Do you want to invest in the French stock market? Let this be your guide. I am an investor in both the US and Europe, living in Europe now and former brokers and investment adviser.

The purpose of this article is to tell you some of the specifics of French stock market investing. I will look the logistics of investing in the Euronext Paris as well as ideas for investments and how to make money investing in Euronext in Paris.

The French stock market use to be “Paris Bourse”   or ” Bourse de Paris”. Since 2000 it has been merged with other European markets and become a pan European stock market based in Paris

Historic location of the French stock exchange - Bourse de Paris which evolved to Euronext

Euronext in Paris

This is the French stock market. I recommend you go to the page and browse around. They have mareket activiety, options, futures, real time quotes, anything you want.

• Trading hours are from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This is longer than the US markets.
• Settlement of cash funds for trades are t+3.  That means three days after your sell a security the cash settles in your account and the same goes with trades.
• With capitalization of over 2 trillion dollars it is the fifth largest stock market in the world.
• Euronext has the relationship with the NYSE which makes it a global market.
• There are talks with the German stock market and others for merger, however, valuation differences are preventing this at this juncture.
• There are 1,400 equities listed
• The trading currency is the Euro
• The main index is the Euronext 100 the other ones include, AEX index, CAC 40 and EURO STOXX 50.

Basically in the French stock exchange you can trade stocks and commodities like any other market. The stocks have a buy and sell bid and ask. There is very little difference in terms of funds, commodities, options, warrants etc between the French stock exchange and the NYSE. The operating ideas are the same. You can track indices, day trade on blue chips like Société Générale, L’Oréal and Air France-KLM or speculate on high-tech stocks.

How to make money on the French stock market

• Find the moving average of the broad index for a 12 month period. If the market is trading above the line, be invested, if below, be out of the market or short.
• Use quantitive reasearch to narrow the selection of French Stocks to those that have real value opportunities. In the USA I recommend a firm like valuengine.com but in France and Europe you have others. However, the idea is similar.
• From this universe choose stocks which you personally know and like as companies. Would you personally buy their products?
• If you can consistently show positive returns, try leverage, either margin or options, preferably long-term options as the time decay is less.
• No guaranties, this is simply my system of investing based on years of experience. I think the quantitative research part if particularly important. Let me know your method for systematic investing or day trading.

French Investment vocabulary

Since this is mostly a language site, here are some French vocabulary words that you might find useful.

• Bid  -  Offre
• Blue Chip Stocks  -   Les valeurs sûres
• Bond -  Lien
• bonds and real estate  -   les obligations et l’immobilier
• business  -    d’affaires
• Capital  -   Capital
• Capital stock  -  Capital-actions
• changes in their value  -   des changements dans leur valeur
• Commodities  -  Matières premières
• Credit  -  Crédit
• Currency  -   Monnaie
• Dividend  -  Dividende
• Earnings  -  Gains
• Equities  -   Actions
• Equity  -  Équité
• Futures  -  Avenir
• Income  -   Revenu
• Insider  -   Initiés
• Insider dealing/trading   -    Initiés / commercial
• IPO  -   IPO
• Issue  -   Question
• Liabilities  -   Passif
• Loss  -  Perte
• Mortgage  -   Hypothèque
• Mutual fund -   fonds communs de placement
• Option -  Option
• Par value  -  Valeur nominale
• Penny stock  -   Penny stock
• Portfolio  -  Portefeuille
• Price  -  Prix
• Profit  -  Bénéfice
• Ratio  -  Rapport
• Securities  -   Titres
• Share -  Part
• Share certificate   -  Certificat d’actions
• Shareholder  -  Actionnaire
• Speculator  -   Spéculateur
• Stock index  -    indice boursier
• Stock option  -   d’options sur actions
• Stockbroker  -   Agent de change
• Stockholder  -  Actionnaire
• Trader  -  Commerçant
• Yield  -  Rendement

If you have any questions about stock or currency trading in France or Europe please ask. I think if you are not trading on global exchanges like the French stock exchange you are missing valuable profit opportunities.

Where I hang out in Montreal

I would say my favorite part of the city to hang out in is saint Denis street in Montreal’s Latin quarter. The reason is this is not the main strip that Saint Catherine’s Montreal or too far off like the Italian section, but it is right in the action, quiet and has a lot of good but cheap restaurants (like Zyngs or any French dinner on the street).

I used to stay at Hôtel du Manoir St-Denis, which is about 50 dollars Canadian a night.  There are much more charming ones and commercial chains but I prefer this because I am cheap and it is a family owned business.

If you are there to meet French girls from Montreal I highly recommend you do not go to Saint Catherine’s street. This is just for tourists. Better go to Chapters and Indigo book store and simple try to strike up a conversation on the street. I think most Americans go there to meet French girls. It gets old to see bands of Americans walking around he city for this purpose. Yes French Canadian girls are much nicer than American girls and are the closest think you have to Europe in North America  but the approach is all wrong.  Be cool about it. Go to yoga class or the gym but not drink to excess as Quebecois have seen this too much.

There are many American girls that go to hen parties there also, something that is a little funny to see but I think Native Montrealers just ignore.

If you are into the outdoors go to the Mont Royal or the old town port and walk along the river.

Hang out and walk along the river in Montreal's old town

All of these things are within 20 minute walk on the Latin quarter where you can stay. In the Latin Quarter you can park on the street no problem or there is a cheap pay parking garage.

I really personally enjoyed going to Montreal’s Notre-Dame Brasilica.  The stain glass had very interesting scenes of native Americans and the history of the church in Quebec.

The other great place in Montreal I can highly recommend is the Biosphere. And the botanical gardens and the city center in general.

Montreal city center

The French side is the east side of the Island of Montreal, the West side is the English side of the city. I prefer the French side as I can go to an English-speaking business city in America any day of the week, so why would I want to hang out there.

Botanical gardens people like, but if you want to hang out stay in the center city and the Latin Quarter. Let me know if you have any other ideas about Montreal and places to spend time.

Why Napoleon was a different leader and won the hearts of so many

When Napoleon landed on the shore of France after his first exile, the soldiers sent to arrest him weep, when Napoleon ripped open his shirt and said, either shoot me now or accept me as your general. This was Napoleon and this is why many people silently route for him in their imaginations. If Napoleon won, there would have been no world wars, this point is not even debateable.

Even if you think the French leader as more of a despot in the long line of kings in Paris who ruled France, then, who established his family on the seats of European thrones, he was different.  Even if  the thing is Bonaparte did not champion of the ideals of the French revolution. He was still a man of honor. Napoleon was a warrior, but also a man of ideals and law. He believed in the ideals of the French revolution at least to some degree.

What would the world look like if Napoleon Bonaparte had won

What Europe and the world would be like if Napoleon won

I think the turning point was the French invasion of Russia. Waterloo was only an after the fact battle. If Napoleon had not invaded Russia, he would have set up a long reign of French dominance in Europe and the colonial world.  Eventually Europe would have evolved into something like the European Union by about 1912.

Napoleon’s victory would have resulted in

• French law would be dominate in the world and not English law
• No communism and no Fascism
• Architecture in Europe would have continued along design over functionality
• Paris would be the center of the world
• French would be the official language on the Internet and the second most spoken language after Chinese
• The world be a better place once the countries of Europe got freedom and independence under an EU model, we would be politically 100 years more advanced.
• If Napoleon won old European ideals would have survived and new ideas would temper the arrogance
• French cooking would be even more exotic
• French fashion would rule

External resource for studying the Napoleonic times

Perhaps I am too generous to the ruler of the first empire, but he does have a romantic hero quality.  If you want to learn more about Napoleon I can recommend this website.

I could go on, however, I invite your comments on ‘what if things were different’, and Napoleon had won the Napoleonic wars?

My theory on profanity

The words people use when they are swearing are the things the collective unconsciousness of the society is repressing. The words would not be bad if this were not the case.  Therefore, if a society place a premium on cleanliness then cuss words might be connected with the dirt or waste that come out of the body, these are truly dirty words, pun intended. Another example is if a society had no taboos against f__king , then where is the shock value in using it as a curse word?

Similarly in a culture that is not religious, then religious profanity has no purpose, unless it is a matter of tradition. For example, Quebec tradition after the quite revolution and secularization in the 1960s. After this secularization you would think that this type of swearing would go out of style, but it did not. The religious French swear words were so firmly in place people did not stop using them.  I personally find these the most offense.

The words you use when you swear to tell you a lot about who you are.  If you use words that are very rude most likely you have an anger problem.  If you use words to cuss a little more suggested in nature, that is use naughty words then you had something else besides anger on your mind.

French swearing vs English swearing

The French are not particularly reverent people, however, and they are not irreverent.  Since the French are cultured people, I do not hear a lot of profanity in Francais.  I think when the French want to be rude or irreverent, they do it in a more subtle way using indirect insults rather than vulgarity. They will just suggest you are an idiot and make you feel bad rather than use some primitive outburst with a French swear word or phrase.

More then swearing the French make you feel like an idiot

Another reason I hear less profanity in French that in English (other than I am not a French native speaker) is because French culture is more about love than competitiveness.  I think  American and English culture is very competitive, French culture, even in big cities like Paris, is more relaxed about life and low key, more about love.

However Mediterranean culture, even though they are relaxed is hot blooded. The people of France are rather an odd lot to a cross between northern Germanic culture and southern Mediterranean culture, perhaps it could be argued that they take the best from both and swear the least.

French swear words

Here is my list of mild French swear words.  Let me know what you think, and if you think any others should be added to the list of words.

French swear words

If you are offended by the meaning of any of these French phrases write me and I can remove them from the list.

How did Paris become a Romantic city?

It is in the collective unconsciousness, mostly of American girls, but also Eastern European girls that Paris exists as a city of romance.  I think for both groups of women there is a different reason.

The American reason for viewing Paris as the city of love is because of our grandparents generation.  Paris was the closest connection to Europe besides England.  England is more a colder climate and culture, however, France is a Gothic Roman catholic culture.  The French are a mix between northern European productive and Mediterranean relax and enjoy our lives.

France was the easiest foreign county for Americans to travel to in Europe, that was not English speaking.  Many of our parents’ dream was to go to France and Italy.  Germany was rebuilding and Eastern Europe was under communism and Spain was too poor and England was not foreign enough to be romantic, therefore, that only left France.  And Paris is the center of France.

Our parents and grandparents would visit Paris and see the Gothic structures and charming cafes in contrast to American classical structures and sky scrapers, and the our imagination an images of Romantic Paris began to be formed.

Eastern European girls on the other hand dreamed of escaping to Paris as Poland had a very good relationship with France.  Both were catholic countries that stood in opposition to Germany.  So to go to Paris for work or vacation was the ideal, it was close and friendly.

Paris is a beautiful city, and to see its trees and art is where the connection starts.  Then seeing people relaxing in cafes and outward expressions of love.

In fact, when in America, if you were to see two people kissing in public, in a Boston park, for example,  you might feel awkward.  Other people might comment, ‘they must be from Europe’.  American is puritan. French culture is tolerant of public displays of affection. So if you want to kiss your sweetheart in Paris you can without drawing attention.

Films of Romantic Paris

The film industry help perpetuate the idea that Paris is about amour. Many films feature Paris as the run away place for lovers.  Even films like Casablanca just mentioned Paris or some storyline connected the “La Ville-Lumière” (“The City of Light” ) arose and this conjures up images of love.

The downside of Parisian love life myth

What is the counter argument that Paris is a place for sweethearts? I am not totally sold on the idea that Paris is for lovers. Why?

• The wealth of Paris was built on imperialism, so behind the glitter there are centuries of colonization it was built on.
• Many other cities in Europe have beautiful Gothic architecture, Lviv and Krakow have more churches and maybe more cafes and certainly more green parks and river areas than Paris for example.
• Paris and Parisiens are not tourist friendly, as the French be difficult if you are not fluent in the French language
• Horrible traffic in Paris
• Paris is extremely expensive – for me this is is the biggest impediment. Until the Euro falls, I will have to pay a pretty penny (Euro penny) to kiss my darling on the Eiffel tower or to walk along the Seine hand in hand.

However, I love Paris.  I just wanted to make the point Paris is romantic because people think it so, not because it in fact it.

Brand name of love

Going to Paris is like owning a pair of Nike.  It has brand name recognition, but it may or may not be the best.  But people like brand names and labels so they will pay for it.

Therefore, is Paris the city of love?  I think Paris is a city of love not the one and only city of romance. I think it is not the most romantic city in the world. rather, it think of it as one of many cities.

It might rest in the collective unconsciousness as romantic, but understand why, instead of accepting what others say. If you want a romantic escape consider less expensive places than France, even Montreal, Sherbrooke or Quebec  for français, or a city like Krakow or Lviv for European in general.  In fact many Russian films about Paris were filmed in Lviv because of the similarity of look with Gothic structure and cobble stone streets.

I fact, once when I was in Lviv and took pictures and told my friends I was in Paris and they all were ‘wow and this is beautiful, how romantic’, until I told them this was Lviv, Ukraine.  Then they said ‘oh’.  But they did not know the difference, it was only the brand name label that mattered.

So is Paris romantic or a myth? Well I am taking my sweetheart there next week for valentines day  and I am very much looking forward to it.

Days of the week in French -les jours de la semaine

• lundi - Monday
• mardi - Tuesday
• mercredi - Wednesday
• jeudi - Thursday
• vendredi - Friday
• samedi - Saturday
• dimanche - Sunday

There you have it. However, please read on as I want to give you some interesting facts about days in French.

Days of the week facts in the French language

When I first came to Europe I was often confused by the fact that the week starts on Monday not Sunday.

The French of course go by a dd/mm/yyyy not mm/dd/yyyy like in the USA.

Most French are catholic but they do not go to church on Sunday.

France has the shortest work week in Europe, I think it is about 35 hours, must be nice. It was adopted in 2000.  I think generally France is the easiest place to live in the E but you have to speak French of course. They did this to help reduce the chronic unemployment which is usually around 10 percent.

The days take ‘le’ as a noun article.

Sentence with the days in French

Monday is the first day of the week.
Tuesday is a workday.
Wednesday is the hardest day.
On Thursday I see the light.
Friday is the best day,
On Saturday I start the weekend.
Sunday is a day of rest.

Translations into French.

Le lundi est le premier jour de la semaine.
Mardi est un jour de travail.
Le mercredi est le plus difficile journée.
Le jeudi, je vois la lumière.
Le vendredi est le meilleur jour,
Le samedi, j’ai commencer le week-end.
Le dimanche est un jour de repos.

Find the days of the week in French with this Word search

If you have any other interesting facts or notes about days in français please let me know. You can print out the above puzzle by the way. When I was a kid I loved these and its a good way to learn this Romantic language because it exercises your brain, instead of just passively looking at a word list.

My interest in the French language at Expo

I was four years old when my parents too the family to Expo 67 in Montreal.  It was the worlds fair.  I can remember it like it was yesterday. We drove up in the family station wagon, which had wood on the side.  I was there with my two sisters and brother, my younger brother was not yet born. When we go there it was in the 90s, and my first impression of French Canada was it was hot. I did not know anything of north and south.

Crossing the boarder into Quebec, took a bit as there was a lot of traffic going to the world’s fair.

On that family vacation I was fascinated by the different culture of French Canada.

French language in Quebec – my second trip

My second childhood trip to Canada was a camping adventure. When I was seventeen years old with my childhood friend George Wheat, we took a camping trip to French Canada.  It was in the area of Sherbrooke Quebec. We went camping just all over the border. It was back then on this trip, I got my real first taste of native speaking French.

We stayed in some campsite in the middle of a forest, it’s right over the border.

At one point we got lost hiking new trails. However, once we found a road a friendly Quebec lumber jack gave us a ride in his truck. I tried some of the French language I learned in school but he knew in two seconds that we were from the States. We were English speaking Americans. He was still friendly but had a different attitude towards us. It wasn’t the same as if we were French and for me at eighteen to being it was all a very interesting experience and a good experience for me to practice my French.

On that trip we had subsequent interactions with other French language speaking Canadians on that trip including buying ice cream from two beautiful French girls at a roadside ice cream stand. But that is another  story.

These two trips, one to Montreal the other to Quebec, combined my childhood trip to Montreal, my amazing French lessons with Madame Lessard in Junior high school. Madame Lessard was a French teacher who made the French language come to life. Great positive memories as she was always encouraging.  I thought the French world was something at least curious.

To a modern reader this story does not sound like anything amazing. But remember I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s and back then people did not travel like they did today and we did not have the Internet or any exposure to foreign countries.  We had three stations on TV and the world was very large and spread out. Our lives were very innocent.  Therefore, any limited exposure was something, like the trips above were amazing.  It is like little events had more significance.

After 18 and my interest in the French language

I studied French to the literature level at my University and even hitch hiked around France.  I have since moved to Europe and am an EU citizen.  My interest in the French language continues and I am writing French language programs.  I will have French language French cards.

I think my early experiences fueled this interest.  They were warm childhood memories and when you have something like that they can have an affect on your for your life. So these were my early experiences with the French language.

A French good bye is similar to other languages. You have formal and informal ways of greeting and saying farewell and bye. The purpose of this post is to give you different ways to say good-bye in French beyond what you already might know.  I will give you some pronunciation and a quiz at the end.

I think testing yourself makes all the difference.

French good bye phrases

• Au revoir is French for good bye – The way you pronounce this is Oh reah vah. This is the basic way you say good by good bye in French and it can be use both formally and informally. Voir is the verb to see in French.
• Ciao is Bye bye in French – You pronounce it Chow. It is an informal way of saying goodbye. It is an Italian import word and is very popular in Montreal and the whole provence of Quebec. I do not know why but I think it is because there are a lot of Italians in Quebec.
• Salut is bye in French - This is one of my personal favorite ways of saying hello and good bye in French. Its very informal, however, I am an informal person. It is a greeting and a way to say see ya.
• Bonne journèe is good day in French – Like in Polish or Russian you might say Dzien Dobre in any situation formal and informal, in the shop or to people you do not know, so this is the a formal greeting but also way to say thank you for allowing me to be in your presence.
• Bonsoir means good evening in French - It is pronounced bon swaa This is a more formal expression but on a date with a girl that you even know you might use it.
• Bonne nuit is good night in French - Not much to say about this other than its is good night formally or informally.
• Adieu is like Good bye in English, it means God be with you in French - This is pronounced a de you. Good bye in English means God be with ye. This is what Adieu means in the French language and its eloquent.
• À bientôt is see you in French – A bee en toe is the pronunciation.
• À demain is see you tomorrow in French – A do mehn is the pronunciation. It can be formally or informally.
• À demain is French for see you tonight – A do mehn is the pronunciation.

When you think you know if take my quiz at the end of of this post.

As far as greetings and farewell go all you really need to know is one or two, maybe one formal and one informal. With something like basic phrases it is pretty clear in the content.

French good bye vocabulary quiz

How to learn how to good by in French

I am a believer in the flash card method. Simply take the phrases I give you or look up your own in a dictionary and put them on 3″ by 5″  index cards. If you want to draw some pictures or use mnemonics this is also good.  Go through them until you know them.  It might take a full day and night but the next day you will have about a dozen ways to say good bye from France to Quebec to Morocco.  Try my flashcard method.

My recommendation is better than phrases is words, particularly French verbs. Verbs are the soul of any language. If you want to learn a language as fast as possible study about two hundred of the most important verbs and you will be able to speak French. Concrete nouns and greetings and phrases you can get off my website, you can learn them online.

Body language and gestures in a French good bye

The French kiss.  As an American in Europe, I have gotten use to this custom of kissing when you say hello and good bye.  Of course it is only on the cheeks but if the movies you may have seen are true, they kiss each other when they say hello.

I needed to add the men are less likely to hug and kiss other men.

French good bye with a kiss

Further, although there is not a formal language like in the Slavic languages the French use madame, mademoiselle or monsieur when saying good bye to someone you are not informal with.  Therefore you might say, Au revoir mademoiselle to a French girl you just met.

Which is better to visit Montreal or Quebec? I am very partial towards one of these cities. I love Montreal. I have often thought of living there. However, this is a very qualified answer. You need to read on to be able to make a more informed choice.

My experiences with Montreal

I lived in New England most of my life. When I lived in a beautiful city like Boston, I was going to Montreal at least once a month. I did not have a business purpose, rather I went to this city because there were so many things to do, and it was an adventure.  It was like a European city in the Americas. I would go to authentic French resturants in the Montreal old town, to Spas on St. Laurent street.

I got my first seaweed wrap on Sr. Laurent street (I am a guy, I just like to explore and try new things). I remember staying in a hotel drinking as much juice as I could because it came with the meal and then going to the spa for my treatment. When I was wrapped in seaweed, I really had to go to the men’s room. Well that was an adventure, I guess.

On St. Catharines steet, I use to take yoga classes. In fact, the pretty French girls in the class would ask where I was if I missed a few weeks. They assumed I lived downtown.

Also the bookstores ,  like Indigos and Chapters on St. Catharines steet was a great place to hang out.

I stayed usually on Saint-Denis in winter in the Quartier-Latin of Monteal. I stayed at a hotel called Du Manoir.  It was cheap and family run and if you step our your door you have all the nightlife of the Latin Quarter.

I went shopping in the North section of the Island of Montreal, which was the Italian section. I would buy authentic French Canadian produce and Italian imported goods.  The Canadian dollar was so weak compared to the US dollar that doing my groceary shopping there would pay for the expense of the trip.

I bought some really cool shirts that I have seven years latter in some of the store there. MEC or Mountain equiptment co-op.  Those same shirts I wore when I first meet my wife and she was impressed by my style.  So I guess it was worth it. MEC has a climbing wall inside also.  I went with my friend George and he did not buy anything there.  I do not know why to this day, they have great clothes.

I have also stayed in the gay hotel with my buddy George.  We are not gay, but we did not know that this hotel was for gays, until the guy in front of use winked at me.  It was a nice hotel by the way.

Do not forget the biosphere or the botanical; gardens. I love the Biosphere as  it is a self contrail ecosystem with four environments.

The have some great Gothic shops downtown. I always said if I won lotto I would buy some crazy Gothic attire and wear it downtown.

Mont Royal is a great Sunday afternoon hike before you go home. I have so many fond memories of Montreal. However, my most fondest was in the 1967 worlds fair, Expo 67.  I was four years old but I remember it in detail.  It was so hot that when my dad bought me ice cream he has to  ‘help’  me with it.  He had the lions share. It was a wonderful time in my life.

Quebec city

I have not been to Quebec city in years.  However, Quebec city is cleaner and prettier than Montreal. Its safer and more authentic. You do not feel like you are in Europe, rather you feel like you are in Europe 300 years ago.

You can sit on the hill overlooking the Saint Lawrence river or take pictures of the ice castle during the winter carnival.

Quebec city is culture is a lot of ohh and ahhs.  Montreal is just play.

Which to visit Montreal or Quebec

So Montreal or Quebec is a little like asking  Ginger or Mary Ann.  I think Ginger is like Montreal, just fun; while Mary Ann is charming and nice, like  Quebec.

If you have any questions about Montreal or Quebec just ask I do not think I am an expert but as a tourist, and a world traveler I think I can point you in the right direction.

Who am I to evaluate the question “is French hard to learn”? Well I studied French for seven years to a university level, and I am an American living in Europe teaching and learning languages. I also write software to help people study languages.

The French language is not that hard to learn if you are an English speaker. In fact, I think it is a very easy language.

Why?

• Free vocabulary
• Easy pronunciation
• No grammar
• French people make it hard to not speak their language

Is French hard to learn?

Free Vocabulary

The reason for an English speaker or any language learner in general especially from a European language is easy is it was so universal. For hundreds of years French was the language of England.  The French language was also spoken all over Europe by the educated.  Therefore, I would estimate about 40% of the words in English can be connected to French.  This is a lot of “free vocabulary”.

I study the Polish language.  There is very little, almost no free vocabulary in Polish.

Easy pronunciation

Compared to the tongue twisters of the Slavic languages or the tones of Chinese, Français is not hard.

You could almost speak many English words with a fake French accent and you will be understood. Speak with a lot of nasal sounds. Really what you have to do is watch French TV for about a day and that would be enough imitate the language. I am not saying that sarcastically but really. I teach and learning to imitate an accent is a very basic thing many people feel silly about.

Almost no grammar

People will be upset with this, but French has no cases and except for gender and fairly regular verb changes French has similar grammar to English.

This means the language of France is not hard.

French people refuse to speak other languages

Go to France and you will get immersion. Go to Poland and people are all trying to practice English and you will find it hard in many cases to even speak Polish. But in Paris or Montreal, the opposite is true and you will either sink or swim.

But you do not need to be in France because it is the official language in 29 counties in the world. It has 65 million native speakers and 250 million total speakers. That gives it a rank of 9th in the world for native speakers and 4th in the world over all for speakers. It is also a major language in the EU.

What do you have to do to learn French?

Learn about 200 verbs in different forms and about another 2000 common nouns and abstract words.  I do not recommend studying  nouns like horse and carrot which every language learners studies, but words like ‘but, ‘although, ‘seems’ which are abstract but very common.

My greatest improvements in speaking a language came when I was determined to learn large amounts of vocabulary. I used flashcards.  I am not talking about online flashcards but physical flashcards to learn. I do not like dictionaries.

The website you are on has nice word lists that you can print to start learning.

In summary, is French hard to learn? No! It is easy. It is one of the easiest languages in the world.  If you can not make progress with French then you do not know enough words and your method is wrong. Learn words with flashcards and word lists and I think you will agree with me that yes the language of the French people yes low stress and very easy.