You just moved to Geneva and realized the high school French you learned 15 years ago is NOT enough to manage a simple conversation at the post office. Or if you’re like me, you arrived with a vocabulary consisting solely of bonjour and merci. 

While Geneva is a very international city, and most people will kindly switch to English if they see you struggling, learning even the basics level of the language will help you enjoy living here so much more. Not only will you understand the immediate environment, hidden pockets of the city will slowly open up as well. 

Regardless of your current French level, you’ve probably entertained the idea of taking classes at some point or another. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the plethora of options – from apps, schools, and private tutors. As someone who has tried a variety of classes and schools in the city, online with private tutors, and of course Duolingo, I wanted to share my hard-earned learnings with others in a similar boat.

• Define your French learning objectives (clearly)
• The Cost: What should you expect to pay?
• Language schools in Geneva
• Private online tutors
• Free Conversational Groups
• Language apps

1. Define your French learning objective. Clearly.

Everyone wants to “get better,” but what does that mean really? Your specific language goals will dictate your path.

• The Permit Path: Do you need a certificate (like fide or DELF) for a family reunification visa or Swiss citizenship?
• The Career Path: Do you need to lead meetings or write emails in French?
• The Survival Path: Do you just want to navigate the grocery store and small talk with your neighbors?

Don’t sign up for a dry, traditional academic grammar course if you just want to talk to people. Being clear on your objective is the best way to avoid wasting time and money. 

2. The Cost: What should you expect to pay?

Geneva isn’t cheap, but language learning costs vary wildly:

• Private Tutors (In-Person): CHF 60–120 per hour.
• Intensive Schools: CHF 600–900 per month for daily morning classes. (Some schools offer semi-intensive courses as well)
• Community Classes: As low as CHF 100-20 per semester.

💰💰💰 Some money saving tips :

• Company Classes: If you’re already working in Geneva, many employers will subsidize French language classes or even offer classes for free at the office. Check with your HR!

• Leverage your parent card: If you have kids in the Geneva public school system, the canton offers highly subsidized French language classes, at CHF 40 for a whole semester at A2 level and above. Registration dates usually start at the end of August until early September, and classes start at the end of September to early June. 
• CAF Voucher: If you are a tax-paying resident of Geneva, 18 years old or old, and income doesn’t hit a salary maximum (among some other requirements) you can look into the Canton’s Chèque Annuel de Formation (CAF). CAF is essentially a voucher of up to CHF 750, that can be applied to further training to improve professional skills (like learning a new language). CAF should be applied online through their portal in advance before classes start, as it can only be given to the institution to pay for all or part of the course. Not all schools are CAF certified, and courses must be at least 40 hours long.

3. Language Schools in Geneva

Choosing a school in Geneva depends on how much “structure” you need. If you need a certificate for a permit, you’ll want a school that specializes in fide or DELF prep. If you just want to speak, look for an interactive approach. All the schools are quite different from one another, and it all really comes down to personal preference!

• ifage (Fondation pour la formation des adultes) – The center of adult education in Geneva. They have the most comprehensive catalog of classes; everything from intensive 15-hour-a-week immersion to evening semi-intensive blocks. They also host the fide and DELF/DALF exams.
• Migros Club Ecole – Also huge variety of courses – from standard once a week, semi-intensive, or intensive. 
• ASC – Would say they are more geared towards working professionals, as they have more classes in the evening and emphasize more “communicative” French
• Université Populaire (UPCGe) – Almost exclusively evening classes and runned-by volunteer professors and definitely the top choice for people looking for a low price tag.
• ELFI (Ecole de Langue Française) – They primarily offer intensive day-time courses, with some flexibility for students to choose how many days to come in. 
• Switzerlangues – Intensive and semi-intensive classes available, with the option to attend classes online. 
• Université Ouvrière de Genève (UOG) – Volunteer-led semi intensive & intensive classes that focus on integration, conversational French. 
• The UNIGE Summer/Winter French Experience (run by Maison des Langues) – Highly intensive French courses offered in 3 week periods during winter and summer period.

4. Private Online Tutors

If you have a crazy work schedule or a long commute, traditional schools can be such a drag. If you also prefer having dedicated attention, private online tutors are a great option. 

There are tons of online language learning platforms like Preply, LanguaTalk, and italki. Each platform functions slightly differently but essentially, you can find online native French speaking tutors based anywhere in the world, filter by price, do trial lessons, and decide on how many classes you want to commit to. 

I personally used Preply (here’s my referral code if you want to give it a try #shamelessplug) and found really great tutors there. It is a monthly subscription based, which pushes you to build a routine while italki is pay-as-you-go and offers much more flexibility for the class length, and best for conversational classes. LanguaTalk markets itself as having the most high-caliber tutors, which are highly vetted. You’ll most likely find a great tutor on the get-go as opposed to trialing a bunch of different tutors. 

🔥 Hot tip: If you aren’t planning to take classes in-person in Geneva, I would strongly recommend this route. You can find great teachers based in France or elsewhere around the world offering courses for a significantly lower cost.

5. Free Conversation Groups

Classes are great for learning the complicated French grammar, but often don’t provide enough opportunity to speak. It’s also a great way to socialize and meet other people. There are many free conversation groups in the city to check out:

• On va parler: This is a volunteer-run conversation group that takes all levels of French. They meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It’s a super popular conversational group, it’s highly recommended to arrive early, given that spots are limited. In addition to the regular meeting days, they also have periodic event outings throughout the year. 
• CAGI Conversation Exchange Programme – Free but requires an intermediate level of proficiency (B2)
• Français en été (July & August) – During the summer months, free french classes are offered in the parks around the city, compliments of the Geneva canton. 
• My Language Exchange – Find a language exchange partner via this forum
• Practice French meet up– Weekly meetups to practice French

6. Language Apps: Supplement for French Learning

There are so many French learning apps and sites out there that it can be its own blog post. But if you’re trying to learn French from doing Duolingo alone, I think you’re in for a rough time. While Duolingo is great to learn basic vocabulary and probably a better time-waste than doom-scrolling, you’re still going to have a tough time ordering anything at the restaurant with a 500 day streak. 

Besides the crazy green bird, here are some other sites, digital tips and tricks that helped me on my French learning:

• Kwizik – (Paid) online language learning platform that is mostly focused on grammar and has a brain map of grammar modules that track what you’ve mastered or not. It’s a great platform for intermediate learners trying to really master the difficult French grammar.
• Changing my phone into French – Couldn’t escape the French at all since we’re on our phones all the time. Forced immersion as I like to call it.
• Train my algorithm to feed me French content – If you’re going to be doomscrolling, might as well get some French learning in there as well. You just need to start liking and interacting with the French content and BOOM, the French is everywhere. 
• Listening to French podcasts and reading French news – I tried to do this once a day, and it really helped with reading and listening comprehension. Some great platforms include: le Français Facile avec rfi, Radio France, France Inter. French learning podcasts on rotation: Little Talk in Slow French, Real Life French, Easy French.

My biggest take-aways after 3 years of taking intensive classes at language schools in Geneva…

1. In-person learning is still the best if you have the budget. Physically being in the classroom physically helped to keep me focused, whereas it’s so easy to check out mentally during those long 3-hour intensive classes each day. 
   More importantly, it’s a great way to meet other people in a new city. I’ve met many great friends from classes, which would have been impossible if I was doing the course online.
2. Academic vs Interactive. Traditional language schools are very structured, following curriculums that help students pass the FIDE or DELF. If you aren’t planning to take those exams, you should look for schools and teachers that offer more interactive approaches. Or just keep in mind that it’s very much book learning and taking practice exams (in case that’s your jam).
3. Always take the free trial-classes: Most schools will offer a free trial class – take it. To take a step further, ask to be placed in the class where you’d be placed, so you can see the teaching style of the professor and whether or not you vibe with it. A school might have a fancy building, but your experience and how well you progress will depend entirely on the teacher you have.