How to Improve French Speaking in 7 Steps

If you’re one of many learners struggling with spoken French, you might wonder why. The explanation is likely the simplest one: Your French courses or self-study programs just aren’t enough. You need to work smarter, not harder.

Follow these seven practical, powerful steps for how to improve French speaking skills and finally feel more fluent.

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1. Talk to Yourself in French

In my experience, the best way to prepare for spontaneous French conversation is to pretend you’re already doing it.

Talk to yourself throughout your day in French. For example, as you cook dinner, use French to describe what you’re making, what you like about it or how you may have added a tad too much butter to your hollandaise sauce.

You can do this with any part of your day, such as:

• Narrating your daily routines as you do them
• Talking about the clothes you’re wearing
• Pretending you’re chatting about the article you just read
• Talking about your plans for the weekend

These conversations with yourself can happen anywhere: in the shower, in your car during your commute, alone in your bedroom. The more in-depth the conversation is, the better.

By talking to yourself, you not only improve your responses to questions and topics that will arise in casual, everyday French, but you do so in a pressure-free, judgment-free environment.

There’s no one around to hear your mistakes, and you might be surprised how the lack of anxiety allows you to speak more naturally and build your confidence.

And hey, if you’re extra daring, talk to yourself with others around. Just ignore the sideways glances.

2. Listen to and Summarize French Audio

Listening skills and speaking skills go hand-in-hand.

The art of conversation not only requires grammatically correct sentences, but it also requires speakers to listen to one another and digest important information to keep the dialogue going.

So, one way to improve French speaking is to practice the process of listening, understanding and then speaking.

First, find something to listen to. It should be something you find interesting, but also not too far off of your current level of French. For example, you might try:

• A French podcast
• A French radio show
• A French news channel

Then, after you’ve listened to your chosen audio, summarize what you heard out loud. I recommend writing down key words used in the program and incorporating them in your summary.

Doing this allows you to internalize new vocabulary and speak about a range of topics that you previously knew little about, both of which will serve you well later in real conversations with French speakers.

3. Watch and Repeat French Media

Besides simple listening practice, French movies, French TV shows and even French YouTube videos are great for language learners because they provide visual context for what you hear.

For instance, who doesn’t love watching game shows? I sure do! The best part is shouting my own answers at the screen and chiding the participants who get questions wrong.

Try watching a French game show and see if you can beat the players. The faster you understand the question and provide your own answer (even if it’s not correct), the faster you will improve your French listening comprehension and, consequently, your spontaneous speaking.

Some trivia shows I enjoy include “Tout le monde veut prendre sa place” (which translates as “everyone wants to take their place”) and “Qui veut gagner des millions?” (the French equivalent of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”).

If you prefer standard TV shows or movies, those can still be used for speaking practice. You can try the shadowing technique and repeat after the characters to help you get used to speaking fluent French (even if you don’t understand what you’re saying).

4. Read Aloud and Use French Audiobooks

Reading is another great way to get exposure to more natural, real-world French rather than just the safe stock phrases that textbooks want you to memorize and regurgitate.

Once you’ve selected an intriguing French book, read it out loud as you go. This allows you to get a feel for how French speakers actually compose sentences, especially dialogue.

Further, you’ll become more comfortable with common sentence structures, and you’ll find you’re better able to replicate those structures in actual spontaneous speech.

And while you’re at it, download the audiobook of the French novel you’re reading.

You can read aloud with the audiobook to fine-tune your pronunciation and intonation while becoming more fluent in the rhythm of the French language.

5. Speak French with Native Speakers

While the audiobooks, the babbling in the shower and the radio stations will all help you improve, nothing in the world compares to having real conversations in French.

So get out there and find a French language exchange partner.

An online partner allows you to converse remotely, which you can do through informal voice chats and video calls. However, you ideally want to find someone in your area that you can talk with in person.

Once you’ve found someone, I recommend securing two to three days a week to meet up and speak French. You can talk about pretty much anything:

• Pre-arranged topics you both enjoy
• Books, movies or the news
• Your hobbies and daily lives
• Current events and social issues

Once you really get comfortable, you might even have debates or discuss more juicy subjects like abstract art or politics.

If you’re feeling extra spontaneous, plan a field trip with your language buddy. Go to French language events like meet-and-greets, conventions or luncheons. Such events will allow you to use that French you’ve been practicing in the real world with more people.

Additionally, if you want more structured practice, you might consider finding a French tutor. Many have legitimate teaching qualifications and will be better equipped to notice and correct any mistakes you make.

You can ask your French tutor to teach using specific topics, and you can arrange lessons at times that are convenient for you. You also can (and should!) request they speak only French during your sessions.

6. Immerse Yourself in French

Studying, visiting or living in a French-speaking region will massively benefit your speaking ability, because you’ll need it to do…pretty much everything.

You’ll have to rely on French to go shopping, dine at restaurants, see the doctor, visit the bank and so on. It’s also a great way to meet a wide variety of native speakers that you can practice with.

Enrolling in an intensive language program in France, for example, would drop you right into a full French environment. You could also simply visit the country for a few weeks or even a few days—just make sure you stay away from the touristy stuff so you actually have to speak the language.

France isn’t your only option, either—French is an official language in 29 countries.

If in-country immersion sounds like too much time or money, don’t worry. I get it. Luckily, it’s also fully possible to immerse yourself in French in your own home, by using a program such as FluentU.

7. Review Mistakes and Practice Often

Mistakes are a natural part of the language learning process. For me, having the right mindset about mistakes is one of the most important parts of learning any new language.

Learning French is like practicing for a marathon. You can’t just wake up one day and decide to run in the marathon that’s taking place that morning. You need to train. You need to put in time. You need to fail and learn from your mistakes.

The same is true for spoken French. You won’t excel if you refuse to speak. You need to put yourself out there and practice, even if it means you make mistakes.

Here are my biggest tips for this:

• Make note of your mistakes and correct them. Write down what you did wrong. When you have time, ask a native speaker to go over them with you and tell you how to fix them.
• Review and practice your weak areas. Don’t shy away from difficult things, or they’ll never get better. Practice the corrections on your own and in conversations with others.
• Don’t feel bad about making mistakes. Everyone makes them. Even native speakers. Dwelling on them will only hold you back.

Beyond practicing your mistakes, make sure you keep practicing French, period.

Keep up with learning French. Maintaining and improving your vocabulary, grammar and listening skills will be especially helpful in improving your speaking abilities.

And of course: Speak often. To yourself, to others, to your pets. The more you do it, the easier it will become.

Why Aren’t Courses Enough to Improve French Speaking?

French courses and self-study programs are usually excellent for reading, writing and listening to the language, but often, they skimp out on speaking. Formal classes and large lecture halls don’t allow for much spontaneous conversation, and self-guided immersion software doesn’t always, either.

The problem? Improving French speaking is all about learning to speak spontaneously. No potential conversation partner on the streets of Paris, Brussels or Nice is going to stick around while you recite stock answers and flip through your pocket phrasebook.

Without much opportunity for spontaneous speech in courses, learners should aim to engage in as much unplanned speech as possible and incorporate oral French into their everyday lives.

Remember: Even though spoken French is the most intimidating of the competencies, it’s where you really get to show off what you’ve learned!

Now that you know exactly how to improve French speaking, get out there and show ’em what an awesome French learner you are.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And one more thing...

If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)