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🇫🇷 Learn French

French is a Romance language descended from Latin, official in around 29 countries through La Francophonie, and historically the language of European diplomacy for centuries. It's known for nasal vowels, a linking phenomenon called liaison, and a number system with genuine base-twenty remnants. Tarc teaches French from reading rules through real vocabulary, grammar, and conversation — for free.

What makes French distinctive

French pronunciation includes nasal vowels — sounds produced partly through the nose with no direct English equivalent — and liaison, where a normally silent final consonant is pronounced when the next word starts with a vowel. Grammatically, French has two genders (no neuter), a partitive article for talking about "some" of something, and a widely used subjunctive mood for expressing doubt, emotion, or necessity.

What you'll learn on Tarc

Tarc's French Starter level covers reading and pronunciation rules, être and avoir, il y a, the gender/article rule (including the partitive du/de la/des), numbers, prices, ordering at a bakery or café, and everyday present-tense verbs. Every lesson pairs dictation, listening, and real-task exercises with AI roleplay scenes that stay in character — vous or tu, whichever the scene calls for — for the whole conversation.

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Frequently asked questions

Is French available to learn on Tarc yet?

Yes — Tarc's French course is live, starting at Starter level with reading rules, être/avoir, il y a, gender and the partitive article, numbers, and everyday present-tense verbs, plus AI roleplay conversation practice. This page and its linked topic pages cover real facts about the language alongside it.

What is the deal with nasal vowels in French?

Vowel sounds produced partly through the nose, found in words like "bon" or "vin" — they have no direct equivalent in English and are one of French pronunciation's most distinctive features.

Why do some French numbers look so complicated, like eighty being 'four twenties'?

Standard French retains genuine base-twenty (vigesimal) remnants in its number system — quatre-vingts ("four twenties") for eighty is a real historical leftover, not a simplification or a mistake.

Does Tarc's French course include speaking practice?

Yes — alongside dictation, listening clips, and real-task exercises, the course includes AI roleplay scenes (ordering at a bakery, asking directions, checking into a hotel) that stay in the scene's own register, vous or tu, for the whole conversation.

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See also: French Alphabet · French Grammar · Learn Languages with Tarc