French 101 Series đ«đ·
Basic French dialogues for the situations you'll actually walk into
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French 101 đ«đ· â Basic French Dialogues for Everyday Situations
đ«đ· Level: đ± Beginner (A2+) · đ§ 21 episodes · â¶ïž 4 free to try
French 101 is a series of 21 basic French dialogues for beginners, one per everyday situation: ordering at a restaurant, the pharmacy, the doctor, a job interview, a first date. Each episode gives you the conversation at real speed, the transcript, and my notes on the phrases French people actually use. Four episodes are free.
đ A word from AmĂ©lie
Press â¶ïž â 30 seconds, in my voice, on why I built this one.
« Bienvenue dans French 101 â ta trousse de survie en France ! Commander au restaurant, expliquer tes symptĂŽmes Ă la pharmacie, survivre Ă un entretien dâembauche... Chaque leçon, câest une situation rĂ©elle, avec les phrases exactes quâil te faut. Parce que le jour oĂč tu es malade Ă Paris, crois-moi, ce nâest pas le moment de chercher tes mots ! Choisis la situation qui te parle, ou suis lâordre â câest toi le chef. Allez, câest parti ! »
𧰠Your survival kit, one situation at a time
Think of this series as your survival kit. Each lesson is one real situation â ordering at a restaurant, explaining your symptoms at the pharmacy, getting through a job interview â with the exact phrases youâll need, at the speed youâll actually hear them.
Why does this matter so much? Because the day youâre ill in Paris is not the day to be hunting for vocabulary. Iâve watched students freeze at the pharmacy counter with the word for âtabletâ sitting somewhere just out of reach. I built every one of these episodes from situations my students actually walked into â sometimes gracefully, sometimes... well, thatâs why the lessons exist.
Textbook French tells you what to say. This series tells you what youâll hear back.
âAs a beginner, it is helpful to me to read the dialogues out loud and then compare my pronunciation to the audio. I also get very encouraged when I understand more week-by-week. Itâs a great way to gauge my progress!â
đ Who itâs for
French 101 is for beginners (A2+) who want French with an immediate job to do. If Conversation Starters Phase 1 taught you to chat, French 101 teaches you to cope â and there is no better feeling than the first time a real transaction in French just... works.
â ïž Skip this one if youâre still building your very first sentences. Start with Conversation Starters Phase 1 âïž instead â itâs the gentler door in, and French 101 will still be here when you come back.
Not sure where you land? Find your level on the Start Here page â it takes a minute and it saves you months of studying at the wrong altitude.
đ What youâll learn
These basic French dialogues are built around the expressions French people reach for without thinking â the ones no textbook bothers to teach you. A taste of whatâs waiting in the âȘ Notes:
ça marche â that works / sure, deal. The little yes that ends half the plans made in France.
il pleut des cordes â itâs raining cats and dogs (literally: itâs raining ropes).
faire un courant dâair â to make a through-draft. Not a phrase, a national institution: shutters, windows and timing, the way the French keep a flat cool all summer.
ce que ça donne â what comes of it / how it goes. Literally âwhat that givesâ â and I love it for that.
en liquide â in cash. Say en liquide rather than en espĂšces and the till stops hearing a tourist.
ce nâest pas la porte Ă cĂŽtĂ© â itâs not exactly next door; itâs a long way.
plein Ă craquer â packed, full to bursting. My favourite one to teach, and youâll need it for every Friday-night cafĂ© in France.
enfin, bref â long story short / anyway. Two concluding words stacked into one very French shrug.
Nothing on that list is decoration. Every one of them earns its place in a real conversation this month.
đ§ How to take this course
Dip in by situation. Flying to France in a fortnight? Do the restaurant, the pharmacy and the travel episodes first. Or go straight through in order â every scenario stands on its own, so both routes work.
Learn the phrases as phrases, not word by word. âQuâest-ce que vous me conseillez ?â is one tool. Grab the whole thing, donât take it apart.
Both audio speeds, every time. đą Slow to understand it, native speed to survive it. The gap between the two is exactly the distance youâre closing.
Read the dialogue out loud before you look at anything else. Your mouth learns faster than your eyes, and itâs the only way to catch what you canât yet hear.
Come back to the âȘ Notes a week later. The expressions that felt like decoration on day one are the ones youâll suddenly hear everywhere on day eight.
đŹ The episode guide
Here are all 21 basic French dialogues in order â every one a situation youâll walk into sooner or later.
21 episodes · đ± Beginner (A2+) · đž 4 are free to try
đ± Start free
Four full episodes are open to try, transcript and notes included:
A new dialogue lands in your inbox every week, free. Subscribe and start with whichever of the four above is closest to the situation youâre dreading.
â
Lesson Series Tests
Finished the series? Prove it!
The French 101 tests are on my desk right now â fifteen minutes on exactly what youâve just studied, nothing else. Theyâll appear here the moment theyâre ready.
Scenarios feeling comfortable? Move up to Conversation Starters Phase 2 âïž â longer, faster, more personal.
đ Ready to start?
Finally understand real, spoken French â in months, not years. French 101 gives you the 20% of French you need to understand 80% of whatâs actually said to you, in the situations where it counts. Itâs how French people really speak, not how a textbook says they should.
Hereâs exactly whatâs free and what isnât. Four French 101 episodes are open to everyone, and a new dialogue reaches every free subscriber each week. Members get two full lessons a week, both audio speeds, the âȘ Notes, the exercises, the private podcast feed đ, the monthly level test â and the whole 220-lesson library, French 101 included. Itâs $24/month, or normally $240 for the year.
à trÚs vite dans la premiÚre leçon !
Ton prof, ton amie,
Amélie x
Last updated: July 2026 â new episodes join this guide as they publish.