You are learning French and have probably heard that it is a good idea to make friends with native speakers because they will be able to help you, and you will be able to copy how they pronounce French words. This may well be true in part, but making foreign friends in a French language school is a very good idea too. Students from other countries will share similar problems you have in learning a new language. More than 100 million young people are learning French at schools and colleges around the world. French is a very important language worldwide.
Sharing problems together
Students from all over the world attend courses in French in schools and educational establishments in France, and you can be pretty certain that the types of problem you are finding when studying French will be the same sort of problems that foreign students have with learning the language too. So if you make friends with someone else learning French from a foreign country then you can talk about the mistakes you are making and see if you can share any tips that you find helpful. You can also practice the language together. This is a great way of making new friends, and a great way of helping you learn French.
French Pronunciation
Because foreign students are used to speaking in their own languages they may well find the correct pronunciation of French words one problem they encounter when studying the language. Learning how to sound words just like native speakers from France do is something that needs practice. If you make friends from other countries who are learning French too, you can listen to French being spoken and try copying what you hear together. You can listen to French radio and watch TV and films in French to hear French being spoken or you can find out how words are pronounced on Internet websites. It can be fun seeing how well you can say words and phrases in French, and, of course, you can ask a French native speaker or your teacher how well you are doing with your pronunciation. It is a very rewarding feeling to find out that you are speaking just like someone from France would do.
Friendships that last
Foreign friends that you make while learning French can becoming lasting friends, and of course, you can keep in touch and perhaps arrange to meet up again. Maybe you could visit each other’s countries for a holiday? You might even fancy trying to learn the languages of your new friends, whether they are Greek, Spanish, Portuguese or Chinese, for example? One French Language school that gets a lot of students from foreign countries and overseas is our Ifalpes school, so why not find out more about the General French Courses? Learning French can lead to lasting friendships!
