Your Beginner French Self-Study Checklist

places to study: bookstore

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By ThoughtCo Team
Updated on April 25, 2019

Key Takeaways

  • This checklist helps you learn French by giving a clear order to study beginner lessons.
  • You can study at your own pace, spending as much time as needed on each lesson.
  • Print the checklist to track your progress and take a proficiency test before and after your studies.

This checklist will help you to learn French by providing a logical study order for beginner lessons. The references to months and weeks don't have to mean anything as the lessons are self-paced. You may spend as much or as little time mastering the material given for each week as you like — two or ten or twenty hours on each lesson, depending on your needs and abilities. Each week of lessons builds on the preceding weeks, so before moving on to the next week, be sure that you:

  • Recognize and can use the new vocabulary
  • Can pronounce the new letter(s) fairly accurately
  • Understand the grammar points
  • Can conjugate the verbs

You may find it helpful to print the checklist so that you can keep track of your progress. Also, try taking my French proficiency test before you start and again at the end to see how much you learn.

Month 1

In the first month, you'll start learning French basics and work your way up.

The following topic abbreviations are used:

  • Gr - Grammar
  • Pr - Pronunciation
  • Vb - Verb
  • Vo - Vocabulary

Week 1

Vo  Greetings
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vo  Introductions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  French nouns
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Definite article
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  French verbs​
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​
Vb  Present
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Alphabet
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 2

Vo  Essential French vocabulary
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vo  Politeness
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Subject pronouns
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Tu vs vous
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  -ER verbs
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​
Pr  Introduction to vowels
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  A
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  I
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  O
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 3

Vo  Numbers
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vo  Time
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Il y a
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  C'est and il est
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Avoir, Être, Faire
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  E
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 4

Vo  Calendar
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vo  Dates
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Indefinite article
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  -IR verbs
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  U
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Month 2

Week 5

Vo  Weather
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Adjectives
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Aller
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  H
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Accents
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 6

Vo  Family
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Questions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  -RE verbs
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  M and N
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​
Pr  Nasal vowels
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 7

Vo  Food
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vo  Restaurant
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Partitive article
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Venir
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  B
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  F
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  P
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Z
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 8

Vo  Shopping
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Negatives
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Reflexive verbs
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  D
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Pr  L
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Month 3

Week 9

Vo  Clothes
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vo  Body
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Possessive de
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Passé composé
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  C
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  G
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  X
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 10

Vo  Colors
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Possessive adjectives
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Stem-changing verbs
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  S
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  T
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 11

Vo  Home and Furniture
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Tout
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Imparfait
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  J
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 12

Vo  School
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Prepositions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Savoir vs connaître
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  V
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  W
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Month 4

Week 13

Vo  Personality
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Demonstrative adjectives
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Passé composé vs imparfait
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  K
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Q
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 14

Vo  Mood
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Direct object
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Partir, sortir, dormir
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Y
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 15

Vo  Professions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Indirect object
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Imperative
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  R
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 16

Vo  Hobby, sports, games
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Y and en
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Dire, écrire, lire
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​
Vb  Future
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Pronunciation review
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​​

Month 5

Week 17

Vo  Quantities
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Comparatives and Superlatives
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Vouloir, Pouvoir, Devoir
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Liaisons
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 18

Vo  Languages + Nationalities
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Possessive pronouns
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Conditional
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Elision / E muet
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 19

Vo  On the Phone
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Adverbs
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Si clauses
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Contractions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 20

Vo  Love language
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Capitalization
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Subjunctive
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Rhythm
Review: ___   1Done: ___   Notes:​

Month 6

Week 21

Vo  Physical descriptions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Double object pronouns
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Pluperfect
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Enchaînement
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

Week 22

Gr  Conjunctions
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Mood
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Silent letters
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 23

Vo  Plus
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Stressed pronouns
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Infinitive
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Pr  Tonic accent
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:​

Week 24

Vo  French vocabulary in English
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Gr  Relative Pronouns
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:
Vb  Voice
Review: ___   Done: ___   Notes:

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Your Citation
Team, ThoughtCo. "Your Beginner French Self-Study Checklist." ThoughtCo, Apr. 15, 2025, thoughtco.com/learn-french-self-study-checklist-1369378. Team, ThoughtCo. (2025, April 15). Your Beginner French Self-Study Checklist. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/learn-french-self-study-checklist-1369378 Team, ThoughtCo. "Your Beginner French Self-Study Checklist." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/learn-french-self-study-checklist-1369378 (accessed May 8, 2025).