French Starter Course

French Starter Course: your complete A1 foundation, built from zero

If you have never studied French, or you tried once and it slipped away, this is the course that gives you a real base to stand on. Not a handful of tourist phrases you forget on the flight home, but the actual machinery of the language: how the sounds work, how to build a sentence in the present tense, how to talk about your family, your day, what you had for lunch. By the end of twelve sessions you will hold a simple, real conversation in French. Slowly, yes. With mistakes, of course. But it will be a genuine conversation, and it will be yours.

I am Xavier, a native French teacher from Nantes. I teach one to one, online, and I teach the way I wish someone had taught me a language when I was starting out: concretely, honestly, and at your pace. We build things you can actually use, we practise them out loud until they feel natural, and I never pretend French is easier than it is. It is very learnable. It just needs the right first steps, in the right order.

Who this course is for

This is for the complete beginner who wants the full A1 base, not just survival. You are the right fit if:

• You are starting from zero, or almost zero (you know bonjour and merci and not much else).
• You want to understand why French works the way it does, not only memorise lines.
• You would rather speak a little well than parrot a lot badly.
• You want a proper foundation you can build B-level French on later.

If you already form present-tense sentences comfortably and just want to loosen up your speaking, you are past this course, and I will happily point you to the right next step instead.

How the sessions work

Twelve live sessions of 45 minutes each, one to one with me over video. Every session follows a simple rhythm: a short warm-up in French from the very first lesson, a clear new topic explained with real examples, guided practice where you do most of the talking, and a wrap-up with a small piece of homework so the learning sticks between lessons. You are never lectured at for 45 minutes. You speak, early and often.

The full 12-session program

Here is exactly what we cover, session by session. Concrete topics, real French, nothing padded.

1. The sounds of French and your first words. We start with pronunciation, because it is the thing most courses skip and most learners regret. The nasal vowels (on, an, in), the French r, u versus ou, the silent final letters, and why liaison makes les amis sound the way it does. You will greet, introduce yourself, and say how you are: Bonjour, je m’appelle… , je vais bien, et vous?
2. Subject pronouns and the verb être. Je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles. The all-important verb être (to be), and how to say where you are from and what you do: Je suis anglais, je suis professeur, elle est de Paris. The difference between tu and vous and when to use each without offending anyone.
3. Gender and articles. The heart of French grammar, made simple. Masculine and feminine, le / la / les and un / une / des. Why it is le soleil but la lune, and the practical habit that saves you: learning every noun with its article attached, never alone.
4. The verb avoir and -er verbs in the present. Avoir (to have) and the huge family of regular -er verbs: parler, habiter, travailler, aimer. Suddenly you can say hundreds of things: J’habite a Londres, je travaille dans un bureau, j’aime le café. This session is where French starts to feel like a system you control.
5. Your family and describing people. Vocabulary for family (mère, père, frère, soeur, femme, mari, enfants), possessives (mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes), and adjectives that agree: un grand frère, une petite soeur. You describe your own family out loud.
6. Numbers, time, and dates. Numbers 0 to 100 (yes, including the famous quatre-vingt-dix), telling the time (il est huit heures et quart), days, months, and asking quelle heure est-il? Practical and immediately useful for appointments, prices, and plans.
7. Asking questions. The three ways to ask a question in French, from easiest to most formal. Question words: qui, quoi, où, quand, comment, pourquoi, combien. You learn to ask, not just answer, which is what real conversation needs.
8. Food, drink, and ordering. At the café and the market: je voudrais, l’addition s’il vous plaît, partitive articles (du pain, de la confiture, des oeufs), and how the French actually order. We role-play a café until it feels easy.
9. Your daily routine and reflexive verbs. Se lever, se laver, s’habiller. Talking through a normal day from morning to night, plus common irregular verbs you cannot avoid: aller, faire, venir. Now you can narrate your life, not just label it.
10. Shopping, quantities, and getting around. Clothes and sizes, colours, prices, c’est combien?, asking for directions (où est la gare, tournez à gauche), and the useful verb prendre. Everything you need to handle a real errand in a French town.
11. A first look at the passé composé. Your first past tense, gently. How to say what you did: j’ai mangé, j’ai visité, j’ai regardé. We keep it to the most common verbs with avoir so you can talk about yesterday, the weekend, your holiday. A real milestone.
12. Putting it all together: a real conversation. The whole course comes together. We hold an unscripted conversation covering who you are, your family, your day, your plans, and something you did recently. You leave with proof that you can do this, plus a clear map of what to learn next.

The resources and materials you get

Everything is included, and everything is real, chosen because it actually helps, not to pad a brochure.

• A shared online study document, yours to keep, where I write up every session: the new grammar, the vocabulary, and your personal notes. Your whole course in one growing document.
• Graded reading and dialogues pitched exactly at A1, so you read French from lesson one without drowning in words you do not know.
• Audio for pronunciation and listening, including short clips of me and of natural French, so your ear trains alongside your mouth.
• Focused worksheets for each topic (articles, verb tables, numbers, the passé composé) to practise between sessions.
• Real everyday documents: a café menu, a simple train timetable, a short shopping list, so you practise on the kind of French you will actually meet.
• Short, specific homework after every session. Ten to fifteen minutes, never busywork, always tied to what we just did.

What you will be able to do by the end

These are your A1 can-do outcomes. Concrete things you will actually be able to do, not vague promises:

• Pronounce French clearly enough to be understood, including the nasal vowels and the French r.
• Introduce yourself and others, and say where you are from and what you do.
• Use the present tense confidently with être, avoir, regular -er verbs, and the key irregulars aller, faire, venir, prendre.
• Handle gender and articles as a working habit, not a guessing game.
• Talk about your family, your daily routine, food, time, and shopping.
• Ask questions, not only answer them.
• Say what you did using a first, safe slice of the passé composé.
• Hold a simple, real conversation on familiar topics, slowly but genuinely.

That is a solid, honest A1. It is the platform every good French speaker is built on.

What is included

• 12 live one-to-one sessions of 45 minutes, online, scheduled around you.
• All materials: the shared study document, graded readings, audio, worksheets, and real documents.
• Homework after every session, reviewed together the next time.
• Support between lessons: a quick question by message is always welcome, and I answer.
• A clear plan for what to study after A1, so you are never left wondering what comes next.

An honest word before you decide

Twelve sessions will not make you fluent, and I will never tell you they will. What they will do is give you the real foundation of French: the sounds, the present tense, the way sentences are built, and enough vocabulary and confidence to keep going on your own and to hold your first real conversation. That first conversation is a wonderful moment, and I would be glad to get you there. If that is what you are looking for, this is exactly the course for you. À bientôt.