Make a plan you can keep (one hour a day)
Consistency beats marathon study. Give yourself one focused hour daily: 30 minutes of listening/reading input, 20 minutes of targeted study (vocab, grammar, drills), and 10 minutes of speaking. Beginners progress fastest with short, repeatable tasks. Track wins, not time: new phrases learned, lines spoken aloud, or pages read.
- Mon–Fri: 30 min audio + text, 20 min study, 10 min speaking
- Sat: review week highlights; record a 60–90 second monologue
- Sun: light day—watch a short video and re-read notes
- Keep a one-line log of what you learned each day
Build core words and phrases first
Front-load high-frequency words and survival phrases. Learn chunks like “Je voudrais…”, not isolated verbs. A good frequency list or a free pdf phrasebook helps you move from zero to conversations fast. Aim for 15–20 new items a day, with spaced repetition. As a beginner, focus on greetings, food, transport, numbers, time, and common verbs.
- Use phrase frames: Je veux/peux/dois + infinitive
- Memorize polite starters: Bonjour, Excusez‑moi, S’il vous plaît
- Collect mini-dialogues for cafes, shops, and directions
Fix pronunciation early
Good sounds make listening and speaking easier. Tackle the French R, nasal vowels (an, on, in), and silent letters. Shadow short audio daily: listen, repeat in rhythm, then read aloud. Record yourself and compare. Learn basic liaison rules; they make speech clearer and help you catch words from fast conversations.
- Shadow 2–3 sentences, 3–5 times each
- Practice minimal pairs: beau/bo, vin/vingt, peur/père
- Mark stress and liaison in your scripts before speaking
Use easy grammar patterns
Keep grammar simple and useful. Start with present tense of être/avoir/aller/faire, articles and gender, and common prepositions (à, de, en). Add passé composé for everyday stories (hier, la semaine dernière). Learn set frames—C’est…, Il y a…, J’ai besoin de…—so you can produce lots of sentences without heavy rules memorization.
- Present first; add passé composé with avoir for common verbs
- Learn 8–10 high-use sentence frames and swap words
- Drill pronouns in context: je/tu/il/elle/nous/vous/ils/elles
Practice speaking alone with scripts
You don’t need a partner to speak. Write tiny scripts about your day and role-play them: ordering coffee, buying tickets, introducing yourself. Speak them on loop for 5–10 minutes. This builds fluency fast for beginners. Upgrade scripts weekly by adding new verbs, past-time markers, and connectors like puis and donc.
- 30-second daily intro: name, city, job/study, hobbies
- Micro-stories: yesterday, today, tomorrow (past–present–future)
- Role-plays: café, market, hotel, metro ticket desk
Use smart, free resources (and one structured course)
Curate a small toolkit and reuse it. Combine graded audio with transcripts, a spaced-repetition app, and a simple beginner course for structure. Add a free pdf phrasebook or reader for offline practice. Keep your stack light so you spend your hour learning—not hunting for materials.
- Beginner podcasts with transcripts for daily shadowing
- YouTube lessons for pronunciation and quick grammar
- Graded readers + audio; print a short free pdf
- SRS deck of your own phrases (not only single words)
- A concise MOOC-style course to pace A1 → A2
FAQ
- How many hours should a beginner study each week?
- Aim for 7 focused hours: one hour a day beats cramming. Split into 30 minutes input, 20 minutes targeted study, and 10 minutes speaking. If busy, do 30 minutes daily and add a longer session on the weekend for review and recording practice.
- Can I learn french for free?
- Yes. You can combine free podcasts with transcripts, YouTube lessons, public‑domain readers, and a free pdf phrasebook. The key is structure: follow a simple weekly plan and recycle the same materials instead of collecting too many apps.
- Do I need a paid course or a tutor?
- Not at first. A tight routine plus good input can take you from zero to strong A1/A2. Later, a short paid course or a few tutoring sessions can fix pronunciation, polish grammar gaps, and provide feedback on your scripts and recordings.
- How long to reach A2 from scratch?
- With daily practice, many learners hit A2 in 8–12 weeks (50–80 hours). Progress depends on consistency and active speaking. Measure results by what you can do—order food, handle transport, describe your day—not just by time spent.
- Where can I get good pdf materials?
- Look for beginner-friendly texts with audio and a printable transcript. Many platforms offer a free pdf sampler, public‑domain stories, or phrase lists. Print short pieces you’ll reread often: dialogues, menus, timetables, and frequency-based word lists.