Struggling to work out which books you need?

You are not alone, the challenge often faced when buying books or resources to learn French is not that there isn’t enough available.

The problem is that there’s so much out there that it can be overwhelming to decide what’s good and what is not.

At the end of the day, French is French and you will mostly find the same content or same approach packaged up and presented a little differently. While some are good,  some are bad and a lot is simply awful and more confusing than helpful.

So how do I know?

If it claim to be able to teach or help you learn a language in a few days, weeks or months or it promises you fast fluency, save your money. 

Anything promising you a way to ‘get fluent quickly’ is no different to an add promising you six-pack abs without effort even if I truly understand the tempatation! 

Languages take time, a lot of effort, a few fails, trials and errors, fun moments where everything seems to fall into place followed ...

You have learnt so much, you are killing it with your grammar, you feel ready to take on the French world by storm and speak French all the time until your conversation partner asks you to repeat or simply and rudely switch to English half way through your effort....how frustrating!

They might just want to be practising their English but they might also feel that you are actually struggling and maybe they are saving you.

To keep the natural flow of a conversation going, you will have put 'your French mouth' on. That's what I always tell my students when I hear them slip...You know what I mean, us French can go a bit lazy too and revert to " Ello..ow arrre yoo? " or  "Ze sheese is delissious".

So, follow these few tips and before you know it you will sound like you have been learning French for ever.

• listen.

Obvious, non?  learning a new language will be the exact same process as learning your first language, just faster. Hearing it over and over and over again will get you in ...

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 this really works
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For a while now, since that dreadful virus hit us and forced us into lockdown, "online everything" has just exploded.

So was born the new era of tutoring, I know some people had jumped on that online wagon a while ago but suddenly, we were left with no choice.

Many parents are now, as the dust is slowly settling and home visits are allowed, asking me which is better, online or traditional face to face tutoring?

Obviously, there is certain ceremonial about a home visit, I usually offer my student a cup of tea and a slice of something home baked, there is something comfortingly informal about being in someone's home. We get to know the rest of the family, the pets. It is a real human experience.

Online tutoring might seem cold and detached at first, but I must say, I have even been surprised myself by how quickly both parties, student and teacher adapt and develop a new bond, how quickly experienced teachers can still read facial expressions and understand the mood of the student and...