Want to level up your French without spending a fortune? This article covers some of the best French learning websites, many of which are free to use. Whether you’re just starting out or already mastering the language, there’s a resource here to help you improve.
The sites are divided into three categories:
- Web apps provide mostly interactive exercises with some explanations of how the language works.
- Blogs and articles offer primarily, well, articles on various aspects of learning French, although some are supplemented with simple exercises.
- Video and audio courses take you from A to Z in an entertaining and structured way, plus help you improve your comprehension skills.
Sidenote: We also have a detailed review of the best apps to learn French.
Web apps
Kwiziq
Kwiziq is a web app focused on teaching French grammar. It identifies gaps in your knowledge through quizzes and provides in-depth lessons to help you improve. The platform offers detailed statistics and visual tools, making it easy to see your growth over time.
While Kwiziq excels at explaining the structure of the language, it’s not as effective at teaching vocabulary or providing speaking practice.
The app is suitable for learners at any level. It’s paid but has a free version that gives access to all lessons and a limited number of quizzes each month.
Memrise
Memrise is an effective app for expanding your French vocabulary. The core learning experience is built around flashcards that teach you common words and phrases, supplemented with images and videos of native speakers. The app utilizes clever memorization techniques, gamification, and AI.
The main downside of Memrise is that it doesn’t go much beyond vocabulary and offers little in the way of grammar or speaking practice.
The app is best suited for beginners and early intermediate learners. It offers both free and paid versions. On the free plan, you can access most of the lessons, but some advanced features are restricted.
Busuu
Busuu offers a comprehensive approach to learning French. Its bite-sized lessons cover reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills through simple, gamified exercises. One of its standout features is the ability to get feedback on your speaking and writing from native speakers.
While well-rounded, Busuu’s lessons feel a bit too short and the feedback from native speakers can sometimes be inconsistent in quality.
This app will be helpful for learners at the beginner and early intermediate levels. It has both free and paid versions, with the free version giving you access to core lessons and basic features.
French Together
French Together is a web app designed to quickly teach you how to have everyday conversations in French. It covers common topics, each with a small set of phrases that you practice through reading, listening, and pronunciation exercises, gradually building up to participating in a dialog. You also get useful grammar tips along the way.
This app is best suited for beginners looking for a crash course in conversational French, without going too deep into any of the topics. It’s a paid service with a 7-day free trial, there is no free version.
G.U.T.S. (Get Up to Speed)
G.U.T.S. is an audio-based course from News in Slow French that offers simple lessons combining grammar, vocabulary, and some conversational practice. These lessons are presented through real-life dialogues and stories, with quizzes and activities to reinforce what you learn. The course feels like a conversation that gradually builds up your understanding of French.
G.U.T.S. is intended for complete beginners. A few topics are available for free, however the full course requires a subscription. It’s part of the broader learning platform, which teaches French through audio lessons.
TV5Monde
TV5Monde is a platform that teaches French through authentic videos, including news broadcasts, documentaries, and TV shows. The lessons are divided by skill level and topic, allowing you to watch videos that match your proficiency and interests. Each video comes with interactive exercises.
TV5Monde is great for improving comprehension, however, it is less focused on grammar and speaking practice.
The platform is best suited for intermediate to advanced learners. It’s completely free to use.
Clozemaster
Clozemaster is a game designed to help you improve your French vocabulary through mass exposure to words in context. It’s based on fill-in-the-blank exercises, where you complete sentences by choosing the correct word. It also offers basic listening and speaking exercises.
While Clozemaster can teach you new words and help you better understand language structure, it’s not very useful for other aspects of language learning. Additionally, the experience can feel repetitive over time.
The app is best for intermediate learners. The free version allows you to get in a decent amount of learning each day and access most features.
Anki
Anki is a highly customizable flashcard tool designed to help you memorize vocabulary effectively. It uses spaced repetition to ensure you review words at optimal intervals, increasing your chances of retaining them long-term. The app allows you to create your own flashcards or download pre-made decks, and supports multimedia content like images, audio, and video.
While the app excels at vocabulary retention, it lacks interactive features like speaking practice or grammar exercises. Its interface can also be a bit complex. Anki has a basic web version, but to use all content and features you’ll need to download the desktop or mobile app.
Anki is suitable for learners at any level. The Android and web versions are free, while the iOS app requires a small one-time fee.
Blogs and articles
Lawless French
Lawless French is a popular site offering a wide range of lessons on grammar, vocabulary, listening, and pronunciation. You can take them as a cohesive course or pick and choose topics you’re interested in. Many lessons are paired with interactive quizzes. The site also includes other useful features like verb tables and daily practice ideas.
It’s a great resource for learners at all levels, from beginners to advanced. Most of the site is free, but some interactive activities are behind a paywall.
Lingolia
Lingolia is a site with detailed articles on grammar and vocabulary, supplemented by interactive exercises. You can search by topics like tenses, pronouns, and sentence structure.
The site offers plenty of useful content, but it serves more as a supplementary reference resource rather than a cohesive course. Additionally, it doesn’t provide much audio content.
Lingolia is suitable for learners of all levels. All articles are free, but you’ll need to pay to access more than one exercise per article.
French Today blog
The French Today blog offers hundreds of free articles on French grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, culture, and other topics. It also features bilingual stories, allowing you to practice reading. The content is mostly geared toward beginner and intermediate learners.
The Perfect French with Dylane
The Perfect French with Dylane is a site offering a variety of learning resources, including video tutorials, grammar exercises, and interactive quizzes. Dylane emphasizes a practical approach, ensuring that learners can apply their skills in real-life situations. This site is aimed at beginners and intermediate learners, with most of the content available for free.
Talk in French blog
The Talk in French blog features articles on grammar and vocabulary organized by level. Additionally, it offers listening exercises, learning tips, and insights into French culture. It’s targeted primarily at beginners and intermediate learners. Most content is accessible for free, with some paid extra resources.
Comme Une Française blog
Comme Une Française is a popular site run by French teacher Géraldine Lepère. She creates different types of articles and videos, most of which provide small tips and tricks to help you improve your French. Géraldine’s content is primarily targeted at beginners and intermediate learners.
Français avec Pierre blog
Français avec Pierre is a blog by popular French teacher and educator Pierre Babon. It offers free articles on various topics, from grammar to pronunciation, often paired with relevant YouTube videos and audio clips. All the content is in French and aimed at intermediate to advanced students.
La Langue Française
La Langue Française is a blog by French educator Nicolas Le Roux. He shares interesting articles about learning French, covering everything from common phrases and grammar to literature and proverbs. It’s all in French and completely free.
Le Point du FLE
Le Point du FLE is a big online directory that links to thousands of French resources, like grammar articles, vocabulary exercises, and practice materials. You can search by specific topics, such as verb conjugation or pronunciation. The site also offers exercises for listening, reading, and writing practice.
Le Point du FLE packs a lot of content, but since it relies on links to external resources, the quality and style of the content varies.
The site caters to learners of all levels, although it’s completely in French. It’s free to use.
Video and audio courses
French in Action
French in Action is a free video course from Yale University, created in the 1980s. It stands out for its immersive approach, teaching entirely in French through the story of two main characters. This method helps you get used to spoken French in real-life situations, avoiding English explanations.
While many learners love the course, it can feel a bit outdated and ramps up in difficulty pretty quickly. Even though it’s aimed at beginners, it’s a good idea to brush up on basic vocabulary before diving in.
Coffee Break French
Coffee Break French is a popular free podcast featuring well-produced and easy-to-follow lessons perfect for a quick coffee break. The course is split into four seasons, catering to learners from absolute beginners to advanced.
For those wanting to take their learning further, Coffee Break French offers premium courses for each season, which come with bonus audio materials, video episodes, and lesson notes.
InnerFrench
InnerFrench is an excellent podcast aimed at intermediate French learners who want to boost their comprehension skills through immersive content. The host, Hugo Cotton, speaks clearly and at a slightly slower pace than natural speech, making the material both accessible and challenging.
Each episode lasts about 30 minutes and explores various topics, from French culture to personal insights, all without using English translations. If you have trouble keeping up, full transcripts are available on the site.
Frenchclasses.com
FrenchClasses.com is a website that provides a structured course across three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. It offers beginner lessons that progressively lead to full immersion at higher levels, emphasizing listening skills with more than 30 hours of audio content. Each lesson comes with a transcript, contextual notes, grammar explanations, and exercises.
YouTube and Spotify
While they’re not specifically French learning sites, YouTube and Spotify offer a great selection of quality free content. Some creators worth checking out are:
- Learn French with Alexa
- The Perfect French with Dylane
- Français avec Pierre
- Coffee Break French
- Learn French by Podcast
- Cultivate Your French
If you want to dive deeper, check out the detailed reviews of the best French Youtube channels and best French podcasts.
