How much does it cost to learn French?

Hi, I'm Chris. Head teacher at OuiCommunicate.

We're home to speakers of English who wish for a step up from traditional French classes by means of bilingual learning.

Let's address the question of how much it would cost to learn French. As with all things, there's a simple answer and a longer one.

Hopefully, this plan of action will give you a better idea.

1. The short answer

Our price: 860 USD* in 43 classes.

In this video to the right, you see one of our students achieve French in a year and under 200 hours.

The learning material she used is exactly the one you have on this website. And the teacher is the same too.

We followed a similar plan as the one below.

2. The detailed answer

In the short answer above, you have an estimate of the cost it will take to learn French: 860 USD.

This being said, there are variables to consider and that make the final number less predictable.

There are parts of the language like a driving test: a yellow square in the street means "right of way".

Knowing the meaning of this road sign is like knowing that "ne....pas" in French means "not".

Let's call this the Rational knowledge. It's all listed in our Plan.

How long it takes you to learn the meaning of "ne...pas" is something that you have a lot of control over. You can speed it up or slow it down.

After all, it just takes the self-discipline to sit down and memorize it. This part of French can go relatively quickly: you memorize the key verbs, the rules of pronunciation, the tenses...And before you know it, the job is done.

This part of learning French can be done in months, especially if the learning is well-organized such as this website proposes.

The Rational part of learning is important for 2 reasons: it allows you to self-correct and it checks you have not skipped any important bases.

With time, the more we get good at a language, the less we rely on the Rational and the more it becomes Automatic knowledge.

We no longer have to think that "ne...pas" means "not". It is now Automatic and comes out as fast as we want to say it.

The Automatic part is a learner's main aim. It includes speaking and hearing. In the beginning, French will sound all muddled unless we speak to you slowly.

This is the part that we cannot bring down to a number. It is impossible to say when exactly you will understand French at native-level speed.

For some it comes sooner, others later. Multiple hours of exposure to targeted French listening and conversations will help you get there.

The Rational knowledge will always help you strengthen the Automatic part. These are not 2 exercises that are opposed!

Who are we?

How it works?

3. Terminology we use

We purposely used the term "learn" French as opposed to "know" or "speak" French.

When a student has learned French, we consider that they can understand and use the main parts of the language on which the other parts are built.

For example, you know how adjectives work, you understand the tenses, the pronouns, you know several hundreds of words that allow you to express most ideas in a correct way.

In sum, you know the skeleton of French. The structure upon which the rest is built.

Whether you speak fast or slow does not enter into our calculation. This is rather the Automatic part that comes with experience and practice.

In our 20 min meetups together, we will consider that you have learned French when you are capable of pronouncing the words in the right way, or when you can put a certain verb in the tense of your choice.

We will assess if there is any more learning to be done.

Our goal together will be to provide you with the essential tools of French. You will then be able to progress freely and speak faster and faster.

Page 1 introduces the topic in English.

Page 2 elaborates on these notions.

Pages 3 and 4 contain the written exercises.

All exercises end with the answers.

3. Lesson Plan

Below is the plan comprised of 43 classes. This plan represents the knowledge a student needs before they can comfortably say they have "learned" French. Please note that we also have vocabulary videos listed by themes on this website.

We do not expect students to memorize any number of pages indicated, but rather to understand. The pages numbers are listed for reasons of authenticity foremost.

The skills are condensed to the essentials. Every native French speaker has knowledge of these exact skills. There is nothing unnecessary except for classes 41, 42 and 43 that can be considered optional.

You have absolute control over how fast you will learn the contents of these PDF documents.

Class 1 . 20 mins.

1. PDF introduction to French with 4 sounds (6 pages) 2. PDF on essential verbs list 1 (3 pages)

Class 25 . 20 mins.

50. PDF on l'imperatif tense (13 pages) 51. PDF on French intonation (6 pages)

Class 2 . 20 mins.

3. PDF What is conjugation ? (4 pages) 4. PDF Present tense of ER verbs (6 pages) 5 PDF Gender of nouns ( pages)

Class 26 . 20 mins.

52. PDF on plus-que-parfait tense (7 pages) 53. PDF on movement of pronouns (14 pages)

Class 3 . 20 mins.

6. PDF on possessives (4 pages) 7. PDF Change of stem of ER verbs (3 pages) 8. PDF Modal verbs 1 (9 pages)

Class 27 . 20 mins.

54. PDF on future simple 2 (6 pages) 55. PDF on conditional 1 (11 pages)

Class 4 . 20 mins.

9. PDF Articles and possessives (10 pages) 10. PDF Essential verbs list 2 (3 pages) 11. PDF Verb builder 1 (2 pages)

Class 28 . 20 mins.

56. PDF Verb builder 15 (2 pages) 57. PDF le passif (9 pages)

Class 5 . 20 mins.

12. PDF Change of stem ER verbs (4 pages) 13. PDF Present tense RE verbs (9 pages)

Class 29 . 20 mins.

58. PDF pronouns EN/Y part 2 (9 pages) 59. PDF on prepositions (15 pages)

Class 6 . 20 mins.

14. PDF verb builder 2 (2 pages) 15.PDF on demonstratives (7 pages)

Class 30 . 20 mins.

60. PDF on Lequel/ Laquelle (5 pages) 61. PDF on Auquel /Duquel (8 pages)

Class 7 . 20 mins.

16. PDF Present tense IR verbs (7 pages) 17. PDF on questions (6 pages)

Class 31 . 20 mins.

62. PDF on le subjonctif 1 tense (10 pages)

Class 8 . 20 mins.

18. PDF on the plural (9 pages) 19. PDF present tense of OIR verbs (5 pages)

Class 32 . 20 mins.

63. PDF on le subjonctif Part 2 (13 pages)

Class 9 . 20 mins.

20. PDF Recap of the present tense (6 pages) 21. PDF Intro to comparatives (14 pages)

Class 33 . 20 mins.

64. PDF on Reported Speech (9 pages) 65. PDF on numbers (16 pages)

Class 10 . 20 mins.

22. PDF Le passe compose tense (13 pages)

Class 34 . 20 mins.

66. PDF on futur anterieur tense (6 pages) 67. PDF on double verbs (7 pages)

Class 11 . 20 mins.

23. PDF qui/que 7 pages. 24. PDF on comparatives part 2 (9 pages)

Class 35 . 20 mins.

68. PDF on Reflexives in other tenses (10 pages)

Class 12 . 20 mins.

25. Verb builder 3 (2 pages) 26. verb builder 4 (2 pages) 27. infinitive (9 pages)

Class 36 . 20 mins.

69 PDF on Passive part 2 (6 pages) 70. PDF on Telling the time (12 pages)

Class 13 . 20 mins.

28. PDF on the negative (14 pages)

Class 37 . 20 mins.

71. PDF on Past conditional (9 pages) 72.PDF on Accord du Verbe (5 pages)

Class 14 . 20 mins.

29. PDF French sounds part 2 (8 pages) 30. PDF Liaisons part 1 (5 pages)

Class 38 . 20 mins.

73. PDF on the gerund (6 pages) 74. PDF Participe passe (6 pages)

Class 15 . 20 mins.

31. PDF Verb builder 5 and 6 (4 pages) 32. PDF Feminine adjectives (8 pages)

Class 39 . 20 mins.

75. PDF on further uses of “ne” (6 pages)

Class 16 . 20 mins.

33. PDF Liaisons part 2 (9 pages) 34. PDF verb builder 7 and 8 (4 pages)

Class 40 . 20 mins.

76. PDF Past infinitive (14 pages)

Class 17 . 20 mins.

35. PDF l'imparfait tense (11 pages)

Class 41 . 20 mins.

77 PDF Subjonctif passe (8 pages)

Class 18 . 20 mins.

36. PDF locating in space (6pages) 37. PDF verb builder 9 and 10 (4 pages)

Class 42 . 20 mins.

78. PDF passive reflexives (9 pages) 79. PDF Past imperative (4 pages)

Class 19 . 20 mins.

40. PDF l'imparfait part 2 (9 pages) 41. PDF causes and consequences (10 pages)

Class 43 . 20 mins.

80. PDF Le passe simple (10 pages)

Class 20 . 20 mins.

42. PDF Reflexive verbs (12 pages) 43. PDF verb builder 11 and 12 (4 pages)

Class 21 . 20 mins.

44. PDF on pronouns (13 pages) 45. PDF modals 2 (12 pages)

Class 22 . 20 mins.

46. PDF on Conjunctions (10 pages)

Class 23 . 20 mins.

47. PDF Future simple tense (12 pages)

Class 24 . 20 mins

48. PDF pronouns EN/Y (7 pages) 49. PDF verb builder 13 and 14 (4 pages)

4. Rational VS Automatic

The above plan is the Rational part of French that we need. How fast it becomes Automatic is a variable no one can promise or guarantee.

You will undoubtedly find schools that propose to do the opposite: go straight to the Automatic and minimize the Rational side of French.

This method may or may not work. But one thing is for certain: you are now making yourself 100% dependent on the teacher and exposing yourself to uncontrolled and unpredictable costs.

This method also implies that your "natural" conversations are taken in every possible direction to be sure to cover every base listed above.

For example, one week you might only speak in the future tense, or you might only speak using a certain type of sentence structure.

But the big question with this Automatic approach is "when"?

When will you have covered every part of French that is necessary? When will it be set in your mind?

When will you know the word for "beach ball", "horse stable" or "pothole"? When will you be sure to master the Past Perfect tense?

Such schools justify their approach by comparing it to the natural way we learn languages as children. And yet they always seem to omit that even in our first language we still go to State school to work on our English for several years.

Wouldn't it be funny if State schools told parents "Oh we just do fun activities and speak English in class".

The way OuiComunicate teaches French, you have absolute certainty to cover all bases because they are all lined up and waiting on this website. 43 classes.

Under our guidance and advice, you will knock down the skills like dominoes until there are none left.

Whichever way your personal preference as a student lies, our approach has at least the advantage of sounding like a real plan. There is a direction and an end goal in sight.

Doing the opposite and hoping to turn the Automatic learning into Rational knowledge necessitates the presence of the teacher at all times. And that is costly.

It also leads to a wide open question: "when?"

When will you master the contents of classes 34 or 36?

That is the issue that we find with the Automatic approach.

Sample 1 (novice)

This sample lesson for beginners explains the logic behind the gender of nouns.

Sample 2 (mid)

Intermediate-level students can easily learn to master numbers in French.

Sample 3 (advanced)

Our advanced students soon understand how to use the more complex French tenses!

5. What next?

We are able to keep the costs down thanks to our method of teaching. All your study time at home is free and we limit our presence to the essentials.

Our classes only last for 20 minutes and are closer to assessments. Your teacher will chat with you in French and ask you several questions about the latest topic you studied.

You come to the class well prepared, ready to dazzle us with your knowledge. You can also come with questions.

Doing this job for several years, we have become experts at spotting the gaps in students' French. Just as a plumber repairs a pipe or a doctor prescribes fresh air and exercise, so do we.

It may seem to go against the grain, but we have long noticed that too much time is wasted in "traditional" classes. You could literally narrow down to 2 minutes of actual learning for every 60 min that you pay for.

The lady in the video above always used our written exercises and videos, which she then combined with more and more speaking.

Because she learned the Rational, she is able to self-correct and knows where to look for answers.

The more she learned and the more she spoke, the more her French became automatic.

By learning French with our system, you could use your 20 minutes in class to go over 30 minutes' worth of studying or 4 hours. It only depends on you.

The final cost of your learning of French is entirely in your hands. You can regulate it by diminishing the frequency of the classes and expanding their contents.

So why is not every language school doing this? Frankly, because they follow what tradition tells them. They sell time instead of selling skills. We're not in that business.

Book a free Q&A!

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Wish to know more? Phone Chris now or send a Whatsapp message to +1 860-339-6480.