Listening to other people speaking French is such an important part of learning a language. In the early days, I would be pleased if I understood just a couple of words in a row or generally got the gist of the conversation.

Sometimes, I think I might have looked like someone watching a tennis match as I silently followed the conversation as it swung from one person to another. This was easily as important as speaking, as I listened to pronunciation and intonation and watched how body language became an extension of certain words and phrases.

Eventually, I was able to mimic this and use my ear to check whether something sounded right. It wasn’t infallible but it did help.