La Langue De Moliere

The Oxford University describes `French (as being) among the most widely-spoken modern languages in the world, with over 120 million speakers worldwide. It is an official language in such diverse places as Louisiana, Martinique and Belgium as well as France itself, and the many different kinds of French that exist ensure that the language remains central to a thriving variety of cultures. The literature, art and cinema of France are among the richest and most influential in the world.`

You can learn our beautiful language in many ways, depending on your learning style, your ability and the amount of time you can dedicate to it. You will need to study the grammar, vocabulary, idoms and verb formations: that is the most difficult part of it. But...the good news is that learning French grammar is SO very worthwhile because once you know it, you can rely on it: French has many rules but few exceptions, unlike English, which is the exact opposite!

There are some fun ways to improve and expand on your vocabulary and grammatical knowledge, once you have the `foundations` in place: We are very lucky that, with the advent of the internet, there are so many `online opportunities` and free resources for learning and improving on your French. Finding a pen friend has never been so easy with Facebook now (but please still exercise caution about this!). So many films or documentaries are available on Youtube. Watching French TV is also possible over the internet for some channels.

Some of the best online resources which I have found are listed below (I keep adding on to it):

Institut Francais: Culturethèque is an online platform offering French cultural content such as ebooks, films and audios, carefully selected and accessible from the comfort of your home. The mission statement of this cultural cooperation tool is to present French cultural events happening today in order to promote the presence of the French language online It is a free resources for UK residents. www.culturetheque.org.uk

Bibliotheque Nationale de France: Today, the BnF’s digital library, Gallica, provides access to over two millions and a half documents. www.bnf.fr

Radio France International: Learn French by radio by listening to books and a daily summary of the news, in simple French. Learn a new word a day: http://www.rfi.fr/lfen/statiques/accueil.asp www.rfi.fr

Ultimately, the aim of learning French should be all about putting it into practice by travelling in France and talking to `real` French people! And this, to me, is the most rewarding part. Being able to communicate fully will enable you to understand and enjoy our culture and traditions so much better!

Bon Courage a tous et a toutes!