Top 230 French courses in France

French courses in France for children, adolescents and students are divided into three categories: standard, intensive and immersive. The standard program takes 20 hours of classes per week. Intensive courses complement the standard program with the inclusion of classes to improve communication skills, study professional vocabulary or culture of France. These courses take 20-35 hours per week.

Course levels follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which ranges from A1 for beginners to C2 for near-native command, passing through A2, B1, B2 and C1. Progress at each stage can be confirmed through official French exams such as the DELF, DALF, TCF or TEF, which are graded on the same CEFR scale. For admission to higher education, level B1 or B2 is usually recommended, level B2 is required for first-year entry under the DAP procedure, and some programs ask for a higher level of C1 or C2.

For those wishing to study at universities in France, there are preparation courses for the DELF / DALF, CCIP, DILF, TEF and other exams - there are more than 200 such courses throughout France, so it will not be difficult to choose suitable French courses in France.

After graduating, you will obtain a prestigious international certificate, which will be a significant plus for further studies or work abroad.

Language courses vary depending on the level of student's preparation, the number of class hours and the purpose of studying a language.

• The standard program allows to obtain basic knowledge of the French language.
• The “immersion” program involves spending a lot of time with the teacher: learning and improving the language takes place both in the classroom and outside the classroom, during daily activities and visiting sights, concerts, theaters.
• In addition to standard programs, private classes are held - this type of course takes 40-50 hours a week. Separately, it can be noted courses in preparation for entering the university, preparation for exams (the intensity of classes according to this scheme is 26-30 hours, the occupancy of groups is from 3 to 10 people).
• Those who want to learn a professionally oriented language (French for teachers, businessmen, financiers and other specialists) can do this in groups of 2 to 10 people. There are combined programs: French + culture / art / cooking / sports / and others.
• One-to-one French courses are also provided, where the teacher deals with one student.

Choosing a French course in France is difficult: the list of courses goes up to several hundred, and the list of universities and schools, offering language courses, covers the whole France.

It's important to determine the age of the applicant, the purpose of learning the language and the desired location for studying and living. Paris, for example, offers more than a dozen courses located at universities and schools for children and adolescents from 4 to 18 years.

The list of holiday courses includes more than 100 courses and about 300 to prepare for exams in France. A huge list of special courses includes the hotel business, air traffic controllers and stewardesses, nurses and doctors, teachers and lawyers.

The cost of the course ranges from € 230 (standard course) to € 500 (preparation for university and professional French). The price for one individual lesson is approximately € 45.

Tuition is only part of a student budget in France, so it helps to plan for everyday living costs in addition to course fees. Numbeo estimates monthly expenses excluding rent at around €932.4 for a person and €3,353 for a family of four, based on roughly 8,336 entries over the past twelve months. The average monthly net salary after tax in France is about €2,458.29, which gives a sense of local purchasing power.

Housing is usually the largest expense. A one-bedroom apartment rents for an average of €767.96 per month in the city centre and €605.47 outside the centre, while a three-bedroom apartment costs around €1,373.49 in the centre and €1,076.13 outside it. Basic utilities for an 85 m² apartment come to about €192.96 per month, with broadband internet adding roughly €30.15.

Food and daily life are more manageable. French residents spend on average about €300 per month on food, and everyday costs run slightly higher in Paris and other big cities. Students can eat at a subsidised university restaurant (restaurant universitaire) for €3.30 per meal, while a meal at an inexpensive restaurant costs around €15.

Getting around is affordable at the student rate. An annual transit pass costs €374.4 in Paris and between €250 and €300 outside Paris, and a regular monthly public transport pass is about €57. Healthcare is well covered too. A check-up with a general practitioner under sector-1 (conventionné) pricing is €30, of which €19 is reimbursed by Social Security, and a specialist visit costs €25.

Culture and leisure remain accessible for younger students. A cinema ticket at the under-26 rate costs between €5 and €10, and entry to museums or national monuments is free for European Economic Area nationals under 26.

Whether you need a visa to study French in France depends on your nationality and the duration of your stay. Nationals of a European Economic Area country (the EU together with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) or Switzerland do not need a student visa to study or take an internship in France, but they must hold sickness and maternity insurance and have sufficient financial resources for the duration of their stay.

Students from outside the EEA and Switzerland planning to stay longer than three months must obtain a long-stay student visa. For a stay of under three months a short-stay visa applies, either the short stay for studies or the student in competition visa, and nationals of certain countries are not required to hold a visa if their stay does not exceed 90 days.

The long-stay visa serving as a residence permit, known as the VLS-TS, comes in three types: the student VLS-TS for studies at Bachelor's and Master's level, the Talent Passport VLS-TS for a doctorate and beyond, and the internship VLS-TS. The student VLS-TS allows you to study in France for a period of four months to one year and must be validated online within three months of arrival at the latest. Once validated, a multi-annual residence permit can be requested. A VLS-TS holder may travel freely throughout the Schengen Area and can use VISALE, the free rental guarantee service for students, as well as receive a housing subsidy from the CAF.

Visa applications are submitted through France-Visas (france-visas.gouv.fr), the official portal, where eligible long-stay student applicants can upload digital copies of their supporting documents. Applicants who live in one of the 46 countries subject to the « Études en France » procedure must first enrol in a higher education institution through the Études en France platform, which then forwards the visa application to the French consular authorities automatically.