The most invaluable Language Learning Tool

Many would dispute its efficacy, but in mind, the existence of Google Translate is a boon to language learners.

And not just because of its more or less accurate translation from and to 63 languages, but also because it allows phonetic typing (that small, toggling keyboard icon to the bottom left) but also lets you hear the pronunciation.

Here’s how I work with it. Let’s say I am reading Asterix, in French. And I come across Il doit etre dans le feuillage en train de cueillir le gui avec sa serpe d'or. I type in this sentence in Google Translate and get “It should be in the foliage picking mistletoe with its golden sickle”, which is not the exact translation … “il” should have been “he”. I also don’t like “foliage” for “feuillage”. I prefer ‘woods’ or ‘trees’, instead. Especially, since I know that we are talking of Getafix (Panoramix, in French), the druid, who is cutting mistletoe from a tree. But that’s ok. Perhaps this is the state of the art translation. But what is of more interest to me is the pronunciation. I would like to hear the sentence pronounced, and this is something Google Translate does brilliantly. The pronunciation is fairly rapid to give you enough listening practice, and believe me, you will need to listen to the sentence again and again till you get a hang of it.

This then is the first step before you move on to seeing French movies as your next aid to French learning.