About this ebook
About the author
ROSA BARRIOS is a language education specialist and the founder of Parlons Français, a coaching practice dedicated to helping adult learners achieve spoken fluency in French. Born in Barcelona and raised bilingual in Catalan and Spanish, she developed an early fascination with the mechanics of language acquisition—why some learners become fluent speakers while others stagnate despite years of study. This curiosity led her to pursue a degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Barcelona and a Master's in Language Teaching from the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.
Over the past fourteen years, Rosa has worked with more than 2,000 learners across thirty countries, ranging from absolute beginners to advanced professionals preparing for diplomatic postings. Her approach combines insights from second-language acquisition research with practical, habit-based coaching methods that prioritize spoken output over passive study. She developed the Fluency Through Output Method, which she has delivered through one-on-one coaching, group workshops, and corporate training programs for organizations including the European Commission and the International Organization of the Francophonie.
Rosa's teaching philosophy is rooted in a central conviction: speaking fluency is a skill, not a talent. It can be systematically developed through the right combination of practice techniques, mindset shifts, and consistent habits. She is known for her direct, no-frills coaching style and her insistence that learners begin speaking from day one, regardless of their level. Her clients typically see measurable improvement in conversational fluency within eight to twelve weeks of structured practice.
In addition to her coaching work, Rosa writes regularly about language learning methodology on her blog, Parler Sans Peur, and has contributed to language education publications including the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation and the Language Teacher's Toolkit. She is a frequent speaker at language learning conferences, where she advocates for greater emphasis on spoken output in mainstream language education curricula.
Rosa lives in Montpellier with her partner and their two daughters, whom she is raising trilingual in French, Spanish, and Catalan. When she is not coaching or writing, she can be found trail running in the Pic Saint-Loup, cooking Algerian-French fusion dishes, or arguing passionately about the correct way to make an omelette. She believes that learning to speak a new language is one of the most courageous things a person can do, and she wrote this guide to give every learner the roadmap she wishes she had when she started her own language journey.
