subject: Free French Language Lesson Online - Just A Waste Of Time? [print this page] A French language lesson, one-to-one, with a French speaking tutor, is undoubtedly the best way to learn French. For most of us it's not a practical choice. Never mind the cost - which can be pretty scary - there's fitting in the time as well. So what about the free French language lessons online? Are they any good or are you just wasting your time?
You can understand why some people almost end up tearing their hair out in the search for a decent way of learning French for free on the internet. There are many, many sites and blogs, but an awful lot of advertising. Some offers are understandable, the "free" sites still have costs they need to cover, but in a lot of cases it's difficult to find the actual French language lessons among all the other things being thrown at you!
Don't give up. There are good free sites that can give you plenty of useful French words and phrases. Certainly you should be able to pick up plenty of things that you can use in all kinds of different situations. It's relatively easy to learn enough French to be able to get yourself a drink and something to eat or to ask directions. If you are taking a French vacation and visiting one of the big tourist areas, you will more than likely run into a fair number of English-speakers anyway!
So is trying to learn French online a waste of time? Definitely not. Why pay if you don't have to? You might find some sites frustrating but that's OK, just move on. All it's costing you is a few minutes of your time.
If you need to learn to speak French fluently, it's a bit of a different scenario. Sites offering free French lessons will give you some very useful snippets of the language but there's a limit to their usefulness if you want to learn more. Sorry, but the fact is that speaking fluent French is going to involve you putting your hand in your purse or pocket!
The good news here is not just the ability of modern courses to help you learn French fast, but also the relatively low cost. Although some French CD lessons can be hundreds and hundreds of dollars there are popular French downloads that can be bought for little more than you would pay for a session or two of personal tuition. What's more, some downloads have the benefit of short "try before you buy" courses so you can see whether you like it before deciding.
If you can afford someone to give you personal French language lessons it is without doubt the fastest way to learn. For the rest of us, learning French for free online is a good start and French downloads can teach you to be confident speaking the language in a remarkably short time.
