Is there anything more cool than the French?
Audrey Tatou by Georges Biard
If you're interested in learning to speak French, Melbourne has a huge range of options. With several language schools –
Alliance Francaise,
Lyceum,
Language Champs, across a range of suburbs, it's not hard to find a centre within cooee of you.
Group classes will cost around $30 per week and private lessons start at about $50 per hour. I can recommend both - I've been to private classes at Language Champs, which really accelerated my learning before a recent trip to France. For my money, though, group classes are more fun. You not only learn the language but can share it with like-minded others.
If classes sound too expensive, there are cheaper, even free options. There are two French
Meetup groups in Melbourne, with regular events where you can chat (or struggle!) in French with other Melbournites. There's a range of language ability in the groups and I've found people to be surprisingly patient and kind. The only requirement is that you try!
An option that doesn't involve leaving home is a conversation exchange website such as conversationexchange.com or languageforexchange.com. Free to join, these websites give you the chance to meet native French speakers interested in improving their English. You can chat in French and English, helping each other improve, and learn about each other's cultures. Chatting like this via skype, I've learned heaps of useful expressions and met some great French people (who've patiently accepted my mangling their language).
Paris Night by Benh Lieu Song
Also useful are: TV5.org, bbc.co.uk and frenchabout.com with quizzes, audio and grammar. For the truly committed, you can even download and read French books that are out of copyright from
Project Gutenberg. I won't pretend learning a language is easy – you have to keep at it. But, as my French teacher tells me, all you need is to practise a few minutes each day.
