I’ve been learning French through language learning apps for almost a year, and now I feel like I’ve plateaued and since I’ve been learning through only learning apps, only my reading skills have improved. My listening and speaking skills are garbage.
Does anyone know any good (intensive) French-language classes (for workers) in Taipei or maybe know someone who’s a good French teacher? Or any tips in general? haha
Not sure what you mean by for workers, but Alliance Francaise is the most reputable provider of French language classes.
haha
I meant for people who has a day job (so morning/afternoon classes are out of the question)
AF is pretty reputable and may or may not have evening and weekend classes (Goethe Institute, which is Germany’s version of overseas language classes, has evening and weekend classes, so I would think AF as the French equivalent would too?)
I find a good thing to do in parallel to apps is Pimsleur audio program, available for free from various libraries across the US, along with internet archive. Can be boring or irrelevant to life at times, but is a really solid foundation (for some languages)
I dont know about French, but “Easy German”, which launched the “Easy Languages Network” is fantastic for ~B1 level and up, and I would imagine the Easy French videos and podcast would be equally great.
Most people I know here approaching second languages use online tutoring programs. Usually as a foreigner, especially an English speaker learning a Germanic or Romance language, your TW classmates slow the pace down too much to make the class enjoyable, especially if you already have a certain level of self-motivation/ are off continuing to learn on your own on top of classes
Which one do you think is better? Hiring an online teacher (like iTalki) or hiring one physically? In Facebook groups I’ve seen a lot of French speakers offering classes (~600NT/hour). How much is the cost for an online tutor tho?
I learnt French many years ago using the French in Action TV series from Yale University. It’s an excellent series even though very retro (from the 80s), entirely in French and available for free on Youtube (I presume the accompanying text is available online somewhere too).
LingQ has a great quantity of materials at different levels for listening practice in French.
If you feel your listening skills are lacking, then I’d suggest listening to French dialogues/stories/podcast at a suitable level. Listen while reading the transcript the first time, and after that just listen, listening to the same content again and again if you need to (perhaps while on the go with earphones).
If you have no problem understanding at least podcasts etc directed at intermediate level you might be ready to consider starting conversation practice with a teacher on Italki or some platform like that. But if you’re listening isn’t up to that level yet, I’d suggest continuing to immerse yourself in suitable French audio. Classes at somewhere like the AF won’t be of great help.
On iTalki the cost of a Western European language tutor is often much more than NT600/hr.
I think that’ll be up to you. If you can find a tutor you like online, you’re not limited by location and wont need to commute. But sometimes its nice to sit with someone and physical paper rather than learn through a screen, especially if all your previous learning happened that way already.
I would agree that getting your listening up to a higher level first is usually quite helpful. I have no idea how AF teaches. If they’re using TPRS and other CI and you already got a foundation in listening for comprehension elsewhere, you’re wasting time getting input that you already have/can get for free from other sources. On the other hand, if you’re ready to start talking, some sort of class, even if you’re technically at an A1 level, could get you having conversations. But you’ll need to be careful— a lot of teachers need reminding about what you’re looking for. “I just want to practice conversations” without providing specific topics to talk about can become very pointless, very fast.
Edit to add: I tried out this guy’s program for the 7 day trial of German. If I were planning to take formal classes, I think the cost of this is way more worth it while establishing foundations. The person who made the program is clearly making big bucks selling his system, but he generally knows what he’s talking about (i dont agree with everything he says, but a lot if it is solid)
Shida is around $4400 per semester for French, online, two nights a week, 3 hours per night. Very easy to register without testing. Sometimes Taiwan teacher, sometimes French teacher. You’re learning is up to you kind of on how much you want to put it into reading and writing.
Alliance France is similar.
That’s 6 hours a week you get to listen to someone teach French and do some French exchange. It’s better than nothing and can be helpful.
I went to Alliance Francaise for two years. It was pretty good for the price (5000 for two months of courses, 6 hours/week). Since you’ve been using apps you should know the basics, they would test you when you sign up and register you according to how much you know the language.
The beginner classes are taught by Taiwanese instructors, the more advanced classes are taught by French instructors. You would be forced to speak up because they would call you up to speak or ask you to speak to classmates in French. On weekdays the class starts from 7pm till 10 pm. If you are late or have to leave early or miss a class nobody cares.
Are they teaching in Mandarin? And are there a lot of foreigners?
I would imagine as uncommon as learning Swahili in the Bay Area
No they never speak Mandarin. Even in beginner classes they teach in French.
Occasionally. Not a lot but when I was there there were always 1 to 3 foreigners in the class.
I wanted to sign up with Alliance Française for their intensive course this fall, but when I called today, they told me none of them are happening for the Oct 3 course, because there are not enough students who signed up. The other regular classes seem very limited, most of them online and in the evening, so I searched a bit and found Shida.
I called Shida and they were very helpful. They already sent me a link to take the test and it seems that I can easily join their level 12 (I think equivalent of about B1 level) on Sept 27.
I also had a French tutor who taught me online for a few months last year. I just returned from France and my French has improved so much. I think being in the environment and having to speak helps the most. I would say spending 30 min at least on listening, speaking, reading French would help. The podcast “The InnerFrench Podcast” is great and has transcripts of all the episodes. 
good luck!