Learn French: The Step-by-Step Roadmap From A0 to B2

A French learning roadmap moves through five CEFR levels: A0 (alphabet and pronunciation), A1 (présent tense and 500 core words), A2 (passé composé and everyday vocabulary), B1 (imparfait, conditionnel, real conversation), and B2 (subjunctive, idioms, native-speed comprehension). Each level builds directly on the last.

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This is the detailed syllabus version of the French learning journey - exactly what to master at each CEFR level, in order, with the specific resources for each step. If you’re just getting started and want the broader welcoming version with method and motivation, see our complete beginner’s guide first. This page picks up where that one leaves general advice behind and gets specific: grammar targets, vocabulary targets, and the exact skills expected at each level.

A0: before you can say anything

Targets: the alphabet and its accented letters, the core pronunciation rules (silent final consonants, nasal vowels, the French r), and roughly 50 to 100 survival words and phrases - enough to greet someone, say please and thank you, and recognize a handful of essential nouns. This stage is about calibrating your ear and mouth to French sounds before grammar enters the picture at all. See the French alphabet, French pronunciation, and common French phrases.

A1: your first real sentences

Targets: the présent tense of regular verbs plus the four essential irregulars (être, avoir, aller, faire), noun gender and articles (le/la/les, un/une/des), roughly 500 core high-frequency words, and the ability to form basic questions. By the end of A1, you should be able to introduce yourself, describe simple facts about your life, and ask straightforward questions, even with noticeable gaps and pauses. See French conjugation, French articles, 500 essential French words for beginners, and asking questions in French.

A2: everyday independence

Targets: passé composé for talking about the past, the futur proche (aller + infinitive) for near-future plans, and expanding vocabulary into everyday life themes - food, family, weather, time. By the end of A2, you should be able to describe a past event in simple terms, make near-future plans, and handle routine transactional situations (shopping, ordering, asking directions) without much hesitation. See être conjugation, avoir conjugation, futur proche, and food and drink vocabulary in French.

B1: real conversation

Targets: genuine mastery of when to use imparfait versus passé composé (not just how to form them), the conditionnel for polite requests and hypothetical statements, forming and expressing opinions, and comfortable listening comprehension at a slightly slowed native pace. This is generally considered the threshold of independent, functional fluency - you can travel, work in a limited capacity, and hold real conversations, even if you still make regular errors. See passé composé vs imparfait, the French conditional, French conversation for beginners, and how to improve French listening skills.

B2: nuance and fluency

Targets: the subjunctive mood in everyday use, a working vocabulary of idiomatic expressions, register flexibility (knowing when formal or informal phrasing is appropriate), and comprehension of native-speed French across a range of contexts and accents. B2 is where French starts to feel less like a system you’re applying and more like a language you simply speak - nuance, tone and implication become accessible rather than lost. See the French subjunctive, French idioms, formal vs informal French, and how to become fluent in French.

How to know which level you’re actually at

Compare your actual abilities against the concrete “can-do” descriptions for each level, rather than guessing based on how many hours you’ve studied. See the full CEFR level descriptions for a plain-language breakdown of each level, and the DELF exam if you want an official, certified assessment of where you stand.