Learning French in Singapore
How to work on your language skills in a non-native country
The most effective way of picking up a new language is to practice speaking it and immersing yourself in the culture. But what if you are learning a new language in a non-native country? How do you go about building your basics and finding a community to practice with?
I restarted my journey towards learning French in Singapore, after taking a long hiatus. I thoroughly appreciate language and culture and I believe that this characteristic helped keep me motivated. At first, learning a language is fun, exciting and it kind of feels like you are mentally travelling to a new country. As time goes by, your interest and motivation start to fade. This is where being a language lover helps you stay on track and shrug off the demotivation.
Learning and practicing French in Singapore came with its own challenges.
- I had to rebuild my basics in terms of vocabulary and sentence construction. I wanted to build these skills outside a classroom, in order to save money and learn through practice.
- I needed to find a community of French speakers or learners in a non-native country.
Below I list out a few easy, free and fun methods that helped me attain working proficiency in French, despite living in a non-Francophone country.
- Duolingo can help with sentence construction and vocabulary building.
Given that I had prior knowledge on French verbs, I turned to the Duolingo app and started from the beginner level. The app helped me understand sentence formation, pronunciation and build vocabulary.
Duolingo publishes French podcasts with engaging stories that are easy to follow and recounted in intermediate French.
Relying solely on Duolingo (or any other learning app) however will not upgrade your level. For that, you need to listen to French dialogues.
2. Use YouTube channels to improve your listening comprehension.
Each morning, on my walk to work, I would plug in a YouTube video on basic French conversations. I list some channels below:
a) Learn French and English (link to a good video)
b) Français en dialogue (link to a good video)
I would frequently listen to news and educational content in French. Some links to good YouTube channels:
a) Arte
b) Le Monde
c) Mediapart
d) Le Média
When language learning would get exhausting and I just needed a break from serious topics, I would watch the American sitcom Friends in French.
You may also watch the original episode but with French subtitles to work on your reading comprehension.
3. The most important step to learning a language is to practice speaking with native speakers and learners. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Given that I am based in Singapore, it was difficult to immerse myself in the French culture. To circumvent this challenge, I joined language exchanges in the city. Additionally, I found French flat mates with whom I could practice speaking daily, even if for 10 minutes. I scheduled catchups with my friends overseas who were either French speakers or learners like me. I requested them for French catchups to help us practice together.
If you are serious about learning the language, I would recommend working for a French firm. I joined a French-speaking fund in Singapore, to fulfil my professional and language goals. I met several native speakers who were open to helping me practice and learn.
4. Being shy about practicing will seriously slow down your progress.
One observation I’ve made is that language learners are often shy to speak and commit errors in front of people. My advice to any language learner is this; you are already a rockstar. You are putting yourself out there in trying to learn a language that is completely foreign to you. You are doing much more to enhance your skills than the person you are afraid of being judged by. Don’t be afraid to look stupid. Your mistakes will leave you more confident and improve your spoken skills. After committing on average 10 errors a day, I got over my initial hesitation as I noticed that people appreciated the effort I was putting. Slowly and gradually, those 10 errors declined to 8, then 5 and so on.
5. Don’t try to achieve perfection. It is unnecessary and will leave you frustrated.
I’ve been learning French since 2019. There have definitely been moments where I felt frustrated at my lack of native level fluency. But soon I realized that I didn’t need to be 100% fluent to conduct conversations. In fact, most sentences only use 10–20 common verbs. Here is an example link on 100 most common French verbs. Once your basics are strong, you can start reading French novels and journals to build your vocabulary.
Free language apps and YouTube can help you learn language basics, sentence construction and pronunciation. The real struggle in learning a language is finding a community to practice with. If you are in a non-native country, tapping into language exchanges, French speaking firms and francophones in the city can help create the perfect environment to practice and learn.
