Introduction
You're learning English and feel like you're stuck in a rut? You're not alone. Here are the 7 most common mistakes French speakers make when learning English — and, more importantly, how to fix them. These mistakes affect all learners: students, professionals, candidates for exams such as the ECL, or simply curious people. Some are universal, others are specifically linked to our mother tongue, French. Identifying these traps now can save you months of wasted effort.
Mistake N°1 — Starting with vocabulary before grammar
The problem
Many French-speaking learners begin by memorising word lists: animals, colours, numbers. It's an intuitive approach… but an inefficient one. Without a solid grammatical structure, you can't correctly assemble those words into sentences.
Why French speakers make this mistake
French and English share thousands of words of common origin (Latin, Norman). We feel like we "already know" something. So we prefer to enrich this apparent vocabulary rather than working on structures, often considered "boring".
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Memorising 100 words without grammar | Learning subject-verb-object structure first | She is going (not she go) |
| Learning "beautiful" without knowing where to place it | Knowing that adjectives come before nouns | A beautiful day (not a day beautiful) |
💡 Practical solution
Invest your first 3 weeks exclusively on the grammatical basics: essential verb tenses (present simple, present continuous, past simple), pronouns, articles (a/an/the). Only then develop your vocabulary — it will stick far better within structures you have already mastered.
Mistake N°2 — Not analysing your mistakes
The problem
You do an exercise, you see the correction, you move on. This cycle repeated dozens of times produces almost no lasting progress. An unanalysed mistake is a mistake that will be repeated.
Why French speakers make this mistake
We often associate "learning" with "doing lots of exercises". Quantity is reassuring. But without reflection on the nature of the error, the brain doesn't register the correction in a lasting way.
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Seeing "❌" and turning the page | Writing in a notebook: why the mistake was made | "I wrote 'I have seen him yesterday' — past simple is required with 'yesterday'" |
| Redoing the same type of exercise | Targeting precisely the rule at play | Find and redo 5 exercises on "past simple vs present perfect" |
💡 Practical solution
Keep an error log: a simple column for "mistake", a column for "rule", a column for "correct example". Re-read it once a week. This 5-minute daily habit turns mistakes into permanent lessons.
Mistake N°3 — Sessions that are too long without regularity
The problem
"This weekend, I'm going to do 4 hours of English to catch up." This thought is familiar — and counterproductive. Learning science is clear: consistency beats duration.
Why French speakers make this mistake
Our education system has conditioned us to last-minute cramming before exams. This method can work for memorising dates or formulas, but it fails for language acquisition.
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 4 hours on Sunday, nothing the rest of the week | 20–30 min per day, 5 days out of 7 | Monday: grammar / Tuesday: vocab / Wednesday: reading… |
| Cramming before an exam | Spaced repetition | Anki app or reviews at D+1, D+3, D+7 |
💡 Practical solution
Adopt the spaced repetition method: review a concept the next day, then 3 days later, then 7 days later. Apps like Anki automate this schedule. 20 minutes of targeted daily practice progresses faster than 2 hours once a week.
Mistake N°4 — Neglecting reading and listening comprehension
The problem
Many learners focus on production (writing, speaking) and neglect comprehension. Yet reading and listening to authentic English feeds passive vocabulary, improves grammar through immersion, and acclimatises the ear to the real rhythms of the language.
Why French speakers make this mistake
The English accent is often considered difficult and discouraging. We avoid what makes us uncomfortable. Authentic texts seem too complex. We prefer textbooks with simplified dialogues.
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Only conjugation exercises | Reading a short article in English every day | BBC Learning English, The Guardian (simple English) |
| Avoiding podcasts because "too fast" | Starting with podcasts for learners | 6 Minute English (BBC), Slow English |
💡 Practical solution
Devote half your time to comprehension (reading + listening). Read articles on subjects that interest you. Watch series with English subtitles (not French). This passive immersion considerably accelerates progress.
Mistake N°5 — Learning words out of context
The problem
"To get = to obtain". That's wrong — or rather, incomplete. "To get" has over 20 different meanings depending on the context: get up (to rise), get along (to get on well), get over (to overcome). Learning a word in isolation gives an illusion of knowledge.
Why French speakers make this mistake
Vocabulary lists are reassuring. They can be counted, ticked off, memorised. But real language works in collocations, in expressions, in contexts.
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| make = to do / to make | Learning make in its real usages | Make a decision / make progress / make a mistake |
| do = to do / to make | Distinguishing do/make in context | Do the dishes / do homework / do your best |
💡 Practical solution
Always learn a word in a complete sentence. Rather than writing "run = to run", write "She runs every morning before work." Add a mental image or a real situation. The brain retains words in context 3 times better than in a list.
Mistake N°6 — False friends: the classic French-speaker trap
The problem
This mistake is specific to French speakers and is often underestimated. French and English share thousands of words that look similar — but some have radically different meanings. These are called false friends (faux amis).
Why French speakers make this mistake
Our brain naturally looks for footholds in our mother tongue. When an English word resembles a French word, we assume they mean the same thing. This cognitive shortcut is a source of frequent — and sometimes embarrassing — errors.
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Actually = currently | Actually = in fact, in reality | "Actually, I disagree" = "In fact, I don't agree" |
| Library = bookshop | Library = library (a place where you borrow books) | "I found it at the library" |
| Eventually = possibly | Eventually = finally, sooner or later | "He eventually agreed" = "He finally agreed" |
| Sympathetic = likeable | Sympathetic = compassionate, understanding | "She was sympathetic" = "She was understanding" |
| Sensible = sensitive | Sensible = reasonable, sensible | "That's a sensible idea" = "That's a reasonable idea" |
💡 Practical solution
Build a personal list of false friends as you read. The most common ones to memorise first: actually, eventually, library, sensible, sympathetic, comprehensive, deception, lecture, pretend, resume. For each, note the real English meaning and an example of use.
Mistake N°7 — Adjective order: a French logic that doesn't work in English
The problem
In French, adjectives can be placed before or after the noun with some flexibility. In English, when several adjectives precede a noun, they must follow a precise and fixed order. Failing to respect this order produces sentences that sound wrong to a native speaker.
Why French speakers make this mistake
This rule simply doesn't exist in French. Nobody teaches it explicitly because for English speakers, this order is instinctive. For French speakers, it must be learned consciously.
Adjective order in English
Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose + NOUN
| ❌ Common mistake | ✅ Correction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A big beautiful old house (wrong order) | Opinion + Size + Age | A beautiful big old house ✅ |
| A French small old car | Size before Age before Origin | A small old French car ✅ |
| A metal big grey box | Size before Colour before Material | A big grey metal box ✅ |
Examples 🇬🇧/🇫🇷
- Une grande belle maison ancienne → A beautiful big old house 🇬🇧
- Un petit vieux chien noir français → A lovely little old black French dog 🇬🇧
- Une nouvelle longue table en bois → A long new wooden table 🇬🇧
💡 Practical solution
Memorise the English mnemonic: OSASCOMP (Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, Purpose). When proofreading, systematically check the order whenever you use two or more adjectives before a noun.
For ECL exam candidates
If you are preparing for the ECL exam (Évaluation de Compétences Linguistiques), these 7 mistakes are particularly costly. The ECL assesses grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension and listening comprehension at levels A2 to B2. False-friend errors (mistake 6) and adjective-order errors (mistake 7) are frequent traps in the grammar multiple-choice questions. Weakness in listening comprehension (mistake 4) directly penalises the listening section.
The ECL Anglais platform offers more than 4,395 questions spread across 6 categories (grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, idioms, phrasal verbs, word forms) to practise specifically on each of these difficulties. Start with a free preview of 10 questions before creating your account.
FAQ — Learning English as a French speaker
How long does it take to make progress in English when you speak French?
With 20 to 30 minutes of regular daily work, most French speakers see measurable progress in 6 to 8 weeks. The key is not the length of sessions, but their regularity. Learners who work 20 minutes a day progress noticeably faster than those who do 2 hours once a week.
What are the most dangerous English-French false friends?
The trickiest false friends for French speakers are: actually (in fact, not "currently"), eventually (finally, not "possibly"), library (a place to borrow books, not a bookshop), sensible (reasonable, not "sensitive") and comprehensive (complete, not "understanding"). These five words appear regularly in everyday texts and in B1–B2 level exams.
Should you learn English grammar explicitly or through immersion?
Both approaches are complementary, but adult French speakers generally benefit from explicit grammar learning first. Understanding why a structure is correct speeds up acquisition. Immersion (reading, listening) then consolidates these structures naturally. The ideal is to alternate: 50% grammar/exercises, 50% authentic comprehension.
How do you improve listening comprehension in English as a French speaker?
Start with resources designed for learners: BBC Learning English (6 Minute English), VOA Learning English, or podcasts at a slower pace. Listen first with English subtitles, then without. Gradually expose yourself to different accents (British, American, Australian). 15 minutes of active listening per day is enough to train your ear.
Is the ECL exam suitable for all French speakers or only for the military?
The ECL exam (Évaluation de Compétences Linguistiques) is mainly used in an institutional context. However, the skills it assesses — grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening comprehension — are universal. Practising on ECL-style questions is beneficial for any French speaker wishing to reach a B1 or B2 level in English and validate their skills rigorously.