You're wondering how to speak French more naturally? You understand the words, you can make sentences… but when speaking, your French is a bit too academic, not always realistic, or far from the French you actually hear.
Don't panic: you're in the right place.
I am a French teacher specializing in conversation, and I help you speak more easily and naturally.
In this article, discover 5 concrete actions to improve your spoken French — even without living in France.
1. Expose yourself to real French, every day
- Choose short, regular content (5 to 15 min/day)
To improve your speaking, you need to listen to French… but not just anyhow. The most important thing is to create a habit: it's better to listen for 10 minutes every day than for just one hour on Sunday.
Podcasts, TV show clips, YouTube videos, music: choose a short format that's easy to fit into your day and a topic you enjoy. You can do it during breakfast, your coffee break, or your commute.
The goal is to have a simple and natural routine to hear real French regularly. Little by little, you will get used to the sounds of real French, with its intonations, expressions, and rhythm. - Use French subtitles at first
If you're a beginner or if you want to understand a bit better what you're hearing, turn on the subtitles… but in French! This will help you associate the sounds and the words without going through your native language.
Be careful not to become too dependent on subtitles: the idea is to use them as a temporary support. - Don't try to understand everything → observe the tone, repeated words
When listening to authentic French, there are words you won't understand right away. That's normal! The goal isn't to analyze everything, but to spot key elements: the tone of voice, recurring words, phrases you already know.
2. Practice speaking even if you're alone
- Read a text out loud while recording yourself
Reading aloud is a great exercise to get used to speaking. You work on your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. Choose a simple text, read it out loud, and record yourself.
Then, listen back: can you hear your mistakes? Are certain phrases difficult to say? - Summarize what you've seen or read during your day
A good habit to adopt: talk about your day… but in French. Summarize a TV episode, an article, or a conversation. No need to give a long monologue: a few sentences are enough. - Repeat a sentence you heard in a show
You hear a cool or useful phrase in a show? Repeat it! You can say it exactly as it was pronounced, or modify it a bit to adapt it to your life.
3. Stop translating in your head
- Learn automatic responses to answer quickly
When you want to speak French, you can't think word-for-word in your language. You need to react quickly, like in a real conversation. To do this, you need to learn automatic responses: simple expressions you can use without thinking. - Listen to simple questions and imagine your answer
A good way to improve your speaking is to listen to common questions ("What do you do for a living?", "Where are you from?") and prepare your answers in advance. - Write down phrases you could reuse
When you hear a cool, natural phrase that you'd like to use… write it down! Make a list in your phone or notebook, with ready-to-use phrases.
4. Learn whole phrases, not isolated words
- Memorize useful expressions, not lists
Learning vocabulary lists won't help you speak more naturally. Real French is made of whole expressions, groups of words that are used spontaneously. - Write down concrete examples to reuse in real life
To speak French naturally, your vocabulary needs to be useful. And for that, nothing is better than concrete examples. - Repeat the same phrase several times in different contexts
Repeating isn't boring if you vary the contexts. In fact, it's one of the best ways to internalize a phrase naturally.
5. Get corrected by a human
- Ask for specific feedback on what you say
Being corrected isn't a punishment: it's a shortcut to progress. But the correction needs to be useful. - Reformulate after being corrected
When you receive a correction, don't just move on immediately. Take a few seconds to say it correctly. - Note your most frequent mistakes
Do you often make the same mistakes? Great. Write them down. Create a little list in your phone, notebook, or learning platform.
Conclusion
You now know how to speak French more naturally: it's not about perfection, but about regularity, listening, and practice even if it's not always perfect.
Congratulations for reading this far!
If you want to improve with concrete, human advice tailored to your level, join my conversation workshops or discover my online course.
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