By Pat B Last updated: May 21, 2023

The Top 6 Online French Speaking Courses (No Boring Repetition)

I know it feels like it sometimes, but you can’t do everything online.

You still need to cook food, work out and pet your dog in real life.

French can still remain on the online list, though.

Read on to find out about the best French speaking lessons you can find online.

Can You Really Learn French Speaking from an Online Course?
Top 6 Online French Speaking Courses If You Want to Talk Like a Native

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Can You Really Learn French Speaking from an Online Course?

Just speaking French using online resources isn’t too hard to accomplish. Whether you find pronunciation tools or French videos to talk along with, the options are limitless.

However, finding an actual, interactive online French speaking class is more difficult. (That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you with our list below!) Once you do, you can make incredible progress. Here’s why:

Get Personalized Feedback on Your Speaking Skills

Although it’s true you can get feedback on your French speaking with language exchange partners, it’s not the same thing as the professional critique that only French educators can give.

It’s like replicating the same quality educational experience you receive in the classroom in the comfort of your own home.

Later in this article we’ll recommend courses that give live feedback from tutors as well as from voice recognition technology.

Improve Listening Skills, Too

This should be a no-brainer, but it’s worth mentioning. Half of conversational skills include listening, so you cannot truly learn to speak French if you cannot understand what’s being said.

Besides, we know that French can be quite difficult to understand when you’re first starting out, especially when it is spoken by a French native speaker at regular speaking speed.

For example, in the French TV show called Dix pour cent (Ten Percent) or “Call My Agent!”, as it is known in English, the words can be hard to distinguish because the sounds are all blended together in quick speech.

To combat this, French speaking courses require you to actually respond to your instructor, classmates and class materials. This will require you to listen more intently and learn to maintain a long conversation.

Depending on the course, you may also be exposed to a variety of French accents that’ll give you broad French understanding.

Get a Portable French Classroom

Online French speaking classes, like any online resource, are always with you. Whether you’re heading to work or waiting in line at the grocery store, you can log onto your class and practice or make course progress.

You might get a few stares for practicing speaking in public, however! My strategy is to speak in a “slight” whisper.

It’s always a good idea to practice French speaking in your spare time because, as the saying goes, you “use it or lose it.”

Top 6 Online French Speaking Courses If You Want to Talk Like a Native

1. Learn from Native Speaker Professors at Lingoda

With classes tailored to all needs and types of students, Lingoda is a great resource for learning to actually speak French.

You’ll interact with native French teachers:

Lingoda only employs native French speaking teachers, which means you’ll receive some of the best speaking practice possible. Although non-natives can be great French teachers, only natives can train your ears with an authentic accent.

Often students have trouble understanding native speakers if their teacher speaks in a familiar accent, similar to their own. By starting out with native speakers, you’ll understand spoken French must faster.

You’ll practice in real-time with one-on-one classes:

One of the advantages that sets Lingoda apart from the rest is the one-on-one interaction students receive with their teacher or tutor.

Face-to-face instruction means you have 100% of your teacher’s attention, letting you progress through the skill levels offered by Lingoda with ease.

Speaking of…

Courses are available for all skill levels:

If you stick with Lingoda, you can graduate from A1 (absolute beginner) to C2 (most advanced) speaking.

Not sure what level your French speaking skills are at? With personal advisers who can professionally assess your strengths and weaknesses, Lingoda has removed the guesswork from knowing which class to start with.

You can find speaking lessons focused on what you want:

Although speaking involves skills applicable to all subjects, Lingoda still lets you customize your courses based on your priorities. There are specific courses for business French, French for beginners and more.

Plus, the one-on-one lessons ensure that you get totally personalized instruction that’s relevant to you.

2. Experience Real-world Spoken French with FluentU

Ever learn a phrase in a French class, only to find out that native French speakers would never say it in real life?

FluentU is designed to avoid that issue because its lessons are based entirely on authentic French content.

Learn to speak and understand naturally with interactive subtitles:

Every FluentU video comes with interactive subtitles. Click on any French word for an instant definition, isolated pronunciation, grammar info and useful examples. You’ll learn how to use new words naturally in real contexts.

There’s also a quick loop button so you can conveniently repeat a short part of the clip and repeat after it.

Practice with a wide variety of French accents and conversations:

There are more than 1,000 French videos on FluentU for all levels and representing a range of accents—like Parisian, Québécois, Senegalese, etc. They also cover a wide range of topics, from business to politics to humor and lots more.

Always keep moving toward fluency:

The FluentU app will automatically track your progress and provide you with personalized quizzes accordingly.

You can also set a custom daily learning goal to keep your lessons on track.

3. Fine-tune Your Pronunciation with Rocket French

If your concern is understanding spoken French and making sure people understand you, Rocket French is the place to be. With classes focused on the oh-so intimidating French pronunciation, you’ll never have to worry about misunderstandings.

You can take your studies with you thanks to downloadable lessons:

Rocket French starts you out with 25-minute interactive audio lessons that let you get used to spoken French and French pronunciation. Unlike many other apps, Rocket French actually lets you download the audio lessons so you can complete them even if you don’t have internet.

The voice recognition system will fine-tune your pronunciation:

Online speaking classes with real professors are great, but obviously they come at a price. Rocket French gets around this with their state-of-the-art voice recognition system that can hear and correct your pronunciation.

How does it work? Think of Alexa or Cortana. These systems recognize your voice and understand you. Rocket French just takes it further with feedback on your pronunciation.

With this system, you can also practice matching your pronunciation to native speaker recordings of thousands of words.

4. Get a Classroom Experience at Home with Michel Thomas French

Michel Thomas was a famed language instructor from Beverly Hills. His program, Michel Thomas French, will give you access to a classroom-like French experience—without the exam stress or uncomfortable chairs.

Join a simulated French class with expert instruction:

The Michel Thomas method starts with an audio lesson between two students, Michel Thomas—and you, listening in and speaking along. It’s designed to be a productive but low-stress way for you to learn French and pick up on common mistakes that students make.

Choose the course best suited for your skill level:

If you’re a beginner, start with Michel’s first eight-hour “Foundation French” course. You can then progress to “Intermediate French” and then “Insider’s French,” which is specifically designed to improve your French conversation skills.

Remember vocabulary through active use, not rote memorization:

One of the most difficult parts of speaking in French is coming up with the words you need, right when you need them.

The Michel Thomas course helps you learn vocabulary in an active, natural way—not just memorizing word lists. From the very beginning you’ll be taught how to put sentences together with essential vocabulary.

Rarely can a class teach conversation from day one, but that’s one benefit of this class!

5. Master Everyday Spoken French with Alison’s Basic French Language Skills Course

Learning the basics for the first time? Need to brush up on your beginner French? Traveling to a French-speaking region soon? This roughly 10-hour course has got your back.

Learn speaking skills for specific situations:

The lessons in this course are broken into specific, essential topics such as greetings, telling time, colors and numbers.

Thousands of students have enjoyed this course:

One advantage of this course is that it’s offered on Alison, an educational platform that makes it easy to see what previous students thought of the course. Over 400,000 students have enrolled and it’s rated 5/5, so you can rest assured you’re getting quality instruction.

Earn a certificate:

After you complete this course, you can get an official certificate from Alison to prove your skills to future employers, academic institutions or just for bragging rights.

6. Get Fun French Lessons on FrenchPod101

FrenchPod101 is a great audio and video course that teaches French conversation and pronunciation skills.

Learn culturally-relevant French:

FrenchPod101’s lessons are designed to be the opposite of a dusty old school textbook. You’ll learn culturally-relevant French speaking and comprehension skills that you can actually use in real life.

Never run out of lessons:

There are more than 1,300 FrenchPod101 audio and video lessons–and more are being added all the time. You’ll also have something to practice with. Plus, you can take the lessons anywhere with the FrenchPod101 mobile apps.

Get more (free!) lessons on YouTube:

You’ve heard it before, but Youtube is one of the best free sources for French language learning. The FrenchPod101 YouTube channel gives you hundreds of speaking-focused videos.

Luckily FrenchPod101 has organized their channel well with playlists of complete, topic-specific lessons. For example, check out the playlist on learning French pronunciation:

Plus, we all know how active comment sections are on Youtube. The FrenchPod101 comments are like a forum related to the video. Use that to your advantage to ask questions and mention doubts you have about the videos. You’ll quickly receive responses!

Learning to speak French is possible from the comfort of your home. These online French speaking courses allow you to hone your pronunciation and conversational skills—ultimately giving you the confidence you need to go out there are start speaking French in the real world.