This post is specifically targeted at French for beginners. If you are just starting out in learning French then you’ve come to the right place! We will outline specific suggestions on which resources to acquire and how to go about the learning process. At the bottom of the page we’ve provided links to 20 specific pages where you can get started learning French today. Keep reading!

French for beginners

I am a full-time online French teacher

First of all, who am I? My name is David Issokson and I am a full-time online French teacher. I was born and raised in the United States. But, I’ve reach a very high level in French where French people think I’m French when I speak. I’ve used my talent in the French language to help hundreds of people reach their goals.

How long does it take to learn French?

I get the question: “How long does it take to learn French?” all the time. My quick and honest answer: “One human lifetime”.

Many students come to me with the idea that they can somehow learn French in 30 days or six months. These ideas are put in their heads but the marketing arms of companies such as Rosetta Stone, Pimselur and Babbel which offer software apps for learning French.

The truth of the matter is that NOBODY can learn a foreign language that fast! The whole concept of “Fluent in 3 Months” is a total FALLACY.

Learning a language is a lifelong process. Remember, “Rome ne s’est pas faite en un jour !” (Rome was not built over night.).

Your objective in your initial two years of learning should be to lay down a very solid foundation in grammar and vocabulary. That way you can spend the rest of your life building on your solid foundation.

In language learning there is always one more word to learn, so the the “task” is never really completed and you really never “reach” your goal. There’s just small amounts of improvement every day.

Tools to get started

All of that said, this next section will outline the initial materials I personally recommend to my students to get started. Some of the resources listed below are free and others require a purchase.

French pronunciation – reading rules

The single biggest “hump” or challenge facing anybody just starting out in learning French is the understanding and mastery of the reading rules and pronunciation.

French is not a phonetic language. If you don’t learn the reading rules in the very beginning of your studies you’ll forever be fumbling around and mispronouncing words.

Books for the pure beginner

As a pure beginner, I’d suggest the following three books, all of which you can find on Amazon. These are the books that I actually use in my private lessons.

Again, these are the top-3 books for a pure newbie. This page on our site has a more complete list of books for learning French.

Complete French All-In-One

I consider Practice Makes Perfect Complete French All-In-One to be the Bible for all beginner students. You can use this book both on your own and with a teacher.

It has excellent coverage of basic vocabulary, verbs and grammar. The book’s explanations are excellent and it offers lots of exercises.

The All-In-One book is good for both self-study and used with a teacher. This is a must buy!

Discovering French Bleu

I have been using the high school textbook Discovering French Bleu by Valette-Valette since Day-1 of my teaching at the end of 2013.

This book will walk you through the basics of French in a very orderly and structured way. I like the slowness of the approach as the book doesn’t put too much on your plate at once. I also love the book’s readings.

I would definitely suggest to go through this book with a teacher and NOT alone!

Exercises in French Phonetics

Exercises in French Phonetics by Dr. Francis W. Nachtmann is a tiny $8 gem for learning French pronunciation. The book breaks down French pronunciation in a very methodical way and provides lots of exercises. The book does not come with a CD and is also best used with a teacher.

YouTube

The must useful resource for French for beginners (and even advanced students) on YouTube is Easy French. Easy Languages is a company that sends people out in the streets interviewing real people. All the videos are subtitled in both English and French.

Whether you’re a pure beginner or already have some French under your belt, these videos are a true gold mine for both ear training and learning French vocabulary and verbs, as well as aspects about French culture. Highly recommended!

Paid apps and courses

Lots of people think that they can learn French with an app such as Duolingo. The truth is that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to learn to speak a language fluently with any of these apps.

That said, they are very good for getting the ball rolling with the language learning process. This page on our site offers a comprehensive insight into the top-30 apps for learning French.

That said, we would like to make three recommendations for purchases you can make for apps to get started as a pure beginner:

À Moi Paris by FrenchToday

I have personally known Camille at Frenchtoday.com since 2016 and strongly recommend anything she offers. Camille’s flagship course for learning French is called À Moi Paris.

In her course, Camille teaches everything you’ll need to get started learning French including clear grammatical explanations, pronunciation tips and extensive vocabulary coverage. Highly recommended.

Find a teacher

If you’re just getting started, there’s only so much you can do on your own. This where an online tutor could help.

If you’ve learned other languages in the past and understand the “inner workings” of a language (verb conjugations, grammatical terms, etc.), then it might not be a good idea to get a teacher in the early stages.

That said, if you’re a pure beginner who’s never learned a language, you’d probably benefit from some guidance and direction.

iTalki & Preply

Another popular option for finding an online teacher is to use either iTalki or Preply. These are sites where both native speakers and non-native speaking teachers can come online and offer their teaching services.

You’ll see that both sites offer hundreds of teachers offering their teaching services at very affordable prices.

I would just warn that not all teachers offer the same quality of lessons. Some speak English way too much and that ruins the experience.

Others refuse to type out new vocabulary words. So, my suggestion is to scrutinize the reviews very carefully and try to get a “free” trial lesson whenever possible. Then, if you like the teacher that’s when to pay for some lessons.

Where to go from here

I have already laid out several wonderful resources including books. The following is a list of 20 pages on both our site where you can get off to a good start with your studies.

Start with our Word of the Day lessons. FrenchLearner provides the best and most consistent Word of the Day on this planet!

Learning French | Lessons by David Issokson

David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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