I created a language learning method that helps you learn French in 4 months

You haven't given any information on what your program actually does, just some vague unsupported claims. This is borderline spam.

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For anyone that's reading this and looking for actual advice on learning French, here's my advice, having done something somewhat similar. I didn't know much French prior to living in Paris for 6 months (which was broken up into two 3 month periods over the course of a year) but a French friend later told me my accent was "perfect" although I used the word franchement too often, which made me sound like an old-fashioned farmer.

- Focus on memory and vocabulary. It's a lot easier to have conversations when you know what to say, even if your pronunciation isn't perfect.

- Drill the grammar for the most essential verbs (to have, to be, etc.) and skip most of the rest for now.

- Listen to native speakers and imitate them. Try to get over the feeling that you're playing a character or doing an goofy French accent impression. You will have better pronounciation if you try to do an accurate French impression.

- Try to spend some time in France or as a second choice, Québec. It's a million times better than reading a book or using some app.

> or as a second choice, Québec

Ouch, tough one for our friends in Québec xD

French is spoken in many parts of the world, including a great part of Africa, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg. And France includes several islands and Guyane, it's not just the mainland. Canada doesn't only have Québec, they also have other speaking French parts like the Nouveau-Brunswick (New Brunswick) and Acadie (Acadia). New Brunswick you might be tempted to speak English though.

I would guess everywhere should be fine, just know you might end up sounding like the people from the location you elected to go. Which is totally fine. It's legit French. France does not have the monopoly over the language and France also has its strong accents depending on the location.

I really liked Québec and think Montreal is probably a top 5 North American city, but to my knowledge and impressions from others, it's best to aim for a Parisian accent as the most prestigious and neutral accent.

I don't have a super strong opinion on the subject, but personally I do prefer how France French sounds to Québecois French anyway. But sure, if you're only able to go somewhere other than mainland France, it's not the end of the world.

> Parisian accent as the most prestigious and neutral accent

you are going to offend the Normans with these digs :-)

The most effective way to learn to speak French might be to land somewhere you enjoy being, that would be my number one criterion I think.

Paris is a fine choice if you like the city. You might end up sounding Parisian from the rest of the world of course. Your foreign accent will probably be stronger anyway.

> I'm still fine-tuning the whole thing before I bring it to market

Welcome to HN!

If the "fine-tuning" involves the technical implementation of your program or if you are still fine-tuning your business model and you have specific challenges or questions, this might be a good opportunity for you to ask for more directed input.

Most of us have been where you are with an idea, so there is some empathy. One suggestion rather than joining a wait list, why not implement a (link to a) beta program and invite us to take a look at what you have, warts and all. Those that take you up on it will provide invaluable insight.

Sorry, this came across as salesy. My goal was to test the temperature and send more information and tips later on. But does that qualify this as spam?

Anyway, the tips you shared are great; the only issue is that most people don't have the means to go to France for an immersion. And Québéc, while a great place, is not really the best place to learn French, the French way. If your goal is to learn Canadian French, Quebec, without a doubt, is a great place to go.

Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate the feedback.

I would just be aware that the format of your post here is very recognizable as a marketing tactic, even if you didn't intend it to be. If you have a novel method or idea to share, then share it. The fact that you built up a problem but said "let me know if you'd like to join our waitlist" without offering the slightest hint as to what the solution is a big red flag.

You would have gotten a better response if you simply explained your idea and asked for feedback on it.

No offense but I'm not quite sure this post really belongs to HN in the current form:

- it's not really a Ask HN

- it's not really a Show HN as there's not much to see

- it's not a regular post

It's relatable and appealing to the curious but it does not actually satisfy curiosity. It looks like an ad that takes care of not mentioning the product name :-)

I believe we might be many who are a bit disappointed after reading this.

Agreed. The litmus test for me is "would HN would be a fun place to visit if front page was filled with similar post to this (posts advertising their app idea and trying to gather an mail list)" - and the answer is nope.

Best of luck OP, but I think you should post again once your idea has more substance.

This is my first time on HN. I'm learning a lot from the feedback here. And I learned that I should have shared more details beforehand.

I'm not trying to sell anything. I basically wanted to see if people would be interested, then share more information and tips later.

Appreciate your feedback. I am a work in progress.

I'm all in favor of something new for learning languages, but hesitant to say I'm in on something when the description is this vague. Show some examples of what you are talking about and I might be interested, otherwise there isn't enough information here to really catch my attention.

I've been learning German recently - at a slow pace, I'm busy. I'm intrigued, though skeptical. I'll certainly give it a shot if there's a German version.

If your tool is really as good as you claim you'll have a lot of word of mouth recommendations in the language learning community, but everyone has seen "fluent in 3 months through x special method" so I doubt people will give it a shot if it's paid.

I recommend offering a free trial of the start of the course so that people can see for themselves.

20 minute conversations sounds like B1 at a minimum. Four months to B1 is pretty much impossible even with people studying all day, at least with German. How did you do it? How many hours of study are done in these four months? What's your approach?

I presume you're a native French speaker (the "help you" rather than "helps you" is a Frenchism in my experience). How do you intend to create the other courses?

Good luck. This sounds interesting.

I don't think the "Learn in 4 Months" method will work for most languages. Now that I read your comment, I know German is one of those languages.

Yes, I'm a French native. Languages like French and English are very easy to learn if you have the right method and dedication. We have the method, so we'll probably partner with natives of other languages to develop these courses.

And thank you for the nudge. I really appreciate it.

btw, what are things you'd consider when trying to buy a language course?

I'm actually looking around for courses/textbooks at the moment. I'd say the things I'm looking for are: - Speaking practice and a focus on getting OK pronunciation early. At least according to the German Discord, it's important to get pronunciation correct from the start. If you don't it becomes very difficult to break bad habits across many hundreds of words.

- Effectiveness over dogma: I would prefer a course that focuses on teaching effectively through multiple different methods rather than being hyperfocused on one of them. If your secret is really as good as you claim you might not need this, but I'm sceptical.

- Practical vocabulary. Duolingo etc have a reputation for teaching you absolutely useless words and phrases. Particularly at the start it would be useful to beeline for a target, be that "get by on holiday" or "have a conversation with another learner/a native simplifying their language".

- Spaced repetition. I'm using Anki, but the decks aren't very good. Spaced repetition is basically a cheat code to learning, and if you integrate a good algorithm it will absolutely differentiate a course.

- Cost. I'm a student doing this in my free time. I don't want to spend lots of money, particularly when there are lots of good resources already out there. Why buy this over just using the many available resources? You have to offer something.

- Realism. I'd prefer "Learn in one year, one hour a day" that is truthful and realistic to "Learn in 3 months 10 minutes a day!" because I just know that that's untrue. - CEFR alignment. It just makes things easier. - Corniness gets on my nerves. Some videos are alright but please don't try to act.

I would recommend going into language learning communities - reddit, discord, etc - to see what they're looking for. You'd also benefit a lot from sharing some more details about your course.

I'm about to turn 75 in a few months, born in the U.S., still learning English.

Language learning never ends. At the very least, a person, even a native speaker, has to keep constantly refreshing to stay sharp. Every non-dead language continuously evolves. Because life, 'K?

How does your method work?

I'm interested, mostly in the method though, as I also like languages.

In for English but for a friend of mine.

I'm in!