Chunks and phrases

Stage two is everything longer than one word: two words, five words, a whole sentence. "I would like", "I want to", "my name is" — these are single units to memorise, not grammar to assemble.

Why whole phrases

Fluent speech is built from chunks: whole phrases stored as one unit. Natives don't conjugate live, they grab the pre-built phrase.

"Je veux" plus any infinitive is a new sentence with zero new grammar. Learn the frame once, refill it forever.

• Learn phrases as fixed units. Grammar can wait.
• Say the whole chunk, not the parts.
• Hunt for refillable frames: a verb plus a slot.

The shortcut inside this stage is a handful of verbs that take an infinitive. Pair one with any verb you meet and you have a whole sentence, with no new grammar to learn. The ones below are yours to practise; add more as you find them.

Make them yours

Your own life sticks. "I want to travel" is inert. "I want to travel to Lisbon in October" is something you'll actually say.

• Write 5 to 10 sentences that are true about your life.
• Real names, real places, real plans.
• Say them out loud. You're rehearsing, not journaling.

Your own sentences say what is true about you. Questions do the other half: they hand the conversation back and keep it going when your vocabulary runs out.

Six words unlock every conversation: who, what, where, when, why, how. Ask, then let them talk.

In French, "qu'est-ce que" is your default "what".

• Memorize your six question words early.
• Practice turning statements into questions.
• Don't know a word? Ask about it.

Good to know: don't try to hear every word

Chasing every word loses the sentence. Real speech is fast and runs together. Listen top-down: known words, shape, intonation.

Natives do this too. Nobody decodes every syllable. They predict and fill the gaps.

• Catch the words you know. Let the rest go.
• A question sounds like a question before you parse a word of it.
• Guess from context and keep listening. Check later.