Another thing that is hard in French (at least for me) is listening comprehension.
For example, I know many more French words than German ones. Not quite enough to read very much (someday, I hope!) but if I were handed a text in French and German, I'd definitely get more out of the French half.
When it comes to hearing the languages it's reversed. In German, I can spot the words I do know in a spoken sentence and hope to work out the rest of the meaning from them. In French, between the liaisons and the low degree of syllable emphasis I probably couldn't even tell you how many words there were, much less what any of them were! (The exception is in language instruction videos where they carefully enunciate each word one-by-one, but nobody speaks French like that in real life)
I know that with practice picking apart French sentences would become second-nature, but it's a bit of a barrier.
For example, I know many more French words than German ones. Not quite enough to read very much (someday, I hope!) but if I were handed a text in French and German, I'd definitely get more out of the French half.
When it comes to hearing the languages it's reversed. In German, I can spot the words I do know in a spoken sentence and hope to work out the rest of the meaning from them. In French, between the liaisons and the low degree of syllable emphasis I probably couldn't even tell you how many words there were, much less what any of them were! (The exception is in language instruction videos where they carefully enunciate each word one-by-one, but nobody speaks French like that in real life)
I know that with practice picking apart French sentences would become second-nature, but it's a bit of a barrier.