How to find the best French lessons online and offline
So, you want to learn French? GREAT!
This lens will teach you how you can learn French easily.
Learning a new language effectively depends on variety. This lens will show you numerous ways to learn French. If you try them all and mix them up it won't feel like hard work. You'll simply find yourself learning more and more each day.
The internet has lots of great FREE French lessons available. This lens will guide you to some of the most useful free lessons I have found.
I've also added a selection of the VERY BEST French education books and audio lessons to ensure you improve even further.
This lens will teach you how you can learn French easily.
Learning a new language effectively depends on variety. This lens will show you numerous ways to learn French. If you try them all and mix them up it won't feel like hard work. You'll simply find yourself learning more and more each day.
The internet has lots of great FREE French lessons available. This lens will guide you to some of the most useful free lessons I have found.
I've also added a selection of the VERY BEST French education books and audio lessons to ensure you improve even further.
Learn French Fast
Michel Thomas can jumpstart your French Learning
This is by far the easiest place to start learning French. All you do is listen and it sinks right in!
Michel Thomas Method™ French For Beginners, 10-CD Program (Michel Thomas Speak...)
Amazon Price: $150.00 (as of 02/18/2012)
Best FREE French learning tips
Plenty of free advice available!
If you're broke, jump straight to the best FREE ideas listed here.
- Learn French Online
- Follow French Teachers on Twitter
- French Learning - Links to my favourite lists
- Great learning ideas!
- Learn French by podcast lessons
- Read news in French - ALOUD!
- Listen to French radio
- Collect audiobooks in French
- About.com French
- Follow the hashtag #learnfrench on Twitter
- Play games and chat in French
- Talk with native French speakers
- Follow @Frenchmot
- Learn French on Youtube
Learn French Online
Take French courses online
There are a lot of free French courses online.
As a beginner, anything and everything is good. A simple site that effectively teaches you one useful piece of French is just as good as a whole French textbook.
When you get a bit better at French, you'll want to find lessons with a little more depth in them.
Try these great beginner links and free textbooks
As a beginner, anything and everything is good. A simple site that effectively teaches you one useful piece of French is just as good as a whole French textbook.
When you get a bit better at French, you'll want to find lessons with a little more depth in them.
Try these great beginner links and free textbooks
- BBC French
- This is a great beginner course in French.
- French Learning Links
- These are links I've collected in Delicious - there are LOTS of links to French lessons here. Beginners - browse here!
- Wikibooks - French
- This is a free, online comprehensive French textbook. It's also available as a PDF if you prefer to have things locally. I personally prefer the PDF because it's easier to read.
- About.com French
- Laura K. Lawless will teach you something new and interesting about French every day. Good for any level of French learner.
- Flashcard Exchange
- Looking at flashcards is a great way to memorise and recall vocabulary. Flashcard Exchange is a place where you can explore other people's flashcards, make your own flashcards and save your favourites in order to study them online or on your iPhone when ever you have free time.
- Liberté - Gretchen Angelo
- This is a first year university French textbook which is available for free online.
Buy The Best French Textbooks
Get some quality French textbooks and phrasebooks. The phrasebooks will help you with finding everyday language you need to recall quickly (especially when travelling in France), while a good French textbook will guide you towards a thorough understanding of the language.
Here are my favourite French phrasebooks and textbooks.
Here are my favourite French phrasebooks and textbooks.
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Old French lessons going cheap!
Buy Bargain French Learning Material on eBay
Take French Lessons
... from wherever you live in the world
All these other methods are great, but nothing beats a French teacher when you have questions to ask.
Learn French using Skype!
Learn French using Skype!
- Alliance Francaise
- There is an Alliance Francaise in almost every major city in the world. Most of them run regular French lessons and have a thriving community of French enthusiasts to bond with. They offer French movie nights, French soirees and other related events. Also, they have libraries of books, DVDs, CDs, magazines available for students to borrow.
- http://www.live-french.net/
- This is a nifty idea. They offer French lessons via Skype or telephone. Because it's not a huge imposition for the teacher to meet in person, the lessons are quite cheap. If you pay for a block of lessons you can schedule time with the same teacher each time. If not, you might find yourself with a new teacher each lesson.
I'd advise paying per lesson until you find a teacher with the best style for you, then signing up for a block of lessons and booking the teacher for the next lesson before the end of each lesson.
Handy Tip: Record your Skype chat so you can replay your lesson on your MP3 player later.
Follow French Teachers on Twitter
Listen to French Audio Lessons
Not free, but guaranteed to be useful!
If you have a little bit of cash you can spare for some French lessons, these are the ones I recommend buying.
- The Pimsleur French lessons are designed to repeat phrases throughout lessons while teaching you new vocabulary.
- The Michel Thomas lessons are a fantastic way to get comfortable with French verbs and make speaking French a natural process.
Listen to them while you work, drive, cook - whenever you have a free chance! Put them on your MP3 player so they're with you whenever you have a free moment. Audio lessons will direct your learning and improve your French very quickly. You'll be surprised at just how easy it is to learn this way!
- The Pimsleur French lessons are designed to repeat phrases throughout lessons while teaching you new vocabulary.
- The Michel Thomas lessons are a fantastic way to get comfortable with French verbs and make speaking French a natural process.
Listen to them while you work, drive, cook - whenever you have a free chance! Put them on your MP3 player so they're with you whenever you have a free moment. Audio lessons will direct your learning and improve your French very quickly. You'll be surprised at just how easy it is to learn this way!
French Learning - Links to my favourite lists
These are my personal collections of links useful to any French learner. If you're interested in exploring further, this would be a great place to start.
- Books on France & French Learning
- This list contains French history, a few novels based in France, some French travel guides, France newcomer guides and many French learning guides. A whole lot of useful books about France, living in France, the French and the French language.
- Learning French Links
- French Language Learning Links on Delicious (Maintained by Ange)
I have been collecting links on Delicious for a while now. This is a huge collection of relevant French learning links. - French Language Blog list
- French Language Blog Links on Delicious (Maintained by Ange)
If you would like to follow French blogs, but have no idea where to start - try here. I've collected this list of my favourite French bloggers. Some of them blog about France, some blog about French, while some of them blog IN French. - French Learning Spreadsheet for Flashcards
- I've made a spreadsheet of the @frenchmot words so that people can import it into their favourite flashcard reader.
Great learning ideas!
Tips to help you learn French
Plan a trip to France!
If you're keen to improve your French you need to take all the French learning advice you can get. Mix it up. Learn about France, French history, French food and culture. Be interested in France generally. Start planning a holiday to France. Do anything you need to in order to convince your brain that it needs to learn more.
Read French and listen to French - anything you can find. Reading anything with visuals goes a long way to helping you to understand. Kid's books, graphic novels in French, French movies, French music, TV dubbed in French, blogs, how-to guides. Anything you find interesting - read/listen in French!
Most importantly, get hold of some really good French audio lessons, sign up for French lessons with a teacher and chat to French people.
Not all methods of learning French are free, but keep your eyes open for ways that are - there's probably more than you think! Some of the better ways to learn French easily are COMPLETELY FREE and available online readily. Look around!
If you're keen to improve your French you need to take all the French learning advice you can get. Mix it up. Learn about France, French history, French food and culture. Be interested in France generally. Start planning a holiday to France. Do anything you need to in order to convince your brain that it needs to learn more.
Read French and listen to French - anything you can find. Reading anything with visuals goes a long way to helping you to understand. Kid's books, graphic novels in French, French movies, French music, TV dubbed in French, blogs, how-to guides. Anything you find interesting - read/listen in French!
Most importantly, get hold of some really good French audio lessons, sign up for French lessons with a teacher and chat to French people.
Not all methods of learning French are free, but keep your eyes open for ways that are - there's probably more than you think! Some of the better ways to learn French easily are COMPLETELY FREE and available online readily. Look around!
Learn French by podcast lessons
FrenchPod - FREE French learning podcast
This is both a FREE podcast of French lessons and a website dedicated to helping you learn French. It's a GREAT French podcast. It has taught me some of the most useful French I know. The FREE French learning podcast will get you quite a few lessons, and by then you'll know if you want to pay the subscription for the advanced podcast. Read news in French - ALOUD!
The daily news is a good way to learn more everyday French language. There are lots of French newspapers online, so it's easy to get hold of new FREE French texts to read. There are so many different topics in the news that you should easily be able to find something to read that you might be interested in.
Read French newspapers to practise pronunciation
Now, here's the gold in the plan. Don't just read it to yourself - READ IT ALOUD. Actually make your mouth say the words at a normal volume. It's very good practise for pronunciation and it helps your memory to remember the words. Even if you have no idea what the word means, try to pronounce it correctly. You can always look it up later.
Once you've read the text, it's a good idea to make sure you understood the gist and any important words that you weren't sure about.
Do this daily - it will really help. Plus, it's FREE!
Read French newspapers to practise pronunciation
Now, here's the gold in the plan. Don't just read it to yourself - READ IT ALOUD. Actually make your mouth say the words at a normal volume. It's very good practise for pronunciation and it helps your memory to remember the words. Even if you have no idea what the word means, try to pronounce it correctly. You can always look it up later.
Once you've read the text, it's a good idea to make sure you understood the gist and any important words that you weren't sure about.
Do this daily - it will really help. Plus, it's FREE!
- La Depeche
- I've put this link first because it's a good news site to start with. La Depeche use fairly simple language, so it's ideal for French beginners.
- Le Monde
- France's most popular newspaper.
- France 24
- This newspaper is great for French learners as you can explore the news in French and then switch to the English version to check your comprehension. Good for people who don't have a lot of time to check every word in a dictionary.
Read comics and graphic novels in French
(It's just too easy isn't it?)
Reading comics and graphic novels in French makes it easy to get used to reading in French, without too much difficulty. If you don't understand words, the pictures will still tell the story (like kids reading picture books). You'll still understand what's going on, and you're re-enforcing all those everyday phrases that you need to have on the tip of your tongue when you speak French.
Watch French movies
Find lots of great French movies on Amazon!
One of the best ways to learn French is actually the easiest! Watch French movies with English subtitles on and you will not only get used to listening to the language, but you will repeatedly hear the most regularly used French phrases. As an added bonus, you'll probably learn a fair bit about France, French culture and see some great movies!
Listen to French radio
FREE French radio online
Listen to FREE French radio online and subscribe to French radio podcasts - For FREE!
Many French radio stations offer live streaming online for FREE. Take your pick of stations and get listening!
An added bonus of the FREE radio podcasts is that they tend to be largely spoken material on everyday interesting things - and you can listen to them offline on your MP3 player!
Many French radio stations offer live streaming online for FREE. Take your pick of stations and get listening!
An added bonus of the FREE radio podcasts is that they tend to be largely spoken material on everyday interesting things - and you can listen to them offline on your MP3 player!
- Radio France podcasts
- There are so many different podcast choices available here - take your pick.
- List of French radio stations streaming online
- This is a very comprehensive list, which makes it very easy to explore which radio stations you might like.
Collect audiobooks in French
This can be done for FREE using a French language search on LibriVox. LibriVox is a website dedicated to providing human-read audiobooks of public domain books. This also means that all of these texts are available FREE in the Public Domain too. It shouldn't be too hard to find the text and follow along as you listen to the audiobook.Pick something that you've read in English, or that you think you might like. In the end though, just listening to the words in French will help you immensely.
Tip: Use iPod to learn French!
- Listen to French Audio Lessons
- Subscribe to Free French Podcasts
- Subscribe to Free French Radio Podcasts
About.com French
Laura K. Lawless (Twitter @lkl) teaches French at http://french.about.com/, which provides free daily french lessons for anyone who wants to subscribe to the RSS feed (or visit daily). Always interesting!Here's a taster of her lessons.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byFind more French textbooks
French textbooks on Amazon
There's always more French textbooks out there. Here's some that Amazon recommends.
Learn some French history
To truly understand the French language, you need to know the French. And to understand the French, learning a little history isn't going to hurt.
But don't just read boring textbooks. Get hold of a bright, colourful history guide or a good novel on the history which keeps you interested. Here are some of the best.
But don't just read boring textbooks. Get hold of a bright, colourful history guide or a good novel on the history which keeps you interested. Here are some of the best.
Read dual-language novels
Read books in both French and English
Dual-language books are great once you're a little bit more familiar with the language. If you don't understand the French you can sneak a peek at the English translation. This is by far the easiest way to get started reading novels in French. Eventually you'll find that you don't need the English!
Follow the hashtag #learnfrench on Twitter
Tip for French learners: The Twitter hashtag #learnfrench is pretty useful!
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Listen to French music
Find French music on Amazon!
The quickest way to get quality French music is to download them as MP3.
And at $1 per song, it's not hard to explore French music and see if you like it. Plus, every French word you listen to makes you better at French!
And at $1 per song, it's not hard to explore French music and see if you like it. Plus, every French word you listen to makes you better at French!
Play games and chat in French
Learn French using software
Play games to learn French!Many of your computer games have an option to change the language settings - try it! Especially for adventure games with plenty of on-screen text, this is a great way to pick up new vocabulary and become familiar with the everyday language.
Chat rooms, MUDs and IRC are also a great FREE way of quickly improving your French.
Chat rooms, MUDs and IRC are also a great FREE way of quickly improving your French.
- MOO Francais
- Moo Francais is a university-run French MOO (like a MUD). This means it's a FREE online text-based game, where all the French used is known to be accurate. Follow the link to work out what I'm on about if you still don't know what that means. :)
- IRC - irc.umich.edu #France
- If IRC is more your thing, try #France on irc.umich.edu
There's always plenty of people - and French is the language spoken!
(The link goes to Mibbit.com which is a free online IRC client).
Watch your favourite TV shows in French
French translations are available for most popular TV shows
It's really that easy.
Watching your favourite TV shows in French is a quick way to learn language you will really USE
I compare this to the cost of actual French lessons. Yes, the French versions are slightly more expensive than the original DVDs, but you ARE paying for the French audio here.
Anyway, find shows that you are interested in buying in English already. Then see if that show has a French dubbed version. Always make sure that both the English and French language audio and subtitles are available on the DVD! Check near the bottom of the Amazon page. You want to be able to watch in English with French subtitles (to start with) and then switch to French with English subtitles.
It's worth checking every DVD in your local store (and current collection) to see what is available in French. You never know!
It's also a good idea to find shows which use language similar to what you would normally use with your friends or colleagues. For instance, I find that "How I met your mother" or "Sex and the city" give me useful French vocabulary. A business-person might prefer something like "The office" so they learn a little business lingo as well as general office chat.
As long as you enjoy it, it will be useful to you.
Watching your favourite TV shows in French is a quick way to learn language you will really USE
I compare this to the cost of actual French lessons. Yes, the French versions are slightly more expensive than the original DVDs, but you ARE paying for the French audio here.
Anyway, find shows that you are interested in buying in English already. Then see if that show has a French dubbed version. Always make sure that both the English and French language audio and subtitles are available on the DVD! Check near the bottom of the Amazon page. You want to be able to watch in English with French subtitles (to start with) and then switch to French with English subtitles.
It's worth checking every DVD in your local store (and current collection) to see what is available in French. You never know!
It's also a good idea to find shows which use language similar to what you would normally use with your friends or colleagues. For instance, I find that "How I met your mother" or "Sex and the city" give me useful French vocabulary. A business-person might prefer something like "The office" so they learn a little business lingo as well as general office chat.
As long as you enjoy it, it will be useful to you.
Talk with native French speakers
Learn French in France
Ideally, if you're really serious about learning French, you would want to meet regularly with a native French speaker as often as possible. Offer them English practise in return - and make it fair!
Practise French conversation EVERY DAY
Try to find someone about your own age so the language and conversation is right for you. Put some effort in and find new topics to talk about each session.
Don't forget that you can talk to French speakers for FREE using Skype! Just because you don't know any French people doesn't mean you can't talk to one. Also, Skype conversations are a quick way to schedule in some vital everyday French conversation practise.
A great FREE online resource for connecting people for language practise is The Mixxer: Language Exchange Community for Everyone. It is hosted by Dickinson College, who maintain the free site in order to help people learn languages more effectively. They also maintain a very useful FAQ guide with tips on how to structure your language practise conversation time.
Random tip: If you have the opportunity, try to look after French kids. You'll need all the French you can remember!
Practise French conversation EVERY DAY
Try to find someone about your own age so the language and conversation is right for you. Put some effort in and find new topics to talk about each session.
Don't forget that you can talk to French speakers for FREE using Skype! Just because you don't know any French people doesn't mean you can't talk to one. Also, Skype conversations are a quick way to schedule in some vital everyday French conversation practise.
A great FREE online resource for connecting people for language practise is The Mixxer: Language Exchange Community for Everyone. It is hosted by Dickinson College, who maintain the free site in order to help people learn languages more effectively. They also maintain a very useful FAQ guide with tips on how to structure your language practise conversation time.
Random tip: If you have the opportunity, try to look after French kids. You'll need all the French you can remember!
Latest French learning links from @Smange
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byFind out some street French
Learn the naughty bits!
Fine-tune your French learning. Learn the slang, idioms, and profanities. It'll be fun - and it's all part of learning French. Just remember not to use those swear words at the wrong time!
French MP3 on Amazon
The quickest way to get quality French audio lessons is to download them as MP3.
Follow @Frenchmot
Teaching French one word at a time!
Tip: Use iPhone to learn French!
Use an online flashcard tester on your iPhone
Learn French on Youtube
Imagiers YouTube channel
Imagiers is a very useful French teacher on Youtube and he also runs this website, http://www.imagiers.net/. There's a great variety of lessons. Take a look!
curated content from YouTube
Learn about the French
There are plenty of great books out there on French cooking, lifestyle and living in France. Learn a little!
Plan a trip to France
Planning the trip will force you to learn more French, more about France and generally get you more excited about the whole process. And what better way to practise your French than with real French natives?
Read guides on the French
Sometimes these guides to the French are really quite insightful. They'll definitely pique your interest for visiting France and learning more French.
Research French culture
Learn about French art, literature and how it all came to be.
Watch Even More French Cinema
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRead novels about life in France
Fall in love with the country, the people, the lifestyle!
More French learning lenses that rock!
It's great to use as many different French learning resources as possible. Here are some more French learning lenses I found really useful.
- Learn French with a Native Speaker!
- A comprehensive overview to learning French.
- French Classes
- French Lens with all sorts of interesting stuff about France.
- Learn French Now
- An interesting overview with some great Youtube clips.
What are your favourite ways to learn French?
Advice, ideas and links - whatever you think will help the new French learner!
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alanwearing
Nov 19, 2011 @ 5:27 am | delete
- Great Content...very informative
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mbernard
Jul 26, 2011 @ 4:25 am | delete
- The absolute best way to learn French is by listening and repeating what others are saying. Software that makes use of interactive audio learning activities and entertaining word games results in greater memory retention and a faster learning outcome.
http://learnfrenchlanguagelfl.blogspot.com/
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Ella90
Jul 11, 2011 @ 12:16 pm | delete
- Great lens, I'm hoping to learn French over the next few years and move to France so this information should be quite helpful
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Reply
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Ella90
Jul 11, 2011 @ 12:16 pm | delete
- Great lens, I'm hoping to learn French over the next few years and move to France so this information should be quite helpful
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Reply
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charmilbrettdotcom
Mar 27, 2011 @ 5:44 pm | delete
- Thank you for this lens. [Merci beaucoup.] My grandmother was born in Paris. I have never learned a lot of French, but would love to be able to speak and understand it.
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