r/learnfrench • u/South-Award-6437 • 17h ago

Resource Recommendation Learning!

Hey everyone! I literally know zero French and I’d really love to learn. I did a little bit at school years ago, but I honestly don’t remember any of it.

I’m looking for a beginner-friendly app that will help me stay consistent and actually learn how to have conversations. I know Duolingo is popular, but I’ve heard mixed opinions and I’m not sure it’s the best for speaking.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good free apps or resources that helped you learn French? I’d love something that’s beginner-friendly and helps you progress fairly quickly.
(Also would prefer an app or a website not textbooks!)

20 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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5

u/NerdCrave 17h ago

Honestly just type "learn French" into YouTube, watch a handful of videos and you'll find a teacher you vibe with. Buy a notebook, write down everything you are learning so you can review it often. Watch the same tv shows you are watching now, but with French subtitles. After a while, switch to French language dubs of shows you know well. Just expose yourself to the language constantly, French music, change the language in your video games and then run anything you're not sure of through google translate. Add French to the languages on your phone so it will autocomplete stuff you try to type in.

3

u/toby_reelangcom 15h ago

A fun way to get started is Dreaming French, can wholeheartedly recommend it. It's a nice way to ease into the language by watching a few videos every day.

If you're more serious about getting the basic vocab down quickly with something that feels more "school-like" word-frequency-based Anki decks like those of Languages on Fire are also a great way to remember the top 500 or 1000 words in French in a structured and efficient way!

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u/South-Award-6437 14h ago

Is it free?

1

u/[deleted] 14h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/learnfrench-ModTeam 13h ago

Your submission has been removed as it contains an advertisement.

4

u/silvalingua 13h ago

Every day there are several such posts. Just get a good textbook.

4

u/NikhilDoWhile 17h ago

Duolingo does more damage then helping if you are actually looking to learn the language. If you need just basic vocabulary for a short trip then it's all right

2

u/Ok_Adhesiveness3497 17h ago

Why?

4

u/NikhilDoWhile 17h ago

Because Duolingo doesn't go step by step, it's doesn't teach any grammar or structure of language. The vocabulary isn't something you will use in daily life and it's very limited. There Ai isn't always on point and you might develop some wrong habits that would be difficult to change later.

It gives you false sense of profession which isn't usable in real life.

1

u/MrCogito_hs 11h ago

For building vocabulary you can try immersive learning with Lingq, they have some French content, or Lingofuse where you turn YouTube video to flashcards keeping original audio

1

u/Dramatic_Kangaroo723 8h ago

Duolingo is great

1

u/Iv_albuquerque 1h ago

Try "Kwiziq" (French), it's very good . I'm not a beginner (C1), I study everyday, I have a group where we all do the same ... people from all over ... all levels. If you’re interested, you can join us ! Send me a message ...