The fastest way to learn French is to spend most of your study time on French you can mostly understand. That kind of French is called comprehensible input. What you read and listen to should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.
What to Do at Each Level
Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.
- Level 1
I'm just starting out or know only a few words.
Read and listen 35 min. Review 15 min. Speak 10 min.
Read short dialogues with audio and a translation, and listen to each one twice. Then watch Alice Ayel tell an easy story in French, and say a few lines out loud.
- Level 2
I can handle simple exchanges.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 10 min. Speak 10 min.
Hide the translation and look up only the words that stop you. Add the slower Super Easy videos from Easy French, and start short talks with a tutor or a friend.
- Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 5 min. Speak 15 min.
Listen to RFI's Journal en français facile, a short news show in simple French, and read its transcript after you listen. Then talk about the news for longer.
- Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch TV5MONDE EDU's news reports and film clips with French subtitles, and do the short exercises that come with each clip.
- Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch films and series from France, Quebec and Africa on TV5MONDEplus, TV5MONDE's free streaming app, and look up only the words that block the plot.
- Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read novels and the news in French, and talk about them, for their own sake.
Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.
How Long Does It Take to Learn French?
French takes about 690 class hours to reach professional fluency, according to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. That puts French in its first group for English speakers, the languages close to English, with Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
| Language | FSI group | Full-time weeks |
|---|---|---|
| French, Spanish | Category I | 30 |
| German, Indonesian | Category II | 36 |
| Russian, Vietnamese | Category III | 44 |
| Japanese, Korean, Mandarin | Category IV | 88 |
The Institut français in London teaches 60 class hours at level A1 and 120 hours at each level from A2 to C1, so its first two levels take 180 hours and A1 through C1 take 540. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:
| Study per week | Institut français A1–A2 (180 hours) | Institut français A1–C1 (540 hours) | FSI professional fluency (690 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 1 year | About 3 years | About 3¾ years |
| 7 hours | About 6 months | About 18 months | About 23 months |
| 14 hours | About 3 months | About 9 months | About 11 months |
| 28 hours | About 6 weeks | About 4½ months | About 5½ months |
These are class hours, so treat them as a rough guide. Time you spend understanding French on your own counts too.
What Slows Learners Down
- Reading Without AudioMany letters in French are silent, so a word you have only read can be hard to catch when someone says it.
- Verb Tables AloneVerb endings drilled with no sentence around them are hard to recall when someone is talking.
- Content Far Too HardA film where you know one word in five teaches you very little.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which French app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning French, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our French app comparison covers courses, tutors and speaking apps too.
Can I learn French in three months?
You can learn enough French to order at a cafe and talk about yourself. At 14 hours a week, three months is about 180 hours, which is what the Institut français in London teaches across its first two levels, A1 and A2.
How much should I study French each week?
Aim for three to five hours a week of French you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you get lost in a story, which teaches more than five minutes a day, and steady time each week matters more than a daily streak. Our post on deep sessions over daily streaks explains why.
Is French hard for English speakers?
No, by the Foreign Service Institute's measure: French is in its group of languages close to English. One new thing is that every French noun is masculine or feminine, and you learn each one fastest by meeting it with its le or la in French you understand.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The French lessons on this site are also free and need no account.
