How to learn French at Each Level

The rules are not the same depending on where you are

By far, the number one type of questions I get is about levels in French.

• What do you think my level is?

• Is your programme too advanced for me?

• How long do you think it will take me to reach a certain level in French?

Here’s something important to understand.

The method you’ll use to learn standard French and spoken Quebec French will depend entirely on your starting point.

While it’s hard to determine your exact level with precision and certainty, we can certainly work with some guidelines.

So how should you go about learning French depending on your current level? Let’s review four starting points.

You know absolutely no French

Ok, you might know some words like bonjour, bon voyage and merci. But other than that, we could say you’re a complete beginner.

For example, I have absolutely no knowledge of Danish or Swahili.

How would I go about learning a new language? Based on my experience learning five foreign languages, I would say:

• Don’t take private lessons. This would be a huge waste of your time and money, because this type of teaching is best to practice what you already know, not to learn the basics.

• Don’t use Duolingo. I won’t repeat myself here, but serious language learners don’t use this app. It’s riddled with so many problems. While some people claim it’s better than nothing, it’s usually not by much!

So what should you do instead?

• Start with three months of self-learning. It’s usually best to learn the basics on your own before you start taking classes.

• I really like to use the method Assimil combined with Pimsleur. Listening, reading and repeating aloud quality material with detailed explanations is a time-tested method that no slick new technology can replace.

• But no matter what program you use, the idea at first is to focus all your attention on understanding, not speaking. I prefer guided methods like Assimil, but you could also use LingQ, or short stories with translation. Even the old method of reading and looking up every word works.

• Grammar basics can be acquired in methods like Assimil, but also in many online programs, or in bilingual grammar books like the Practice Makes Perfect series.

Personally, what would I do if I were learning a new language, like Danish or Swahili?

• I would spend the first three to six months going through an Assimil book (along with the recording). I would focus all of my attention there. I would also go through a Pimsleur method. In those languages, there’s only one level available. In French, there are five.

• With a more accessible language like Danish (that is, not too exotic and with vocabulary similar to other languages I know), I would also start reading right away and looking up words and try to build my vocabulary that way, along with my passive understanding of the language. I would probably not be able to do that with Swahili!

• I would do that for three to six months and then sign up for classes.

You know some French

Most of you will fall in this category, or the one after.

You’ve taken French in high school, or have gone through some kind of French program, or have learned it on your own for a while.

If the only thing you’ve done is Duolingo, you will know some French, but it’s probably less than you think!

In any case, you are able to decipher French.

You can speak a little with great difficulty. But you don’t feel close to fluency at all.

What should you do to reach a decent intermediate level?

• You could take a leap of faith and sign up for French With Frederic! Yes, classes will be in French and they will be a little difficult at first. But you’ll have a support group, clear goals and a ton of resources to move forward. You can start reading the easier books in our Club de lecture et cinéma. With our full break-down classes, it’s absolutely possible.

• If your French knowledge is too rusty or basic, you should revisit the steps in “You know absolutely no French.” When I decided to relearn Italian after having forgotten it for nearly two decades, I went through the Assimil method and Pimsleur, just the way I told you. But I was able to do it faster because my old knowledge came back.

You speak French badly

Now we get into solid intermediate territory.

Your friends have told you that your French is great! You can speak it, yes, but deep down inside, you know that you still have a long way to go.

Welcome to the no man’s land of language learning: the intermediate plateau!

What should you do?

• At this point, you need French With Frederic. Our program is designed specifically for you. It’s meant to get you out of the intermediate rut once and for all. Just the Club de lecture et cinéma alone will take you from intermediate to advanced in a year or two.

• The idea at this level is to dramatically increase your exposure to French content: reading and listening. But it shouldn’t be passive. You have to be actively trying to understand and build your vocabulary.

• Speaking more fluently will come naturally from increasing your level of understanding. It’s only with more vocabulary that you can start speaking more fluently.

• Private lessons can be considered at this point, but your focus should still be comprehensible input.

You’re intermediate or advanced

You speak French, but you still make some mistakes.

Understanding a conversation between a group of native French speakers is still difficult.

And you still feel that you’re sometimes translating in your head.

What should you do?

• Shameless promo here: You also need French With Frederic. Your focus should be our Club de lecture et cinéma and our more advanced classes.

• Private lessons are definitely useful at this level. In fact, this is the only level where you’ll see the biggest payoff from focusing more and more on conversation.

• You have to understand that the more advanced you are, the longer it will take to make further progress. This means the only way to truly make a quantum leap in your French is to increase volume: how much time you spend each day reading, listening and speaking in French.

Our program

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Our program French With Frederic is not meant for complete beginners with absolutely no knowledge of French.

But if you have at least some functional knowledge of French, it’s the most complete program you can find anywhere for the price.

• Starting this year, our program follows an improved structure built around 10 mini-sessions per year (about 4 weeks each)

• Each mini-session explores a new theme of Quebec’s language and culture through books, films, and carefully designed lessons.

• Over the full year, this adds up to well over 100 classes and activities you can join live or catch by replay.

• Includes our Club de lecture et cinéma, where we explore ten Quebec novels and ten Québécois films and series (complete with transcripts and authentic Québécois expressions), so you’ll finally understand how Quebec French is used in the real world.

Ready to get started?

For the next few days only, just in time to jump into our second mini-session of the year (starting next week), you get a permanent discount on an annual subscription.

Don’t let this opportunity pass. If you’ve been on the fence, now is the time.

See you inside!

Frédéric