How to learn French from home: 6 things you can do right now

Do you have some time on your hands to learn French, but no idea how to do it without going to class or moving to a French speaking country?

If so, you’re in for a treat.

I have gathered 6 tips that will allow you to learn French efficiently, even if you can’t go out of your home. These are all actions you can take right now.

If you like this video, click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I make new videos frequently, all about French learning strategy & mindset; the two things that are sorely missing from most French learning books & classes.

When you are stuck at home or generally outside of any environment that’s naturally in French, the biggest risk is to learn a language that is disconnected from reality or from what you need to learn for your own life, current or future. So you need to be extra careful to choose how you learn French, to make sure that you really learn what you need, and not irrelevant tidbits that you’ll never use.

I will show you how to do that with 6 life-changing tips. Make sure you watch it until the end, and especially apply it.

First, let’s look at the biggest pitfall you need to avoid:

Many of us would be tempted to just reach out to that French learning method we’ve had on the shelf forever and/or to just start doing grammar exercises.

This is inefficient for four reasons:

It’s typically boring and we’re very likely to give up
French learning methods often teach a language that’s polished or even downright old-fashioned. You don’t want to learn a language that’s different from what natives actually speak.
Grammar exercises are only useful when they are carefully chosen for what you need right now, and combined with a speaking-focused method. If you do grammar exercises without mindfully selecting them, all you’ll get good at is doing these grammar exercises. It’s not what you want, what you want is to speak and understand French in real life.
These methods rarely leverage the power of your subconscious. And since about 80-90% of what you do isn’t completely conscious, not taking this into account results in a huge waste of energy, time and money.

So, now that we know what not to do, how can we overcome these pitfalls and learn French for real? I’ve gathered 6 tips that can truly help you learn French while you’re at home.

All of them are geared towards learning real life French language with an efficient strategy, using both your conscious mind and your subconscious mind.

1) Use your physical environment

There is a huge advantage to being stuck in the same place for a long time: this place becomes really familiar to you, and any new thing will be noticed immediately. You can use this to your advantage. Now is the time to learn those tricky vocabulary words and verb conjugation for good.

The best way to assimilate them is to see it often. So, write them in big letters on sheets of papers and stick these to any surface of your home. Favourites include bathroom mirrors, bedside tables, fridge doors, computer desktop and even screensavers. But when you’re stuck at home, there is no limit to the surfaces you can use. As long as it’s in a room where you spend a lot of time and it’s in plain sight at least part of the time, you’re good.

So, get crazy. Is there a cupboard you open 3 times a day? Stick a verb conjugation inside. You can write a French sentence structure that has been difficult to remember on a narrow slip of paper and stick it on the edge of your cutlery drawer. Once you know them by heart - and that will happen faster than you think - you can replace them with new ones.

Maybe it will drive your family crazy but it’s worth it.

Now that we’ve covered - literally - everything visual, let’s move on to what we can do with our sense of hearing. It won’t be a surprise for many of you…

2) Daily French bath

I have made an entire article about it, so I will link it here and I won’t elaborate much in this article.. The main idea of the daily French bath is to find real life French content, wether in audio or video that you can listen to.
For it to work optimally, you need to:

- choose content that you really like,
- and to be relaxed while you listen to it.

It’s not necessary to understand it, just trust that your brain will pick it up, and relax. I know this is counter intuitive but trust me on this, the more relaxed you are, the better it works.

Now if you are wondering how these tips can even work, or if you want a more comprehensive strategy than just applying the advice I give on this channel in no particular order, my 3rd tip is for you:

3) Sign up for the French Fluency Accelerator

Or if you’re already signed up, watch the workshops and do the exercises.

In the French Fluency Accelerator program, I go so much deeper than I can ever do in these short articles. Every workshop is at least sixty minutes long and I give you the entire strategy to achieve a particular result you need, such as making sentences fast in a conversation, mastering the verbs, creating a curriculum that works for you, and so much more.
So far, we have 9 workshops, and I make a new one every month.
You get access to all the past workshops as soon as you sign up, and you can cancel anytime.
So if you are stuck at home for a few weeks or months, it’s the perfect time to join the program and start making the most of it.
And if you’re already in the program, now is the best time to catch up on any workshop you’ve missed, or to watch them again and go one step deeper on a topic you haven’t mastered yet. As you know, the workshops are meaty and you’ll understand a little more every time you watch them.

4) Take online classes with native speakers

Thanks to the power of the internet, you have now access to more French teachers, tutors and coaches than you’ll ever be able to work with - all without leaving your home.

The online options range from very cheap tutoring to high quality coaching.

If you’re looking for an affordable option, you can use platforms like italki to find a tutor (affiliate link). You might have to try working with a few different people until you find someone that’s competent and you resonate with.

If you’re looking for a very efficient option, you can go for high quality fully personalized 1-1 coaching, which is what I do. If you’re ready to get serious about French learning and to make the most of your time at home, you can book a free 30 minutes call with me to talk about it with no strings attached.

5) Engage with French speakers on social media.

All big social media are used by native French speakers who communicate in French. It’s the best way to engage with actual, raw French language, the way it’s spoken - including all the grammar and spelling mistakes that natives do, as a bonus. This is real life French!

Twitter, instagram, facebook, reddit, or even tiktok, you can pick your favourite. On some of these you can follow hashtags in French about your favorite topics, and you will receive a constant stream of real-life French language on your feeds. Of course, you’ll also want to subscribe to French channels or follow the accounts of French people you like so you keep in touch with them, and learn a little more French each time they post - and you can start conversations with them too.

You can also comment below their Youtube videos. I answer all the comments on my YouTube channel.

6) Read the articles on this blog & apply their tips

Most of the tips I give in these articles & in my videos can be applied from home. That’s just because I’m a huge introvert and if something can be done at home, I won’t even try to do it elsewhere. I have made a playlist with all the videos that will help you learn French from home.

A really important part of French learning is selecting the right vocabulary and memorizing it.

This is why I have made this video for you, and I strongly recommend you watch it next.

Your next steps

If you like this way of learning French, you will love to learn with me as a student or client. Please check out:

My 1-1 coaching program, The French Transformation, if you need to improve your French fast.
My group program, The French Fluency Accelerator, if you’d like to join a community of students from all over the world. We have weekly practice calls together and the best online video library to learn French.