What Anne is Learning in Her First 30 Hours of French (And Why It’ll Work for You Too)

Apr 24


✍️ What Anne is Learning in Her First 30 Hours of French (And Why It’ll Work for You Too)

Category: Real Learner Journeys

Anne’s Journey: From Hesitant Beginner to Confident Speaker

When Anne joined The French Room, she wasn’t looking for perfection — she was simply hoping to greet her newfound French family in French.

In her 60s, Anne discovered that she has ancestral roots in France and is planning a trip to meet her extended French family next year. Anne doesn’t have a background in learning languages; this is her first second language. She didn’t study it at school, but she knows this is something she’s always wanted to do.



What Anne didn’t know when she started was just how much joy she would find in the journey. Not only does it fit beautifully with her love of puzzles, but she can see and feel the transformation happening hour by hour. Not because she’s a language genius (though, of course, she is brilliant), but because she shows up — week after week, mistake after mistake — with presence and persistence.

Starting from Scratch (And Feeling Exposed)

Anne’s first class was quiet. She sat with her camera on and her confidence off.
“I felt eager,” she admitted. “But so nervous.”

But that’s where things began to shift. Because at The French Room, we don’t teach perfect French. We teach real learners. And Anne was exactly that — ready to try, ready to fumble, and ready to grow.

She does two things at The French Room: a weekly private coaching session coupled with self-study using the Bonjour Brilliance programme.

At 12 Hours In: Something Clicked

After about 12 hours of coaching, something changed in Anne’s voice — and we don’t just mean her accent. She started owning her sentences. Speaking up first. Taking risks. Laughing at her own mistakes.

French became less of a “foreign language” and more of a space she stepped into with curiosity and pride.

She wasn’t just memorizing vocabulary anymore. She was learning to express herself. To flirt with the language. To sound like herself — but in French.

The Moment That Sealed It

Anne has a French son-in-law, and the other day she explained something to him about the French language — something he didn’t know and found genuinely interesting.

“That conversation,” Anne told us, “felt like fun. I wasn’t trying to impress. I was just… talking about what I’d learnt in my French classes.”

That’s what fluency looks like at The French Room.

From Hesitation to Fluency: What Anne Wants You to Know

  • You don’t need to “get it right” on day one.

  • Your brain is not too old.

  • You’re not behind.

  • And no — you’re not the only one who feels nervous.

“I like to think of it as a mountain path. Sometimes it is daunting, occasionally it seems to double back on itself, but as long as you keep putting one foot in front of another you will get to where you want to be. I am in no rush. I would rather take my time and enjoy the view than rush along and miss out on all the secret twists and turns that I am realising learning a language can bring.”

Want to Start Your Own Journey?

Why not start by following Anne’s journey?
You can listen in to her first 10 hours of classes for free here, or purchase the full 15 hours she’s completed so far for just £25.00.

Imagine the progress you could make if you gave yourself a 30-hour pass to learn French.


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