The 5 Pillars of French Fluency

In this episode, you’ll learn about the five pillars of French fluency: what they are, why they matter, and how they work together to help you actually speak French.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Links & Cheat Sheet:

The Fluency Wheel Program: Click here to learn more

Transcript

Bonjour a tous, hello everyone. :) Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. Today’s episode is going to be a little bit different from our usual bite-sized lessons. Today, we’re going to zoom out and look at the building blocks of French fluency.

This episode is especially for you if you’ve been learning French for a little while, maybe through apps, classes, or even podcasts, but when it comes time to actually speaking French, you feel like something’s missing. You know some words, you know some rules, but conversations in French are still a little bit of a struggle.

And here’s the thing: most beginners are putting in plenty of effort. Just the fact that you’re listening to this very podcast tells me you’re committed to learning French. But despite that learning effort, it can still feel like you’re hitting a plateau, like fluency is always out of reach.

Today, I want to talk about what fluency is really made of, and how it actually gets built.

I like to think of fluency as something you build in layers, or in this case, pillars. There are five of them. And when those pillars progress together, when each one gets stronger, your French starts to feel more effortless… which I’m all about. :)

So in this episode, I’m going to walk you through those five fluency pillars: why each one matters, what happens when it’s weak, and how they all work together to move you from simply studying French to actually speaking French.

Alright, so let’s start with the big picture.

I like to think of fluency as a wheel. Imagine a bicycle wheel with five spokes. If all the spokes are strong, your wheel turns smoothly, and you move forward with ease.

But if one spoke is missing, your wheel wobbles. And if two or three are missing, the wheel might not roll at all… no matter how hard you push on your pedals.

Now, of course, this is just a metaphor. But it’s exactly what happens when some pillars of your fluency are weak. For example, maybe you know a lot of vocabulary, lot of French words, but if your pronunciation isn’t clear, the whole thing wobbles, people can’t understand you clearly. And you stay stuck at that frustrating point of ‘I know a little French, but I can’t really use my French.’

That’s why conversations are sometimes a struggle, and why many learners end up switching back to English.

So let’s walk through those five pillars one by one.

Pillar 1: Pronunciation 🗣️

Now, I don’t mean sounding like a native, or like a Parisian or erasing your accent. Your accent is your identity, it’s part of you, you don’t need to lose it. What pronunciation really means is producing French sounds, (because words are what? a sequence of sounds), clearly enough sothat people understand you in conversations, and that you feel comfortable speaking out loud in French.

When pronunciation is really strong, you feel confident opening your mouth and people understand you. Thats a pretty good start for a conversation.

But when this pillar is weak, here’s what happens: you know the words in your head, but you hesitate to say them because you’re not sure if they’ll come out right. Or when you do say them, but you get that confused look, or you have to repeat yourself over and over, which is discouraging. And over time, many beginners avoid speaking altogether, or give up. not because they don’t know the words, but because they don’t trust their pronunciation.

That’s why this pillar is so foundational: it’s not about perfection, it’s about clarity.

Pillar 2: Grammar 🧩

Now, grammar has a bad reputation. It feels heavy, boring, full of rules and exceptions. But really, grammar is just the structure that holds your words together.

Without grammar, you have random words, but you have no way to connect them together. But with grammar, even at a beginner level, you can start creating your own sentences instead of relying on memorized scripts, or pre-made phrases.

When grammar is weak, you get stuck. You try to translate directly from English, and it doesn’t land in French. You freeze because you just can’t put words together quickly enough. Conversations again, feel impossible, a struggle.

But when grammar is good enough, not perfect, not advanced, just good enough, you finally have the scaffolding to express what you want to say, aka build your own sentences.

Pillar 3: Vocabulary 📚

This is where most learners spend the most of their time at first when they start learning French, and it makes sense, because words feel like progress. But vocabulary only matters if you can actually use it.

When this pillar is weak, you might recognize words on paper but you can’t recall them in a real conversation. That’s when you feel like, ‘Urgh, I know some French, but I don’t know enough French to actually have a conversation with someone.’

And I believe that the problem is that a lot of students stop at memorizing. They learn a word once, check it off, and expect it to be there forever. But language doesn’t quite work like that. You need to hear it, say it out loud, and reuse it in different situations before it really sticks.

The key is building vocabulary with intention and with practice. Focusing on the words you’ll actually need in your day to day life, and then reinforcing those words until they become second nature.

What you need is the right words, and you need to practice them enough that they’re ready for you when you need them in conversations.

Pillar 4: Comprehension 👂

This is both about listening comprehension and reading comprehension. That’s the ability to understand French in real time.

When this pillar is weak, everything feels like a blur. You recognize words in your app, but when a French person speaks at normal speed, not slowed down, you can’t catch those words. You miss a word, you panic, and then the conversation ends before it even begins.

But here’s the thing: comprehension doesn’t mean understanding every single word. Even for me, I like to think I’m fluent in English, but when I talk to someone, or watch a movie or a TV show, there are often words or expressions I don’t get. But it doesn’t stop me from understanding the overall meaning of what’s being said. Most of the time, I can follow the key words, the patterns, the overall flow. Enough to keep up with the conversatio , enough to respond.

When this pillar is strong, you stop panicking when you miss a word. You realize you can still understand, still interact, still be part of the conversation. And suddenly, French isn’t such a blur anymore.

Pillar 5: Expression 💬

This is the ability to hold a conversation: to start, to respond, to keep going.

Expression is where everything you’ve learned comes together. Pronunciation makes you clear, grammar gives you structure, vocabulary fills your sentences, comprehension helps you follow along, but expression is what allows you to actually participate in a conversation.

So the only way to build this pillar is through practice. Not just keeping the words that you know in your head, but speaking them out loud, in context, in little everyday scenarios. Things like role-plays, guided prompts, or repeating or adapting phrases until you feel comfortable. Actively practicing. That’s how the expression pillar grows… by making French something you use, not just something you study.

When this pillar is weak, you stay stuck in what I call ‘learner mode.’ You avoid speaking because you don’t feel ready.

But when this pillar is strong, you finally cross the bridge from studying French to using French. Even if your sentences are simple, even if your grammar isn’t perfect, you’re in the conversation. You’re participating. And that’s when you start feeling good about your French.

So that’s it, those are the five pillars of French fluency: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and expression.

When one of them is missing, your French feels stuck. But when they’re built together, your fluency wheel, if we go back to the wheel metaphor, finally starts rolling. It’s progressing.

And if thought, as you were listening: ‘Yes, this is exactly what I’ve been missing,’ then I’ve got good news for you. My brand new Fluency Wheel Program is officially open for enrollment today.

Inside, we’ll build all five pillars of French fluency step by step, so you can finally move from ‘I kind of know French’ to ‘I can actually speak French.’

Enrollment closes on September 26, so dont miss yout, and you’ll find the link in the show notes if you’d like to join.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me. I hope today’s episode gave you clarity and confidence. And of course, I’d love to see you inside the program, so go check it out. À bientôt. Bye.