Getting Started with French -

A Guide
The purpose of this guide is to help French learners
get started with the language quickly and efficiently.

Please read the Stage 0 and Stage 1 articles from the

Refold Roadmap before reading this guide. Those
articles will cover the essential philosophy behind
the Refold method. By completing this guide you
will know the basics of the French language and be
ready to begin Stage 2 of the Refold Roadmap
where you will learn directly from your immersion
material.

If at any point in the process of following this guide

you feel able to start Stage 2 and begin sentence
mining, you should make the switch. It is generally more efficient to learn from your immersion,
rather than vocabulary lists or grammar resources. It should also be said that this guide is not the
only way to learn the fundamentals of the French language. If you already know 500 to 1000
words and the basics of French grammar, you likely do not need this guide and are ready to move
on to Stage 2 of the Refold Roadmap.

There are two basic approaches to learning the basics of French using Anki: the Pre-made Deck
approach and the Make Your Own Deck approach. Both strategies have benefits and drawbacks.
Choose the approach that appeals to your learning preferences.

Premade Deck Approach

The Premade Deck approach is simple. Download either the official Refold French Vocab Deck
($19) or the free Community 1K Deck and learn 10 words a day. In addition, read a few pages
each day from a grammar resource (links are provided at the end of this guide). You should also
be beginning to immerse, as explained in the Stage 1 guide of Refold.

While this approach is simple, it may not be easy. Some people find it difficult to memorize the
words in a premade deck. If your retention is low, don't worry. As you immerse, you will see
these words many times per day and they will eventually be acquired.
If you choose this approach, it is NOT recommended to study both the 300 deck discussed later
in this guide, as well as another premade deck. The 300 deck is only intended to be used with
the Make Your Own Deck approach.

Make Your Own Deck Approach

The Make Your Own Anki Deck approach has three steps. First, get acquainted with basic,
easily visualized vocabulary and the sounds of French by using a small pre-made deck. Second,
go through a grammar resource and make Anki cards out of the example sentences. Third, go
through a frequency list and make Anki cards out of the top 1000 most frequent words in French.
The specifics of each step will be explained in greater detail over the course of this guide.

The benefits of this approach is that your Anki cards will likely be very easy to remember.
Making your Anki cards is very powerful and tends to make the words you learn very
memorable. In addition, you will learn how to use Anki well. The workflow of making cards
can be used when you move on to Stage 2 of the Refold Roadmap.

The drawbacks of this approach is that it does take time to make Anki cards. Check out the
discord for tips on how to make Anki cards quickly and efficiently. Copy and pasting example
sentences is good enough to get you started.

Beginner Study and Immersion Routine

Below is one potential daily routine of French as you start your journey.

1) Learn 10-20 words a day using a premade Anki deck:

● Refold French Vocab Deck ($19)
● Community 1K deck (Free)

2) Read through a few pages a day of a grammar resource:

● Easy French Grammar Step by Step
● Kwiziq A1 grammar

3) Read a graded reader:

● Français par la méthode nature
● Duolingo stories - To access all of the Duolingo stories without completing the course,
click on schools at the top of the web page:
 and then once you're there, click on new class.

4) Watch easy video content with (or without) subtitles:

● French Comprehensible Input
● Alice Ayel
● Inner French
● Extra French
● Peppa pig
● Caillou
● Pokémon

**The more time you spend reading and listening to French, the faster you will improve.**

The rest of this guide will go into greater detail about how to build your own personal Anki deck.
Even if you are using a premade deck, you may find the information below useful.
BUILD YOUR OWN DECK STEP 1: BASIC VOCABULARY

This step has two main goals: 1) memorize 300 of the most useful and easy to visualize words,
and 2) start connecting the spelling of French to the sounds of French.

French has more regular spelling than English, but there are exceptions. Try to notice how each
letter or group of letters connect to how each word sounds.

In the Resources section at the end of this guide, there is a premade Anki deck that covers 300 of
the most useful and easy to visualize words in French. Since the deck is only single words and a
translation, you may find you can learn each card fairly quickly. Try to learn 20 new cards a day,
but if you find there are too many reviews, drop it down to 10 new cards a day. These are just
suggestions. Go through the deck at a pace that makes sense for you.

FAQ

How exactly should I review my Anki cards?

When you see the French word on the front of the card, just try to remember either the English
translation or the picture.

Should I memorize the gender of each noun?

It is not necessary to memorize the gender of each noun. Until you are at Stage 3 of Refold, you
should only be focusing on comprehension. You will find you will naturally start to remember
the gender of words purely through immersion.

I am bored just learning vocab. Can I skip to Basic Grammar?

Yes! It is possible to begin with Basic Grammar, skipping Basic Vocabulary entirely.
Alternatively, you could learn Basic Vocabulary and Basic Grammar at the same time. You will
have to decide what approach works best for you.

BUILD YOUR OWN DECK STEP 2: BASIC GRAMMAR

This step has one basic goal: become familiar with enough French grammar to start
comprehending basic French sentences. Most grammar you will learn naturally or by looking it
up as it comes up in your immersion.

There are many resources to learn basic grammar. A great resource is French grammar lessons
for CEFR A1 by Kwiziq. This resource explains each basic concept simply and concisely. In
addition, there are example sentences for each concept. If you want a more thorough overview of
French grammar, Easy French Step-by-Step is a good choice. These resources are listed at the
end of this guide. Just remember, learning about the language is not the same as learning the
language. You should not spend too much time on this step.

You can either simply read through each lesson (and then move on to the next step of this guide)
or make Anki cards with the example sentences.

To make grammar Anki cards, simply put the French sentence on the front and the English
translation on the back. One or two example cards for each concept should be enough. You can
add these cards to your 300 word vocab deck or simply start a new deck.

FAQ

How exactly should I review my Anki cards?

Read the French sentence silently. Try to remember or visualize the general meaning of the
sentence. You do not have to remember the exact English translation but just the general
meaning.

How many new cards should I learn each day?

Sentence cards take longer to study than single word vocab cards. Start with 10 and if it feels
like too much, study fewer new cards per day. If it feels like too little, study more new cards per
day. It is not recommended to study more than 20 new Anki cards per day.

This step is boring. Can I just move on to the next step?

Yes! Whenever you feel like you have learned enough basic grammar, feel free to move on to the
next step.

I am confused about an aspect of the grammar. What should I do?

If you read the grammar explanation and it does not make sense to you right away, skip it and
move on to the next concept. It will become clear as you expose yourself more to the language.
Any part of grammar that is unclear now will become clear over time.

How do I memorize all these verb charts? Do I need an example sentence for every combination
of pronoun and verb tense?
You do not need to memorize any conjugation charts. As long as you understand the basic
concept of each verb tense, that is enough. You will be exposed to all of the important verb
conjugations over time. You do not need to make a card for every combination of pronoun and
verb tense.
BUILD YOUR OWN DECK STEP 3: HIGH FREQUENCY VOCABULARY

The purpose of this step is to learn the top 1000 most frequent words in French. Many of these
words you will have already learned during steps 1 and 2 of this guide. These top 1000 words
will significantly improve your overall comprehension of the language. Past these 1000 words, it
will be more efficient to learn words directly from your immersion.

In the Resources at the end of this guide, there is a frequency list of the top 5000 words. Go
through the list one word at a time. If you read a word and you understand it (either because you
learned it previously or because it looks similar to an equivalent English word), skip it.

To make an Anki card, simply put the new word on the front of the card. Put the single word
translation, the French example sentence and the translation of the sentence on the back of the
card. You can add these cards to your grammar deck or simply start a brand new deck.

EXAMPLE CARD

FAQ

How many new Anki cards should I study each day?

Start with 10 new cards per day and adjust as necessary. It is not recommended to study more
than 20 new Anki cards per day.

How should I review my cards?

Read the front of the card silently in your head. Try to remember the meaning of the target word
(either you remember the English translation or you can visualize the meaning). Read the
example sentence and translation. If you remembered what the target word means, pass the card.
I remember what the target word means but I forgot what the example sentence means. Should I
pass it?
Yes. The example sentence is there just to give you context to help you remember the word, and
to expose you to one typical use of the word. However, the primary purpose of the card is to test
you on the meaning of the target word.

The example sentence on the frequency list is too difficult or confusing. What do I do?
If any example sentence is just too difficult, either because there is a grammar concept that you
are unfamiliar with or there are too many unknown words, it is a good idea to find a different
example sentence. Go to https://linguee.com/ and search using the target word to find a new
sentence. Choose the easiest sentence available.

There is a grammar concept in an example sentence that I am curious about. Should I look it up?
Yes. Feel free to look up any unknown grammar concept that you are curious about that shows
up in an example sentence. Just remember that most grammar concepts will become clear over
time as you get more exposure with the language. Do not obsess over trying to understand every
sentence 100% perfectly.

I am bored learning vocabulary from a list. Can I just start sentence mining?
If you feel ready at any point to start sentence mining, you should do so. You will easily learn the
most frequent vocabulary from your immersion.

Should I learn all 5000 most frequent words?

It is not recommended to learn vocabulary from a frequency list past the top 1000 words. You
will progress faster if you move on to learning vocabulary directly from your immersion.

Congratulations! Now that you know approximately 1000 words and are familiar with the basics
of French grammar, you are more than ready to start sentence mining from your immersion.
Good luck with Stage 2 of the Refold Roadmap!

ANKI DECKS
● Refold French Vocab Deck ($19 USD)
● Community 1K Deck
● Basic 300 Vocab Deck (only use if you intend to build your own beginner deck):

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY RESOURCES

● Kwiziq A1 grammar
● Easy French Step-by-Step
● French Frequency Dictionary