I know exactly how to help you to not to block when you speak in French.
I know this because I experienced the same thing when I was learning English and now I am able to express myself in this language without blocking and with confidence.
I also know this because I have created a program in French whose objective is to stop blocking in French, it's Ohlala French Coffee, my French conversation group.
Listen
The first step to stop blocking when you speak French is to listen.
Listen to lots of French content.
It will help you to learn the words, sounds and pronunciation as well as the sentence structures.
Listening to French every day should be part of your daily routine.
For example, I have a student, cuckoo Ramneek, who listens to almost 6 hours of French content per day: music, cartoons, podcasts, etc.
He joined my conversation group a few months ago and has made tremendous progress. He expresses himself superbly in French, without blocking. He even went from intermediate to advanced in just a few months.
So, you don't have to listen to 6 hours of French content per day, but just 30 minutes / 1 hour is already very good!
The combination of listening and practicing French orally is ultra-efficient to succeed in speaking French without blocking.
Prepare yourself
The more prepared you are, the less you will get stuck!
Often when we get stuck when speaking French, it can be because of a lack of practice, a lack of confidence or stress. Or it could be all of these things mixed together.
Preparing yourself before you speak will go a long way in helping you not to get stuck when you speak. You'll know what you're talking about, what you can say, the vocabulary you'll use. You can even anticipate the questions you will be asked during your conversation.
This is also why in my conversation group, I send resources to my students before their conversation. They have videos on the conversation topic, useful vocabulary and even a list of conversation question ideas. So you always know what to say and prepare for questions.
To prepare, you can, for example, ask yourself questions in French and answer them. You talk to yourself in French.
And this is also a very good way to prepare your brain and your mouth to speak French. I invite you to do this 30 minutes before you actually speak in French. Condition yourself in French just before your conversations, you will be totally ready and confident!
Preparing yourself is very important, it allows you to avoid blocking when you speak in French.
Relax
As I told you earlier, when we block in French, it is often linked to stress. We stress about blocking when we speak French, about not finding our words in French or about making mistakes.
You need to relax before speaking French. I invite you to do 5/10 minutes of cardiac coherence before speaking French. You can find videos of cardiac coherence on YouTube.
It's a breathing exercise whose goal is to relax, to be more relaxed. It's very effective, I often did it before an exam, it helped me a lot.
It will help you to be more relaxed when you speak French. Your brain will be clear and not clouded by stress. You will express yourself more naturally and you won't block.
Take your time
In order not to get stuck when you speak French, you have to take your time. Take your time when you speak.
We have this phenomenon when we are stressed to speak a language, to want to speak too quickly. And that's not good, because the words will come quickly, too quickly, and they'll get stuck in your mouth and you won't be able to express yourself properly.
That's why it's important that you take your time when you speak French.
I used to make this mistake too when I wanted to speak a foreign language, I was stressed, I wanted it to be over as soon as possible. I was stressed, I wanted it to be over as quickly as possible, and in the end, people didn't understand me and it was a disaster.
Now, I take my time to express myself, I articulate well, I let the words come to my mouth quietly and I am understood much better.
It's not a big deal to look for words, we all look for these words in our mother tongue or in a foreign language. Generally, when we look for our words, we use little language tics to fill the gap.
You can then use :
Euh … : euh je ne veux plus bloquer quand je parle français
Je veux dire que … : Je veux dire que je veux m’exprimer plus naturellement
Alors … : Alors, je veux arrêter de chercher mes mots
Qu’est-ce que je voulais dire ? : Qu’est-ce que je voulais dire ? Ah oui, la pratique aide à ne plus bloquer quand on parle français.
Quoi d’autre ? : Quoi d’autre ? Ah oui, je trouve que je m’exprime mieux en français maintenant.
Talking with non-native speakers
It's often impressive to speak with native French people, because they speak better than we do and we don't have the impression that they are not looking for their words. Inevitably, we lose confidence and we get stuck when we want to speak French.
That's why, at first, a very good method is to practice with non-native speakers. People like you who are learning French.
This is what I personally did in English and it helped me considerably to gain confidence and to explain myself more naturally.
Students of French are like you, they have the same fear of speaking French, the same blocks, they understand you! It will then be much easier to speak with them, to practice your French.
You will gain confidence in yourself and you will no longer block when you speak in French.
All I'm here to tell you is what I propose to you to stop blocking when you speak in French in my conversation group, Ohlala French Coffee.
This is the best program to gain confidence in speaking, to express yourself more naturally and not to block when you speak in French.
How does it work?
You prepare yourself around a theme with oral and/or written comprehension, vocabulary and/or grammar exercises, a podcast and conversation questions.
You practice with a language partner of the same level on the theme of the week.
There are 7 conversation sessions per week, so you have plenty of opportunity to practice your French each week.
During this time, the teacher goes around the rooms listening to the participants, noting interesting vocabulary, phrases to improve and answering your questions.
After each session, the teacher shares the notes he or she has taken in order to assimilate new vocabulary and improve your grammar and pronunciation. The teacher will also answer all your questions about French.
If you are looking for your French words too often, you have a good foundation in French, but you can't put it into practice and you don't dare to speak in French due to lack of confidence.
Thanks to Ohlala French Coffee, you will express yourself more naturally and spontaneously, you will be able to speak about any subject in French with the right vocabulary and you will be confident and at ease in any situation in French.
