Guides
Learning French, without the clichés
The questions I am asked most often, written down once: how long it really takes, which exam is for what, and why spoken French sounds so fast. Written by a private tutor, not by a comparison site.
How long does it really take to learn French?
What the official hour counts mean, what changes them, and what a realistic timeline looks like from A1 to B2 for an English or Russian speaker.
Read the guide → ExamsDELF, DALF, TCF: which French exam do you actually need?
The difference between a diploma for life and a certificate that expires, which one visas and universities ask for, and how the four parts are marked.
Read the guide → PronunciationThe French sounds you cannot hear yet
Why French sounds like one long word, the vowels English and Russian do not have, and what to do about the r everyone worries about.
Read the guide → SpeakingWhy you understand French but cannot speak it
Understanding and speaking are two different skills, trained differently. Why the gap opens, why it is not a level problem, and how to close it.
Read the guide → Moving to FranceMoving to France: the French you actually need
Administration, housing, doctors, school: the situations that decide whether the first year is hard, and the French each one really requires.
Read the guide → GrammarFrench grammar: what matters, and what can wait
Not all grammar is worth the same. What blocks understanding, what only marks an accent, and what you can safely postpone for two years.
Read the guide → Russian speakersLearning French when you speak Russian
What Russian gives you for free in French, what it quietly gets in the way, and the four habits that give a Russian speaker away.
Read the guide → VocabularyThe twenty verbs that carry a French conversation
A handful of verbs do most of the work in spoken French. Which ones, why they are irregular, and how to learn them in the forms you will actually use.
Read the guide → ListeningFilms and series in French: making them actually work
Watching in the original does help — but only under conditions. Which subtitles, which content, and why passive watching teaches almost nothing.
Read the guide → Choosing a formatApp, group class or private tutor: what works for what
An honest comparison, including when an app is enough and when a group class beats a private lesson. Three formats, three different jobs.
Read the guide → Everyday detailsNumbers, dates and money: what trips everyone up
Seventy is sixty-ten, ninety is four-twenty-ten, and prices are said in a way no textbook mentions. The small things that block real conversations.
Read the guide → At workFrench at work: e-mails, meetings and interviews
Professional French is a narrow, highly codified register. The formulas that open and close an e-mail, and the three moments that decide a meeting.
Read the guide → PolitenessTu or vous, and the mistakes that sound rude
Politeness in French is carried by structures, not by the word please. Which form to use, when to switch, and the three habits that sound abrupt.
Read the guide → PricesWhat French lessons cost, and what changes the price
Why the same hour costs three times more or less, what you are actually paying for, and how to tell a fair price from an expensive one.
Read the guide →A question that is not here?
The first conversation lasts twenty minutes, it is free and without commitment: we find your level and say honestly what would need working on.
Free first conversation