Best Resources for Learning French

1. French in Action

I am all for learning French. And the best way to do it is by immersing yourself in the French speaking environment. Well, this video course offers much more than that. It also gives you some invaluable insight in the French culture and life-style. The story line follows a French girl Mireille, and her friendship with Robert, un garçon Americain. It’s interwoven with explanations of  French grammar and overall rather amusing. French in Action has been uploaded on several websites including YouTube.

2. The Pictorial French Course.

This course was created in the 19th century but it’s still one of the best resources out there. Each lesson has a page on grammar, followed by a picture with names of the things drawn. Then follow exercises and dialogues in French. It’s a great book and I use it constantly. It can be found at www.archive.org

3. The Whole French Language by Theodore Robertson.

This book is old as well but I consider it an excellent companion to the above mentioned guides. Each lesson has a text with literal and good English translations, and is divided into three separate sections. The first section deals with conversational French mostly, and is suitable for those who desire to learn to speak fast. The second and third sections explain the grammar and the rules of word usage, also phonetics, linguistics etc. I like this course, because it’s easy and helps you start speaking really fast! It also can be found at www.archive.org.

Ideally, it is best to use the three courses all together, because then you get a full coverage of the French language and if by chance you haven’t understood something by watching French in Action, for instance, you can go to the two other options and see how well you succeed there, then go back to French in Action. That’s what I do anyway. I also would recommend reading a book or two about France and life of the Parisians or French people in general. It makes it more fun and gives you more pleasure to study the language.