7 Best FrenchPod101 Alternatives From A1 to C2 (2024 Research)

FrenchPod101 is an excellent option for people interested in learning the French language. The company specializes in creating audio or video-based lessons for learners of all levels — beginner, intermediate, and advanced. 

Their lessons focus primarily on grammar and vocabulary that you find in everyday conversations. 

Although the program is reputable, most learners struggle with its methods and materials. My bet is that you’re here because of that.

• Maybe you’re simply comparing FrenchPod101 alternatives to determine, which will provide you with the best outcome.

• Maybe you’ve tried FrenchPod101 lessons and aren’t happy with the outcome.

• Maybe repeating audio with no context makes learning harder for you.

If you’re here for one of the above reasons, you are in the right place. In this article, we will discuss the top seven alternatives to FrenchPod101, including Get French Classes.

Let’s dive in!

Why Get French Classes is Your Best FrenchPod101 Alternatives for Learning French Online

Learning a language is about building the ability to think or have ideas in the target language, and finding a way to get what you know to stick and come out naturally when speaking. 

And it’s hard to achieve any of the above by simply repeating audio with no context. More importantly, this method does not prepare you for real-life scenarios.

At Get French Classes, we spent months talking to online French learners to learn what they don’t like about most online French courses and what they’d want to see in a course, and that helped us come up with our French language course, which we believe is the best online French course out there. 

Here are some of the benefits of learning French with us:

Learn and practice French from real-life situations

You could read all the French books, listen to all the French podcasts, or even watch movies in French but if what you’re learning isn’t centered around contextual learning, you’ll struggle to hold conversations with native French speakers.

At Get French Classes, we design our lessons and coaching materials to be heavily focused on formulas and systems that make understanding French expressions and rules and building the right instinct very easy.

Our video lessons are very short and very much geared toward teaching one specific concept, lesson, or topic. This way, we don’t confuse you with information overload.

Each lesson material ensures that you learn one specific thing at the end.

Within the lessons, we use interactive elements like quizzes to make sure you’re following along, but also, at the end of the lessons, we have additional course materials that give you more explanations on the topic as well as contextual examples.

We also include both spoken and written. Here is what the spoken assignment might look like.

Here is what the written assignment will look like:

You get to practice speaking and writing, which makes the learning practical and ensures what you learn sticks. These assignments are also focused on real-life scenarios.

Get contextual information and feedback from your private French tutor

Similar to what we discussed above, when learning a new language, it can be challenging to know if what you’re saying applies in context, if the pronunciation is correct, or if there’s a simpler version native speakers use.

Having a private tutor follow you along and make sure that you get a great sense of French grammar, vocabulary, numbers, culture, etc. helps when you’re starting out.

To ensure you achieve this, we train our tutors to act as dedicated companions in learning French. So, unlike traditional tutors, they serve as your native French-speaking correspondents who guide you through practice, ensure you’re on track, and help you achieve your goals.

Plus, your live French lessons with our tutors provide you with opportunities to review past material, learn essential nuances, ask questions, get assignment feedback, and practice the language through conversational exchanges.

This customized approach focuses on clarification, retention, and application to advance proficiency. 

You’ll also get a bunch of fun and bite-sized live assignments that make it easy to consolidate your learning and make sure that you’re speaking. 

Have I also mentioned that you can reach out to your tutor anytime and get help?

Stay consistent and focused on your French-speaking goals with your accountability buddy

Most French learners’ momentum tanks because they generally don’t have someone to speak to or practice with. And when they have someone, they can only chat or text with them. It doesn’t make fluency easier.

We solve that problem by pairing our learners with an accountability partner who’s pretty much on the same level. This way, you get someone who keeps you motivated to keep learning and someone with whom you can practice. 

Every week, you’ll have a live session with your accountability buddy and your live coach to debate, converse, and practice. You’ll be given a topic and called to argue a thesis or antithesis, and your tutor will make sure your pronunciation, sentence structure, and articulation are on par.

Keep up your momentum with challenges, badges, and gamified learning processes

We’ve also learned that gratifying learners with milestone badges and rewards pushes them to keep learning. All across our courses, we have assignments, exams, and rewards for learners who are able to demonstrate mastery or progress from one point to another. In fact, the core of our methodology is that your French learning efforts should be geared toward an outcome. So, not even considering the badges and rewards, all of our courses have an end goal. For instance, there can be badges for when you go from A1 to A2 or from A2 to B1, etc. Most learners share the badges with friends and family or on social media and get words of encouragement to keep pushing. And the certificates are a testament to your hard work and dedication.

Grow professionally with a professional certificate

Sorry to break the news, but we don’t give certificates to everyone. You have to show your tutor, and student advisor through practice that you have mastered some French notions. 

I know it’s pretty common in the education space that people issue certificates of completion. Unfortunately, we don’t share the same vision. We believe that certificates should be a reflection of one’s outcome after a learning spree, not attendance and video-watching skills. We use tests similar to the CEFR tests and exams to assess your level, and we use your test results to fill out the certificate with your actual French language level. And here are some of our tutors:

Get private tutoring plus course materials and exams at the best cost-value ratio

Our course is effective because it’s a combo of great course material, great live coaching, and excellent teaching methodology. But most importantly, we’re able to offer this level of sophisticated materials at a cost that’s on par with the value you get. With Lingoda, for instance, you’d be paying $250 - $900 for 10 hours of a private course with a tutor. With the French Institute Alliance Française, you’d be paying around the same cost. For that many private French classes plus the course materials and close monitoring from your tutoring even outside of class hours plus an accountability partner and a certificate, we charge half the cost. Here are some testimonials from learners:

Top 7 Other FrenchPod 101 Alternatives to Consider for Learning French Online

These FrenchPod101 alternatives are a mix of live courses with private French tutors, French learning apps, French video courses, and spaced-repetition apps. So, whatever your preferred French learning method is, you’ll find one that suits you among these alternatives.  

Lingoda

• Ratings: 4.4 stars out of 5 for 4790 reviews  

• Languages: French, English, German, and Spanish

• Teaching methods: Live tutoring

• Why not use them?: The students don’t get enough assignments for practice, and everything is based on the tutor’s ability to be a good teacher.

Lingoda is an ideal option for any learner who seeks to learn French via class sessions. Their main goal is to impart knowledge and encourage learners to speak confidently in the target language. 

Thanks to their experienced teachers, who are usually native speakers, they hold a 60-minute-long session on Zoom to improve their learners' language skills. 

They also have courses for learners of all levels, whether you're a beginner or an advanced learner. Their classes are available from A1 to C1, depending on the learner’s level. 

Lingoda offers its pricing plans in two categories: group classes and one-on-one classes. The group classes category has a four-tier pricing plan, which includes:

• 5 classes, which cost $16 per class or $79.99 in total

• 12 classes, which cost $13.5 per class or $163.99 in total

• 20 classes, which cost $12 per class or $239.99 in total

• 40 classes, which cost $11 per class or $449.99 in total

Meanwhile, the one-in-one classes category also has a four-tier pricing plan, which includes:

• 5 classes, which cost $39 per class or $193.99 for a one-time price

• 12 classes, which cost $30 per class or $359.99 for a one-time price 

• 20 classes cost $25 per class or $499.99 for a one-time price.

• 40 classes cost $22.5 per class, or $899.99 for a one-time price.

Learn French with Alexa

• Ratings: 4.8 stars out of 5 for 252 reviews  

• Languages: French

• Teaching methods: Free YouTube lessons and group coaching 

• Why not use them?: You want private sessions with a dedicated language tutor who helps you improve.

Learn French with Alexa is a popular online course by Alexa Polidoro, a French teacher. 

The program contains 40 lessons that take you from A1 (beginner) to C2 (proficiency). Each lesson has audio, video, and written content that helps to improve your fluency. 

Unlike FrenchPod101, the class is in the form of regular live lessons where you engage with Alexa. You also get access to the replay videos of more than 100 live lessons. There are exclusive video worksheets and support guides you can download or print during the session.

In addition, Learn French with Alexa provides audio lessons you can download during your learning journey. You can track your progress with the quizzes that the program offers. 

The site's pricing details are in three categories:

• A monthly plan that costs $35 per month

• A 3-month plan that costs $25 per month

• An annual plan that costs $15 per month. 

Live Lingua

• Ratings: 4.9 stars out of 5 for 157 reviews  

• Languages: Spanish, French, English, and more

• Teaching methods: Expert matching with tutors, 1-on-1 lessons with online tutors, reading resources, audio courses, and more.

• Why not use them?: You want to achieve fluency without breaking the bank. They charge hourly rates that rapidly amount to thousands of dollars. 

Unlike FrenchPod101, Live Lingua offers its French lessons through personalized one-on-one lessons. They get you immersed in the language by utilizing personal tutors to teach you.

All you need to do is sign up from your home or anywhere. Then, their academic team connects you with an ideal tutor, usually a native speaker. 

The tutor assesses your current level, notes your goals, and designs a plan to help you achieve them. They will guide you throughout the lessons, provide feedback, and even give you homework that keeps you engaged. 

The site charges on an hourly basis. New users can take part in their free trial lessons. After that, you must pay for your class, which costs $35 per hour.

Pimsleur

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Pimsleur is also an online French learning app that supports learning with ease and interactive methods. It helps learners get immersed in the language by utilizing the conversational approach. 

Pimsleur’s primary goal is to ensure learners commit to their learning in the long-term memory. They do this by teaching the language in the context of conversation or exchange. 

Contrary to FrenchPod101, they have a core lesson that takes place for 30 minutes. Then, they supplement the lesson with materials such as digital flashcards, voice recognition software to aid pronunciation, fast-paced games, role-playing, reading sessions, and more. 

You can get the complete course for $575 or buy each lesson for $150.

FluentU

• Ratings: 4.3 stars out of 5 for 81 reviews  

• Languages: Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, English, and 10+ other languages

• Teaching methods: Learn languages through videos

• Why not use them?: You don’t have a basic understanding of the language and still need guidance.

If you need an online French learning platform that teaches French with real-world videos, FluentU is a great choice. It's featured in publications such as USA Today, Gizmodo, EdTechReview, AlleyWatch, School Library Journal, and more. 

This program employs various entertaining videos, such as movie trailers, news, music videos, or motivational content, to create an interactive learning session. 

Each video comes with subtitles or translations, which help you learn better. You can click on any of the words in the subtitle to see the in-context definition and get sentence examples.

It also uses quizzes and real-world context to help you master new vocabulary. This method creates a rich and engaging experience that reinforces learning. 

It offers a two-tier pricing plan, which includes:

• Monthly plan, which costs $29.99 per month

• An annual plan, which costs $96 or $8 per month. 

Loecsen

• Ratings: 4.7 stars out of 5 for 191 reviews

• Languages: Turkish, Italian, Portuguese, and 20+ other languages

• Teaching methods: Gamification through storytelling

• Why not use them?: You want to interact with a human and get guidance.

Offering over 60 languages, Loescen is another language-learning platform for you. This program is for beginners and offers two primary goals for language learners. 

The first is that it helps you communicate in every situation. Then, it shows you that you can learn a new language. 

According to the website, the program claims to have a practical approach that facilitates memorizing content.

It implements the spaced memory algorithm by using simple exercises so that you can repeat the lesson frequently. This helps you understand the language's basics in a few weeks. 

Plus, the program offers a grammar book linked directly to interactive content. It features artificial intelligence that guides students on their learning journey. It has no pricing details on its website. 

Rosetta Stone

• Ratings: 3.3 stars out of 5 for 6904 reviews  

• Languages: Greek, Hebrew, Irish, Japanese, and 20+ other languages

• Teaching methods: Everyday scenarios, interactive activities, and audio from native speakers.

• Why not use them?: It prepares you for casual conversations and not speaking proficiency.

With nearly 30 years of experience, Rosetta Stone is another ideal option for interested learners. It offers its courses to all levels: beginner, intermediate, or advanced learners. 

Rosetta Stone tailors its learning content for different types of learners. There is a personalized plan for individuals who seek to improve their language skills. 

It conducts its learning sessions through bite-sized lessons. You can learn through real-world scenarios, interactive activities, or audio materials from native speakers. The program also features speech recognition technology that improves learner’s speaking skills. 

It offers a three-tier pricing plan for its users:

• 3-month plan, which costs $15.99 per month or $47.97 for a one-term payment

• 12-month plan, which costs $13.99 per month or $167.88 for one term-payment

• Lifetime subscription for $399.

Let Get French Classes Help You Achieve Your Online French Learning Goals

Get French Classes’ method work because we haven’t removed the most important element of language learning from our processes: peer-to-peer learning. 

Languages are dynamic and unlike software programming languages, it’s hard to learn one by yourself. There are so many nuances and contextualized things that need to be broken down and explained to you. 

Flashcards don’t just cut it. Repeating audio out of context makes it even worse. 

That’s why we take the time to understand your goals, create a plan, and have the most qualified French teachers who can implement the most supportive and effective French learning experience for you. 

So, if that’s what you’re looking for, Get French Classes is the best alternative to FrenchPod101 for you. Our goal is to get you speaking in months, not years.