Description
“What if you could learn enough French to express yourself in a simple yet clear manner that any native speaker would understand — without all the awkwardness?”
I’m Frederic Bibard, the founder of TalkinFrench.com.
Originally from Paris, France, I spent over a decade teaching French abroad and developing the most effective approaches and tools that fit the modern student -- whether you're interested in passing an exam or driven by personal goals.
Getting to talk with native French speakers may seem far away.
When you’re an early beginner, it’s always difficult making sense of what fast-paced native speakers say or even understand basic context from an article or short story, instantly, as you're reading it.
In anticipation, many students tend to think about ‘when’ this will happen. From the day they start learning.
Perhaps the biggest moment, by far, is that first milestone where you successfully use French.
For example, when you perfectly understand something you read, something you hear and, also have other people understand what you’re saying. Imagine that...
This can be something as simple as reading a restaurant menu and realize you know what each item is, even the specials, and then go on to order with the waiter in basic yet smooth French. (And you see him/her smile in awe of not having to switch into English).
It could be navigating around small towns and villages on your next vacation to France and immediately recognize, “This is the way to the town center”, “That’s the way to the museum”, “Here's a local place to get lunch, and oh, parking is not allowed on this street”.
All without any help from your phone or that dictionary you brought, just in case.
Or how about this...
Remember always using your phone and Google every time you need to figure out pretty much anything on vacation?
Instead, while your friends fumble with their phones in search of Wi-Fi, you just scanned the street signs, asked a local for directions, got a smile and a compliment on the way, and just like that, you know where to go and how to get there. BAM!
And best of all, you did it using simple beginner French.
Experiences like these indicate that you're mastering basic French.
Even though these examples come from a simple and basic level of French, I know they can seem far away for a newly hatched Francophile soul.
It’s hard to not struggle after 30 seconds of basic greetings...
But in order to get there, and feel comfortable enough with real life French at a beginner level, you have to move on from the introduction part and onto a real learning method.
"What is the ‘introduction part’ of the language and should I take the next step towards learning French?"
Let me be clear about what I call the introduction part to real French.
It's everything that happens when you first peek inside the world of French.
Often dabbling with language apps, YouTube videos, podcasts to and from work + every other learning style and method you’ve tried so far. (Like the guides and tips, I share here at Talk in French).
This period of introduction doesn’t necessarily end a few weeks after you start learning French.
I’ve had multiple students who stayed 'intro-beginners' for several months, (some even longer).
Let me also be clear about what it means to get serious with French.
You should get serious about learning French if you want to start seeing results in the real world within a few months rather than years.
The thing is, you can almost always find new materials to experiment with and more ‘quick hacks’ to try out.
Yes, some of the learning materials and apps you use right now can probably help in getting you to some sort of a beginner level, over time - assuming you combine them in all the right ways.
But you could also end up dabbling for years and still not reach an A2 level.
Think about it like wanting to run 10 miles. You could keep practicing one mile sprints forever and then eventually one day claw and fight your way through a 10 mile run.
On the other hand, if you’d practiced 3 and 6 miles runs you’d get there much faster, easier and likely better off.
French now? In 3 years? Maybe never?
Throughout my years of teaching French, I typically don't meet students who want to learn French until they’ve been in the introduction stage for a while.
Most often it happens when they hit the first obstacle on the road and realize that every day isn't a new chic phrase you can use right away.
They don’t advance as quickly anymore and things start to get confusing.
New learning piles up and often you’re standing still and spend as much time going back to things you thought you nailed already. This is when French becomes overwhelming and two things usually happen:
1. Some students seek out even more language hacks, and try to add more hot streaks on their language app. (Aka, the logic of doing more of the same thing and expecting the rest will work out eventually).
2. Other students convince themselves it’s better if you live in France or decide it probably takes years of classes to get comfortable in basic conversations.
The problem is your time is spent all over the place instead of dedicated learning.
And in terms of getting a beginner French you can use in real context it could easily take multiple months or years this way.
Trying out different ways of learning French is certainly not uncommon and a lot of new French students feel this is the best way.
The misunderstanding here is they think they need to combine every learning method possible to get anywhere. It’s either full-on immersion or full-on classes the next 2 years with tutoring in between.
If you were to spend that much dedicated time it’s more likely a full journey all the way from where you are now and up to a higher advanced level.
But you don’t need to aim at fluency from the get go.
Absolute zero to confident beginner.
You’re ready to move on from the introduction part of French if you feel something like this:
***
"Frédéric, I know a few words and phrases but I completely drop the ball when I hear native speakers talk, it’s so, so fast. On top of that all my French can probably be shown off in 30 seconds or less. I don’t know... I just want to feel confident enough that I can use simple French in real life. But I’m not sure how to get there?"
***
I don’t do tutoring or class teaching anymore but based on 12 years of helping students from one level to the next, I developed a program that completes your beginner ability and gives serious students a way to use real French and the foundation to develop the language further if you wish to do so.
And it doesn’t take several months or years.
Introducing...
COMPLETE BEGINNER FRENCH
An online course specifically designed to help you to a full beginners level where you know enough French to never feel stupid in any basic context.
Inside Complete Beginner French you'll get access to:
40 fine tuned lessons that focus on the exact French that gives you a simple but effective French.
Master each part of the language as a complete beginner student whether it’s complicated grammar or understanding fast-talking native speakers.
Stop feeling confused and overwhelmed and instead follow a well structured plan to a clear and simple French understanding.
A personal training program where you get practical writing feedback directly from the course creator, (that's me!). This will help you develop a more confident French and see noticeable progress with each lesson.
This is our hands-on training arena of daily writing exercises where you receive corrections and advice for each lesson.
It’s designed to put your progress to the test in a fun way where you can make as many mistakes as you need throughout the course which will help you feel more comfortable with the whole structure of the language and save you a lot of situations where your mind “just go blank” when starting to speak.
Here's an example of how you can expect to get hands-on help.
My proven learning method that I built over a decade of teaching French to ensure a system that eliminates the need for any additional learning materials.
This system uses my experience from tutoring, class teaching, as an author of learning materials, and online courses to give proven advice for any beginner student.
"The writing exercises became the most useful and rewarding aspect..."
"There were several things that really impressed me about this course. First (and most important) is the practice actually writing essays in French, and having them corrected! I spent a huge amount of time on the writing exercises, and they became the most useful and rewarding aspect of this course. I cannot imagine how anyone finds the time to read and comment on these, but you have my heartfelt thanks."
DAVID WRIGHT // Talk in French Graduate
Course Curriculum
Here you’ll learn:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 1 : Basics of Pronunciation and Greetings
Lesson 2: Pronunciation / Verb être (to be)
Lesson 3: Family Members and Jobs Vocabulary, Sounds Unique to the French Language, Verb Avoir
Lesson 4: Family and How to Count
Lesson 5: Conjugating verbs: 1st group (-er verbs)
Here you’ll learn:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 6 : Definite and Indefinite articles; Food and beverage
Lesson 7: Fruits and partitive articles
Lesson 8: Passé Composé (Compound Past Tense) and Time
Lesson 9: Perfect Tense with “être”
Lesson 10: Placement and Agreement of Adjectives
Here you’ll find out how to:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 11 : Professions and demonstrative adjectives
Lesson 12: Asking questions
Lesson 13: List of useful verbs
Lesson 14: Possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns
Lesson 15: Most useful verbs
Here you’ll learn:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 16 : Imperfect tense
Lesson 17: The Perfect Tense (Passé Composé) vs. The Imperfect Tense (Imparfait)
Lesson 18: Vocabulary Related to Cinema and the Movies
Lesson 19: Describing people
Lesson 20: 2nd group of verbs
Here you’ll learn:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 21: Irregular verbs with -ir endings
Lesson 22: Presentative Expressions (“c’est” et “il y a”)
Lesson 23: The irregular verb aller
Lesson 24: Expressing emotions
Lesson 25: Describing people's personalities
Here you’ll learn how to:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 26 : Comparative and Superlative
Lesson 27: More irregular verbs with -ir endings
Lesson 28: Making polite requests
Lesson 29: Shopping for food
Lesson 30: Shopping for clothes
Learn how to:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 31: Simple future tense
Lesson 32: The Prepositions “à” and “de”
Lesson 33: Classroom Vocabulary
Lesson 34: Making Travel Arrangements – Préparer un Voyage
Lesson 35: More Vocabulary about Travel and Holidays
You'll learn:
Lesson and Topic
Lesson 36: Irregular Verbs That End with “–re” and Vocabulary About Nationalities
Lesson 37: Negative expressions
Lesson 38: Direct Object Pronouns and Nationalities Vocabulary Part 2
Lesson 39: Hobbies and the verb faire
Lesson 40: Indirect Object Pronouns and Pets and Animals Vocabulary
Speaking practice exercises: Different speaking exercises to help get the correct pronunciation, develop your charming French accent, and build your confidence for speaking in actual conversations.
Essay exercises: Essay writing feedback: A customized training arena for you to practice and get direct feedback from the course creator himself (that’s me).
Quizzes: Quizzes for every lesson to help you instantly explore and test what you learn along the way.
Short Stories in French: Short stories to practice your comprehension of context and explore French culture.
Weekly recaps: Recap exercises that sum up what you learned in each module and prepare to build on top.
Through these 8 modules you'll learn:
8 weeks of lessons to master a real-life practical beginner French:
Do I have to finish the whole course in 8 weeks?
The course is constructed in a way that you should have at least 1 hour a week to get something out of it, (I recommend up to 3 hours for very good results). This way you’ll complete the entire level in about 8-12 weeks.
But don’t worry if you need to take a break or something is keeping you from finishing the lessons within the ideal timeframe.
You get lifetime access so you can always move through the course at a pace that suits you best and return to lessons whenever you feel, and most students have been able to finish the entire course within 3 months.
As an extra bonus and to make sure this program is still valid long after you sign up ㇐ you’ll have access to all future updates I make to keep this course a top French learning product ㇐ at no additional charge.
The last time I launched an update was in February (2021) ㇐ it focused on daily speaking exercises. Before that, I rolled out another update in October (2020), that restructured the entire course based on feedback from previous students, to make it even better.
I plan to keep developing the different areas even further in the future so this is not a course that gets lost in time.
This course is not for you if:
This course is for you if:
WHY JOIN THIS ONLINE COURSE?
Why wouldn’t I just...
Buy a book?
You can. I have published a few books and audiobooks on learning French myself that are featured here on Talk in French, and I know there are other great books out there for learning by yourself.
But it takes a good amount of time and self-discipline to read through each step of a language book and apply the method presented.
Plus when you need to keep up with the rest of your life ㇐ a job, your family, daily tasks, and some kind of social life ㇐ it’s gonna take much longer and a lot of self-discipline to evaluate your progress without anyone there to guide or help you.
Get a tutor?
Tutoring can be great. I used to help students as a tutor and would often see good and fast results. Especially once you find what specific parts of French you struggle with, it’s certainly one of the most effective ways to learn.
But it will easily cost you around $20-$40 per hour which means moving through an entire beginners level can ramp up quickly.
Use free YouTube video or language learning apps?
Yes, there's certainly a lot of free material out there that's very helpful. I offer some of it on my YouTube channel and blog as well.
The drawback is that if you're ready to move on from the 'introduction phase' it’s up to yourself to sort through everything that’s out there and organize a structure with appropriate lessons that are right for you.
You’ll likely have to combine several different approaches and material and be your own judge about when it’s time to increase difficulty to keep moving forward ㇐ and figure out how to test it.
Here's what students say about Complete Beginner French:
"It allows me what I did not have before..."
"I decided that I wanted to take the next step and enroll in the intermediate French course. I have greatly enjoyed this course so far. It allows me what I did not have before, which is to have my work checked, to have a teacher willing to explain and give feedback, and to receive simple, concise, but challenging grammar lessons."
PRISCILLA LAASE // Talk in French Beginner Graduate
"It’s all helping to boost my self-esteem. Thank you!"
"I studied French at school (a LONG time ago!) and could ‘get by’ when going on holiday to France. However, a few years ago we bought a property in France so my French HAD to improve.
I’ve taken lots of courses but this one is VERY easy to access to practice things I’ve already been introduced to.
The things that really impress me though are a) the relevancy to modern-day events and b) the very quick and personal feedback I receive. It’s all helping to boost my self-esteem. Thank you!"
LOU O'BRIEN // Talk in French Beginner Graduate
"Now I have the opportunity to make mistakes and have them corrected."
"Now I have the opportunity to make mistakes and have them corrected. The exercises are returned very promptly before I have a chance to forget the problems I had in writing them, which is much appreciated.
I had been teaching myself French and reached the point where I had to make a decision; find a course that suited me or give up. I'm happy I found Frederic and his courses, they are exactly what I need. Once I've completed the Complete Beginner Course, I intend to continue to the Intermediate and hopefully advanced levels."
ANGELA DOUGLASS // Talk in French Beginner Graduate
"Before the course, my listing comprehension was below average. Now, it has improved greatly."
The most useful parts of the course are the listening exercises and writing exercises. I believe my listing comprehension has greatly increased, and the writing exercises guide me into creating grammatically correct French.
Before the course, my listing comprehension was below average. Now, it has improved greatly. Before the course, I did almost no writing, as I was using Babel, which does not require writing. Now, I write short essays as I complete each section of the course.
LAWRENCE JONES // Talk in French Beginner Graduate
"I have a sense of building up the knowledge and advancing step by step."
I felt passionate about French when I started learning. I grabbed whatever I could learn from. It was fun at the beginning but soon I felt I was lost, drowning in so many materials and information. I realized I didn't have the proper grammatical knowledge and direction. I did not know where to start.
This is why I took the course. And I am glad I did. The course provides me the solid knowledge and just enough amount of practice. I like the quick feedback from the teacher on essay quizzes. It motivates me a lot when I receive personalized feedback. We still need that human touch, I guess.
I have a sense of building up the knowledge and advancing step by step. I especially like recording tools where I can verify my pronunciation.
SUMIE GOTO // Talk in French Beginner Graduate
Zero-Risk, 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
There are absolutely zero risks in enrolling. If you find these online courses do not meet your expectations, you can request a refund within 30 days. No questions asked.
30 Days
Lifetime access
If you enroll in this course now, you'll also be given lifetime access to the course materials, bonus items, and anything else that might be added to this course as it develops in the future.
40 FINE-TUNED LESSONS THAT FOCUS ON SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE FRENCH
A PERSONAL TRAINING PROGRAM WHERE YOU GET PRACTICAL WRITING FEEDBACK
A PROVEN LEARNING METHOD BUILT OVER A DECADE OF TEACHING FRENCH
DOWNLOADABLE AUDIO FILES TO LEARN ON THE GO
EACH DAILY LESSON CAN BE COMPLETED IN 1 HOUR
A STRUCTURED LEARNING PLAN THAT'S EASY TO FOLLOW
So what are you waiting for? Enroll now and start improving your French today.
Join Complete Beginner French by clicking the button below.
Full access:
[149.90 USD, 149.90 EUR, 179 CAD, 129 GBP, 199 AUD]
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Frequently Asked Questions
You'll hit the ground running and start speaking from day 1 with the speaking exercises inside the course. If you follow the basic requirement most students finish a complete course within 3 months by spending up to 30 minutes a day. If you decide to follow the most ambitious plan I designed, (5 hours a week), you'll complete the course within 8 weeks.
No problem, I realize something can happen in life where you won't be able to study as much as you'd like, so I offer lifetime access to any course you join. This includes access to any updates that I add in the future after you join.
Yes, I’ll personally correct your in-course writing assignments and give you feedback on everything from how you put your sentences together to your choice of words and grammar.
There's also a comment section inside each course where you can ask me about each lesson and you can always email me about any topic related to the French culture and language at: contact@talkinfrench.com
I offer a 30-day money back guarantee. That means if it's completely different from what you expected or you don't see any progress at all -- you have a chance to quit. I'll refund you at any time in the first 30 days.
It doesn't happen often but if you find the level you joined is either too easy or too difficult I will happily let you switch to another level, (up or down), at no extra cost.
This is about you getting the best results so I don't want you to struggle through a level that isn't right for you. (This is also covered by the 30-day guarantee).
Don't hesitate to contact the course creator, (which conveniently is me), if you have any questions about a course you're looking at. You can write me on this email address: contact@talkinfrench.com
JOIN NOW!
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