Learning French, like any language, requires some effort. Undeniably thanks to the internet, these days it is relatively easy to gain access to a multitude of resources, even for a complete beginner. However, faced with this quantity of books, articles, and videos to learn French, it is easy to quickly feel overwhelmed.

Therefore, you will find in this article all the resources that I find the most useful and effective for learning French at the complete beginner level. Still, keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all method, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. It is, therefore, necessary to pay attention to your feelings and to what seems to you the most adequate for your learning. However, after studying multiple languages, I think the best advice I can give is to vary the methods. This will allow you to learn tirelessly while working on different aspects of the French language. So here is my list of resources for learning French at the complete beginner level (A0):

 

 

Choosing the right book

I recommend either having an all-in-one French book for beginners that addresses the different aspects of the language: vocabulary, grammar, conjugation, or having several books specializing in different aspects of the French language. Above all, try to focus on books where the explanations (written, audio and video) are entirely in French. As a result, you will have immediate contact with the language and to avoid common errors in pronunciation, the gender of words, syntax, etc. It will also prevent you from making a habit of translating from your native language to French (which makes you think a lot more and takes more time).

I will first recommend books for independent learning, which means that you won’t need a teacher to start (but keep in mind that to progress quickly and effectively, you will need to eventually take lessons with a teacher), then I will recommend books for learning with a teacher or a tutor.

For learning French in total autonomy

πŸ”·
StrengthsWeaknesses
βœ”οΈ It is possible to download the audio (207 audio files available)
βœ”οΈ Suitable for complete beginners
βœ”οΈ Has the answers to the exercises
βœ”οΈ Clear and simple explanations
βœ”οΈ Book entirely in French
βœ”οΈ Allows you to learn to express yourself in everyday situations
❌ Audio quality is average
❌ Contains only the basics
❌ Requires the purchase of other books to study level A1 and A2 in depth

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt
Click here to see a preview πŸ“–

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy?

Amazon FRAmazon US
Je parle, tu parles… nous parlons ! (international delivery 🌍)Je parle, tu parles… nous parlons ! 
πŸ”·
Strengths Weaknesses
βœ”οΈ Very complete book (for example, contains explanations on grammar, conversation, syntax, and verbs)
βœ”οΈ Audio files available
βœ”οΈ Review flashcards available
βœ”οΈ Contains explanations up to intermediate and advanced levels
❌ Quite a dense book therefore can be a bit scary for beginners
❌ The book begins with rather condensed grammar lessons
❌ The explanations are in English whereas only the example sentences are in French

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt
Click here to see a preview πŸ“–

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy?

Amazon FRAmazon US
Complete French All-in-One (international delivery 🌍) Complete French All-in-One 
πŸ”·
StrengthsWeaknesses
βœ”οΈ Allows progressive learning
βœ”οΈ Every grammar point is well explained
βœ”οΈ Reaches the beginning of the intermediate level
❌ The explanations are in English whereas only the examples are in French
❌ No audio available

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt
Click here to see a preview πŸ“–

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy?

Amazon FRAmazon US
Easy French Step-by-Step (international delivery 🌍) Easy French Step-by-Step 

Books for learning French with a teacher

🟒
StrengthsWeaknesses
βœ”οΈ Clear method
βœ”οΈ Books entirely in French
βœ”οΈ The important points to know are well summarized
βœ”οΈ Audio available
βœ”οΈ This is the series of books I use for my private lessons*
❌ You have to buy all three books if you want to have all the basics
❌ Corrections are available, but you need the help of a teacher to correct the essays
❌ Some explanations are sometimes too brief, therefore the teacher must give more detailed explanations
❌ You will need to buy other books to level up
*If you have Complete Beginner French lessons with me, do not buy this series, because I already have it. We will work on the content of the books together. Therefore, it is better that you invest in other resources (see chapter β€œDictionaries and Online Resources” below), which will serve you in the long run.

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt

Grammaire πŸ“–Vocabulaire πŸ“–Communication πŸ“–

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy?

Amazon FRAmazon US
Grammaire (international delivery 🌍) Grammaire 
Vocabulaire (international delivery 🌍)Vocabulaire  
Communication (international delivery 🌍) Communication
🟒
StrengthsWeaknesses
βœ”οΈ Suitable for individual or group private lessons
βœ”οΈ Book entirely in French
βœ”οΈ There is a version for the student and a version for the teacher
❌ The structure of the lessons means that the presence of a teacher will often be necessary
❌ Requires purchase of other books to level up

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt

BookDigital Version
Click here πŸ“–Click here πŸ“–
(the extract is from the teacher version, whereas there is no extract available for the student version)

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy?

Cle internationalAmazon FR Amazon US
Digital VersionBook (international delivery 🌍)Book
🟒
StrengthsWeaknesses
βœ”οΈ For students who do not use the English alphabet in their writing (such as Arabic, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Russian, etc.)
βœ”οΈ Good illustrations as well as easy to understand
βœ”οΈ Pragmatic vocabulary only, thus allowing you to get to the point
βœ”οΈ Very progressive
❌ Necessary to buy the two books because they are complementary
❌ Contains only the basic vocabulary of everyday life in France, therefore it does not allow you to deepen your knowledge past the beginner level
❌ Not really suitable for students who already have the English alphabet in their mother tongue

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt

Vocabulaire πŸ“–Lire et Γ©crire πŸ“–

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy?

Amazon FRAmazon US
Vocabulaire (international delivery 🌍) unavailable
Lire et Γ©crire (international delivery 🌍)Lire et Γ©crire  

Dictionaries and Useful Resources for Learning French

Books

1.

Firstly, I advise you to get the books from the Bescherelle collection. These books are also used by French students when they learn different aspects of the language. These are reference books that contain good explanations with many examples. Above all, they will follow you throughout your learning, they are a very good investment. Of course, all the explanations are in French. I advise my beginner students to at least get the Bescherelle on conjugation: the rules of agreement, the use of different tenses, and the conjugation of verbs are detailed there.

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt

La conjugaison πŸ“–L’orthographe πŸ“–La grammaire πŸ“–
Amazon FRAmazon US
Le coffret (international delivery 🌍) Le coffret 
La conjugaison (international delivery 🌍) La conjugaison 
L’orthographe (international delivery 🌍) L’orthographe 
La grammaire (international delivery 🌍)  La grammaire
2.

I also recommend the book A Frequency Dictionary of French because it is an interesting book that will allow you to learn vocabulary by giving priority to the most used words. This book also contains many example sentences. However, the only downside is that there is no audio recording for the pronunciation. However, you can easily remedy this problem with online resources like YouGlish (see detailed explanations in the “Online Resources” section).

Learning French made easy with the Frequency dictionary.

πŸ‘‰ Excerpt

Click here to see a previewπŸ“–

πŸ‘‰ Where to buy ?

Amazon FRAmazon US
A Frequency Dictionary of French (international delivery 🌍) A Frequency Dictionary of French 

Online Resources

In addition, there are many online resources that can help you learn French.

Pronunciation

πŸ’  To begin with helping your pronunciation, there is the YouGlish site. To explain, this tool allows you to search for words or phrases spoken by native speakers. In addition, you can even choose the country of origin, namely, France, Belgium, or Canada. Once you’ve typed your word or phrase, YouGlish will search for all videos containing that word and submit its playlist to you. Under each video, you also have the subtitles with the spoken word highlighted. This tool is therefore very useful for pronunciation or to search for videos on specific topics:

Visit YouGlish.com

πŸ’  I also invite you to watch the humorous videos of Loic Suberville because they are very funny and will teach you some vocabulary words in French or show you certain cultural differences:

Meaning of Words

As a dictionary, I can only recommend the Collins. This dictionary offers you the audio version as well as example sentences containing the word you have searched. It also offers the conjugation of verbs (note that the conjugation is incomplete in this dictionary, see the next paragraph for a better conjugator), the use of the word over time, and a translation in many languages ​​that are not yet available on the Collins dictionary (like Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Polish, etc.). For instance, here is an example with the verb Β« enseigner Β» (“to teach”):

Learning French made easy with the Collins dictionary.
The audio version as well as the example sentences of the word Β« enseigner Β».
Learning French made easy with the Collins dictionary.
The conjugation of verbs in the present, future, imperfect and past tense.
Learning French made easy with the Collins dictionary.
Translations into 26 other languages ​​with their audio pronunciation.

Conjugation

For conjugation, I recommend L’Obs la conjugaison. This conjugator has a database of over 9000 verbs. In addition, the verbs are conjugated in all the tenses you need to speak (1) and a definition (2), synonyms (3) and conjugation exercises (4) are provided for each tense.

Learning French and it's conjugation is an important part of the process.
Select the tabs to access the different content.

The News 

🟑 To follow the news in French, I recommend the site 1jour1actu. For example, this site provides daily news information in the form of articles, podcasts, and short videos. This site is made for French children (the starting age is 8), so the explanations are greatly simplified. In addition, spending ten minutes a day reading French news and writing down five words or expressions that you think are useful will make a big difference.

Learning French made easy with the news for kids.

🟑 You can also listen to the radio or podcasts. For example, Rfi radio is very popular among students. This radio station presents international news and publishes short and simplified articles.

Radio France internationale for learning French.

🟑 There is also the France Culture radio station which offers cultural, economic, historical, and literary analyzes as well as podcasts.

France Culture for learning French.

🟑 Finally, there is the program Grand bien vous fasse ! which deals with societal issues, romantic relationships, and lifestyles.

Podcast France Inter - Grand bien vous fasse ! | direct-radio.fr for learning French.

French Videos

In order to progress, watching videos in French is a very effective method. Watching a few minutes of video every day will improve your comprehension skills, but also allow you to enrich your vocabulary. In order to optimize your learning, I advise the following method:

1️⃣ Firstly, watch the video for the first time with subtitles in your mother tongue (if subtitles in your mother tongue or a language you understand are not available, watch the video with French subtitles). Above all, focus on the story.

2️⃣ Wait a few hours or the next day and then watch the video again. However, this time with French subtitles only. Finally, write down five words or phrases that you recognize.

3️⃣ Wait a few more hours or the next day and then watch the video a third time, but this time without captions.

You will find short videos with a vocabulary list and exercises in the Films et sΓ©ries β†’ Youtube β†’ A1-A2. section. Otherwise, below is a list of YouTube channels sorted by categories. Videos with the β€œπŸ₯β€ symbol are the easiest to understand:

Documentaries (historical and travel related)ScienceHumor and Entertainment
Arte πŸ₯
Des racines et des ailes
Γ‰chappΓ©es belles
Nota Bene
DirtyBiology
C’est pas sorcier πŸ₯
Poisson FΓ©cond
Amixem
Cyprien πŸ₯
COLAS BIM πŸ₯
DEO TOONS
Emma CakeCup
Louis-San πŸ₯
Natoo
Norman πŸ₯

If you want to watch French television, there is also France TV which is a replay site.

Audio methods: practicing pronunciation while learning to speak with native French speakers

One of my favorite methods of learning languages ​​is the audio method because it allows you to get straight to the heart of the matter, take a break from the written exercises and learn useful phrases in everyday life. I recommend them, particularly for beginners. They allow you to work on pronunciation, acquire vocabulary, and are a source of motivation because you directly learn expressions that you can reuse with native speakers.

The Pimsleur Method

I used the Pimsleur method a few years ago when I started to learn Japanese, and am using it to learn Korean as a beginner. I have also listened to the method for learning French and I find it very good.

The Pimsleur French method is divided into five levels of difficulty:
– 1️⃣: basic vocabulary (beginner)
– 2️⃣: everyday vocabulary (advanced beginner)
– 3️⃣: everyday vocabulary and in a professional environment (intermediate)
– 4️⃣: everyday vocabulary and in a professional environment (advanced intermediate)
– 5️⃣: personal life, the expression of emotions, and the formation of complex sentences (advanced)

Each lesson lasts about thirty minutes. The explanations on the context are in English then the explanations on the pronunciation and the diction of the sentences are carried out by a native speaker. The method is somewhat reminiscent of that of the animated series Dora the Explorer where you are presented with a context, a native speaker asks you a question in French then you have a few seconds to answer in French before you are given the answer.

The Pros and Cons of the Method

The method is progressive, which means that you must complete the levels in order. Be careful, however, because this must be used along with other methods of learning French. Completing all the levels will allow you to have a good understanding and to develop your ability to intuitively form sentences in French. This method is also great for building excellent pronunciation habits. However, the expressions are very focused and there is little or no explanation on grammar and syntax. This means that you will also have to practice speaking and writing and learning the rules of conjugation and grammar and of course more vocabulary if you want to truly speak French one day.

I only used the Pimsleur method and was very satisfied with it so this is the one I recommend. However, if you have tested other methods like that of Rosetta Stone or Michel Thomas for example, do not hesitate to share your experience with them in the comments.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐Click here to check out the Pimsleur method ⭐
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Movies: an opening on French culture

The films are a real opening into French culture. Preferably, try to watch films produced by French people (for instance, try to avoid watching American movies dubbed in French as you will miss out on certain French cultural aspects), and as with French videos, get in the habit of watching them three times and writing down five to ten expressions that you think are useful.

You will find in the Movies and TV shows section of this site a vocabulary list and exercises to help you understand certain French films and series.

Otherwise, you will find below a non-exhaustive list of French films. If you click on the movie title, it will take you directly to the movie trailer on the AllocinΓ© movie news site. Also, if you are interested in the film, it’s up to you to find it (Netflix, Amazon, etc.).

ComedyHistoricalDrama
Le Petit Nicolas
LOL (Laughing Out Loud)
20 ans d’Γ©cart
Alibi.com
Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis
Jacquou le croquant
Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Fanfan la tulipe
Intouchables
Le Fabuleux destin d’AmΓ©lie Poulain

 

Conversation practice through private lessons: an essential step that will make you progress very quickly

If you want to progress quickly in French, there is nothing better than taking lessons. The most effective is to take lessons with a teacher whose mother tongue is French. You can thus have your first contact with a native who will have the necessary knowledge to explain to you how the language works and to determine your strengths and weaknesses. Individual private lessons allow you to progress at a much faster pace than classroom lessons (whether in private language schools or at a traditional school), so this is the type of lesson I recommend if you want to progress quickly.

Where to Practice Speaking?

Later, once you have acquired the basics with your teacher (after having acquired the majority of the notions of level A1), I advise you to find tutors. However, tutors are not teachers, they are native speakers who will allow you to practice what you have learned with your teacher or in books. They play a supporting role, so you will have to organize your lesson and suggest topics for conversation. Tutors are a great help as they will allow you to practice speaking to different native people. You can find them on the italki site. I have worked there for several years and also have taken lessons there. There are a lot of good native tutors on the platform so I can recommend it to you.

In general, the hardest part for complete beginners is to take the plunge and book the first lesson. Know that I offer private French lessons in a joyful and good atmosphere. I am patient and attentive, so no need to stress. If you are unsure or need more information, please do not hesitate to contact me before booking a lesson, I would be happy to answer any question you might have and get to know you! 😁

How many hours are needed to learn French?

This question is difficult to answer because every student is different. Some students find it easy to learn languages ​​in general, and for others it takes extra effort. However, I can give you some leads based on my own experience and the results of my students or those of my non-French speaking entourage in learning French. Also, note that an apprenticeship at school (in a high school, for example), in a private language school (with a difference if the school is in a French-speaking or non-French-speaking country) or in private one-on-one lessons with a teacher, will significantly influence the speed of your learning.

Classes in a language school (non-French speaking country)

I’m not really going to talk here about learning in classical schools like middle school, high school, or university because many of you have already had this experience and in my opinion, this is the method that requires the most time, not to say years. It is unfortunately difficult to learn French in this environment where other subjects are often more important to pass for the students making it hard to concentrate on learning French. Of course, the students also have much less speaking time, as the teacher has to manage a whole class. I will therefore focus in this first part on learning in private language schools.

I will first explain about the language schools located in the learner’s country of origin, that is to say in a non-French-speaking country:

What to expect with language schools?

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which is an institution whose main activity is to train diplomats of the United States or other nationalities to promote US interests abroad, gives a rather realistic estimate of the number of hours necessary for a learner, depending on his nationality, to learn a language, including French, and reach an advanced level (between B2 and C1). Keep in mind that these diplomats spend the majority of their time learning the language and then are sent to the country. So it’s an intensive program that they follow. So I adapted the data from the FSI to learning French.

Distribution of learning hours by language

French is not a very difficult language to learn for speakers whose language is of Latin origin (such as Spanish):

Languages of Latin originLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, etc.About 30 weeksBetween 600 and 750 hoursBetween 20 and 30 hours

Speakers whose language is of Germanic origin (such as English) will need slightly more time: 

Languages of Germanic originLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
English, German, Dutch, Swedish, etc.About 36 weeksAbout 900 hoursAbout 25 hours

This gets complicated for speakers whose language is considered difficult. Many languages ​​fall into this category:

Difficult languagesLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
Russian, Slovak, Hungarian, Mongolian, Polish, Hebrew, Hindi, Vietnamese, etc.About 44 weeksAbout 1,100 hoursAbout 25 hours

Finally, there are the languages ​​considered very difficult. Native speakers in this category will need a lot more hours to master French (the same goes for French people trying to master these languages):

Very difficult languagesLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese or even Arabic.About 88 weeksAbout 2,200 hoursAbout 25 hours

Classes in a language school (French-speaking country)

Then there are the language schools located in a French-speaking country. This means that the learner is in total immersion. They learn and speak French at school and outside of learning hours:

Languages of Latin originLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, etc.20 weeksBetween 320 and 400 hoursBetween 16 and 20 heures
Languages of Germanic originLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
English, German, Dutch, Swedish, etc.About 24 weeks480 hours20 hours (about 27 lessons of 45 minutes per week)
Difficult languagesLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
Russian, Slovak, Hungarian, Mongolian, Polish,
Hebrew, Hindi, Vietnamese, etc.
About 30 weeksAbout 587 hoursAbout 20 hours
Very difficult languagesLearning weeksTotal learning hoursLearning hours per week
Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese or even Arabic.About 57 weeksAbout 1,174 hoursAbout 21 hours

I would say that generally if the learner is a complete beginner (A0), the learner will come out of this total immersion at the beginning of an advanced level (the beginning of a B2 level). If the learner arrives at school with a beginner level (A1), he or she will have more chances to master the B2 level at the end of the stay, or even to reach the C1 level depending on their mother tongue. It should be taken into account that outside of the lessons, the learner will spend time doing homework and talking with native speakers. The tables only count the learning hours needed in class, and in classes of 8 to 12 students maximum.

πŸ”· On average, how long will it take for an English-speaking learner to pass each level in a French language school in total immersion? 

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of hours***Total learning hoursValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 77DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 115192DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 128320DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 160480DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 240720DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 160 +880 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
*** For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 115 hours of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 128 hours of learning to reach level B1, etc.

πŸ”Ά On average, how long will it take for a learner with a very difficult mother tongue to pass each level in French language school in total immersion?

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of hours***Total learning hoursValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 185DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 276461DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 307768DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 4061 174DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 5541728DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 384 +2 112 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
***
For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 276 hours of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 307 hours of learning to reach level B1, etc.

The one-on-one lessons with a private teacher 

In my opinion, private one-to-one lessons with a teacher are the most effective. I will therefore give you the results that I obtained with my students, in private lessons (so one student) or in a class of 4 students maximum with learners who are not in a French-speaking country.

I am going to rely on the results of my students having Germanic languages ​​and difficult to very difficult languages ​​as mother tongues (like Mongolian, Slovak, Russian, and Chinese) because the majority of my students fall into these categories.

Please keep in mind that these students take lessons regularly, that is to say, several times a week: they do not take long breaks lasting several weeks. They also do their homework before each lesson and spend about 20 minutes a day reading, listening to the radio, or watching a video in French every day. The students who are in the second scenario progress less quickly, because they forget certain concepts or vocabulary in the meantime.

πŸ”· Number of hours of private lessons required per level for students with a Germanic mother tongue (like English):

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of hours***Total learning hoursValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 54DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 79133DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 94222DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 111333DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 167500DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 111 +611 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
*** For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 79 hours of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 94 hours of learning to reach level B1, etc.

πŸ”Ά Number of hours of private lessons required per level for students with a very difficult mother tongue:

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of hours***Total learning hoursValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 97DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 142239DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 161400DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 160560DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 340900DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 200 +1 100 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
***
For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 142 hours of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 161 hours of learning to reach level B1, etc.

Schedule suggestion for learning French (private individual online lessons)

Intensive French learning program

By sticking to this intensive schedule (around 23 hours of French per week), you will notice rapid progress. I often have learners who apply this method for one or two months during summer vacation (regardless of their level), to accelerate their progress. If you have the time, I advise you to try this method, it is very rewarding to notice a rapid progression and it will motivate you to continue your learning in the long run.

Intensive French learning program.
Intensive French learning program.

πŸ”· Progression table with the intensive program (for a Germanic mother tongue)

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of weeks***Total learning weeksValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 3DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 36DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 410DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 414DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 822DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 5 +27 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
***
For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 3 weeks of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 4 weeks of learning to reach level B1, etc.

The duration is based on students with a German mother tongue or who have a talent for learning a foreign language. As you can see, the progression is slightly faster than learning with an intensive program in a French-language school based in a French-speaking country. If you have a Latin mother tongue, which is more similar to French, your progress will be even faster.

πŸ”Ά Progression table with the intensive program (for a very difficult mother tongue)

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of weeks***Total learning weeksValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 4DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 610DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 717DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 724DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 1539DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 9 +48 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
**
* For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 6 weeks of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 7 weeks of learning to reach level B1, etc.

The duration is based on students with a very difficult mother tongue or have difficulty learning a foreign language. As you can see, the progression is slightly faster than learning with an intensive program in a French-language school based in a French-speaking country. If you have a mother tongue more similar to French or have already learned a similar language, your progress will be that much faster.

Moderate French learning program

This moderately-paced schedule is much more accessible to people who don’t have a lot of time. By following this timetable, the learner studies approximately 10 hours of French per week. It’s a rhythm that allows you not to devote too much time to French daily while making visible progress from one week to the next.

Moderate French learning program.

 

Moderate French learning program.

With this moderately-paced schedule, you will notice relatively rapid progress. The majority of my students follow a schedule similar to this one.

πŸ”· Progression table with the moderate program (for a Germanic mother tongue)

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of weeks***Total learning weeksValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 5DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 813DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 922DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 1133DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 1649DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 11 +60 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
***
For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 8 weeks of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 9 weeks of learning to reach level B1, etc.

The duration is based on students with a Germanic mother tongue or who have natural talent at learning a foreign language. As you can see, the progression is longer compared to the intensive learning pace. However, progress remains rapid.

πŸ”Ά Progression table with the moderate program (for a very difficult mother tongue)

Levels**
(from β†’ to)
Cumulative number of weeks***Total learning weeksValidated exam
A0 β†’ A1 – language discovery 10DELF A1
A1 β†’ A2 – elementaryβ†’ 1323DELF A2
A2 β†’ B1 – thresholdβ†’ 1639DELF B1
B1 β†’ B2 – advancedβ†’ 1655DELF B2
B2 β†’ C1 – autonomousβ†’ 3388DALF C1
C1 β†’ C2 – master’sβ†’ 19 +107 +DALF C2

** According to the Cadre EuropΓ©en Commun
*** For example, if the learner reaches level A1, it will take an additional 13 weeks of learning to reach level A2. If the learner reaches level A2, it will take an additional 16 weeks of learning to reach level B1, etc.

The duration is based on students with a very difficult mother tongue or who have difficulty learning a foreign language. As you can see, the progression is slightly longer compared to the intensive learning pace. However, students who adopt a moderate pace make rapid and noticeable progress from week to week.

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