What a title!

Now that I have said it, there is no turning back.

Let's have a closer look at why you want to get back into French, shall we? 

Picture yourself planning your next trip, speaking with your local boulanger, asking about the origin of the produce at the local market, enjoying an aperitif with your delightful neighbours...that's what we all want when we learn another language. Very rarely...ermm...actually never, do I hear : "ohhh, I'm learning French because I really want to understand the reasons why avoir is so irregular".

No, what we want is connection, we want to understand and be part of conversations, we want to get the jokes, the nuances and feel culturally supercharged..hey..maybe we want to feel we could live there and be ok, maybe we could almost be French.

I know because that was exactly me when I started learning English. I just wanted to be able to talk to Madonna, the guys from Depeche Mode and Lloyd Cole if I ever met them. That's true, when I...

I'm afraid to report that there is no way around learning verbs and grammar when you decide to study French. It's an essential part of the learning journey but there are a few ways to make it easier, smoother and lot more enjoyable.

Here are my top teacher approved hacks to learn better and faster.

• Say it out loud: whenever you hear some new word, repeat it, put your French voice on and go for it. Nobody has to hear you. If it is a new word you aren't sure how to pronounce, just google it and click the sound icon, click again, then repeat.

•  Learn some ready made sentences. Why not? I used to learn songs lyrics in English (taken from teen mags back in the day) cut and paste them in my essays. Yes, I did that...and you know what ? I still remember so many of them ! Don't hesitate, dedicate some time to find sentences you like, that you would see yourself using and go for it. 

• Watch some French movies with subtitles. I feel like a broken record but...