Let's face it: learning a foreign language is not easy.

My first experience trying to master a foreign language came when I received an opportunity to spend a year living abroad. I figured that after a few months surrounded by native speakers, I would be well on my way to fluency. After all, how hard could it be? 

Boy, was I wrong.

It turned out that after four months of living abroad, I was still barely able to have a basic conversation with the locals. Although I could quote my grammar textbook's explanation of the use of the subjunctive by heart, I was useless when it came to actually conversing in the language.

Walking into stores or restaurants, I was mostly reduced to grunting and pointing at what I wanted. I was not able to make friends, talk to girls, or have any significant social interaction with the locals.

Eventually, after months of trial and error, I stumbled upon a series of techniques that rapidly improved by ability to communicate effectively with native speakers.

The most important thing I discovered was that if I wanted to learn how to converse in a foreign language, I needed to focus most of my study on speaking and listening. Once I replaced the time I was spending on flashcards and grammar drills with time actively listening and speaking, I began to see dramatic improvement.

Changing my approach to account for these principles freed me from the "paralysis by analysis" that had been making my speech slow and stunted and finally allowed me to start speaking more fluently and more confidently.

I started One Month Lingo to help expats and travelers develop conversational skills in their target language, in the absolutely shortest time possible. Our Dialogue Deconstruction Method approach allows you to immerse in audio of native speakers in your target language from your first lesson. 

But first a warning: this approach is not for everyone. If you are looking for something that is "easy" and doesn't require much effort or attention, or if you want cute games or "apps" that require no more than clicking a mouse, then this isin't for you.

But if you are you are ready to finally learn how to speak (not just read) conversational French, and are willing to put in a bit of time and effort each day, read on to find out how you can quickly build your confidence and improve your ability to converse in French.