Learn French in France

I won’t deny that learning French is fun —I studied for a month splitting my time between Paris and Biarritz before travelling to Southern France via Bordeaux before pitching up on the beach in Nice.

I started French lessons as a beginner, not a complete beginner as I’d listened to French CD’s and had a few French lessons back in the UK (6 weeks at night school) but it was only when I got to France that my French really started to accelerate at a pace that surprised me as I didn’t realise just how much you pick up when studying in a country where French is spoken as you really do practice each day outside of the classroom.

Even if my confidence wasn’t that high to start with, by the end of week 1 I felt I’d almost reached lower elementary level of French as I’d been immersed in the language, I’d read road signs, ordered in cafes and heard nothing but French for the whole week and something was starting to click – the feeling was fantastic and a great confidence booster.  I no longer cared about looking silly when I got things wrong, I just had a go at speaking French and you know what – most of the time I was understood even if I did get a few funny looks to start with! 

If you learn French you have a chance to get a more intimate look at France. Taking a French course in France opens up a world of opportunities and promises to get you off the tourist trail where you can immerse yourself in the culture in a way that’s just not possible if you don’t speak French. 

I lived with a French host family which was great, I didn’t feel ‘mothered’ at all and was free to come & go as I pleased and my French vocabulary improved no end as you are forced to speak daily and ask for even just the basics like towels and ‘pass the salt’ – practical French all the way not to mention the amazing insight you have into life and culture living as a local.

Accents change as does dialect from country to country but all French language schools in France teach French to a level that you’d call the ‘Queen’s English’ in the UK so you don’t have to worry about where you learn French in France although it can be fun to split your French courses across different locations to experience life and different accents which will really help improve your French.

Rest assured, French courses are suitable for beginners to advanced French learners. Everyone is tested (don’t worry, there’s no gold stars or dunce hats here) on the first day before French lessons start so they can be placed in the right group for their level and will then progress rapidly but safe in the knowledge that their fellow classmates are at a similar French level to them.

Levels are generally as follows:

• Complete beginner French courses
• Beginner French courses
• Elementary French lessons (split into lower & upper)
• Intermediate French lessons (split into lower & upper)
• Advanced French courses (suitable for advanced levels of French up to fluency level)

In a month, I felt like I’d progressed my French from a beginner to upper elementary and was raring to go on my travels, confident I would be able to get by in day to day situations as well as being able to read and write French at a reasonable level if I ever needed to.

My confidence soared, I fell in love with learning the French language and soaked up new words and phrases every day without trying as my brain was now switched into ‘learn French’ mode.  Learning French is liberating, I felt like I was invited into the culture and countries I visited and no longer did I feel like ‘just a tourist’ and that can’t be bad.

To book your French course in France, visit GoLearnTo.com now