Because it is now possible to learn a foreign language from your couch. Whether you want to discover French culture on the streets of Paris or find a job in Montreal, you can prepare for it from home.
The good news is that a study by the famous MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) found that online learning was just as effective as the traditional education system. And with all the French courses available online today, you won’t even have to waste time commuting to get to your course.
The 10 best online French courses
Luckily, we’re here to help! We’ve done the heavy lifting and compiled a list of quality courses that includes all the information you need to make your decision. Discover our opinion on the best online French courses.
Read on to find the course best suited to your way of learning, your goals and your budget, and learn French right away!
Learning a foreign language from books or videos has its limits. Taking French lessons with an experienced teacher will help you become fluent in the language . This is the philosophy of Preply, a site that puts you in touch with teachers and whose video platform allows you to follow personalized lessons live.
The operation of Preply is simple. To start, you choose a teacher based on their profile, their availability and your budget. You then take your first lesson together, and agree on a lesson plan that will help you achieve your goals. Your teacher is a bit like a coach: his attention is entirely focused on you and your needs (unlike group lessons), which allows him to help you progress quickly in French.
Preply offers a great solution that gives you the opportunity to practice your language skills and ask all your questions about French language and culture.
Great way to practice speaking French
Frenchtoday harnesses the power of storytelling to help you learn French. Each course is based on an audio book whose story is used to introduce you to grammatical concepts and vocabulary as well as to work on French pronunciation. You can choose from three playback speeds (slow, articulate, and normal) to familiarize yourself with the medium.
The site offers four language levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced-intermediate, and advanced) that each come with two audiobooks. Transcripts are also provided, which makes Frenchtoday a very good platform for students with visual or auditory memory.
French today is an excellent method if you prefer to study on your own and at your own pace. Note that the platform also offers an additional service giving you access to online sessions with teachers. Note, however, that this feature is not part of the basic offer and that there are not many teachers, which means that the sessions are quickly filled and that few schedules are offered.
“Learn while laughing” is the slogan of Frantastique, an AI-based French learning solution. With Frantastique, you receive a course in your mailbox every day that combines videos, text, dialogues and French exercises. Allow about 15 to 20 minutes per class. After submitting your work, you immediately receive your results, along with explanations and the transcription of the dialogues and videos.
The contents are modern and fun: we are far from traditional textbooks! And for good reason, the list of resources is drawn up by an artificial intelligence based on your wishes and your results. Frantastique offers five classes per week, and offers three types of monthly subscriptions (Basic, Premium and Pro).
If you have an auditory memory and are looking for audio and video content, FrenchPod101 is a good option. The platform promises to make you speak French from the first lesson by focusing on dialogues and concrete topics. For more visual people, FrenchPod101 also offers transcriptions, notes and different content in text format.
The Basic subscription is much more restricted than the Premium and Premium Plus plans. Purchasing a Premium subscription gives you access to many resources, including vocabulary lists, visual cheat sheets and an audio recording tool where you can record yourself to compare your pronunciation to that of native speakers.
The course, entitled Introduction to French, is made for beginners. You can access it for free, so don’t hesitate to take a look at the platform to practice your oral expression and comprehension.
Pimsleur is a recognized brand in the world of languages. The platform uses a methodology that allows you to learn in context, starting with the most basic situations, like introducing yourself to someone, then gradually moving into more complex scenarios.
If you enjoy exploring free content that combines text and audio media, Live Lingua’s resources should appeal to you. This online French course brings together in one place several French lessons collected from institutions like the United States Government’s Foreign Service Institute.
The courses are designed to give beginners all the keys to dealing with common situations in French-speaking countries. That said, the resources are a bit dated, so if you prefer modern course materials, we’d advise choosing another option.
Live Lingua also offers live sessions with teachers. They are chargeable, but they can be very useful if you want to boost your learning or prepare for an exam. You can also schedule a group lesson with friends, colleagues or family members.
Alexa is an energetic, enthusiastic and humorous French teacher with whom you can learn French online. She explains how to speak modern French with pre-recorded video lessons that cover different points of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
The examples she uses appear on screen, allowing students with visual memory to learn more effectively. You can also practice and test your knowledge with the online quizzes that Alexa offers in each course. You can also download the audio file of the course as well as a support in PDF format