Top 8 Learn French With Alexa Alternatives [2024 Research]

Alexa Polidoro, the program's host and tutor, runs the well-known online French school, Learn French with Alexa. Her program offers comprehensive French lessons that enable her audience and clients to master and develop their language skills.

The lessons consist of video materials across her YouTube channel and website. There are some extra resources available on the website. Learners also get live lessons for all levels from Alexa herself and a few other native French tutors.  

In this article, we will discuss the top 7 alternatives to learning French with Alexa, including our own French learning company, Get French Classes. 

So, we will start by introducing you to Get French Classes in comparison to Learn French with Alexa, and you’ll see why we’re the best French learning company for your needs. 

Then, you will discover seven other French learning alternatives and how they compare to Learn French with Alexa. Let’s get started. 

Why Get French Classes is your best alternative for learning French with Alexa Online

Learning a new language like French online can be really tough.

• To learn and become proficient quickly, you need to fully immerse yourself in a French-speaking environment. But true immersion takes a lot of time, money, and effort. And if you don't understand the basics yet, you just can’t have a conversation in the language. Native French speakers will always respond back in English.

• Working with private French tutors is extremely expensive. Learn French with Alexa falls within this category. By the time you progress from one level to the next, like from A1 to A2, you could end up spending thousands of dollars.

• Repeating audio recordings and memorizing phrases can help you respond more automatically when conversing. However, anything memorized tends to be easily forgotten. Plus, to truly master a language, you need contextual learning—understanding how words, phrases, idiomatic expressions, and more are used in real-life situations. Pre-recorded audio to repeat doesn’t provide this valuable context and nuance.

• Apps like Duolingo, Babbel, or Rosetta Stone allow users to learn French (and several other languages for that matter) without spending too much money. The catch is that, while these tools are free or very low cost, they’re not effective in helping you speak (or master the language). Not only do they heavily rely on memorization, but they’re particularly designed to keep you chasing one streak after another, rather than actually helping you achieve true French proficiency.

Language activist Jonty Yamisha says, "You'll never truly learn a language if you don't make speaking it a priority. There are different ways to supplement lessons like flashcards, reading, and listening. But at the end of the day, language is a tool meant to be used. The only way to improve is by actively speaking it - and that's where Duolingo falls short." 

“If you’ve ever been in a situation where you know that you understand tons of vocabulary, but you’re completely unable to converse with native speakers in your target language, then you know exactly what I’m talking about,” he goes on to say. 

Because of all these challenges, many people enthusiastic about learning French end up:

• Not taking learning the language as seriously as they should

• Developing listening skills but still unable to speak French

• Spending a ton of time and money on ineffective French learning methods

At Get French Classes, we’ve designed our classes and course materials to help you focus on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Each lesson program targets just one concept at a time, and the spoken and written assignments let you practice and demonstrate mastery.

Then, with help from our qualified French tutors who are native speakers, you’ll practice conversing in French in real-world situations. You can ask them questions and gain deeper knowledge about the nuances of the language.

Here's how it works:👇👇👇

Bite-Sized Lessons Teaching One Language Concept at a Time

One of the biggest issues people deal with when learning a new language is information overload. It’s actually one of the reasons most learners abandon mid-programs. 

So at Get French Classes, instead of long lessons covering all sorts of stuff, we teach just one concept at a time.

We do this so our learners can easily remember what they just learned and take away at least one key point from each lesson.

At the end of every lesson, you'll get access to any learning materials and then take a written and spoken assessment. Here is an example of a written assignment:

Here is an example of a spoken assignment:

This allows your tutor to see if you understood the concept. But the assignments also let you practice applying what you learned.

Note: Completing the lessons and assignments is required before you can unlock your next private tutoring session. Doing the prep work helps you get ready for the live lesson and focus on the areas you still need to learn.

Badges and Certificates to Motivate You and Showcase Your French Mastery

Many online language schools just give a certificate of completion at the end of their program. While that's motivating, we found that it doesn't really prove how fluently you can actually speak the language.

Just finishing a course doesn't automatically make you proficient in that language. We are sure you believe the same. 

So at Get French Classes, we only give certificates to students who demonstrate true mastery of the lessons and concepts. This motivates our learners to really improve their skills and gain fluency - with the certificate as proof of their proficiency.

But we also want to make learning fun. To do that, we award badges when you hit certain milestones. You can share these badges with peers or loved ones and on social media, as many of our learners do.

Private Tutoring Sessions to Reinforce Your Learning and Improve Skills

First, learners have to complete and submit the previous lesson’s assignments before we schedule private tutoring sessions for them. This allows our learners and tutors to focus on the most important thing — practicing and improving on that specific lesson.

During these private sessions, your tutor's top priorities are:

• Clarifying any misunderstandings from the previous lesson

• Correcting any mistakes in your assignments

• Explaining nuances and finer details about what you learned

Depending on your French level, you'll also practice reading, writing, speaking, or listening comprehension with your tutor. You'll converse on different topics, and get live feedback.

While the private sessions concentrate on teaching nuances, improving grammar, and building basic French skills, our group classes help develop your conversation abilities.

That's why you get 2 private lessons and 2 group classes per week throughout your program.

Group Classes to Build Conversation Skills and Connect with Other Learners

Twice a week, your tutor will gather you and 5 other students they teach into a group session to interact together.

Here's how it works: 6 of you meet up, get divided into two teams of 3, and are given a topic and context to debate and defend your opinions.

While one team is debating, the other team listens and takes notes on any mistakes the speakers make. After the debate, you'll all go over the notes together with your tutor. You'll help each other identify mistakes and ways to improve going forward.

This process has proven extremely effective for building our students' speaking and listening comprehension abilities. Plus, it allows you to make connections with fellow French learners from around the world.

7 Learn French with Alexa Competitors You Can Consider for Learning French Online

1 - Lingoda

Best for: It’s great for complete beginners.

Bad for:  Students don’t get enough assignments for practice, and everything is based on the tutor’s ability to be a good teacher. 

Review ratings: 4.4 stars out of 5 for 4790 reviews on TrustPilot. 

Preferred teaching platforms: Live virtual classrooms (group and 1-on-1 sessions)

How they teach: Lingoda mainly offers 60-minute group sessions or 1-on-1 classes with language experts. Their classes cover aspects like listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills. Learners also enjoy lots of interactive exercises like fun vocab trainers.

Supplementary learning materials: Not specified. 

Highest fluency level learners can get: Advanced. 

Investment required: You get the option to either have group classes or one-on-one classes. The price goes up based on the number of classes you wish to have. For group classes plans range from 5 classes at $79.99 to 40 classes at $449.99. For 1-on-1 classes, the plans go from 5 classes at $193.99 to 40 classes at $899.99.

2 - Pimsleur

Best for: Great option if you want to focus on practicing speaking and listening.

Bad for: Not a great option if you want contextual learning and a way to achieve proficiency quickly.

Review ratings: 2.8 stars out of 5 for 28 reviews on TrustPilot.

Preferred teaching platforms: Audio lessons, mobile app. 

How they teach: Pimsleur offers spaced repetition, conversational-based courses that offer an immersion-like experience. 

Supplementary learning materials: Digital flashcards, voice recognition software, games, role-playing scenarios, reading lessons, and more. 

Highest fluency level learners can get: Intermediate. 

Investment required: The app costs between $150 and $700. You can get the program’s complete course for $575 or buy each lesson for $150. 

3 - Coffee Break French

Best for: if you want a fun, casual way to learn French. 

Bad for: You can’t have personal or private tutors who chaperone you throughout your learning journey.

Review ratings: 4.4 stars out of 5 for 91 ratings on Amazon. 

Preferred teaching platforms: Podcast, online course

How they teach: The podcast feed offers its lessons to learners at four different levels. These levels, also known as seasons, include absolute beginners, lower intermediates, upper intermediates, and advanced learners. 

Each season consists of 40 lessons that are in audio format. They are short, simple, and contain helpful insights about the French language and culture. Each lesson lasts for about 15-20 minutes. According to most reviews, Mark and Anna are a delight to listen to. 

Supplementary learning materials: Video lessons, bonus audio materials, lesson notes. 

Highest fluency level learners can get: Intermediate. 

Investment required: The podcast is free. But the online course costs $145 or £120.

4 - FluentU

Best for: Learning on your own time and setting the level of difficulty as you see fit. 

Bad for: if you lack a basic understanding of the language or still need guidance, this is not a great option for you. 

Review ratings: 4.3 stars out of 5 for 81 reviews on TrustPilot. 

Preferred teaching platforms: Online videos

How they teach: The program features an extensive library of real-world videos to help your French learning journey. It offers courses at all levels: newbie, elementary, intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced, and native.

You can choose from any video based on your level or the topic that seems interesting to you. The site hosts different video content, such as movie trailers, news, inspirational talks, music videos, and more.

You can view the written dialogue in the videos through their captions. You can also click on any of the words to see the contextual definition or pause to read the transcription with translation and examples. 

Supplementary learning materials: Audio lessons, flashcards, built-in dictionary, quizzes, and flashcards to review video lessons.  

Highest fluency level learners can get: Near-native. 

Investment required:  

• Monthly plan: $29.99/month

• Annual plan: $8/month

5 - FrenchPod 101

Best for: Good for learning by listening and repeating.

Bad for: It’s not coaching, nor is it peer-to-peer learning, so you’re left alone.

Review ratings: 4.6 stars out of 5 for 40k reviews. 

Preferred teaching platforms: Audio lessons, video lessons, mobile app. 

How they teach: Unlike Learn French with Alexa, it offers audio and short video lessons to help you learn faster.

The program supplements each lesson with various learning materials to help you fully understand the content. 

Plus, you get a personal teacher when you subscribe to the Premium Plus plan. The teacher provides you with personal feedback, corrections to homework, or answers to any questions. 

Supplementary learning materials: Slow playback audio, flashcards, personal teacher feedback/support (premium plus plan). 

Highest fluency level learners can get: Advanced

Investment required: There is a free plan. But here are the premium plans:

• Basic plan: $4/month

• Premium plan: $6.50/month

• Premium Plus plan: $14.87/month

6 - French Together

Best for: It’s an excellent option for those seeking to have basic conversations in the French language. 

Bad for: You shouldn't opt for this platform if you are at an advanced level.

Review ratings: N/A. 

Preferred teaching platforms: Mobile app, audio lessons. 

How they teach: Their lesson lasts 15 minutes daily and is available to learners of two levels – beginner and intermediate. 

French Together enables you to train your ears to understand how the locals speak. You also get to learn everyday phrases that build your speaking confidence.

Supplementary learning materials: Bonus audio lessons. 

Highest fluency level learners can get: Intermediate.

Investment required:  

• Monthly plan: $24/month

• Annual plan price not provided

7 - Busuu

Best for: Good if you want to learn for specific goals with simplified, short, but focused lessons.

Bad for: It’s only great if you want to speak French in specific domains and contexts. 

Review ratings: 4.6 stars out of 5 for 15769 reviews on TrustPilot. 

Preferred teaching platforms: Mobile app, website. 

How they teach: The program provides you with bite-sized lessons that encourage you to learn at your own pace. These lessons include comprehension exercises, writing challenges, listening exercises, and conversations. You should also note that they offer these lessons with flashcards, media, and community challenges.

Busuu offers a personalized plan for users seeking to improve their language skills in a particular niche. For instance, there is a French for Business course that helps you gain confidence in the workplace. There is also a French for Travel course that can help you when you go on a holiday in a French country.

Supplementary learning materials: Flashcards, multimedia content, community challenges, and more. 

Highest fluency level learners can get: Advanced. 

Investment required: The app is free (though with limited features), so the immediate investment is your time. But you’ll have to upgrade to the premium membership for a better experience: 

• 1 month plan: $13.95/month

• 6 month plan: $50.70 ($8.45/month)

• 12-month plan: $83.40 ($6.95/month)

Learn French Online with Get French Classes 

In conclusion, every company on this list will provide you with an online French learning service. 

However, you need to go for a company that implements a personalized teaching approach and will yield positive results for you in the long run. If this is what you’re looking for, you’ve arrived at the right destination.

At Get French Classes, we don't give you random words to translate and call it a day. Neither do we enable you to memorize grammar rules that you may likely forget. 

What we do instead is to understand our learners and their learning goals. Then, we tailor our personalized teaching approach to create an interactive teaching session that contributes positively to our learners. 

Here are some of the unique benefits our program offers:

• Bite-sized lessons that focus on one language concept at a time, making it easier to retain information and avoid overwhelm

• Written and spoken assignments that allow you to practice applying what you've learned and receive personalized feedback

• Badges and certificates that motivate you to improve your skills and showcase your French mastery

• Private tutoring sessions with native French speakers to reinforce your learning, clarify misunderstandings, and improve your grammar and basic French skills

• Group classes that help you build conversation skills, connect with other learners, and receive constructive feedback in a supportive environment

While there are several other alternatives to Learn French with Alexa, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, we believe that Get French Classes offers you the most comprehensive and effective approach to learning French online.

So, if you’re looking for an effective online French learning company, Get French Class is the best alternative to Learn French with Alexa.