French is one of the fastest growing languages on the planet, and it is already one of the most spoken ones as well.
French has been known to be the language of romance, and actually is one in a literal manner. It is a somewhat less known fact that French as a language was derived from Vulgar Latin.
French is an official language in 29 countries across the world, some of the more known ones being Switzerland, Belgium and of course France, while you’d be surprised to know it is also an official language in countries like Senegal and Mali along with quite a few others.
French has also had a huge effect on modern English, as almost 50% of modern English vocabulary consists of words of French origin.
However as popular as it is, it isn’t by any means easy to learn, like most of the other languages. This is the part where lessons can help you.
15 Websites to Learn French Lessons Online Reviews
1) Udemy
Udemy has over 600 different lessons that you can use to learn how to speak or write the French language.
Most of these can either get you prepared for realistic scenarios that you’ll be likely to experience if you ever go to a country where it is the official language, while others can turn you into a fluent speaker of the language.
Most courses take a different approach from one another, while having the same goal. Some will only have you taking 5-10 minute classes every day to slowly build up your fluency.
Some lessons will teach you all that you’ll need to know if you ever go on a tour to France or other countries where French is an official language. Others will teach you a bit more to prepare you for studying in any of these countries.
Others as mentioned, will make you fluent, while not putting you under any kind of pressure as you won’t have to learn under a set amount of time and can keep going at your own pace.
2) Coursera
This is a lesson for students from abroad that recently came to France. The B1 to B2 system is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR for short, meaning that the course will shape you into an intermediate French speaker once you’ve completed it.
Offered by the polytechnic university, the course will go on for 6 weeks, with each week focusing on a different topic to enhance your vocabulary and pronunciations and vocabulary.
The first week will focus on teaching about arriving to the country of France, focusing more on learning about the cultures of the country rather than its language.
In the second week, the course will teach you about adapting to life in the country, teaching you most of what you’ll need to know in order to communicate with those around you.
The third week will be focusing on your student life, working on your vocabulary and preparing you for communications with your class mates, while the other 3 weeks will be doing something somewhat similar.
3) Preply
Preply are a tutor based platform that provides their students with the most suitable of tutors to teach them about the topic of their choice.
They have almost 650 teachers for you to choose from when it comes to studying French language, while more than a few of them can also teach you about French literature if you want them to.
They have teachers that can teach you over a call on Skype, letting you learn through a personal touch.
This has no downsides in most cases, however it has lots of advantages, for example a live teacher will be able to provide you with attention and guidance, meaning that you will be guided properly whenever it is that you make a mistake.
Most of their teachers are native speakers of the languages they are teaching. They have teachers of different personalities that have their own ways to teach you, while all of them will hope to achieve the same goal, which is to turn you into a proficient French speaker.
4) Skillshare
With almost 200 different lessons available for people of all skill levels when it comes to speaking French, Skillshare probably has something that can suit your learning needs.
They have classes that can teach you about grammar, about the essential vocabulary that you’ll need if you ever go on a tour, or everything that you would need to call yourself a fluent speaker of the French language.
While some of these courses will teach you in a timed manner, making you fluent before a specific time as long as you work with the lesson plan, and others will let you work on your own pace, requiring only a few minutes a day for you to make progress.
It should be noted that these types of courses only fully work when you focus on one specific topic at a time and don’t try to rush it.
Some will focus on verbs and grammar, preparing you for conversations with real people regarding almost any topic. There are some lessons available in languages other than English as well.
5) Takelessons
Takelessons is a platform that has tutors for nearly everything, whether it is history, math or anything else. They have 164 tutors to teach you the French language and in some cases, how to write in it as well if you want to learn how to do that too.
All of their French tutors are completely qualified to teach you how to speak the language. All of them obviously have their own styles of teaching you the language.
While a few of them are straight forward and simple teachers, there are some that take on a more energetic approach to keep you interested in their lessons, while there are also some that take on a very friendly and casual approach to make you feel totally light when you take your lessons.
All of their courses have the same goal, but almost all of them hope to accomplish them in different ways. There are tutors that can teach you about basics while there are some that can turn you into a proficient speaker.
6) LessonFace
Similar to the previous website, LessonFace have quite a few different teachers for every other topic so that you can learn all that which you need to. They have more than a few French teachers that you can choose from.
However even if your choice seems to be a difficult one, you can use their search feature to narrow it down to that one exact teacher who matches your given criteria perfectly, making it easier to find a tutor who you thing will be good for you.
All their tutors are qualified in their respective fields and have also had their backgrounds checked by the websites to ensure that you can trust them.
Their teachers will firstly get to know you, and you will get to know them as each of you will introduce yourselves to one another, so working together in the future is made more casual and comfortable.
Obviously since all of them are different teachers, they will all have their own unique takes and unique ways to teach you the French language.
7) Study
You can probably guess from their name that study.com are an online platform for students to learn things about specific topics.
They have multiple different classes for nearly every other topic in the world, letting you choose from any of those which you like, as long as it is available.
They have French courses for both children and adults. For example for children, there are smaller and much easier lessons, such as counting up to 10 or 20 in the French language, or learning about the different parts of the body in French.
There are also lessons that features the most used verbs and sentences in French which both children and adults can use to learn the basics. For adults there are more advanced lessons that might be a little harder for children to follow.
Most of these courses focus on different topics at a time, not putting too much on your plate if you’re just a beginner who barely knows anything about the language, while letting you work at your own pace.
8) Reed
Reed.co.uk are one of the oldest lesson related websites out there and are the first website of the sort that is situated in the United Kingdom. They have just a little over 150 lessons for you to choose from.
Each and every single one of these lessons have been provided by either qualified tutors or some of the top institutions of education around the planet, especially those in UK.
These courses are mainly for adults, however there are more than a few suited to children as well. There is a wide variety of them.
Some feature basic French verbs and tenses that can help get you introduced with the dialect, while others are a little bit more advanced.
These advanced courses are mainly for a bit more proficient French speakers or those that wish to study or live in French speaking countries.
There are also bundle lessons, which can either teach you the basics to a variety of different languages, or are a bundle of multiple different French lessons packed into one for your convenience.
9) Busuu
Busuu is an easy to work with platform used for learning languages on both smart phones and computers.
It is a convenient app that lets you learn a variety of different languages like German, Spanish and of course French, along with quite a few others.
They provide a huge convenience which is making study plans for students depending on how they want to learn.
For example if they want to spend most their day, the app can arrange a study plan for them to learn several different topics in a single day, or if they wish to spend only a few minutes a day, the app can work with that too, creating a scheme for you to learn French at your own preferred speed.
They also have a way for you to quiz yourself and see how much you’ve been able to learn so far using their vocabulary trainer. Another good thing about their lesson plans is that they can automatically adjust themselves if you miss a day of practice.
10) Mondly
Mondly is another app used for learning languages. They feature a variety of different languages for you to choose from, including Japanese, Spanish and others, including French.
They have a variety of different courses that you can use to prepare for a multitude of different things, for example there are some courses that can prepare you for everyday life situations like asking for directions or about the whereabouts of a specific place.
They have different themes created by language experts that can prepare you for conversations regarding family, food, studies and more.
You can use their app to build up your fluency, or just to learn all the basics that you’ll need if you intend to visit a country where French is spoken regularly.
All you will have to do is give the app 5 minutes a day and it will help you clear out a single topic each passing day. The app creates a fun and safe learning environment for people around the world to enjoy which is completely free.
11) Lingoda
Lingoda has been made as an alternative for you to learn languages simply and efficiently without having to go anywhere. The platform attempts to cut any unnecessary time that you would waste going to tutors for personal lessons.
Instead it provides a way for you to learn a language from the comfort of your home while also getting the attention that you will need while learning the language through their teachers who will communicate with you via video call.
You can also learn with other people that are trying to master the French language, creating a class like environment which can be fun and can help you meet people from all over the worlds.
Their lessons are made for you to become fluent at the language, not just for you to be good enough to perform specific functions.
You can choose any day of the week to study on, or choose multiple, while selecting a class that focuses topics of your interest. After this they will find a suitable class for you.
12) Rosetta Stone
Rosetta stone are an online platform for anyone that wants to learn their favourite language. They have about 25 different languages that you can choose to learn from, including French.
They believe that you can learn French your own way, depending on your objectives. Meaning that you decide the way you learn French by your own mind-set.
Whether you just want to learn French to replicate the famous accent of French people which is widely considered to be a romantic one, like their language, or if you want to learn French after having some experience in the past, the platform will be able to provide you with suitable lessons.
Rosetta Stone as a platform have just over 35 years’ worth of experience when it comes to planning study schemes for their students to learn a language in a way that suits them most.
It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an intermediary speaker of the language, they have plans that are suited to people of almost all ages and all fluency levels.
13) Elearning French
Based on their name, you can pretty much guess for yourself that they are a platform that solely helps people learn the language of France, as well as many other countries.
They’re free online courses have been inspired by the FSI French basic course. They have two separate and main courses, one of which has been designed for complete beginners while the other one has been made for a bit more proficient speakers to work with, so that they can improve their fluency.
Both of the courses includes 12 topics each, while each of the topics include simple French dialogue and phrases that can widely improve your vocabulary.
Every lesson also has appropriate explanations of the given dialogues along with the grammatical structure of each one.
On top of this, there are also quizzes and assignments that you can complete to see how much progress you’ve made so far.
There is also audio associated along with each phrase which can help your pronunciation of said word. These courses are completely free.
14) The French Experiment
The French Experiment is a website that teaches people that are completely new to French about the basics of pronunciation and the cultural history of the language.
The site is completely free and accessible by everyone that has a stable internet connection. While you’ll see some lessons that will teach you count in French up to 10, 20 or even 50, the site will teach you how to count to a million if you wish to learn.
It does so as it is a known fact that French counting is quite simple and straight forward until the person counting reaches the number 70.
The site covers completely simple yet necessary phrases such as those that can help you tell the time while also teaching you the grammatical structure of sentences in the French language.
The platform covers other similar things that will help you get started with French, getting you more than ready enough for scenarios that you are likely to face on a regular basis, while being completely free for everyone.
15) Class Central
Featuring over 150 different courses from teachers and educational institutions all over the world, class central features studies related to French made by people from all over the world.
There are lessons from universities that will cover all the fundamentals taught over the course of two or three semesters.
These courses can either turn you into a proficient speaker under a set amount of time if you follow the intended lesson plans, or can help you learn at your own pace.
There are courses that can help you adapt to life in France as well, if you are there to study or for business related reasons.
These types of courses can help you adapt to different things one week at a time, while making your French vocabulary much better than it was before. Some also feature things like quizzes and workbooks.
Things that you can use to test yourself while also being able to get a recap on your past lessons. Classes about the history of the language are available too.
Choosing the Best French Lesson Online
There are much more than a thousand lessons to help you get started with French or to help you become a proficient speaker if you’re already a good one, as was mentioned above.
Quite a few of these sites are also free, while also letting you work how you want to with them, meaning that you can save your time, while in some cases, also save your money, a privilege that personal classes with an offline tutor wouldn’t provide you.
French isn’t the easiest language to learn, however the lessons on these websites can help you grow your vocabulary and become a fluent speaker.