Say it Frenchie!

Over the past month, I've taken on a new challenge: I'm learning French. Oui, Je parle en francais.

It actually started as part of the job competition I talked about last week. I thought I could bring some new value to the team by interacting with the French-speaking media when needed. It might not have helped me land that job, but that failure has redoubled my commitment to learn this. Maybe someone else will see the value in having a bilingual communicator. 

So, how am I doing it?

It started off in the way that I think most people would start something like this in 2025, I downloaded an app. I started with CBC's app "Mauril." I started up a few levels since, as I mentioned at the start, I do have some foundation in French. I'm not sure how good it would be for a completely new learner. It's a great "5 minutes a day" type app, but it doesn't do much teaching things like grammar or proper speaking. 

For that, I turned to my library. I was delighted to find that my local library provides free subscriptions to a few paid language learning services. I've started with a service called "Mango". I like how it teaches French, but it's teaching Parisienne French, which sounds very high-society to me. It's very refined and snooty. 

Of course, if you read anything about learning languages, they'll tell you that immersion is the best way to learn. Get all the exposure you can. Well, that's easy to say. Not so easy to execute. I can't exactly drop my life for six months to move to Trois-Rivieres. Or even to Gravelbourg - even if they have excellent mustard. 

But we live so much of our lives on our digital devices, and I CAN change my languages there. It started by changing the language on a few of my favourite games like Balatro and Minecraft. Then I updated the language on my phone, followed by my laptop. Updating your device language is a bit of a shock and has been the hardest to adjust to so far. The option to switch back is always there, and the temptation is strong when you're trying to find something in settings. But I've muddled through for a couple of weeks now. 

One of the more subtle benefits of Mauril isn't in the exercises they do but in the suggestions they make at the end of your lesson. After you've passed your little quiz, it gives you a little daily challenge like, "read out your directions to work in French", "make a recipe in French," or "listen to a podcast in French." It gives you these little daily tasks that you can translate further, immersing yourself without annoying everyone around you. Unless you share your daily calendar with your wife. Then you get snarky questions about who "porter vert" is. 

One of the places I feel most successful in my learning journey is listening to podcasts and the news. It always starts off pretty rough, and I'm only picking up a word or two. But by the end of the podcast, I'm pretty engrossed and understanding most of what's being said. I could have also been listening to the Maple Leafs lose in French - I could probably catch a few games where the Riders play the Alouettes in French this summer, too. 

Back to the resources available at my local library, I downloaded "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas, or as I've downloaded it, "Les trois mousquetaires". The book was originally written in French and I've always wanted to read it as written. I've read the translation a few times. 

And there are many resources I haven't tackled yet either. Duolingo is still out there, as are the other couple of language platforms that the library offers. I've considered finding a pen pal or even a discussion partner online to chat with in French. I'd also like to take on some creative projects in French, maybe write a song or do a Minecraft "let's play." Or maybe yet another blog, but this time in French? I want to find more French music that I like. I'm just dipping my toes in that as well. 

And finally, once my accounts started to realize that I was consuming a lot of French media and making a lot of French searches, my advertising followed. So now I get about 50% of my advertising pushed to me in French as well. 

Overall, I'll say this. I don't think there's been a better time in history to learn a new language on your own. Our connection with devices and technology is so strong that gradually moving all of those systems over to your goal language will begin immersing you. While there are many paid services out there, I've been able to access everything for free so far, with the exception of about $10 I spent at Value Village to buy a French/English dictionary and a grammar book. I don't think I'll need to take on any paid stuff unless I choose to take a French university class or something to legitimize my learning. But that's a goal for 2026, I think. And maybe I'll buy a French rhyming dictionary if I choose to write a song, but there's gonna be a website that does that as well. 

Have you considered learning a new language or strengthening one you know? Do you have resources I didn't list here? What would you do different if the language is a computer language? Do these ideas help you apply any other kind of learning?