French Language Course Online - a guide to help you choose

"I wasn't sure which French language course
online to choose. Thanks for your advice."

With the rapid growth of the internet, more and more people are choosing to investigate a French language course online .

There is a vast choice of online French language courses and some are excellent.

Some are also FREE (which we all like to see!). However bear in mind that if you choose a learn free French online course that it may be a little limiting and will reach only to a basic level. If that is all you are after then go for it.

Some people think that they should start with a free course and and then progress to buying a better French course. My only comment with that is you are likely to make less effort with a free course and then give up as you feel "it's not working and French is obviously too difficult".

In that case it would have been better to pay for a decent course - if you pay for something you are much more likely to work at it.

Every French learning method has its pros and cons and for each one of us the pros and cons are different. Below are a few things to think about.

Pros

Cons

Some courses are free

You can quickly access information

Free courses may suit beginners or those who want basic French or just a quick revision

Some courses will have an online forum

You can learn at your own pace and at a time to suit you

You may get email support from the site owner

Some courses will offer audio and video French and even webcam teaching (this is quite new).

You need to be quite disciplined if you want to progress

You need access to a computer and the internet

You may feel a bit isolated if you prefer to learn with others

Some courses (especially the free ones) may be too basic for you

There are numerous French online courses but these are my top picks for ease of use and for good content.

BBC Languages
There are several levels from beginners to advanced. The beginner's course is very interactive and each lesson centers on a topic such as shopping or eating out. The audio is excellent and there are grammar tips along the way. For the non beginners there are excellent interactive videos and interesting cultural topics and the language is looked at in more depth.

About French
An extremely comprehensive French language course online. Stacks of information about grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary etc. My only complaint is that it was difficult to know where to start as there is just so much to take in. If you are a beginner, search out the 20 week email course.

French Tutorial
This French language course online is split into 3 formats. Standard (free); Personal (downloadable and still free but you need to register); Deluxe (includes extras and you pay a small fee). The standard level is very good for beginners. The course is neatly laid out and includes audio and clear grammatical explanations.

French Assistant
You have to register and then you are offered 3 levels of French. The lessons have lots of graphics, sounds and fun cartoon characters plus you can evaluate your progress online and there is a rankings table so you can compare yourself against other learners.

Rosetta Stone - Learn French (UK store)

Rosetta Stone (US store)

Rosetta Stone has been around for years and is often thought of as the Grand master of language learning. They use a unique method known as Dynamic Immersion which in plain English means that it builds on your current language learning skills (gained from birth) and immerses you immediately into learning French - everything is immediately taught in French. Each assignment varies in length from 5 - 20 minutes and you can monitor your progress all the way.

If you are serious about learning French, then I would definitely recommend that you check this one out. There are 2 course levels ranging from beginners to intermediate and the course comes on CD-Rom or online subscription which gives you the ability to study anywhere you have an Internet connection. They have a United States store and a United States store and a United Kingdom store

TELL ME MORE is renowned for its language learning speech recognition technology software. However they also offer a very comrehensive on-line learning programme. It doesn't matter what level you are as you do an intial test which then generate a presonalized language course for you. You can subscribe for just one day or a month or year. The yearly subscription works out at just over $1/day so not bad really. Find out more about Tell Me More

Daily French - Linguaphone Offer a subscription based online resource of French newspaper cuttings, radio and TV news clips so you can see and hear the language in everyday use. It is a great way to build up your vocabulary and gets you used to hearing and reading everyday French. This is NOT for beginners and would suit intermediate to advanced learners. You pay a 12 monthly subscription.