Beginning Conversational French (Self-Paced Tutorial)

1 Introduction and Pronunciation

In this first lesson, you will learn the basics of pronunciation. Good pronunciation will help you communicate with native speakers. First, you will learn how to pronounce vowels. French uses the same alphabet as English, and the vowels are the same. This lesson wraps up with consonants, stressing syllables, and linking words together.

2 Conversation Basics

In your second lesson, you will use all that pronunciation in real sentences. You will start with some basic information and a few rules. This lesson will move to common words and some easy sentences. Finally, you will try out these new skills to talk about weather and basic numbers.

3 Numbers

Time is important to travelers, so this lesson focuses on numbers. Prior to diving in, you will review reviewing what you learned. After, you will learn how to pronoun the teens, twenties, then hundreds, thousands, and beyond. You will also learn the days and months. Calendars are a little different in France, and you will need to read them.

4 Airport

Welcome to France! In this lesson, you will learn all about transportation. You will start out at the airport. Then you will learn words about taxis, buses, trains, and my favorite, the subway.

5 Hotel

This lesson discusses hotel language.

6 Restaurants

This lesson covers food. First, you will learn about different types of French restaurants. Then you will learn general vocabulary about food and eating out. You will also learn words for various beverages.

7 Currency and Communications

In the seventh lesson, you will learn about currency and different types of communication. First, you will learn about money in France. Then you will move on to telephones, the mail, and technology.

8 Shopping

This lesson teaches you how to talk about shopping in French. First, you will learn words that are used in all stores, talk about souvenirs. Next, you will learn words for clothes, including names for colors and different types of stores.

9 Entertainment

In Lesson 9, you're going to learn French for different forms of entertainment starting with the radio. This lesson will also teach you how to talk about television and movies, sports and beaches, and circus and fairs. Finally, you will learn about zoos and amusement parks.

10 Culture

This lesson continues the conversation about entertainment. You will learn about cultural spots like museums, castles, and cathedrals. France is famous for its castles. Next, you will learn how to talk about the theater. You will learn words for plays, musicals, operas, and concerts.

11 In Case of Emergency

This lesson is about communicating during emergencies. Hopefully, you won't need to use this lesson, but life is unpredictable. It's helpful to familiarize yourself with these words and French phrases. You will learn exclamations, as well as a few French proverbs and idioms.

12 Putting It All Together

The final lesson is a review. First, you will review a few key points, such as pronunciation and linking words. Then, you will practice making your own simple sentences. All you will need to do is plug in the word you need. Next, you will learn how to ask questions, and simple sentence structure. Finally, you will learn some fun slang.