Learning French

I started learning French from scratch in August 2019, when I moved to Switzerland. This is what my journey has looked like so far.

  • August 2019 – March 2020 (7 months): In-person group classes in Geneva, 2x / week for a total of 4.5 hours. Reached level A1 after 6 months of study.
  • June 2020 – July 2020 (2 months): Finished up the semester in person after the pandemic lockdown lifted. Reached level A2 after 1 year of study.
  • May 2020 – September 2021 (16 months): Online 1:1 conversation practice with a tutor, 1x / week for 45 minutes. Online group classes via Lingoda for about 5 months during this time, 2-3x / week for 2-3 hours. Also did some informal, supplementary studying such as watching Swiss news and French-language television series. Reached level B1 after 2 years of study.
  • September – December 2021 (4 months): Online group classes again, 2x / week for 3 hours.
  • December 2021 – present (7 months and counting): In-person 1:1 classes with a private teacher in Geneva, 1x / week for 1 hour. Reached level B2 after 3 years of study.

I hope to reach high B2 / low C1 by the end of 2023 and eventually become fully fluent in French.

Blog posts on learning French

How I’m trying to learn French

Progress update: 9 months into learning French

15 useful French words/phrases to know

Best way to learn French? My experience with immersion vs. in-person classes vs. italki vs. Lingoda (2020 edition)

Best way to learn French? My experience with immersion, group classes, private teacher, italki, Lingoda, Pimsleur, and Assimil (2021 edition)

Why it’s a nightmare trying to get help when you don’t speak French well

I took French classes for a week in Antibes to improve my French. Did it work?