French Lessons

Learn French Step by Step: A 30-Day Starter Plan

A simple 30-day plan to learn French from zero in 15 minutes a day: sounds, greetings, numbers, ordering food, and your first short conversation.

You will not be fluent in a month. You can, however, go from nothing to a real, short conversation. Fifteen minutes a day, in this order.

Week 1: Sounds and greetings

• Learn the alphabet and the sounds that are new: the nasal vowels, the "r," the "u."
• Greetings: bonjour, bonsoir, salut, au revoir, merci, s'il vous plaît.
• Introduce yourself: "Je m'appelle..." and "Je suis de Marikina."
• Goal: say hello, your name and where you are from, out loud, without reading.

Week 2: Numbers, time and "I would like"

• Numbers 1 to 20, then tens to 100.
• Days of the week.
• The most useful phrase in French: "Je voudrais..." (I would like...).
• Goal: order something. Practise with our 20 French phrases for ordering coffee.

Week 3: Verbs you need

• être (to be) and avoir (to have) in the present tense.
• aller (to go), vouloir (to want), pouvoir (to be able to).
• Questions: où, quand, combien, pourquoi, qu'est-ce que.
• Goal: ask three questions and understand the answers.

Week 4: A real conversation

• Talk about your day in five sentences.
• Likes and dislikes: "J'aime..." and "Je n'aime pas..."
• Learn to say "Can you repeat that?" ("Vous pouvez répéter ?") and "More slowly, please" ("Plus lentement, s'il vous plaît").
• Goal: a two-minute conversation with another human.

Daily routine

1. Five minutes listening. A podcast or video for beginners.
2. Five minutes speaking. Repeat phrases out loud.
3. Five minutes writing. Three sentences in a notebook.

That last step matters. A French page in your journal each day is the cheapest tutor there is.

After day 30

Find people. A weekly conversation session keeps you going when apps stop being fun. If you want a structured course next, see French lessons in Marikina: your options.