9 Tips and Ideas to Improve your French Writing Skills

Are you looking to improve your French writing skills? An August 2022 report by Statista reveals that French ranks fifth globally with 274.1 million native speakers. And to think that learning to write in French in this age is not beneficial would be utter ignorance.

Whether you want to better your French writing skills for academic, commercial, or general linguistic self-improvement purposes, these tips will help you write in French like a native:

Tips to Improve your French Writing Skills

Master the Basics of French Writing

Before diving head-first into the French writing shebang, it is crucial to understand what forms French writing. For starters, French writing is different from French speaking. Noting the difference in how you write or word French syllables makes it easy for you.

Thankfully, learning French writing is mostly straightforward. For instance, writing in French involves using the Latin Alphabet, which is easy to grasp. Its alphabet also has 26 letters. Here are four key things to master as far as the basics of French writing are concerned:

Know how to Spell in French

The biggest challenge that most learners face is trying to spell out words in French when they can already speak the language. Unlike what most assume, the silent words in French speech are very much present during French writing.

We recommend you start by finding out how to spell the simple French words you already know, such as ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Merci’. Now, do the opposite and do an online search of other common English words in French and see what pops up. Try pronouncing them and see whether you got them right or wrong.

The beneficial thing about this is that with time, you learn what French letters or words are silent during pronunciation. Common examples include P in ‘beaucoup’ and S in ‘trois’. Doing this allows you to learn to spell French words and construct French sentences.

Pay Attention to the French Accent Marks

We are certainly not the only ones who would get confused whenever we could spot accent marks on a letter. These accent marks give a different meaning to a word, which often requires you to know the difference to understand the meaning.

According to French native speakers, missing an accent is a spelling error. They believe French accent marks differentiate a French word from its known homonyms.

French writing uses five accent marks. These are the cedilla, the acute accent, the circumflex, the grave accent, and the trema. Study each accent mark, what it means, and how different it is from others. Also, learn where to place them and how these change the meaning of a word or sentence.

For instance, the cedilla often softens the sound of the letter C. Here; it shifts the pronunciation to the letter C from ‘K’ in ‘Cane’ to a soft ‘S’ sound like in ‘Center’. Try applying this in French writing and notice it making a difference.

Note how Gender Influences French Grammar

Unlike in English, nouns in French have genders. It means that your French writing should exude the presence of masculinity or femininity where needed. Hence, the different parts of your French sentence require conjunctions accurate to the specific genders and the number of nouns.

For example, definite articles use ‘le, ‘l’, or ‘la’, whereas indefinite ones use ‘un’ or ‘une’. Besides articles, you should also pay attention to the pronouns and adjectives in French writing to know how to best word your sentence and convey the intended meaning.

Follow the Structure of French Sentences

You are one step ahead if you already know how to form words in English. It is because both English and French follow the SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) structure. Besides, both formats are flexible, where you are free to flip word placement to promote an emphasis on a specific part of a sentence while retaining meaning.

For instance,’I am traveling tomorrow’ is ‘Je voyage demain’. However, ‘tomorrow I am traveling’ is ‘demain je voyage’ in French. In the former, the emphasis is on the subject, whereas the latter focuses on time. Still, the meaning of the person traveling remains intact.

Learn about the exact word placement for placing a question word. Here, we put such at the beginning of a sentence when writing in French.

Read French Books and Other Resources

After learning the basics, it is time to see those tips in action. The best way to improve your French writing skills is by reading books, publications, or articles that other people have written in French.

Doing so lets you see how to structure sentences and paragraphs in French. Besides, you get to kill two birds with one stone (improving your French reading and writing skills).

Try Reputable Online French-learning Tools and Sites

Several digital tools and websites are committed to making your experience of improving your French writing skills seamless. If you have difficulty putting to practice the tips above on your own, you could try online tools.

Reputable French-learning websites and tools include Duolingo, FluentU, Larousse, Brainscape, Coffee Break French, and Expressio. Most of these sites and tools have free versions that you can take advantage of to improve your French writing skills.

Practice Consistently

Like most things, the more you practice writing in French, the better you become at it. Get online quizzes and try completing them on your own without referencing. Seek for more difficult ones and check how you score in each.

We recommend keeping a French-writing daily journal or diary. Use it to record even the most mundane task. Start by noting down words, then progress to sentences and then paragraphs. Try checking online to see if your French writing conveys the rightful meaning and edit accordingly.

Seek Feedback

It is always best to have someone else audit your French writing and offer feedback on the safe. Often, you cannot notice the small mistakes in, say, grammar that could change the meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence.

You could find a trusted Friend who is a native French speaker and writer and ask them for constructive criticism. Incorporate the feedback into your writing and watch it transform your French writing skills.

Conclusion

Several things are crucial when wanting to improve your French writing skills. You are better off when you hack aspects like the French accent marks, spelling, and word structuring. Overall, staying consistent with practice and incorporating constructive feedback makes your French writing skills enviable.

Also read: 7 Tips on How to Improve your Spanish Writing Skills