Can you become fluent in French in a year?

Anyone whose first language is English will be delighted to learn that French has a lot in common with it when it comes to vocabulary and grammar. In fact, much of English is actually directly derived from French, which is why there are so many words immediately comprehensible to English speakers (at least when written down; pronunciation is a different matter). Think of 'restaurant', 'menu' and 'baguette', to name just a few.

Relative to other languages, then, French is one of the easiest to learn - and therefore one of the quickest. Of course, that depends entirely on what level of proficiency you are aiming for. Getting a hang of the basics - that’s A1 level in the CEFR - can be done in as little as a month if you have the time and the concentration. Reaching fluency, however - that’s C2 in the CEFR - will take a lot longer and require sustained immersion in the target language.

The Foreign Service Institute in the United States has released guidelines for how long it takes to learn different languages. The languages in the list fall into four different categories:

Category I Languages: 24-30 weeks (552-690 class hours)

Category II Languages: Approximately 36 weeks (828 class hours)

Category III Languages: Approximately 44 weeks (1,012 class hours)

Category IV Languages: 88 weeks (2200 class hours)

French, alongside other European languages such as Italian and Spanish, falls into Category 1, meaning that it should - theoretically - take just over half a year of learning.

But as Steve Kaufman says, ‘While the estimates presented by the Foreign Service Institute are helpful, they do not acknowledge that most learning occurs outside of the classroom.’ Whether you achieve, come short of or surpass the FSI estimates depends on the amount of work you’re prepared to put in. ‘For languages that are more similar to English,’ says Kaufman’, I have no doubt that someone who is observant, has a positive attitude, and engages with the language for an hour or so every day should expect to see basic conversational fluency in 2-3 months.’

In fact, it can be more efficient to learn French without any ‘class hours’ at all, if by ‘class’ we mean a physical classroom shared with other students. Alexa’s Complete French Course was designed to replicate the focused environment of a classroom without the distractions or hurdles presented by sharing a class with other students. As the course is online, lessons can be taken whenever you want - there’s no need to depend on a set schedule or your teacher’s availability.

A course like The Complete French Course, which is comprised of 40 video lessons across the 6 levels of the CEFR, is essential to give structure to your learning and provide you with milestones and targets to help you keep track of your progress. We recommend between nine and 12 months to get through the materials in the course. But it’s also important to supplement your learning with additional resources if you want to learn French quickly. Podcasts, YouTube and even social media offer fantastic ways to immerse yourself in the language and accelerate your learning.