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Get ready for beginners’ French
Get ready for beginners’ French

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3 What challenges will I face?

This course has put a lot of emphasis on the benefits of studying French, and you’ve just thought about what you expect to enjoy most. Keeping these positive elements in mind will help you stay focused on the big picture as your French improves day by day. It’s very important though, that you also consider the challenges you may encounter from time to time. If you do some forward planning before embarking on your learning journey, you’ll be well prepared to overcome any possible obstacles.

So, what will be the main challenges as you start to learn French? These will often be quite specific to your particular circumstances – perhaps a few things come to mind immediately. Consider them further in the the next activity.

Activity 3 Your challenges

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes

Take a few minutes to think about the personal challenges you might encounter in learning French. These may be things that crop up beforehand, like the task of finding the right course for you. Perhaps your family circumstances, or work, or other obligations will present challenges. Or this could relate to aspects of the study itself, and your own specific concerns about learning and practising a new language.

Make some notes about these challenges in the box below.

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The next few sections will discuss three significant challenges encountered by practically everyone learning a language. They are:

  • difficulty in finding time to study
  • insecurity with getting things wrong
  • not having the opportunity to practise what you learn.

You will now consider these challenges in more detail, and receive some practical tips for tackling and overcoming them.