Study New Languages Resource directory · word-roots method · tools

A1–A2 starter

Free course anchors, First 500, cognate awareness, and gentle listening before full TV.

What to do this month

  1. Use FSI / Live Lingua French as free course anchors with audio.
  2. Practice the First 500 French words with flashcards and quiz mode.
  3. Pair drills with gentle listening and reading from the resource list.
  4. Open a few families in the Explorer so cognates start working for you.

A realistic weekly rhythm

  • Most days: 10 minutes high-frequency words or roots, then 15 minutes gentle listening you can finish.
  • One longer day: invent three sentences from today’s family and re-listen without relying on subtitles.

Keep sessions short enough to finish. A twenty-five minute loop you repeat beats a two-hour Sunday binge you abandon. If a day collapses, restart with listening only — do not punish yourself with a backlog.

French-specific traps

  • Liaison anxiety blocking all speaking.
  • Gender chaos without article chunks.
  • Duolingo-only plans with no listening finish line.
  • Jumping to TV5 before graded audio feels easy.

Media choice this month

Graded podcasts / slow beginner video; finish clips.

Output task

Daily two sentences from Explorer families; week-3 45-second voice note.

French cognates accelerate reading — force listening/speaking so you do not become a silent reader.

Beginner operating system (French)

Cognates accelerate reading — force listening and speaking so you do not become a silent recognizer. Liaison anxiety is not a reason to stay mute.

Week-by-week month

  1. Free course anchor (FSI/Live Lingua) + First 500
  2. Explorer families; article+noun chunks for gender
  3. Graded podcasts finished; five spoken sentences/day
  4. 45-second voice note; optional short tutor survival dialogues
Cette semaine j’écoute des vidéos faciles.
J’écris cinq phrases avec mon dictionnaire.
Je veux parler un peu plus demain.

Traps

  • Liaison panic blocking all speech
  • Duolingo-only plans with no finishable listening
  • TV5 before graded audio feels easy
  • Gender chaos without article chunks

A solid practice day

Finish one listening or reading piece you can actually complete. Invent three new sentences from today’s roots or word set. Record a short spoken retell (about a minute). If the input is too hard, step down one level — don’t open another app. Note whether you stalled on vocabulary, grammar frames, or just not wanting to speak. Do this on three weekdays before adding new materials from the resource list.

When narration stalls, force a two-minute past-tense story daily for a week. When synthèse leaks opinion, strike every first-person stance sentence. When listening feels fake, use the fifteen-minute listen guide and retell out loud. When speaking stalls, book a short tutor session even if the grammar still feels messy.

Browse French resources First 500 words Topic decks Root Explorer Quick practice Conjugation Explorer 7-day plan

Method overview: word roots that travel. Not sure this is your band? Re-check your starting line.