Keith Van Sickle ⋅ Menlo Park, CA Tensilica ⋅ 25 years experience

Hi Charles,

In addition to coursework, Rosetta Stone, etc., I found that in learning French myself (in my 50's) the most important thing to do was practice speaking and listening. For this, language partners were invaluable. These are, in our case, native French speakers who are trying to learn English. What I have done with my partners is meet regularly via Skype for 60-90 minutes, one half in English and the other in French. We both make a lot of progress.

There are various places to find partners and I've had good success with www.mylanguageexchange.com. A couple of pro tips: first, find someone whose level in English is about your level in French. That way you are each facing similar struggles and will be especially patient and helpful to one another. Second, find someone with interests similar to yours (per their profile) or you'll run out of things to talk about.

Good luck! Or should I say, bonne chance !

Michael Gumeny ⋅ Nutley, NJ Mi9 Retail ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Charles,

There is a really good French school in my area called the Alliance Française (fiaf.org) but I checked and they only have locations in New York City and its suburbs. I searched for similar schools in the Miami area but the closest thing I could find was Berlitz, which may or may not fit your requirement. I've had some success with Berlitz with Spanish. Their Miami website says that French is one of the languages offered at that location: https://www.berlitz.us/en/language-centers/miami---downtown

Also LanguageOn offers private and semi-private French classes in Miami, even though they're billed as an "English School": https://languageonschools.com/our-courses/foreign-language-classes/french/

Good luck getting to the next level!

Michael

Charles Rounds ⋅ Miami Beach, FL U.S. Army National Guard, Sergeant ⋅ 6 years served

Thank you Drew! I have used Rosetta Stone, Babbel and Duolingo in the past but I have reached a plateau. I am really looking for a Tutoring/Teaching service at this time. I would say my current level is A2 in French and I am determined to get to B2 within a year.

Thank you again sir!

Drew Schildwächter ⋅ Wilmington, NC Salesforce ⋅ 8 years experience

Charles: Rosetta Stone and Babbel have offered military discounts in the past. There are also really good free resources like Duolingo.

In any case, if you want to formalize your practice then you may want to take a CEFR test (I think you'll see CECRL in French) and so you might look up French programs which culminate in or prepare you for an A2 rating (which is the score typically required for basic competency).

Good luck!