two years ago. Before settling in, I had not taken any French lessons other than the two-month intensive course I took at Istanbul French Culture, which allowed me to complete A1. After settling in, I could not attend the course for about 5-6 months, due to bureaucratic reasons such as living in a medium-sized city and not having many course options. When I realized that I would not be able to attend the course for a long time, after establishing order and struggling with the bureaucracy for a while, I decided to use the "Alter Ego+" program that we used in the course in Istanbul. I started studying with A2 of the book called "", every day for 3, or if I pushed a little harder, up to 5 hours, I was covering the topics in the book one by one and doing all the exercises (except for the speaking exercises!). In this way, I started to understand French grammar and expand my vocabulary.
Then I finished the B1 level and found a place in the university's 1-month course. I wrote a review about The Brothers Karamazov in the school's level exam, and my writing was not considered bad, so I was accepted to the B2 class. I studied French on my own almost every day for 3-4 months and I was really at the level in the books I followed. Moreover, I was very surprised to see that I knew better grammar than people who started the course and had been learning French for years. But since I spoke almost no French for months, and I was only learning the language passively, I did not speak unless I had to, and I was the hardest and worst speaker in the class.
During the course, I read a comic book in French for the first time, and after the course, I read my first novel (“La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert” – I highly recommend it to those who want to read French but don't know where to start!). Afterwards, gaining some self-confidence, finding tandem partners as Mr. Ahmet recommended, asking friends to speak only French, constantly listening to the radio and reading books... Of course, I continued with the C1 level of Alter Ego. Without those books, it would not be easy for someone like me, who can only learn the basics of the language on his own. My advice to those who live in places where course options are limited is to try increasingly popular online course options such as italki. There is no classroom environment, but it is possible to find good teachers at affordable prices. Good luck!
Congratulations Ms. Damla, I read about your journey of learning French with great pleasure and happiness; I am as happy as you for your success. The experiences and suggestions you share are also worth gold. Thank you very, very much.
I liked your article very much, I wish you continued success. I have a question for you, in your opinion, what is the minimum language level required to have a good life in France? Thanks in advance :)
First of all, thank you very much. In my opinion, the minimum language level required to have a good life in France is B2, but if you want to work in a French company and build a lifestyle surrounded by French friends, you must have at least C1 level of French in order to express yourself well. If you are not going to enter business life, study at a school here, and make a circle of Turkish or international friends, even B1 is enough. As your language level increases, new doors open for you and life offers you other opportunities.
Happy Days.
Hello, first of all, thank you very much for your informative and motivating articles.
I took French as a second language throughout my high school life, I also took a French course while doing Erasmus in Belgium at the university, and I took a French course in Turkey for a semester, but I still think my level is around A2-B1 because I don't focus much on the language. Although not in terms of grammar, my level in terms of speaking is at most B1.
I want to choose Paris for my master's degree, some master's programs can accept B2, but I am currently undecided on what path to follow. I don't find it very logical to take grammar in a new course, I took grammar for years. I couldn't find many courses on speaking in Istanbul. Essentially, my idea is to get the B2 certificate by taking part in a one-month intensive pre-DELF course that prepares me for the DELF, after improving my level a little by taking the courses I found on the internet. At this point, my concern is whether I can improve my level with French lessons on the internet - especially on YouTube. Or do you think I should enroll in a classical course and then take the course that prepares me for DELF? I'm very confused, I'll be waiting for your suggestions, thank you very much again :)
Hello,
Of course, everyone's language learning technique is different, for example, I use YouTube etc. for subjects such as placement test. I cannot progress with videos, I have to read a book or take a course, but as I said, this is a situation that varies from person to person and depends on everyone's understanding.
If it were me, in such a serious life project, I would allocate some of my time and budget to enroll in an intensive exam preparation program and get the B2 certificate as soon as possible with hard work.
But if you are confident in learning by watching videos, why not, that is of course possible.
Good luck…
Sa
According to what you wrote, you had a residence permit in Canada and left it at first and settled in France. The official language of Canada is French
I thought Canada was better. What do you think
France? Canada?
Better
Hello Fatih,
There are two official languages in Canada: English is spoken throughout the country, French is spoken only in the province of Quebec, and I decided to settle in Toronto, where English was spoken at that time, and even arranged my home, school, everything. Thanks to some interesting events that took place at the last moment, I decided to settle in France.
When I received my Canadian residence permit in 2011, I did not know a word of French, so when I settled in Paris, I communicated in English for the first six months, since I did not know French. Then I learned French within the framework of the story I told above.
Which country is better depends entirely on your expectations and possibilities. Personally, I still love Canada very much and would like to live there for part of my life. Canada seems more advantageous to me, especially because of English. Moreover, Canada is a country with an immigration policy, so being an immigrant there is not a disadvantage compared to France. However, after I settled in Paris, I realized that we were raised with a completely European understanding of education and culture, so maybe my generation is like that. American culture seems so distant and simple to me right now, so I don't know how happy I would be in Canada; Maybe it would have been much better, I'll never know.
Canada has two negative characteristics that everyone accepts: It is very cold in winter and it is always very far from Turkey. I currently have the chance to go to Istanbul two or three times a year, but if I were living in Canada, I think it would be once a year. Likewise, I constantly travel to nearby European cities. It may be necessary to travel for hours to see other countries/cities in Canada.
As I said, it is not easy to compare Canada and France. I'm sure I would be very happy if I settled in Canada, but right now I am also very happy with my life in Paris.
Maybe a little bit of luck, a little effort, a little effort, and a little bit of perception of life...
In the 18th century, people in France settled in the American continent, namely Canada, for a better life.
Yours is a bit the opposite :)
Hello, I am Ayşen. In 2014, I had to settle in Paris due to a combination of spouses. When it became necessary for my wife to go abroad, neither of us had thought of France, but circumstances forced my wife to wear Paris. She was in France in February 2012, and when she got her residence permit, she took me with her. He couldn't go to the course because he was working hard, so he blamed the language job on me, and since he was working with the Turks, it was completely idle. I have attended municipal courses since I arrived, but like you, I cannot speak because of my desire to say everything that is on my mind. As you know, the neighborhood we live in is predominantly Turkish and Kurdish. We live in the Villiers le Bel 95 area. And now that he is a child, my hope is to socialize with him and have a foreign neighbor :) Also, my landlady has 3 daughters from Maras people who feel French. When I first came, I was teaching them Turkish, but then, unfortunately, the number of girls became limited in Turkish and they dropped out when their schools opened. So, the struggle is still going on, and thanks to my baby, cartoons and videos are working if they are good :)
Ms. Ayşen, you are wonderful, first of all, I would like to thank you for your comment.
We all learn French for different reasons, we try to learn it and we continue to learn it. If you do not start learning at a young age, this issue of language learning covers a longer process, so the distance you have covered is not something to be underestimated. Especially thanks to your child and his education, you will enter different environments, and in this way, your language use will improve much more. As your child grows, you will learn a lot from him/her... You never know how the cartoons and videos you will watch with your child will be useful to you, this is how it really works. I understand that you will be staying in France for a long time, so your language skills will definitely reach the level you desire.
I wish you success and happy days…
Thanks. Living in France and learning French is difficult. Good luck to all of us.
Greetings, I am one of those who are thinking of settling in Paris. I studied in England and gained work experience. My English is very good and my French is basic. On the one hand, I want to enroll in a master's degree and come here in order not to create a gap since there is no name at the moment, and on the other hand, I think that if I master French, I can find a job in France even if I do not have a master's degree. Which one is more logical, what do you think? Even if I get a master's degree, I will graduate without having learned much French and I don't know if I will be able to find a job. If I start with learning a language, this time there will be a longer gap in my CV. I do not know what will I do. I'm curious about your thoughts. respects.
Hello Ms. Sema
The only way to find a job in Paris without knowing the language is to transfer from another country as an expat, otherwise it is very difficult. Language learning requires at least one year. For a master's degree, one year is at best. This is the most ideal method, but I don't know if you can manage without a serious income for two years. Moreover, there is no job guarantee. Of course, anything can happen if you persevere...
Thank you very much for the idea. Going to America seems more logical for now. I say, I will look at ways to get the ball rolling to Europe again in 5-10 years. I wish there weren't any language problems or unemployment problems :)
Hello. As someone who will settle in Paris soon and does not know any language other than Turkish, what you told me seemed to shed light :) And believe me, I have much more fears than you, can I do it? can i get used to it? can i love??? crazy questions in my mind. I started with your article on life-saving French words 😀 Thank you very much for your effort and sharing..
Hello, if you do not know a language other than Turkish, you are both lucky and unlucky :) If you do not know English etc., your mind is clean, you will not confuse English words with French words. This is the good news :) The bad news is that you do not have practice in language learning methods; Because learning a language is a bit of a method thing. I hope you will develop your own method soon. Please do not forget to work hard and never give up. Wishing you good results in a short time, good luck... Greetings, love...
As you know, it is the classic of every Turkish youth, left over from high school. It's level English, which I can't even say I know :) Now, I'm getting little tips on how to start from you and other valuable writers. I think I started with words :) I know the process is difficult, but don't give up! 🙂 Thank you, love..
Hello, I want to spend 2 months of my summer in Paris to learn French. Is there a language course you can recommend?
Hello,
Unfortunately, I do not know any other language courses other than the language courses I mentioned in the article above.
Happy Days.
Mr. Ahmet, your article was very informative. Even though I was someone who never wanted to learn French (like you), I had to move to Paris. Now I have to motivate myself and work hard. I started the municipality's course, but it is progressing very slowly. I am thinking of continuing the municipality's course and enrolling in rapid learning course packages.
Your help and all the links you provide will be very useful to me… Thank you in advance.
I wish you luck on this difficult and challenging road. Thank you very much for your comment. I hope your efforts will pay off and you will learn French as soon as possible.
Happy Days…
Bonjour. What you wrote is really nice, I congratulate you. I am 12 years old and I want to study at the university in Paris. Sometimes it seems impossible to me, but sometimes I say I can do it. I keep researching. I thought only French was spoken, but English is also understood. That's why I thought there was no obstacle to studying at the university there, but when I researched further, I learned that the language proficiency exam was based on French. I am afraid that I will be disappointed because I cannot learn French. I really want to study in Paris. Please I'm waiting for your answer
Hello, first of all, thank you very much.
Learning a language is very easy for a 12 year old. Nowadays, there is no such thing as not knowing English. It is already a language that must be learned. If you want to study at a university in France, then learning French is a must. And I think that's not difficult at all for a young person. With disciplined study, it will be much easier to learn a language at that age. I think there is nothing to fear. As I said, I think it can be learned easily by studying regularly and practicing a lot. As long as a good future plan is drawn and we continue to work tirelessly in line with this plan. There is nothing in this life that cannot be overcome. Good luck.
Hello again. Thank you very much for your response. I no longer have any fears about French. I started French lessons for 2 hours every day. I do a lot of revision when I am free at school. I bought a French dictionary and a story book. I will also buy a training set soon. I follow French or French news channels. I'm a little advanced. I think I can even reach the C5 level in 6 or 1 years. By the way, I learned a lot about Paris and now I think I know France more than I do Turkey. In my opinion, as long as we have ambition, desire, perseverance, and patience, we can achieve what we want very quickly. Actually, I want to learn French the most in France, so I really want to go there. I'm looking forward to the day when I go to university there...
Hello! I really enjoy reading your articles. Even though I am a French literature student, even considering that I am a student with a high average, I have many problems about French that I cannot overcome myself. Unfortunately, these problems cannot be overcome with short-term trips to France... I hope that one day (when I graduate) I will have the opportunity to live in France at least for a long time. I beg you, do not stop writing...
Violet
Hello,
I believe that as long as I have these nice comments and this warm support, I will always find the strength to write. I hope your dreams come true as soon as possible.
Thank you very, very much.
Hello bro, are you still in France? Let's have a coffee.
Hello, yes I live in Paris but I work very hard. Maybe we'll still meet somehow...
Your article is very useful, first of all, thank you for this, Ahmet. I have a few questions, if you answer them it would really help me because I'm indecisive and hopeless about French. I wanted to study in France to study at a university, so I contacted Campus France, and they said that universities wanted French at B2 level. I said that I wanted to go and learn, but they said that it was not possible for me to reach the B1 level in 2 year and that it would take at least 2 years. They also said that I could take a foreign language course at the university, do you have any ideas about this? So, is it a time-consuming effort to reach B2 level? And most importantly, do you have any information about the courses offered at the university?
Note: My French level is zero and I am 22 years old.
Hello,
It is not easy for someone who does not know any French to reach B1 level in 2 year, but it is not impossible either. Why not, especially if it is to be learned on-site in France and work day and night? I think it's all a matter of perseverance, decision and will. Of course, there is also some capacity... Some of us can perceive immediately, while some of us need time to digest what we have learned; I mean, this issue varies from person to person, I can't say anything, but it doesn't seem impossible to me to attend an intensive course program for a year and raise my French level to B2, but as I said, it is not child's play.
As for university courses, I don't have any information yet. I intend to research this subject and prepare an article in a few weeks, but I think it will be after the summer holidays.
I wish you success and good luck.
Hello there
Mr. Ahmet, I am 13 years old now. My biggest dream is to find an excuse and go to Paris. A school called EF (I think it's a school) offers language courses abroad (for high school and university students). I wanted to join it in high school, but the price was a bit high, so I'm planning to go there while I'm at university. I'll choose to be a translator in high school anyway. I'll have some knowledge of French and earn some money. Do you think this will help me? What are the benefits and harms?
(By the way, the link to the program I mentioned: http://www.ef.com.tr/ilsh/destinations/france/paris/)
As I said, the price is too much for me, what do you think?
Hello,
Studying French in high school will of course be very beneficial, and studying at university in France would be a great choice. Unfortunately, I have no information about the fees of the courses. What is expensive for some may seem cheap for others. The prices on the link are general prices. Prices should vary depending on need and program. It is necessary to correspond with the relevant institution, find out the total education price and evaluate accordingly.
Happy Days.
Hello. I discovered your blog while surfing the internet. I am only 16 years old, but I have been working on French for about a year. Your article was definitely helpful, thank you very much. I want to settle in France in the future. This language is a passion for me. I love learning languages. 4 I know. ( Even if I don't know someone at the level I want, I don't have the opportunity to improve them because of French :'(.) You are very right about thinking in French. Because in order to speak a language, you need to think in that language. Now I will go and read the other articles on your blog. Stay healthy! ^-^
Thank you very much and I wish you success in your language learning journey.
Hello, first of all, thank you for your article. While I was looking for an affordable course, I came across your article and examined campus langues. It didn't seem to be much different from other courses other than the price. Also, the current price is more affordable, around 250 euros per month. With my own efforts and by living in France, I want to improve my French by taking at least a 2-month course at A1 or B2 level. I've been in Paris for a week now and I'm thinking of settling here. My metro card is ready :)
There is something missing in my sentence. I'm currently at A2 or B1 level.
Hello,
The price you quoted for Campus Langues is very reasonable, of course, the number of hours is also important. I hope you find it useful.
I wish you good luck on this long and difficult road :)
Sir, would it be possible to learn basic French at B1 level if I leave Turkey and stay in France for 2 year for the AGH project?
Hello, if you are going to attend a course regularly during your stay in France, it is of course possible to reach B2 within a year, but if you intend to progress by just staying in France and doing daily activities without taking a course, then it is entirely up to your efforts…
Your warm French adventure warmed my heart on a cold Istanbul evening. Thanks :)
Your message came in the evening, while I was at the table with a French friend who came for dinner and speaks Turkish. I had him read your message too; He was as touched as I was. "It's nice to get comments like this," he said. I wanted you to know.
Thank you so much
Hello,
After studying French in Turkey, I came to Paris with a B1 level. While I was researching course prices here, Campus Langues seemed like a miracle! I chose the 19th one because it was closer to where I would stay, and I had a very nice teacher named Anne-Sophie, as you mentioned. Thus, I left the 1-week course behind and gathered the courage to speak on the streets of Paris. In summary, I would directly recommend Campus Langues to those looking for courses in Paris. Even though the location seems far from the center, everywhere is close by metro 😉
Thanks for all the information.
I forgot to thank you for your message, sorry I missed it. These opinions and evaluations are very important.
Thank you so much
Mr. Ahmet, I was very jealous and envious of you while reading your article. I live in TR and was learning French 8 hours a week for the last two years while I was at university. 2 years later, he was still trying to talk, but when I saw that I couldn't understand him, I gave up and now, when I read your article, I realized what a big mistake I made.
I really want to speak this language well. I am not equipped to receive adequate education abroad. I would be very happy if you could point out the most economical alternatives for someone living in TR.
Hello there
I understand you have solid grammar; Don't waste all that effort. I don't think you need to sit down and take grammar lessons from scratch. Either try to attend conversation classes or try to reach the French people living there by subscribing to the exchange links I provided on the page. I owe my French skills to these exchange friendships as much as studying. I still do it regularly; Very enjoyable and instructive.
You should also definitely read a book, taking notes and proceeding slowly, without rushing.
I hope you will regain your enthusiasm and bring all your hard work to light again and progress further.
Yours
Hello there
Mr Ahmet,
As an elderly person in Turkey, I wanted to write this to you: Bravo :)
I'm trying to learn French. By myself... I strive to make good use of my time because of my curiosity to learn and my sympathy for this language.
I say try because it is not possible any other way.
And as it is said again: 'As long as you ask. '
I can say that your good intentions caused me to write a note here.
And again, I was impressed by your explanations because I came across your findings in line with my thoughts.
The greatest luck of learning a language is to be in your country.
It makes the job easier, it strengthens the language, in other words, being in touch with the language is a lot.
I wish you success in your life.
Regards and love…
Nesrin
Hello Ms. Nesrin.
First of all, thank you for your comment and interest. What you write is important to me.
Although it may be a little difficult to start learning a new language after reaching school age, there is a special pleasure in digesting what we have learned within the context of life. Rather than learning more difficult, it may seem like we are learning more difficult because the sentence patterns we need are more complex.
I wish you success in this difficult but enriching endeavor.
Thanks again.
Respects
Ahmet
Hello again,
Likewise, we are not in Paris either. We live in Viroflay, very close to Versailles. Unfortunately, there are no courses for foreigners in either municipality. I will also research inside Paris.
Thank you for your wishes of success and patience :)
Greetings
Hello,
As I read what you wrote, or rather what you experienced, I erased the question of whether I was the only one experiencing this and felt a little relieved. I found your site after wondering in a frenzy, "I need to decipher this French, what should I do?", "Let me type it into Google, is there any detail that would cure my problem?" But you were really lucky when it came to finding friends and socializing, unfortunately I wasn't like that either, so I guess that's why I can't progress. I would like to ask a question. If you know, you mentioned the municipality's courses. For example, there is such a course in the 17th district or X region. Is it necessary to live there to attend this course? I also went to courses like you and the friendships there are very temporary, many people don't even stay here. That's why I think I should take a course where there are people like me who will live here and have to learn. Thanks again.
Hello, first of all, thank you for your interest. Since I live in La Défense, I am not officially considered to be in Paris and cannot enroll in municipal courses there. I'm not sure if each arrondissement accepts students residing in its own region, but I guess they probably give them priority and then they also accept students from 75 other arrondissement.
The biggest advantage of municipal courses is that they give priority to those living in that neighborhood, so those who come there are always foreigners, not temporary students like in private courses, but the opportunity to make long-term friends.
Unfortunately, I don't know about municipal courses within Paris, but if you search for "centre culturel" under the arrondissement name, I think you will find a place close to you. Registration generally opens at the beginning of September and courses last until July.
I wish you success and lots of patience :)
I can personally guarantee that what you wrote is not in vain. As someone who has just moved to Paris and is new to French, every article of yours is a blessing to me :) Thank you so much for your shares!!
Thank you for your interest, so let me welcome you to Paris…
I discovered your site thanks to Ekşi Sözlük and I feel great happiness while reading it. Thank you very much for these wonderful shares.
Thank you very much. Sometimes I wonder, "Am I writing in vain?" Comments like this feel good when I hesitate. thanks…