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Fluency in French is essential for living in France, and of course for working in the country, although it may be that in certain jobs (e.g. highly qualified technicians) knowledge of English is valued even more highly.

Is it difficult to learn French?

As French is a Romance language like English or Spanish, it will always be much easier for an English speaker to assimilate and master than other languages such as German. However, its pronunciation, i.e. its phonetics, is very different from that of English.  How many vowels are there in English language? Five, right?  a, e, i, o, u… because in French there are 16 different vowels! It is a language that requires much more auditory acuity than English and therefore you have to exercise your hearing by exposing it to the language continuously.

Both in UK and USA there are educational centers, called Alliance Française, which promote the teaching of French and French culture. Just some examples:

• Alliance Française London,  1 Dorset Square, Marylebone, London NW1 6PU, UK
• Alliance Française Manchester, 125 Portland St, Manchester M1 4QD, UK
• Alliance Française Cambridge, 60 Hills Rd, Cambridge CB2 1LA, UK
• Alliance Française-Devon (Totnes), Dartington Space, Room 104 Dartington Hall, Totnes TQ9 6EN, UK
• Alliance Française de Chicago, 810 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610, USA
• Alliance Française d’Indianapolis, 760 3rd Ave SW, Carmel, IN 46032, USA
• Alliance Francaise de Philadelphie, 1420 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
• Alliance Francaise Houston, 4018, 427 Lovett Blvd, Houston, TX 77006, USA

Redfrancia.com has compiled a series of online resources for you to help you improve your level of French, whether you are making your debut or already have some knowledge:

• – Collection Classics of French Literature in French
• – How to learn French at home
• – French courses in France for adults

How to learn French for free

There are many ways to learn French for free. The easiest way is to access the resources available on Internet. On the Net we have French videos with subtitles, books in pdf or epub versions, web pages to learn French, audios and much more. However, not everything is online, we can also go to the municipal libraries, search for language exchange groups in your city to practice French live and in person.

Learn French in France at work

Would you like to learn French while working in France?

If you are under 30 years old you will be able to learn French in France working as an au pair in the country.

Working as an Au-Pair is an ideal way to get in touch with the country for the first time, integrating a host family and helping them with domestic and childcare tasks, while putting your language skills into practice.

In the French region of the Côte d’Azur (French Riviera), the French language school Club RCI offers students a program in which they can work at the same time at the school, thus financing the course and accommodation during their stay in France. The jobs offered depend on the preparation, experience and level of French of the applicants. Below you can download the Learning French at Work program.

Download the Learn French in France at Work program.

Apps for learning French

Thanks to smartphones we can learn French today thanks to the language applications available for Iphone/Ipad or Android Google Play. If we do a search for French language learning applications we find at least 15 applications available to install for free on your mobile or cell phone, some of them available without internet connection. Among the most outstanding are duolingo and Babbel. In the following list of what we think are the best apps to learn French.

If you are interested in a more detailed discussion of the apps for learning French, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page.