'I am a French tutor and these are five tips that can benefit learners'

Learning French is a lifelong pursuit. Once you have mastered the basics, can hold a decent conversation and ask for what you need, your language skills can easily plateau. 

However, a few key tips can help French learners elevate their language skills surprisingly quickly. 

Caroline Benedetto, a French tutor in Paris, has helped everyone from beginners to advanced learners get to grips with French. 

Here, she tells The Connexion the five simple changes that can make a marked difference. 

After 20 years of teaching French, one thing is obvious: true progress does not come from studying harder, but from studying smarter.

Mastering French goes far beyond conjugations and vocabulary lists. The real transformation – the kind that makes you sound fluid, spontaneous, and genuinely connected to the language – comes from adopting subtle but strategic habits.

1. Stop relying on filler verbs

Many learners fall back on verbs such as faire and mettre, because they seem to work everywhere. The problem? They flatten nuance. French has a wonderful supply of precise verbs that express ideas more clearly. Reaching for them instantly enriches your communication.

Instead of vague verbs, try: préparer / cuisiner un gâteau; formuler un commentaire; poser quelque chose sur la table.

A simple habit: whenever you write or speak, pause for one second and ask yourself: “What action am I really describing?” Choose the verb that names that action directly. It is one of the quickest ways to sound more articulate.

2. Upgrade your connectors for more nuanced expression

Connectors are the backbone of French argumentation and storytelling. While donc, mais and parce que are useful, they are merely a starting point.

Native speakers use a wide palette of link words to express cause, contrast, consequence, emphasis and structure.

Consider adding these to your repertoire:

Cause: puisque, comme (at the start of a sentence), étant donné que.

Contrast: en revanche, par contre, alors que, tandis que.

Consequence: du coup (informal), ce qui fait que, de ce fait.

Structure: d’abord, ensuite, par ailleurs, au final.

Pick three or four new connectors and intentionally use them for a week. The improvement in clarity and sophistication is immediate.

3. Focus on the real pronunciation traps

Perfect accent? Not necessary. Smart prioritisation? Essential. Certain aspects of French pronunciation matter far more for clarity than others.

Nasal vowels: Confusing un, on, an is extremely common. Practise with minimal pairs such as brun / blond and sans / son.

Liaison: Learners often avoid it entirely or apply it everywhere. Start by mastering the obligatory liaisons: vous‿avez / les‿enfants / un‿ami. 

Rhythm and melody: French is syllable-timed, and groups of words – not individual words – carry the stress. For example: je vais au travail demain → emphasis falls on -vail.

A short daily shadowing practice (15-20 seconds of real audio) transforms pronunciation far more efficiently than drilling isolated words.

4. Keep a curiosity notebook

One of the most productive habits for intermediate learners is starting a curiosity notebook – a small space where you record the French you find interesting, unusual, beautiful, or puzzling.

What to include:

• new expressions heard in conversations, shows, podcasts.

• personal example sentences.

• cultural notes (eg. when French speakers say bof or tiens).

• pronunciation reminders.

• phrases you want to reuse.

Reviewing this notebook for just a few minutes each day turns passive exposure into active skill. It also trains you to notice French as native speakers use it – an underrated superpower for fluency.

5. Adopt native-like conversation habits

Fluency is not only about vocabulary or grammar. It hinges on pragmatics: the small social signals that make your speech sound natural, polite and spontaneous.

Softening expressions: French often softens requests or opinions: Je me demandais si… / Est-ce que ce serait possible de... ? / Peut-être que...

Euphemisms and understatement: Used to stay tactful or avoid bluntness: Ce n’est pas terrible… / Il y a un petit souci… / C’est pas donné…

Fillers and natural hesitation sounds: Moderate use of fillers makes spoken French more authentic: euh, ben, bah, hein? / en fait, tu vois, genre (informal).

These features shape the musicality and rhythm of everyday French, helping you blend into natural conversations.