How Hard Is It to Learn French on a Scale of 1 to 10?

Is French easy 🇫🇷? Does it have a difficulty level? Learning French entails a multi-faceted process; however, what is the actual level of difficulty associated with acquiring this language?

French undeniably stands as one of the most appealing languages for those seeking to embrace a new linguistic endeavor. Owing to its immense linguistic richness and melodious intonation, French is often called the language of love.

Moreover, it is closely linked to renowned modern philosophers, like Barthes or Foucault, and significant literary classics. Presently, French boasts a global speaker count of approximately 300 million, including both native speakers and those who speak it as a second language. For those interested in mastering this language, this article outlines the potential challenges that lie ahead.

In this article, we’re going to check some interesting details about the French language. Is learning French hard? On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard is it? Let’s find out.

What is French?

French is the Gallic language of origin that was originally spoken in the Occitan region of present-day France. It has its origins in Vulgar Latin and is currently a language that has had a great expansion worldwide. Many countries like Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and Haiti speak this language, and many others have adopted it as a secondary language.

Due to its extensive speaker base and cultural significance, French ranks among the world’s most prominent languages. Belonging to the Romance language family, French shares its origin with other Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, Catalan, among others, all of which originated from Vulgar Latin during the Middle Ages. As a consequence, French shares grammatical and lexical similarities with these languages.

In fact, from its origins in the Middle Ages to the present day, French has undergone significant evolution. Among its most distinctive features is its pronunciation, boasting a wide array of sounds, including distinct nasal sounds. Another hallmark is the use of various diacritics, circumflex accents, and cedillas. These characteristics often pose considerable complexity for newcomers.

Where is French spoken as a native language?

As one would logically presume, French serves as the native language of France. However, France is not the exclusive domicile of French as a native tongue. Owing to diverse sociohistorical processes, including colonization and migratory trends, the influence of the French language has extended across the globe.

As mentioned, at present, countries geographically proximate to France, such as Switzerland, Belgium, Monaco, and Luxembourg, embrace French as their native language.

Africa has a vast number of French speakers in countries like Mali, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Rwanda, Senegal, among others.

In the Americas and Haiti, they also speak French. However, there is a group of islands that also speak French, like Martinique, Saint Pierre, Miquelon, Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Martin.

Why is learning French important?

Numerous and diverse reasons underscore the importance of learning French. Primarily, it’s worth recalling that French is widely spoken worldwide. For instance, possessing proficiency in French is exceptionally advantageous for individuals interested in travel and tourism. Given its prevalence across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, mastery of French facilitates seamless communication in French-speaking countries. This enables one to interact with new people and cultures firsthand.

Secondly, acquiring French opens doors to novel and exciting employment prospects. In domains like diplomacy, fashion, gastronomy, and education, being a proficient French speaker provides a distinct competitive edge. French holds an esteemed status and significantly enriches one’s curriculum vitae.

Another advantage of learning French lies in its capacity to broaden cultural horizons. It enables reading original works by philosophers such as Rousseau and Voltaire or novels by Victor Hugo and Balzac. Furthermore, acquiring a new language fosters personal development and cultivates a broader, richer worldview.

Is French easy or hard to learn?

5 reasons why learning French is easy

Perhaps you’ve hesitated to learn French due to its perceived difficulty. However, it’s simply in different ways. Let’s now explore five reasons why learning French can, in reality, be quite manageable:

1. Lexical familiarity. Similar to Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese, French is the Romance language. This linguistic similarity results in a substantial overlap in vocabulary between the two languages. Consequently, while learning French, you’ll recognize numerous words with close equivalents in Spanish.
2. Grammatical similarities. Owing to their shared ancestry, French and Spanish also share grammatical parallels. This means that the structure of sentences in both languages, their organization or syntax, bears considerable resemblance.
3. Abundant resources. Given its cultural prominence, a multitude of educational resources are available for learning French. Unlike less widely spoken languages, there are numerous courses, applications, books, online forums, and other tools tailored for learning French.
4. Cultural affinity. French’s influence on Western culture is profound and widespread. Our modern states are founded on ideals of the French Revolution; we enjoy omelets for breakfast and are acquainted with the music of Edith Piaf, among other connections. These references to French in daily life and popular culture significantly ease the learning process.
5. Access to French content. As previously mentioned, contemporary access to French literature, films, music, and other content is remarkably convenient. Engaging with French-language materials, whether watching a movie, reading lyrics, perusing a text, or listening to a podcast, significantly aids language improvement.

5 reasons why (sometimes) learning French is hard

If you’re determined to learn French, it’s essential to be aware of potential challenges that commonly arise during the learning journey. Here are some reasons why learning French can prove to be difficult in some scenarios:

1. Pronunciation: Although French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese share some common phonemes, French possesses distinctive sounds that are foreign to other languages. Notably, French is full of nasal sounds that lack equivalence to these languages. Additionally, the characteristic guttural “R” sound in French can be challenging for other speakers to reproduce.
2. Subjunctive usage: Similar to Spanish learners, mastering the subjunctive mood in French can pose a genuine challenge. This verbal mood finds extensive application in French and necessitates learning its appropriate use for effective communication.
3. Listening comprehension challenges: Native French speakers tend to speak fast (like in any other language, of course). Coupled with diverse accents, comprehending spoken French during the initial stages of learning can be challenging. Hence, regular practice with native speakers proves beneficial.
4. Silent consonants: Analogous to Spanish, where the letter “H” is not pronounced, French also features several silent consonants. Discerning when to pronounce or omit a final consonant, for instance, poses a common challenge for beginners.
5. False cognates: The term “false cognates” refers to words that are spelled similarly in two different languages but possess distinct meanings. Consequently, novices in French might misinterpret certain words by associating them with similar-sounding terms from their native language.

LiveXP: 1-on-1 French learning experience

There are numerous platforms and resources for learning French, and LiveXP is among them. The LiveXP platform centers on private online classes tailored to your level and schedule. You can choose from highly qualified instructors, schedule classes at your convenience, and connect from any device.

When you learn any foreign language, the best way to do it is with a private teacher, especially a native speaker. In 1-on-1 lessons, the teacher’s focus is all yours. They choose the most suitable and helpful teaching material adjusted according to your level and goals. With a native speaker, you can learn and practice idioms, colloquial expressions, and slang to be closer to the French culture. On LiveXP, you can choose a tutor who shares your interests so that you can practice vocabulary to talk about your favorite things. And LiveXP’s Word Trainer feature in the app will help you learn new words more effectively with the spaced repetition method.

Other challenges: French pronunciation can make it hard to learn

As previously mentioned, one of the potential difficulties of learning French pertains to its distinctive pronunciation. For instance, a Spanish or Italian speaker employs 5 vocalic sounds. In contrast, French incorporates up to 11 vocalic sounds. Moreover, the vowel “e” exhibits various pronunciations: open, closed, and even mute. The “a” and “i” are pronounced similarly to Spanish, yet the “o” and “u” also exhibit multiple pronunciations.

Another common issue involves the pronunciation of nasal sounds, which is highly characteristic of French. These sounds are present in words featuring syllables with the vowels “a,” “e,” “i,” and “u,” followed by “m” or “n.” Nasal sounds are characterized by the flow of air through both the mouth and the nose during sound production.

In addition, we cannot overlook the renowned French “r” sound. This guttural sound often proves challenging for individuals whose native language is not French. What distinguishes the French “r” sound? It’s a consonant produced in the throat. In English and Spanish, the “r” sound is formed with the tongue, either at its tip or back. Therefore, in the process of learning French, mastering this new sound is imperative, especially if you practice it one-on-one with a native speaker on LiveXP. Just choose a tutor of French you want to have a lesson and start mastering the French pronunciation with them online.

Other challenges: French vocabulary

Perhaps, for English speakers, vocabulary might not be a problem at first (as they share some common words). But, for other speakers, it may be an issue.

However, there are some things to talk about vocabulary. A particularity of French, shared with other Romance languages, lies in its grammatical gender marking. What does this mean? Let’s consider an example: in French, “cat” is “chat,” and “female cat” is “chatte.” This distinction is absent in other languages like English.

Another common challenge relates to “false friends,” as previously mentioned. Apart from employing words that appear similar in two languages but possess different meanings, another common error involves homophonous and homographic words. These are words that sound or are spelled the same but carry distinct meanings. For instance, the words “ancre” (anchor) and “encre” (ink) are pronounced identically, potentially leading to misunderstandings.

When you learn French with a teacher, they will help you not to be confused by the words. During the lessons and conversation practice, you acquire vocabulary naturally. On LiveXP, you can add new words to your vocabulary during the lesson to practice them later. The LiveXP’s Word Trainer feature will help you with that. It uses the spaced repetition method for learning and memorizing new words more effectively.

Other challenges: Are French conjugations difficult?

Perhaps this is the most difficult subject for English speakers: French conjugation. Many Romantic languages use conjugations for verbs.

French conjugations resemble those of Spanish and differ significantly from English, for instance. The level of difficulty hinges on one’s familiarity with a language whose verbs undergo substantial changes based on mood, tense, or person.

As with most languages, French encompasses regular and irregular verbs. For an English speaker, the numerous variations these verbs can undergo according to person or tense might appear overwhelming. However, the majority of verbs adhere to consistent patterns, allowing effective conjugation with consistent practice.

While a verb’s spelling can change based on conjugation, its pronunciation may remain nearly identical across all its forms. This is another facet of French conjugation that renders it less formidable than it may initially appear.

When learning with a French tutor, you develop all language skills step-by-step, and grammar is among them. It can be tough to master it on your own without a teacher’s help. You can misunderstand some rules and use the language in the wrong way without knowing it. Your LiveXP tutor will not allow this to happen.

Are French and English similar?

Although French and English do not share a common linguistic ancestry, they do exhibit several resemblances. In fact, modern English had a strong French linguistic influence in the past. Lexically, linguists estimate that around 45% of English vocabulary is derived from French. This explains the prevalence of words like “empire,” “garage,” “nature,” “lion,” and “image” in both languages.

The correct pronunciation of these widely used words must be mastered by English speakers who are studying French, though, as there are wide variations in pronunciation. False cognates between the two languages, as well as noticeable distinctions like French’s more intricate verb conjugations, provide difficulties.

Do any other languages resemble French?

Yes, absolutely. Similarities between French and other languages can be found. Notably, Romance languages and French have a similar origin and have similar traits. Examples of languages with grammatical gender include Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, and Spanish. These languages also have similar lexicon, verb tenses, and grammar.

The “langues d’oïl” are other languages that are comparable to French. These languages are also Romance, including Walloon and Norman.

Is French hard? Linguistic and cultural curiosities of French

Did you know that during the French Revolution, not everybody spoke French? That’s right. In fact, an intriguing aspect of French is its designation as the official language of France in the 16th century. However, two centuries later, during the era of the French Revolution, only half of the population spoke this language. Other languages and dialects, such as Corsican, Breton, and even Basque, were spoken throughout the rest of French territory. It wasn’t until the years following the French Revolution that the language began to spread to regions where it hadn’t been spoken before.

Presently, French stands as one of the six working languages of the United Nations, alongside Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and English. Furthermore, the French language holds official status within various international organizations, such as the International Olympic Committee and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

For sure, another interesting fact about this issue. Standard French is based on the language spoken in Paris. Nevertheless, the reference point for French instruction in many countries is the Ile-de-France dialect.

How easy is it to learn French online?

You may know it already, but people usually learn different languages fully online. You can study from home with digital resources and personal teachers. This affords the advantage of learning at your preferred times, on any device, and through various methods. Options include:

• Online courses.
• 1-to-1 lessons online.
• Downloadable apps (such as PDFs, images, music, etc.).
• Online conversations with native speakers in chatrooms or forums, and more.

Is French easy to learn for English speakers?

We’ve talked about French, its origins, and how difficult it might be for English speakers, but, on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard it actually is? Well, that depends.

As mentioned in this article, French is a language as rich as it is intricate. For those taking their initial steps in learning, it can indeed be daunting. But is learning French truly as challenging as it appears?

The answer to this question varies based on your native language, for example. Learning French might be relatively easier for a Spanish speaker than for an English speaker. It also depends on the amount of time dedicated to study and the methodology employed in language acquisition.

Ultimately, if we were to measure the difficulty of learning French on a scale of 1 to 10, it would likely fall between 6 and 7. However, this figure would substantially decrease if learning through LiveXP.

With LiveXP, you can engage in private 1-on-1 classes with exceptional instructors. You can choose among teachers who share your interests and cater to your needs. Thanks to this personalized approach based on objectives, interests, country, and schedules, the experience of learning French becomes much simpler, more engaging, and more efficient.

Conclusion

Is French easy to learn for English speakers? It might be. Is it difficult for Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian speakers? Not so much. However, that all depends on the resources you are using to study this language and the time you invest in it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard is it to learn French? As we mentioned, a 6 or 7 is accurate. It’s a challenging language, but it has many similarities to English.

Embarking on the journey of learning a new language is always an enriching adventure. Opting to learn one of the languages with a substantial number of speakers and significant cultural importance is a splendid idea. While the pursuit of French proficiency presents various challenges, the benefits and satisfaction of conversing in such an essential language are even greater.

Presently, overcoming common obstacles in French, such as its distinct pronunciation or the intricacies of its syntax and vocabulary, has been made considerably more accessible. Methods like LiveXP, with their personalized approach, significantly facilitate the learning of this and other languages.