Online French Courses

Answer 1

Many of the online French courses use a variety of digitized tools and methods that immerse the learner into a fresh environment of French life and culture. These tools include audio and video lessons, flash cards, informative, downloadable PDF files and forums with supportive discussion topics. Along with the technical aspects of grammar, practice dialogue video is provided in such practical settings as restaurants and hotel and travel situations.

The British Broadcasting Company and about.com offer attractive online French courses for beginners at www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french and http://french.about.com. The BBC site has a 12-week program divided into six stages. The 24 lessons, which end in a BBC certificate, include audio and video lessons with dialogue for taxi services, communicating the weather and a trip to the chemist.

The BBC site offers other courses for the post-beginner level as well. Intermediate French lessons from the BBC are taught in two parts with several videos from a TV series based on learning French. These courses serve to help the new traveler navigate around France.

About.com has an extensive site on the rudiments of French. Lessons are organized on such topics as grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. The lessons are detailed and most of them are backed up with sound files. There is a French Listening Comprehension section with sound sections offering example exercises on different dialects. The audio dictionary has over 2,500 sound bites of words and phrases.

Several sites list current online French courses and resources. Instant-french.com is useful with references to individual instructors who provide online lessons and videos. It includes Learnfrenchvideo.com that offers a good selection of beginner videos.

The Francais interactif site from the University of Texas, laits.utexas.edu/fi, offers comprehensive classroom lessons with sound files and downloadable chapters from a textbook. Interactive lessons are provided from graduate students and faculty members.

Online French courses are flexible and can be organized to meet one's individual learning level and style. It's important to choose a site that uses a variety of tools such as interactive tests to help maintain one's motivation.