Swiss French is the one to learn if you're moving to Geneva, Lausanne, or another part of French-speaking Switzerland, or talking with Swiss friends. About 23 in 100 people in Switzerland use French as their main language, and it's close to the French of France, so French lessons help you here, though many don't say whether they teach Swiss words. Our French app comparison covers apps for any kind of French.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn French. You learn from French you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, that you're starting a job in Geneva. She writes you a lesson at your level about your first week at the office. Ask her what any line means, like why a coworker calls lunch dîner.
Bubblegum focuses on reading and listening more than speaking, so for speaking practice, try a tutor or partner in Practice With People From Switzerland.
- Lessons are in Swiss French, with Swiss words and places, like a natel, a mobile phone, or septante and nonante for 70 and 90.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Lessons are read aloud in standard French, not a Swiss accent, so listen to Swiss radio and TV too.
- Lessons teach standard Swiss French and don't cover local patois.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Preply
Ask a tutor from Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, to role-play buying a train ticket or talking with your new neighbors, so you hear the words people use there.
- Filter French tutors by country of birth, and look for Switzerland.
- Book one-to-one lessons over video.
MobileWeb
italki
Tell your teacher you want Swiss French, so the examples fit the people you'll talk to.
- Use the Teachers from filter to look for French teachers from Switzerland.
- Pick a lesson time that suits you both.
MobileWeb
Tandem
On Tandem, you help someone with your language while they help you with French. Search for partners in Switzerland, and trade a voice note in French for one in your language.
- Tandem lists members in Geneva and Lausanne.
- Trade voice notes, or talk over video.
MobileWeb
RTS Play, from Switzerland's French-language public broadcaster, streams shows, series, and documentaries. Its pages mark some titles as playing only in Switzerland.
If you live in the canton of Vaud, Français en Jeu gives free French courses to migrants in precarious situations, with groups in Lausanne, Renens, La Tour-de-Peilz, and Moudon. For a Swiss language test, fide has information on the Swiss language test and language passport.
uTalk's French page offers standard and Canadian French, with no Swiss course. Use any French course for shared grammar, and add the resources above for Swiss words.
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. |
| Preply | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each tutor sets their own price. If your first tutor isn't a good fit, you can try two more for free. |
| italki | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each teacher sets their own price. Practicing with the community and taking the level test are free. |
| Tandem | Free version | Signing up is free, and Tandem reviews each new member first. Many features are free, and Tandem Pro gives you all of them. |
Try one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| Preply | 19 | App Store |
| italki | 19 | App Store |
| Tandem | 14 | App Store |
Which Swiss French app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning French, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with a tutor from Switzerland if you'd like to hear Swiss French from the first lesson.
Is Swiss French different from the French of France?
Only a little. In Swiss French, septante is 70 and nonante is 90, and in Vaud, Valais, and Fribourg huitante is 80, where France says soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, and quatre-vingt-dix. Meals have older names too: déjeuner is breakfast, dîner is lunch, and souper is dinner.
Will people in France understand Swiss French?
Yes. The differences are small, mostly a few words and numbers, so what you learn here works in France too.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Swiss French (22.8% of Swiss residents used French as their main language in 2020; septante, huitante, nonante; Swiss meal words)
- Bubblegum: French (Switzerland)
- Preply: French tutors (country of birth filter)
- italki: French teachers (Teachers from filter)
- Tandem: language exchange in Switzerland (members in Geneva and Lausanne)
- RTS Play: Swiss French public broadcaster's streaming site (some titles only play in Switzerland)
- Français en Jeu: free French courses for migrants in precarious situations, in Lausanne and the Vaud region
- fide: Swiss language test and language passport
- uTalk: French (lists Canadian French as the only other variety)
- Preply: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- italki: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Tandem: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- italki: what's free
- Tandem: what's free
- Bubblegum
- italki
- Tandem
