r/learningfrench

Hey guys, salut 👋

So I started this little project where I'm trying to learn and sing a song from every country in the world

And I decided to start with France, since I’m Algerian and can speak some french.
So, What's the most meaningful song from France for you?

Merci beaucoups

a month out from my TCF exam date i still couldn't answer "parlez-moi de votre dernier voyage" without freezing up. over my 18 months of studying (anyone who says you can do it in 6 months is probably lying), speaking was by far the hardest section and where i spent the most time in the final months.

to pay it forward to everyone on this sub who helped me get through the tough days, here is a breakdown of every resource I used and what techniques worked best:

Anki 10/10 - non-negotiable. i built decks by TCF theme: immigration, transport, housing, work, food, neighborhood, technology, travel, parks. those exact topics show up over and over on both writing and speaking sections.

Réussir-TCF Canada 10/10 - THE single most useful thing i paid for. did all CO + CE mock tests in the 6 weeks before the exam. several questions on the real test were near-direct repeats.

InnerFrench 10/10 - Hugo's podcast carried my listening from A2 to B1. the progression that worked: Little Talk in Slow French → InnerFrench → 8 Milliards de Voisins on RFI once i could handle B2. the RFI topics ARE the exam (society, immigration, politics, work-life).

Italki 9/10 - 2x per week for the last 6 weeks. filter for "TCF Canada" specifically when you book because generic conversation tutors won't drill the exam format. mine made me record myself between sessions which i hated but needed. her best tip was: max out tâche 1 + 2 with clear answers and no overreach (you can hit 8-9/10 on those), then keep tâche 3 simple - clear arguments, basic vocab, no fancy phrasing. that combo gets you to B2 without needing to sound C1.

Boraspeak 8/10 - used for additional speaking practice 15-30 min after work most days, mostly rambling about my day and running through tâche 2 and 3 prompts out loud. cheaper than daily tutoring and i found the conversations to be a bit more natural than chatgpt and gemini.

TV5Monde 8/10 - free TCF practice across all four sections. the interface feels like 2008 but the content is solid and there's literally nothing to pay for. start here before paying for Réussir.

Kwiziq 8/10 - the only grammar tool that doesn't feel like punishment. their free lawlessfrench partner site is almost as good if you don't want to pay. for CLB 7 you really only need présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur proche, and futur simple. drop one subjonctif in tâche 3 speaking for the grammatical range bump.

ChatGPT 5/10 - tried voice mode for daily speaking and gave up. it's fine for writing or grammar corrections, but just don't trust its CEFR grading. it lowballed me as B1 right up until exam day.

Duolingo 2/10 - i had a 235 day streak early on, but it creates the illusion of progress. don't waste your time.

what i'd do differently: start Réussir mocks at month 1 of TCF prep instead of month 3, and skip duolingo entirely.

i also took a full week completely off halfway through because i was completely fried. burnout is real, plan for it.

got my results last week - NCLC 7 across the board. honestly more than half of that was knowing how to take the test, my conversational french is still high B1 at best.

hope this helps, happy to answer any questions 😊

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to read 12 books in French this year.

I'm looking for suggestions for CEFR B1/B2 level books that might be fairly easy for me to find through Libby, at my library, or through Kindle Unlimited. I've had some luck with finding "classics", which have been translated from English into French, but I'm not opposed to books originally printed in French. Maybe I should be looking for YA titles? I figured I would ask for suggestions so that I had a more targeted list of books I could look for.

Thanks!

Course is in english i confirmed twice, but i'll be there for a month. groceries, ordering food at restaurants, metro, weekend trips to lyon maybe. so daily interactions with strangers outside the course. A few questions:

1/ is the "parisians hate you if you dont try french" thing actually real or is it reddit folklore.

2/ how much french can you realistically pick up in 3-4 weeks? i did it back in middle school but not practised since. recently started airlearn 15 mins a day, can do greetings, basic food stuff now but no clue if that scales

3/ survival phrases i absolutely need beyond hello/thanks/bathroom. like the actual stuff that comes up at a pharmacy or boulangerie

4/ is using google translate openly rude

im not trying to become fluent. just dont want to be that guy who only points and smiles for 4 weeks straight.

merci in advance!

Hello!
I’m completely a beginner and wanting to learn French.
How does everyone start to learn new languages? I don’t know where to start…. Should I buy textbooks or listen podcasts a lot….?
I need some help and hope someone help me with this:))

I am officially starting my French journey from scratch (Absolute Beginner) with a clear, non-negotiable goal: Clear the TCF or TEF with CLB 7 within 1 year. 🇨🇦

My strategy is strictly self-study (apps, textbooks, immersion, etc.). Since going solo can get tough, I’m looking for a like-minded accountability partner to tag along.

Hi everyone,

I’ve helped a few non-native speakers in Dijon improve their French over the past few years, and I’d like to share some simple tips that can really make a difference.:

• Watching kids’ cartoons → simple vocabulary, clear pronunciation
• Reading comics or children’s books → great for understanding sentence structure
• Reusing new words as soon as possible → even in very simple sentences
• Watching series dubbed in French with French subtitles → helps connect spoken and written forms

It may sound basic, but doing this consistently really helps.

If you’re learning French here, I’m curious — what do you find the most difficult?

Hey guys, so ive been on a search for a good vocab bank. Ive found numerous lists such as 10k words, 6k words, etc. and they all are disorganised and contain unnecessary vocab like which is also demotivating to follow. I found something recently that i found really helpful. Its a pdf that divides vocab by themes. provides adjectives, nouns, verbs and also mentions genders. Anyone interested can search for : ks4 vocab by unit and tier. it should be a pdf available on hayleacademie website.

Also im reading this book called Edito B2. which is also really good as it covers exam related topics such as environment and technology. Any french learners aiming for these exams might find this helpful.

Hope this post reaches to the people struggling with vocab..

Hello, I got appointed to be a peer tutor in school (basically in our study hall class period, people can just come into the teachers rooms to get help). I am tutoring/helping them succeed. I will be tutoring French 2, so what are the things I should do to prepare to be the best tutor I can be? I also don’t want to come across as belittling, mean, out of touch because French comes easy to be (easier than others), so what should I remember? Any help is appreciated!

Hot take: Most people aren’t failing to learn French because French is hard. They’re failing because language apps quietly became engagement machines first, learning tools second.

My top 3 after trying almost everything:

1/ Anki. Still undefeated. 20 useful sentences a day > unlocking “Unit 14 Café Champion.”

2/ YouTube + French subtitles. Because real French people do NOT sound like the audio in apps.

3/ Duolingo / Airlearn. Honestly putting these together because they both figured out the same thing: people will learn more if you make them emotionally addicted to opening the app.

And it works. But I also think streak culture broke people’s understanding of what language learning actually feels like.

You’re supposed to: forget words, sound dumb, replay the same sentence 14 times, understand nothing for months etc.

That’s normal.

The weirdest part is some of the “least fun” methods are still the fastest.

Hi everyone, no ads or scammy promotions please 😭

I seriously need recommendations for the BEST French classes/teachers. I’m the type of person who NEEDS structure and a strict teacher — someone who gives homework, tests, speaking practice, corrections, and actually pushes me to learn French instead of just casually chatting.

I’ve already spent around $350 on classes/apps and I either stop attending or don’t stay motivated at all. So I think I need accountability more than “fun” learning 😭

If you’ve had a teacher/class that genuinely helped you become conversational, please drop recommendations. Online or in-person both work.

Also:
best apps that ACTUALLY help?
best books/workbooks for beginners?
anything that helped you stay disciplined?

I’m in Sudbury if anyone knows local options too 🙏

I’m learning French and I wanted to confirm whether my nasalized “ɛ” is being pronounced correctly. Could a French speaker check if it sounds right? In the audio, I say “bien.”
https://voca.ro/16HuHq4W8yHB

Hey I've been studying Quebecois going on 7 years now and I'm just wondering how common it is for Americans like myself to learn this spectacular language. I reside in Upstate New York about an hour drive to the Canadian border (3 hours from Montreal). I plan on visiting frequently but not living there. Although it's not necessary learning french, it's very fun to me. Plus I've spent too much time and money on this hobby to turn back now lol. Any one else out there like me?

Thanks

Hey everyone,

I’m a native French speaker with C1+ English TOEFL iBT 112/120 and Cambridge C1 Advanced.

I’ve got some free time here and there and I really enjoy just chatting.

I’m not looking for any formal language exchange or anything serious. It’s really about relaxed conversations from time to time. Not pretending to be better than a real teacher or a passionate tutor, but I can still be like an extra French person on the side: someone you can talk to when you need a second opinion, some real-life practice, or just a casual chat.