What is the most difficult when you learn French? (1 Viewer)

[pabissonnier]

Bonjour,

My name is Pierre-Antoine, I am a French professional proofreader.

I would like to know which part of the French language is the most difficult for English speakers to understand or to get used to.

A bientôt

 

[ValentinesM]

Bonjour,

My name is Pierre-Antoine, I am a French professional proofreader.

I would like to know which part of the French language is the most difficult for English speakers to understand or to get used to.

A bientôt

Personally, I found listening the hardest skill to grasp.

 

[Kittikhun]

Syntax.

 

[sexii_Can_I]

I agree, the syntax can be a pain especially when you're sitting in a speaking skills exam wondering how in the world you say something like "I did not give it to her."

 

[meggo-meggo]

Although the syntax can be difficult to understand perfectly, its not too hard to express an overall meaning, so I don't think that syntax is the biggest problem. For the HSC course, I've found listening the most difficult, especially to complete the questions fully. DELF B1 listening was fail. I think that speaking is something that just really comes with practice, practice, practice, and its not too hard to express an overall meaning adequately once you've reached a certain level. So yes, listening, especially when its quite fast. In reading, you can always read slowly. And in listening, misunderstanding a few key parts of the phrase can really throw you off track. Such as tenses - I will be pregant, I might be pregant, I was pregnant, I should be pregnant... there is quite a bit of difference here, and in a fast listening text those intricacies can be difficult to pick up.

 

[LoveHateSchool]

For me, listening is the worst. I mean I find reading the easiest (good memory for vocab) and writing cause I remember how spelling and stuff easily. Listening I find hard because it can be quite fast and I'm not good at distinguishing between some words.

I find French such an easier language to pick up though than Japanese though.

 

[17028354]

climbing down from that high horse

 

[esu_chan]

Listening, because for some reason I'm crap at it (like I usually mess up the words I hear, like if someone is saying they need to meet someone somewhere on an answering machine message and I pick up "I saw you somewhere"), and Speaking, because I'll practise and practise the practise questions and then when it comes to the day I'll be asked a simple question such as "describe your pets" and I won't know how to reply D: Also because you need to DRILL vocab and I can't seem to do that. :x

 

[stkildasts]

I love French!!!!

Anyway I reckon speaking is the hardest, because you have to create sentences in real time (like thinking of vocab and conjugations), unless you have a lot of set phrases in store...

Also prepositions are pretty tough, though you get more of a feel for them with experience - eg. C'est difficile de/a' parler francais.