Learn the French people actually speak
The French you read and the French you hear are two different things. Letters go silent, words run together, and Parisians drop half of what the textbook taught you. Learning French well means training your ear and your mouth on the spoken version — which is exactly what a conversation tutor is for.
Free to download on iPhone. Plans and prices are shown in the app before you pay anything.
What makes French worth it — and what makes it hard
Spoken on five continents
French is an official language in close to thirty countries — France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and much of West and Central Africa — and a working language of the UN, the EU and the Olympic movement.
English has already done half the work
A large share of English vocabulary came from French after 1066: "government", "restaurant", "justice", "menu". Reading French gets comfortable quickly. Hearing and speaking it is the real challenge.
The spoken gap is the whole game
Liaisons, silent endings and everyday shortcuts ("chais pas" for "je ne sais pas", "on" instead of "nous") are why learners who read well still freeze in a café. Only practice out loud closes that gap.
A tutor you talk to, focused on what trips French learners up
In every language, your Bliss tutor explains in the language you already speak, has you say the French out loud, and corrects the sentence you just said. For French specifically:
Casual Parisian French, not a phrasebook
Amélie is from Paris and speaks the way people there do. She teaches you the polite version and the one you will actually hear, and tells you when each fits.
Tu or vous, sorted in the moment
Choosing between "tu" and "vous" worries every learner. Amélie flags it on your own sentences — to a waiter, to a friend, to a colleague — so the rule becomes a reflex.
Pronunciation you can hear
Nasal vowels, the French "r", the "u" English does not have: when a word gives you trouble, Amélie sounds it out for you and has you say it again.
Amélie is Bliss’s native French tutor: lively, teasing and elegant, from Paris. She is the default when you pick French, and any of the other seven tutors can step in.
French phrases for your first week
Ten phrases for real situations. The respelling is an English approximation — Amélie will fix the rest.
- Je voudrais un café, s’il vous plaît. zhuh voo-DREH uhn kah-FAY, seel voo PLEH I’d like a coffee, please. In a Paris café, "un café" is an espresso.
- L’addition, s’il vous plaît. lah-dee-SYOHN The check, please.
- C’est combien ? seh kohm-BYAN How much is it?
- Vous pouvez répéter plus lentement ? voo poo-VAY ray-pay-TAY plu lahnt-MAHN Could you repeat that more slowly?
- Enchanté(e). ahn-shahn-TAY Nice to meet you. Add the "e" in writing if you are a woman — it sounds the same.
- Ça marche. sah MARSH Sounds good / Works for me.
- Pas de souci. pahd soo-SEE No problem.
- Chais pas. SHEH pah Dunno. Spoken form of "je ne sais pas" — you will hear it constantly, never write it.
- On y va ? ohn ee VAH Shall we go?
- Excusez-moi, où est le métro ? ex-kew-ZAY mwah, oo eh luh may-TROH Excuse me, where is the metro?
Learning French with Bliss: questions, answered
Is French hard for English speakers?
Reading is easier than people expect thanks to shared vocabulary. Listening and pronunciation are harder, because so many letters are silent. The US Foreign Service Institute places French in its easiest group, at roughly 24 to 30 weeks of full-time study for professional proficiency.
Will I learn formal or informal French?
Both, and when to use each. Amélie speaks casual Parisian French by default and switches to the polite register whenever the situation calls for it — ordering, emails, meeting someone older.
Can I practise French and Spanish at the same time?
Yes. Bliss teaches ten languages in one app and you can switch tutor or language whenever you want. Many learners keep one main language and use a second tutor for lighter practice.
What is the difference between Bliss and the Amélie app?
The Amélie app is Amélie teaching French, nothing else. Bliss includes Amélie and seven other tutors across ten languages in one app.
Learning more than one language?
Bliss teaches ten languages with the same tutors. Switch language whenever you want — no second app, no restart.
Start speaking French today
Download Bliss free on the App Store, pick French, and say your first sentence to Amélie.