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Challenges in mastering the language of Romance

Author: Sifil Symbiosis
by Sifil Symbiosis
Posted: Nov 03, 2017

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French is often considered as one of the most suave and refined languages in the world. The widespread popularity of French culture and its other nuances like bakery, perfumes, movies, tourism, heritage, architecture etc have made the language as one of the most loved and sought after languages in the world. People everywhere including metro towns in India have been thronging into foreign language institutes to develop mastery over French language. However, learning and developing command over the language isn’t a cakewalk as French language is very unique and works very differently in comparison to English.

So let’s discuss and understand the most common hurdles faced by students while developing command over the language and how they can be overcome. Firstly, pronunciations and accents are very unique to the language. Unlike other famous languages which draw many words and their roots from English, French seem to have its own roots for words and pronunciations The nasal ’r’ based pronunciation makes frequent appearance in words which is unlike back o throat pronunciation in English which is easier to do and sounds clear too. The simpler solution to this challenge would be to memorize the letter combinations for different pronunciations by heart. This is a simple technique which helps in developing intuitive command over language in quick time. Second common hurdle faced by learners is the spellings in French which are infamous for giving them sleepless nights. Spellings in French language are very confusing as at times entire bunch on letters go unpronounced in spellings while certain silent letters make dutiful appearance in the writing. But yes as inconsistent it may seem, there is a method behind the madness. Practicing the language is the key here to understand the underlying pattern.

Thirdly, words in French have their assigned gender. Some other prominent languages around the world also have this trait but this creates utter confusion for English speakers whereas most of the words in English are gender neutral. It is important and necessary to remember the words and be cognitively aware while speaking. An active presence of mind during learning phase is necessary which will eventually provide sub conscious command over gender of words in the language. And lastly, during initial phase of learning one would get introduced to the usage of verb ‘itre’ which is commonly used to tell people about one’s place of origin or profession. But same cannot be used to express the emotions. Just to draw parallel with English, ‘to be’ can be used in variety of situations but in French one needs to consciously master the usage of verbs as they vary from situation to situation. Overall, one of the most fundamental traits needed to master French is to have conscious presence of mind while learning so that patterns of pronunciation, spellings and grammar become embedded into sub conscious mind.

Symbiosis Institute of Indian and Foreign Languages (SIFIL) is one of leading foreign language institutes who offer French classes in Pune.

URL - https://www.sifil-symbiosis.org

About the Author

Symbiosis Institute of Foreign and Indian Languages (Sifil), Pune. Plot no.419, Model Colony, Gokhale Cross Road, next to Atur Centre, Pune 411 016, Maharashtra, India Tel.no. - 0091-20-25677431/32, 25662822 Fax - 0091-20-25673400

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Author: Sifil Symbiosis

Sifil Symbiosis

Member since: Apr 11, 2017
Published articles: 7

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