Sep 24, 2026
Books for Learning French: What Paper Still Does Better
A book does three things software still cannot. Knowing what they are tells you which three books to own and which shelf of them to leave alone.
The notebook
Notes on teaching yourself French
One question per note: what is genuinely hard about French, what the only published timing figure actually measures, where to listen and watch, which books earn shelf space, how Canadian and European French differ, and what the free route gets you. Every price and every figure carries the date it was read and the page it was read from.
Sep 24, 2026
French Podcasts: Choosing by the Problem You Have
Most lists of French podcasts sort by popularity, which is useless. Sort by which of the three listening failures is yours, and insist on a transcript.
Sep 24, 2026
Canadian French and European French: What Actually Differs
The written forms are nearly the same language. The spoken ones diverge sharply — and the difference costs a learner almost nothing in reading and a great deal in listening.
Sep 24, 2026
French or Spanish: What the Ranking Actually Settles
The one body that publishes a ranking puts both at 30 weeks — the joint-slowest of its easiest category. That settles the question and immediately raises a better one.
Sep 24, 2026
French TV for Learners: The Subtitle Decision
The show matters less than the subtitle setting. There are three, they train completely different things, and most learners pick the one that trains the least.
Sep 24, 2026
How Long Does It Take to Learn French?
One published figure exists. It describes American diplomats in full-time classrooms, it says 30 weeks, and almost every use you have seen of it is wrong.
Sep 24, 2026
How to Learn French Fast, Without the Dishonest Part
Speed is a reasonable thing to want and the market for answers is not reasonable. Three things genuinely compress French; most of what is sold as fast is not.
Sep 24, 2026
Is French Hard to Learn? The Honest Split
The only ranking anyone publishes puts French in its easiest band, and at the slow end of it. That contradiction is the real answer, and it tells you precisely where the difficulty sits.
Sep 24, 2026
Learning French for Free: What It Covers, Where It Stops
The free route covers the expensive part of French properly. It fails at exactly one thing, and knowing which one tells you when to spend money and when not to.
Sep 24, 2026
Reasons to Learn French, With the Sources Attached
Lists of reasons to learn a language are usually written by people selling courses. These carry their source and its date, including who counted and why it matters.