Speaking a foreign language is hard. It takes vocabulary, practice, confidence and, maybe most importantly, real opportunities to actually use it. You might live in a French-speaking environment and still freeze up the moment someone talks to you. You might understand everything but struggle to get the words out. Or you've been planning a trip to Paris for months, quietly dreading the moment you'll have to open your mouth.
No need to dive in at the deep end. This first week is about getting the sounds right: the guttural R, the nasal vowels (an, in, on) and that famously difficult U. These come up constantly in French, so getting comfortable with them early makes everything else easier.
The practical tip here is to learn around twenty phrases you'll actually use: ordering food, asking for directions, making small talk. Keep it simple and useful. And record yourself while you're at it. Listening back is uncomfortable at first, but it's one of the fastest ways to spot what needs fixing.
This week, make French something you listen to every day. Start with short podcasts on topics you already care about, sport, food, pop culture, and work your way up to longer ones on news or current affairs as your ear adjusts.
Series and films work well too, and so does TikTok or Instagram if that's where you spend your time. The trick is to not just passively listen but to repeat what you hear out loud, mimicking the rhythm and intonation as closely as you can. It feels a bit silly at first. It works.
By now, going it alone starts to get old. This is the week to find a language exchange partner, someone to practise with, correct and be corrected by, and actually have a conversation with rather than just rehearsing in your head.
You don't need hours. Five to ten minutes a day of real back-and-forth is enough to keep momentum going. Try basing your conversations on everyday Parisian scenarios: grabbing a coffee, asking about museum tickets, figuring out the metro. It keeps things grounded and, when the time comes, surprisingly useful.
The last week is about getting out of your comfort zone. Language cafés, conversation meetups, cultural events: these are the places where everything starts to click. The conversations are unscripted, the people are real and the progress you make in one evening can outpace days of solo practice.
If you need motivation to keep going, think about what's waiting on the other side: a trip to Paris where you can actually talk to people, not just smile and hope for the best
There's no substitute for being somewhere the language is all around you. Paris is an obvious choice, not just because it's Paris, but because it offers an almost endless variety of contexts in which to practise: markets, museums, neighbourhood cafés, chance encounters on the street.
It's also home to the Alliance Française, which has been teaching French to international students for well over a century and remains one of the best places in the world to do it properly. If you're planning a trip and thinking about taking classes while you're there, O'Bon Paris is offering 10% off all courses and language programmes at the Alliance Française de Paris. Donwload the coupon and use the code OBONPARIS1026 when you sign up. A decent saving, and a good reason to finally book that trip.
The Alliance offers everything from conversation workshops to cultural outings, with teachers who actually know how to get results and a student body that comes from every corner of the world. The atmosphere is as much a part of the experience as the classes themselves.
One programme worth highlighting is their French theatre course, which approaches language learning through performance. It sounds unconventional, but it's genuinely effective for loosening up, building confidence and getting rid of the self-consciousness that stops so many people from speaking freely. More details in our full article on the Alliance Française de Paris.
Author and photos: O'bon Paris Team
Address: 101 Bd Raspail, 75006 Paris
Transportation: from Metro Station Saint Placide (line 4) Notre-Dame des Champs and Rennes (line 12)
Website: https://www.alliancefr.org/en/