David Beckham struggling to master French

British soccer star David Beckham is struggling to master the French language since taking up a place on a Parisian team as he is "too shy" to try out his speaking skills.

The sportsman joined Paris Saint-Germain earlier this year (13) after leaving Los Angeles Galaxy, but he isn't picking up the local language as quickly as he had hoped.

Beckham admits it took him a year to start speaking Spanish while he was playing for Real Madrid earlier in his career, and fears his French isn't sounding much better.

He tells British newspaper The People, "I'm too shy. When I was with Real Madrid it took me a year to learn a word of Spanish. But be patient - I will get there (with French)."