Bonjour! French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is still considered more important than English in some European countries. It is one of my most advanced languages, so I'm bringing you over 30 years of French learning experience today!
Whether you dream of wandering the streets of Paris and Montréal, or you want to boost your career in fashion, the following resources will be everything you need to start parler français!
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9 Top Resources For Learning French Online
1. Finally Get It in French Grammar
This super friendly course is created for French beginners or "false beginners" - those who studied a while ago and don't feel like they got anywhere.
You will learn how to speak simple, correct, beautiful French together with me (and my kitty). Featuring easy explanations of the all the grammar you’ll need for your first year of French, this course will help you eliminate embarrassing errors with a friendly and informal tutor – yep that's me.
The course comes with offers 2 hours of videos, live discussions and worksheets to ensure you have understood everything correctly.
2. TV5 Monde
TV5 Monde is an international TV channel in French, which offers its own language courses and practice under the ‘Langue Française’ tab. From digital libraries to dictionaries and video classes, this website is perfect for beginners who aren’t quite sure where to begin.
3. Intrepid French: Master French Phrases for Travel FAST
Michele from Intrepid Guide is your go-to guide for language and travel! Her resource is the BEST if you want to pick up the language for travelling to France, Québec or beyond.
I love Michele's course because it comes with so many highly valuable extras like a menu guide and great pronunciation guides. Click here to learn about Mastering French for Travel - FAST*
4. Bite Size French*
Bite Size is the perfect companion for anyone who has learnt a little French and wants to become better at listening and speaking.
The course is packed with beginner-friendly dialogues that you can listen to in just a few minutes a day to become better at French without having to work harder and harder.
4. Bon Patron
If you’ve gotten a tiny bit comfortable with the French language, Bon Patron is the perfect place to practice those writing skills. Bon Patron is a French autocorrect tool; you can practice your writing skills by typing in sentences and have it correct the grammar and spelling errors it can find. The perfect tool to practice those sentences you’ve learned!
5. French Language TV Shows
French TV shows are an excellent way to implement some new vocabulary and to get used to the sound and pronunciation of French. Get the DVD, and you'll also have bilingual subtitles to play with. Try these shows for a start:
Les Revenants* is a supernatural drama which follows the residents of a small French alpine town as they come to terms with a series of mysterious and unbelievable occurrences: a small group of deceased men, women and children suddenly return from the dead and attempt to re-join the family and friends they left behind years before. As if this wasn’t creepy enough, the town also begins experiencing a series of chilling local murders.
Spiral* is the perfect show for you crime lovers out there. When the badly beaten body of a young Romanian woman is discovered on a Parisian rubbish dump, we are suddenly plunged deep into a murky underworld of prostitution, drugs, business, politics and justice. If you like CSI, The Wire and 24, chances are you’re gonna like Spiral.
7. Crack the Grammar Code Course
Ready for communicating in French at a higher level? Let this training be your secret!
This resource is not specific to French, but it will definitely help your English speaker brain untangle the complicated grammar of French! Crack the Grammar Code is a step-by-step guide to efficient language learning, giving you the foundation for fluid French learning without having to memorize grammar all the time.
8. Bescherelle Complete Guide to Conjugating 12,000 French Verbs*
One of the hardest parts of learning a new language can be getting used to all the rules for conjugating verbs – sometimes they don’t make sense to the beginner eye!
This is where the Becherelle Complete Guide comes in; it includes just about every verb you can think of. If it’s not in there, chances are you won’t need to know it! This language course book has been around since the mid 80s, I used it in the mid 90s, and is just as useful today as it was back then.
9. BBC Languages French
BBC has a fab introductory hub for learning French. Some of the content is aimed at children, making it perfect for beginners! They have a test where you can test your skills and determine your level, links to French TV and radio websites. Some of it is a little outdated, but still worth a look for the amount of free resources you can find here.
By measuring your progress, you’ll soon feel so confident about speaking French that you won’t be able to wait to talk to someone.
Recommended French Courses
Finally Get It In French Grammar (for beginners and refreshers)
Bite Size French (focus on sentences, not explanations)
French conversations (for intermediate to advanced learners)
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