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French Lessons
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About 20 minutes · in this orderLevel123 lessons
- B2Désolé pour le retard: announcing a delay without losing the clientHow to write the French bad-news email: front-load the context, name the new date, apologise at the right register, and commit again. With a full annotated model.10 min read
- B2Your N+1, the CSE and fifteen other acronymsN+1, CDI, CSE, cadre: a working reference to the acronyms and institutions that run a French office, and what each one actually means for you.10 min read
- B2How to say no in French without ever saying nonA flat Non can cost you more than the favour you refused. Here is the refusal ladder, the constraint move, and how to say no up, sideways and down at work.10 min read
- B2On se tutoie ? The tu/vous switch at workHow tu and vous actually work in a French workplace: who proposes the switch, the exact phrases, the awkward asymmetric period, and why email stays at vous longest.10 min read
- B1B1 or B2? Read the marking grids before you book the DELFB1 means you can cope in French; B2 means you can argue. Four honest self-tests, a paper-by-paper comparison, and how to choose the level you will actually pass.10 min read
- B2Vrai ou faux, justifiez: the DELF reading question that quietly halves your scoreAt DELF B2, ticking the right box on a vrai/faux question earns you nothing if the justification is wrong. Here is how the item is actually marked.9 min read
- B1The DELF B1 lettre formelle: the address block, the formules, and the 160 words that countA complete annotated model letter for the DELF B1 formal letter: address blocks, the date convention, the objet line, three safe formules de politesse, and what 160 words really looks like.10 min read
- B2The DELF B2 essai argumenté: the four-paragraph shape examiners are waiting forA worked DELF B2 essay marked twice: once at 18/25, once at 22/25, with the same vocabulary. The four extra marks come entirely from structure.11 min read
- A1How to Type French Accents — é, ç, à on Every Device, No Copy-PasteStop copy-pasting é from Google. The fastest ways to type é, è, ç and à on Windows, Mac and your phone — plus why ou and où are different words.6 min read
- A2The Unwritten Rules of French Politeness: Bonjour First, Kiss Twice, Arrive LateMaster the bonjour contract, la bise, tu vs vous and the art of arriving fashionably late — the unwritten rules of French politeness, decoded.4 min read
- B1The Music of French: Rhythm, Intonation and the Missing Word StressFrench has no word stress — it stresses whole groups. Master syllable-timed rhythm, rising-falling melody and the drills that make you sound native.6 min read
- A2The French future tense (le futur simple): one rule, nine rebels, one trapForm the futur simple with one rule, tame the nine irregular stems, and master the quand rule English speakers always miss. Examples included.6 min read
- A1Your First 100 French Words — Organised by Job, Not AlphabetAbout 100 words do half the talking in everyday French. Learn them by job — glue words, survival verbs, politeness kit — and speak from day one.6 min read
- B1The DELF Speaking Test — What Actually Happens in the RoomEntretien, roleplay, monologue — the DELF oral demystified. What examiners really reward, plus ready-made phrases to buy time and sound confident.3 min read
- A2Getting Around France — Trains, the Métro and the Art of Not Getting FinedTGV or TER? Aller simple or aller-retour? Master French trains, the Paris métro, buses and taxi talk — plus what to do when la grève inevitably strikes.4 min read
- B1French for Work Meetings — Speak Up, Disagree Politely, Survive the VisioRun French work meetings with confidence: book the créneau, give opinions in the right mood, push back politely and survive the visio — dialogue included.4 min read
- A2En France, au Canada, aux États-Unis: one little -e decides everythingWhy en France but au Canada and aux États-Unis? One little -e cracks the whole code — countries, cities, islands, plus the traps that catch everyone.4 min read
- A2Making Plans in French: From Ça te dit ? to On décale ?Ça te dit ? Invite friends, accept with carrément, decline without offending and pin down the time — the phrases French people actually use to make plans.4 min read
- A2French Jobs and Professions — je suis médecin, never un médecinBoulanger or boulangère? Learn 20 French job names, the masculine–feminine patterns, and the golden rule: je suis médecin — never je suis un médecin.4 min read
- A2French at the Restaurant — Order, Ask and Pay Like a LocalGet a table, order with je vais prendre, handle sans gluten, and call for l’addition like a regular — real café French, minus the classic tourist mistakes.4 min read
- B1French Regional Accents: From Paris to Marseille to QuébecWhy the South sings, what Parisians swallow, how Québec charms — a listener’s guide to the great French accents and the features that give each one away.3 min read
- B1French Prefixes & Suffixes: Multiply Your VocabularyRe-, dé-, -tion, -eur, -able — the word-building system that turns every French word you know into five, with the patterns English secretly shares.3 min read
- B2French Subjunctive Triggers: The Complete ListIl faut que, bien que, avant que, pour que — every expression that fires the subjunctive, sorted by family, plus the impostors that look like triggers but take the indicative.6 min read
- A1Your First Month of French: A Day-by-Day PlanFour weeks, 20 minutes a day — a concrete plan from bonjour to your first real conversation, using the free lessons, charts, games and videos on this site.3 min read
- B1Writing a French CV: Format, Phrases and the Photo QuestionUn CV français in one page — the exact section order, the action verbs recruiters expect, lettre de motivation basics, and whether to include a photo.5 min read
- B1French Dining Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules of the TableHands on the table, bread on the cloth, cheese before dessert — the codes of a French meal, what your hosts silently expect, and the phrases that carry you through.3 min read
- A2The French R: How to Actually Make the SoundThe famous uvular R demystified — where it lives in your throat, the gargle trick, three practice stages from “Paris” to “rare”, and why you must never roll it.4 min read
- B1French Fillers & Interjections: Euh, Bah, Du Coup, QuoiEuh, ben, bref, du coup, hein ? — the little noises and glue-words that make you sound like a person instead of a textbook, and how to use each one.4 min read
- B2The French Passive Voice — and How Natives Avoid ItLa tour a été construite en 1889 — form the passive with être + participle (with agreement!), then learn the two structures French actually prefers: on and reflexives.6 min read
- B1The French Gerund: En + Participe PrésentEn mangeant, en arrivant, tout en souriant — form the gérondif from the nous-stem, use it for “while/by doing”, and dodge the English -ing traps.5 min read
- A1French Hobbies Vocabulary: Talking About Free TimeFaire du sport, jouer de la guitare, j’adore lire — the hobby verbs, the faire/jouer split, and how to keep a conversation going about les loisirs.4 min read
- A1French Colors: The Full Palette and the Agreement RulesRouge, bleu, vert foncé — every color you need, which ones agree (bleu/bleue) and which never change (orange, marron), plus color idioms natives love.3 min read
- A2French Adverbs in -ment: The Complete Formation RulesLentement, vraiment, évidemment — build any adverb from its adjective with three rules and a handful of rebels, plus where the adverb actually goes.3 min read
- A2French Comparatives & Superlatives: Plus, Moins, Le MeilleurPlus grand que, moins cher que, le meilleur croissant de Paris — the three-piece comparison machine, the superlative, and the bon/meilleur trap.6 min read
- B2French Reported Speech: Il A Dit Que…« Je viendrai » → il a dit qu’il viendrait — the tense-shift table for discours indirect, the que-glue, and how questions and commands transform.4 min read
- A2French Clothes & Shopping: Sizes, Trying On, PayingUne chemise, la taille, je peux l’essayer ? — clothing vocabulary plus the full fitting-room script: sizes, colours, too big, too small, I’ll take it.2 min read
- A1French Prepositions of Place: Sur, Sous, Dans, Devant…Sur la table, sous le lit, entre les deux — the little words that locate everything, plus the de-compounds (à côté de, en face de) and their contractions.3 min read
- B1Ça vs Cela vs Ceci: Which “This/That” to UseÇa va, cela dit, ceci explique cela — the three neutral pronouns sorted by register, the fixed expressions, and why ça rules spoken French.3 min read
- A2French Body Parts & Health: Avoir Mal and the PharmacyLa tête, le dos, avoir mal au ventre — body vocabulary, the avoir-mal-à system for saying what hurts, and survival French for the pharmacy and doctor.2 min read
- A1French Weather Expressions: Quel Temps Fait-il?Il fait beau, il pleut, il y a du vent — the il-fait weather machine, the words for every forecast, and why French weather runs on the verb faire.3 min read
- B1How to Write an Email in French: Openings, Closings, TemplatesMadame, Monsieur… Cordialement — the exact openings, closings and connector phrases for professional French emails, plus a template you can reuse today.4 min read
- B115 French Idioms Natives Actually UsePoser un lapin, avoir la flemme, il pleut des cordes — fifteen idioms you’ll hear this week in France, with literal translations worth the price of admission.2 min read
- A1French Family Vocabulary: La Famille Without the TrapsLe frère, la belle-mère, les petits-enfants — the family tree in French, the beau-/belle- double meaning, and how to talk about your own family naturally.3 min read
- A1French Food Vocabulary: Meals, Shopping and OrderingLe petit déjeuner, une baguette, l’addition s’il vous plaît — the food words and café phrases you’ll actually use, plus the du / de la rule that goes with them.4 min read
- B1French Slang 101: Argot, Verlan and Everyday Street FrenchUn truc, un mec, kiffer, relou, vachement — the everyday slang real French people use, how verlan works, and which words to leave out of the office.2 min read
- B1The French Conditional: Would, Could and ShouldJe voudrais, tu devrais, on pourrait — form the conditionnel from the future stem, use it for politeness, advice and hypotheticals, and stop mixing it up with the future.4 min read
- B1The Plus-que-parfait: the Past Before the PastJ’avais déjà mangé quand il est arrivé — form the French past perfect with imparfait + participle, and use it for backstory, regrets and si-clauses.4 min read
- A2French Object Pronouns: Le, La, Les or Lui, Leur?Je le vois but je lui parle — how to pick between direct (le, la, les) and indirect (lui, leur) object pronouns, where they go, and the double-pronoun order.4 min read
- A1Telling Time in French: Quelle Heure Est-Il ?Il est trois heures et quart, sept heures moins le quart, midi, minuit — the complete French clock, the 24-hour system, and the traps (13h ≠ 13 heures du soir).3 min read
- B1Faire vs Rendre: Two Ways to “Make” SomeoneÇa me fait rire but ça me rend heureux. French splits “make” by what follows: faire before a verb, rendre before an adjective. One rule, zero exceptions.6 min read
- B2The Passé Simple: The Tense You Only Have to ReadIl alla, elle eut, ils furent: the passé simple fills every French novel but no French conversation. Learn to recognize it — that’s all you need.4 min read
- B1French Text Speak: mdr, jsp, bcp — Decode Your French DMsmdr = lol, jsp = dunno, bcp = a lot. The 20 abbreviations French people actually text, why they exist, and when not to use them.4 min read
- B2Faire + Infinitive: How French Gets Things DoneEnglish needs clunky machinery for delegation — “I’m having my car repaired”, “she made me laugh”, “he got his hair cut”. French does all of it with one elegant tool: faire + infinitive , the causative. You don’t do the action; you cause it to happen. 🔑 One verb does all the work Only faire…4 min read
- A2The French E Muet: The Vowel That VanishesRead samedi slowly and you’ll say three syllables: sa-me-di. A French person says two: sam’di . That disappearing vowel is the e muet (also called e caduc — the “falling e”), and it’s the single biggest reason spoken French sounds faster than written French reads. 🌬️ Only the naked e vanishes The disappearing vowel is…4 min read
- A1French Nasal Vowels: The Sounds Your Nose MakesSay “song” and stop right before the ng — that buzzing, nose-routed vowel is roughly what French does on purpose, all the time. Un bon vin blanc (a good white wine) contains four nasal vowels and zero pronounced n’s. Here’s the whole system — it’s smaller than it looks. 👃 Three sounds, one rule Standard…4 min read
- B1Imparfait vs Passé Composé: Scene vs EventEvery French learner meets this wall: two past tenses where English mostly uses one. Here’s the mental model that works — think like a film director. The imparfait is your wide shot: what the scene looked like, what was ongoing, what used to happen. The passé composé is the cut: something happened, once, and moved…4 min read
- A1Premier, Deuxième, Troisième: French Ordinal NumbersFrench ordinals run on a single suffix: take the number, add -ième . Trois → troisième. Dix → dixième. Mille → millième. The entire system has exactly one real rebel — premier — plus four tiny spelling adjustments. 🎬 This lesson in one minute The quick version — the full lesson is below. More shorts…3 min read
- B1Tandis que vs Alors que: French’s Two “While”sEnglish “while” does two jobs — same time (“while I was cooking”) and contrast (“while I prefer tea…”). French splits the workload between tandis que and alors que , with overlapping duties and one clear difference in temperature. 🎬 This lesson in one minute The quick version — the full lesson is below. More shorts…3 min read
- A2Venir de: How French Says “I Just Did It”English needs the word “just” — I just finished, she just left. French has a whole construction for it: venir de + infinitive , the passé récent. If you can conjugate venir, you already own it. ⏱️ Two tenses of venir, two meanings venir in the present + de + infinitive = just did (je…4 min read
- A2French Liaison: When Words Hold Hands (and When They Must Not)Written French buries consonants at the ends of words; spoken French quietly resurrects them. Say vous avez and a z appears from nowhere: voo- z -avay. That resurrection is la liaison — and it’s not decoration. Some liaisons are mandatory, some are forbidden, and getting them wrong is instantly audible. 🔗 A silent letter wakes…4 min read
- A2Chez: The Little French Word English Can’t TranslateTwo letters… wait, four — and no English equivalent. Chez means “at the place of”, and once it clicks, you’ll miss it in every other language.4 min read
- B1French Punctuation: The Space Before ?! and Other SurprisesYou can conjugate the subjunctive and still look like a foreigner in writing — because French punctuation plays by its own rules.4 min read
- B1Quand vs Lorsque — and the Future Rule English Gets WrongQuand and lorsque both mean “when”, and choosing between them is the easy part. The real prize of this lesson is a grammar rule where French is MORE logical than English — and where English speakers…3 min read
- A2Temps, Fois, Heure: Three French Words for “Time”“What time is it?”, “three times”, “I don’t have time” — English recycles one word; French insists on three. Pick by asking WHAT KIND of time you mean: substance, occasion, or clock.4 min read
- A1Mon, Ma, Mes: French Possessives and the His/Her SurpriseFrench possessives look like a simple vocabulary list — until you meet the rule that breaks every English speaker’s brain for a week: sa voiture can mean HIS car or HER car.4 min read
- A1Ce, Cet, Cette, Ces: How French Says “This” and “That”Pointing at things is beginner-lesson-one material — and French does it with four little words.4 min read
- B2Lequel, Auquel, Duquel: Compound Relative Pronouns DemystifiedYou’ve mastered qui, que and dont — then French throws « la raison pour laquelle » at you. Meet the compound relatives: lequel and its contractions.4 min read
- B1Gens, Personnes, Monde: How to Say “People” in FrenchEnglish has one word for “people”; French spreads the job across three — and picks them by COUNTING. Les gens can’t be counted, personnes exists to be counted, and du monde measures the crowd.4 min read
- B1Jour vs Journée, An vs Année: The Pairs English Doesn’t HaveWhy does French have BOTH « jour » and « journée » for day, « an » and « année » for year? Because it splits each concept in two: the masculine short form counts units of time, the feminine -ée form…6 min read
- A1French Plural Nouns: Beyond Just Adding -SGood news: most French plurals just add a silent -s. Better news: the exceptions follow five clean patterns — including one list of seven words that every French child chants at school.4 min read
- B1Amener, Emmener, Apporter, Emporter: Bring & Take, SolvedFour verbs where English makes do with two — but the system is a tidy 2×2 grid. Amener, emmener, apporter, emporter: one axis is WHO/WHAT you’re moving, the other is WHICH DIRECTION.4 min read
- B1Encore vs Toujours: Still, Again and Always, UntangledTwo little adverbs, four English meanings — encore and toujours overlap just enough to be confusing. The fix is knowing which meanings belong to which word, and where the two genuinely trade places.6 min read
- A1Futur Proche: The Easy French Future (Aller + Infinitive)Want to talk about the future in French without learning a single new ending? The futur proche — aller + infinitive — is how French speakers actually discuss plans, and if you know the present tense…4 min read
- B1Qui, Que, Dont: French Relative Pronouns Finally ClearThe moment you want to say « the film that I saw » or « the friend who called », you need relative pronouns — and French hands you three main ones: qui, que, dont.4 min read
- A2À vs De: The Two Little Prepositions That Run FrenchBetween them, à and de appear in nearly every French sentence — and choosing the wrong one changes meaning or just sounds off.4 min read
- B1French Si Clauses: If-Sentences in Three Patterns« If I had known… » French builds every if-sentence from just three patterns — and one golden rule that instantly removes the most common mistake.4 min read
- A2The French Imperative: Give Orders Without Sounding RudeÉcoute ! Regardez ! Allons-y ! The French imperative is the tense of commands, invitations and recipes — and it’s refreshingly simple: take the present tense, drop the subject.4 min read
- B1Tout, Toute, Tous, Toutes: One Word, Four SpellingsFew French words work harder than tout. It means all, every, whole, very, completely — and it changes spelling depending on the job. Four forms, three jobs: here’s the map.4 min read
- A1Pardon, Désolé, Excusez-moi: How to Apologize in FrenchFrench has three everyday “sorry” words, and they are not interchangeable: one is for bumping into people, one for getting attention, one for actual apologies.4 min read
- B1French False Friends: 12 Words That Don’t Mean What You ThinkFrench and English share thousands of look-alike words — which is wonderful, right up until it isn’t.2 min read
- A2On: The Most French Pronoun of All (and Why Nobody Says Nous)Textbooks teach “nous allons”; the French say “on va”. If one word instantly makes your spoken French more natural, it’s this two-letter pronoun — and it conveniently uses the EASIEST conjugation in…4 min read
- A1Du, De la, Des: How to Say “Some” in FrenchEnglish happily says “I want bread”. French refuses: a noun almost never stands naked.4 min read
- B1En and Y: The Two Tiny Pronouns That Make French FlowNothing marks real French like the little words en and y. They replace whole phrases, glue answers together, and hide inside expressions the French use hourly. Two rules cover almost everything.4 min read
- A2French Adjective Placement: Before or After the Noun?In English, adjectives always come first: a red car, a small house. French flips the default — and then keeps a short VIP list of exceptions.4 min read
- A1Your First Week of French: A 7-Day Beginner PlanStarting French today? Here’s exactly what to do for the next seven days — about 20 minutes a day, everything free, everything on this site.4 min read
- B1Tu Me Manques: Why French Reverses “I Miss You”« I miss you » in French is « tu me manques » — literally “you are missing from me.” The person you miss is the SUBJECT, and you are the object.4 min read
- A2Faire vs Jouer: Sports, Music and the du/au/de la PuzzleDo you play football or do football in French? Both verbs exist, they split the territory — and each drags its own preposition along. One table ends the confusion for good.4 min read
- A2Bon vs Bien: Good, Well, and the French DifferenceBon and bien both translate as “good” in a learner’s head — and mixing them up is instant. The grammar is the same as English good vs well… except French bends its own rule in a few famous places.4 min read
- A2Savoir vs Connaître: Two Ways to Know in FrenchEnglish has one verb « to know »; French insists on two — and swapping them is one of the most reliable ways to sound foreign.4 min read
- A1How to Say and Write the Date in FrenchBooking a table, signing a form, making plans — dates in French come up daily, and they work differently from English in three small ways: the order, the numbers, and the little word le.5 min read
- B1C’est vs Il est: Finally ClearBoth mean roughly « it is / he is » — and French speakers switch between them by instinct. The instinct follows two rules, and once you know them, c’est vs il est stops being a coin-flip.5 min read
- B1French Connectors: Mais, Donc, Alors & the Words That Glue SentencesVocabulary makes sentences; connectors make paragraphs. These little linking words — mais, donc, alors, ensuite — are what turn choppy beginner French into flowing speech.5 min read
- A2Quel vs Qu’est-ce que: How to Ask “What” in FrenchEnglish has one « what »; French splits it in two — and picking the wrong one is instantly noticeable.5 min read
- B1Depuis, Pendant, Il y a: French Time Words UntangledThree little expressions, one giant source of confusion. Depuis, pendant and il y a all deal with time — but they answer different questions, and one of them even changes which tense you use.3 min read
- A1French Numbers 100 to 1000 (and Beyond) Without TearsYou’ve survived soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix — good news: French numbers above 100 are actually easier. A few crisp rules and you can say any number up to the millions.3 min read
- A1Voici vs Voilà: The Little Words French Uses Constantly« Voilà » might be the most French word there is — waiters say it, teachers say it, everyone ends explanations with it. Its twin « voici » is more formal.5 min read
- A1French Silent Letters: The Rules Behind What You Don’t SayFrench spelling looks intimidating because so much of it is silent. But the silence follows rules — learn them once and you can pronounce almost any French word correctly on sight. Here’s the system.3 min read
- A1Il y a: The Most Useful Three Words in FrenchThree tiny words — il y a — do two enormous jobs in French: there is / there are, and ago. Master this one phrase and you can describe any scene and place any event in time. Here’s everything it does.5 min read
- A2Avoir Expressions: Why the French HAVE Hunger, Fear & LuckIn English you are hungry. In French, you have hunger: « j’ai faim ». Dozens of everyday states use avoir where English uses to be — and using être instead is one of the most common beginner mistakes.3 min read
- A1French Accent Marks Explained: é, è, ê, ë, ç Made SimpleThose little marks above French letters aren’t decoration — the French accent marks change how a word sounds, and sometimes what it means.3 min read
- A2French Verb Tenses: The Complete Guide from A1 to NativeThe entire French verb system on one page — a level-by-level masterclass from your first « je suis » (A1) through the two past tenses (A2), future & conditional (B1), the subjunctive (B2), the literary tenses (C1), to the shortcuts natives actually use. Read it to see the whole map; each level links to a focused lesson with games and a quiz.8 min read
- A2French Reflexive Verbs: The Complete Beginner’s GuideThe little me/te/se in front of French verbs, explained — how reflexive verbs work, conjugating them, the daily-routine verbs, why they take être in the past (with agreement), the three flavours (reflexive/reciprocal/idiomatic), and the imperative (lève-toi!). With audio and a quiz.5 min read
- A1Ne… Pas and Beyond: French Negation Made SimpleSaying 'not' in French is two words — ne… pas — wrapped around the verb. Once you have that, every negative works the same way: ne… jamais (never), ne… rien (nothing), ne… personne (nobody), the de rule, and the false friend ne… que (only). With audio and a quiz.5 min read
- A1Le or La? How to Guess the Gender of French NounsIs it le or la? Gender feels random, but noun endings give you a very good guess — -ment/-age/-eau lean masculine, -tion/-té/-ette lean feminine. The patterns, the traps (l'eau, la page), and the tricks that make gender automatic. With audio and a quiz.5 min read
- A2How to Talk About Your Daily Routine in FrenchYour daily routine is the perfect first thing to talk about in French — it bundles reflexive verbs (se lever, se laver), telling the time, and sequence words (d'abord, ensuite, enfin). Learn the pattern once and narrate your whole day. With audio and a quiz.5 min read
- A1How to Ask a Question in French (3 Ways, One Simple Rule)French has three ways to ask a question — intonation, est-ce que, and inversion — but for most situations you only need one. The est-ce que shortcut, the question words, the euphonic -t-, and a one-week plan. With audio and a quiz.5 min read
- B1French Homophones: The Words That Trip Up Even Native SpeakersFrench is full of words that sound identical but are spelled differently — a/à, et/est, son/sont, ces/ses/c'est, ou/où, on/ont, leur/leurs. Even natives mix them up. The simple replacement tests that get every pair right. With audio and a quiz.6 min read
- A2French Small Talk: What to Actually Say After BonjourYou’ve mastered bonjour — but then what? French small talk is almost entirely formulaic. The ça-va ritual, safe opening topics, the little reaction words that keep a chat going, and how to exit politely. With audio and a quiz.7 min read
- B1The French Subjunctive, Finally Made SimpleThe French subjunctive without the fear — it's a mood, not a tense. How to build it, the irregulars that matter, the triggers (vouloir/emotion/doubt/il faut), when NOT to use it (je pense que, espérer que), and the same-subject infinitive shortcut. With audio and a quiz.7 min read
- A1French for Travel: The Phrasebook You’ll Actually UseForty French phrases that actually come up on a trip — politeness, getting around, hotels, restaurants, money and emergencies — each with audio, plus a 3-day pre-trip plan and quiz.7 min read
- A2How to Practise French Speaking — Even AloneSix methods to train your spoken French without a partner — shadowing, narrating your day, 60-second monologues, recording yourself and reading aloud, all using free audio.6 min read
- A1Your First French Conversation: The 4 Moves That Carry You ThroughHave your first real French conversation with four reliable moves — greet, introduce yourself, ask back, and exit gracefully — with audio phrases and a 60-second script.6 min read
- B1The French Past Tenses: Passé Composé & Imparfait, Finally ClearThe complete guide to the French past tenses — how passé composé and imparfait work as a team, the movie trick for choosing, the five classic mistakes, and a 2-week practice plan.8 min read
- B1French for Job Interviews: Phrases and StrategyHow to introduce your parcours, talk strengths, ask sharp questions and hold the right register in a French interview.6 min read
- A1The French Present Tense: Your First Real GrammarThree verb groups, four must-know irregulars — the present tense unlocks most of everyday French.5 min read
- A1French Numbers 0 to 100 (and How to Actually Remember Them)Counting in French is easy until you hit 70 — here's the full map, including the famous quatre-vingt-dix.4 min read
- A1French Pronunciation: How to Actually Sound FrenchPronunciation is the fastest way to sound more French — and it's a set of learnable habits. The vowels English lacks (tu, deux), the nasals (un bon vin blanc), the throaty R, liaisons, silent letters (CaReFuL), and a 10-minute daily practice routine. With audio throughout.6 min read
- A1French Greetings: From Bonjour to Au RevoirMaster the everyday French greetings — when to say bonjour, salut, bonsoir and how to say goodbye politely.5 min read
- A1Tu vs Vous: When to Use Each in French (Without Offending Anyone)Tu or vous? This simple guide explains when to use each form of you in French, so you sound polite and natural in every situation.5 min read
- A225 Survival French Phrases for Your Trip to FranceHeading to France? These 25 practical French phrases cover greetings, restaurants, directions and shopping so you can travel with confidence.5 min read
- A1How to Introduce Yourself in French (with Real Examples)Learn to introduce yourself in French naturally, with ready-to-use phrases for your name, where you're from, and what you do.5 min read
- B1Business French: 30 Phrases for Emails & MeetingsWorking in French? Essential business French phrases for professional emails, meetings and calls, from an ex-industry teacher.9 min read
- A1French for Absolute Beginners: Your First 40 Words & PhrasesNew to French? Start here. Essential French words and phrases for absolute beginners, with tips on how to actually remember them.6 min read
Not a lesson, but next door
What a good free French lesson looks like
The internet is drowning in free French content — YouTube channels, podcasts, apps — and starving for structure. These free online lessons are built as a course, not a feed: each video lesson targets one thing (a tense, a situation, a sound), pairs it with the phrases you'd actually say, and lands in a sensible order, so lesson twelve assumes lesson eleven. Audio matters most at the start: French spelling and French sound are distant cousins, and hearing a native speaker BEFORE reading the words protects your accent from your eyes.
How to work through them
Take lessons in order at your level, and keep the ratio honest: for every video watched, produce something — repeat the phrases aloud, write three sentences, take the linked quiz. Passive watching feels like progress and isn't; fifteen minutes of active study beats an hour of autoplay. Podcasts and audio lessons fill the commute; our conjugation charts and vocabulary lists are the reference shelf for whatever a lesson raises. It all links from here, all free.
Free lessons, and the free lesson
There's a limit no recorded course crosses: it can't hear you. Pronunciation drift, fossilised errors, the question you'd ask if you could — those need a live native French teacher. That's the actual free lesson on this site: a real conversation with Xavier to place your level and build your plan. Start with the video lessons below; book the live one when you want French that answers back.