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How to reach A2 in French: the next 12 weeks after A1
You can introduce yourself and order a coffee. Here is how to get to the next step: handling everyday life on your own and telling what happened, week by week.
A2 is the second level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the CEFR, and the end of the beginner stage. At A1 you could get by in a few predictable situations with a lot of help. At A2 you handle everyday life on your own: you rent a flat, explain a health problem, change an appointment and tell a friend what you did last weekend.
This guide is for learners who already have A1, or close to it. It explains what changes at A2, how long it usually takes, and how to organize twelve weeks so that you progress on all four skills. If you are starting from zero, begin with our guide How to reach A1 in French. It is written by a native French speaker, and every resource in it was checked for the A2 level.
What A2 means in practice
According to the CEFR, an A2 speaker can understand sentences and frequent expressions about familiar topics like family, shopping, the local area and work, communicate in simple routine tasks that need a direct exchange of information, and describe their background, their surroundings and their immediate needs in simple terms.
In real life, three things change from A1. You talk about the past, not only the present: what you did, what it was like, what happened. You deal with practical situations without a script: a bank, a doctor, a landlord, a train that is cancelled. And you link your ideas with « parce que », « mais » or « alors » instead of saying isolated sentences.
The official exam, the DELF A2, tests the same four skills as the A1, each scored out of 25: listening, reading, writing two texts of at least 60 words each, and a speaking test of 6 to 8 minutes after 10 minutes of preparation. You need 50 points out of 100, and at least 5 in each skill.
How long does it take?
The Sorbonne's French course for international students counts 180 to 200 hours of study to reach A2, about twice the figure for A1. From a solid A1, that is roughly another 90 to 100 hours.
A realistic rhythm is the same as for A1: 45 to 75 minutes most days, for about 12 weeks. A2 often feels slower than A1, because the easy wins are behind you and the past tenses take time to settle. That is normal: keep the rhythm regular rather than intense.
If the past tenses or the pronouns don't feel automatic yet after 12 weeks, repeat the last four weeks of the plan before moving on: that is common at A2.
What you need to learn
Vocabulary. At A2, the topics of A1 go deeper and become practical: renting and moving, household chores, shops and returns, cooking, health and symptoms, work and studies, transport and travel, the bank, the post office and paperwork, phone calls and appointments. Expect about 800 new words and expressions on top of the A1 list.
Grammar. The big topics are the past and the pronouns. The imparfait and when to use it instead of the passé composé, object pronouns (« le », « lui »), « y » and « en », the futur simple, the conditional for polite requests (« je voudrais », « on pourrait »), « si » + present, comparisons, « qui », « que », « où » and linking words.
Spaced repetition is still the most efficient way to memorize both: the app brings back each card just before you would forget it, so your time goes to what you don't know yet (Cepeda et al., 2006). But at A2, what you learn on cards has to show up in what you say and write, which is why the steps below matter as much as the cards.
The method, step by step
1Keep up vocabulary and grammar every day
Keep the A1 rhythm: up to 20 new cards on most days, and your reviews every day. If your reviews regularly take longer than 30 minutes, add fewer new cards instead of skipping reviews.
At A2, grammar cards deserve more care than vocabulary cards. Say every answer out loud, as a full sentence, and when you get one wrong, read the rule card again before moving on. The goal is not to recognize « je l'ai vu », it is to say it without thinking.
We made two free collections for this level, and the plan below follows them: French A2 Vocabulary, 861 cards in 24 themes that continue the A1 list without repeating it, and French A2 Grammar, 696 cards with the rules and then exercises, all with English translations. Every card was reviewed by a native speaker. You can add them in one tap to Flashcards Master, our app for iPhone and iPad, which plans your reviews, or print every deck as a PDF.
2Read a little more each week
At A2 you can move from texts written for beginners to short real ones. Read three times a week, ten minutes is enough, and note two or three new words each time.
Kwiziq and Lingua.com, already useful at A1, both have A2 texts with comprehension questions. For more, the Mini Stories on LingQ are short A1 to A2 stories with audio, where you tap any word to see its translation. LingQ is free with an account, with a limit on the number of words you can save.
Around week 8, start your first book: a graded reader for A2, written for learners with a limited vocabulary, like the A2 titles of the Lire en français facile series from Hachette, or Short Stories in French for Beginners by Olly Richards, written for A2 to B1 learners, with a summary, a word list and questions after each story. Both are paid books, but one is enough for several weeks.
3Listen to real French
Listening is the skill where A2 learners stall most, because learner videos start to feel too easy and real French still feels too fast. The answer is to alternate between the two, ten to fifteen minutes a day.
TV5Monde Apprendre has free videos sorted by level, each with a transcript and short exercises written by French teachers: choose the A2 level and do one a day. Easy French interviews people in the street in France, with subtitles in French and English: real, fast French, but you can pause and read.
Le français facile avec RFI, from Radio France Internationale, has a free A2 section: one-minute news reports written for this level, each with its audio and comprehension questions, and short audio lessons on the A2 grammar points, like the passé composé, the pronouns or the futur simple. One report a day is a good habit.
From week 9, watch the TV5Monde videos once without subtitles or transcript, write down what you understood, then check with the transcript. It is the best way to measure your progress in listening.
4Write about the past
The DELF A2 writing paper has two tasks of at least 60 words each: describing an event or a personal experience, and writing a message to invite, thank, apologize or give news. Both are things you will need in real life too.
Change your diary from A1: three to five sentences a day, now about what you did, in the passé composé, with the imparfait for the background. For example: « Hier, il faisait beau, alors je suis allé au parc avec Léa. On a mangé une glace et on a parlé pendant deux heures. » Reuse the words and the linking words you learned that week.
LanguageTool still catches spelling and agreement mistakes, and LangCorrect still gives you corrections from native speakers, now on longer texts.
With an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini…), ask for corrections that teach you something, not a rewritten text:
I am learning French at A2 level. Correct the text below. For each mistake, explain the rule in one sentence in English, and tell me if I used the passé composé or the imparfait wrongly. Then give the corrected text without making it more advanced.
And to train the DELF task:
Give me a DELF A2 writing task, like inviting a friend or telling about a recent trip. After I answer, check that I wrote at least 60 words and covered every point of the task.
5Speak about your life
At A2, speaking is no longer only questions and answers: you have to talk for a minute or two about yourself, your habits and what you did. That is what the DELF A2 oral asks, in three parts: a short conversation about you, a short talk on a familiar topic, and a role play like booking a room or returning an item.
Keep your language partner from Tandem or HelloTalk, and make it a weekly call. A simple routine works well: each week, tell your partner about your weekend in the past tense, then ask about theirs.
For role plays, use the voice mode of an AI assistant:
Let's practice a DELF A2 role play. You work at a hotel reception in Lyon and I want to change my booking. Speak at A2 level, play your role naturally, and give me feedback at the end on my verbs and my vocabulary.
And for the monologue, record yourself on your phone talking for one minute about your town, your job or your last holiday, then listen back. It is uncomfortable the first time and very effective. If you can afford it, a weekly lesson on italki or Preply gives you the personal feedback that apps can't.
The 12-week plan
Here is how it fits together. The vocabulary and grammar decks of each week follow our two A2 collections at 20 new cards a day, about 11 of vocabulary and 9 of grammar, and each week also gets a practice focus. If you use other material, follow the same order of topics.
- Every day: your reviews and 10 to 15 minutes of listening.
- Most days: up to 20 new cards.
- Three times a week: a short text to read.
- Three times a week: a few sentences of diary, in the past tense.
- Once a week: a call with a partner, a tutor or an AI assistant.
The practice focus of each week is the skill you push a little further that week, on top of this routine.
You don't need to add the decks one by one: each collection comes as a folder, so one tap adds the 24 vocabulary decks, and another the 23 grammar decks. The grammar folder introduces its decks one after the other, in the order of the plan.
Common mistakes at A2
Staying in the present tense. It's comfortable, but A2 is about telling what happened. Use the passé composé and the imparfait in your diary and your calls from the first weeks, even with mistakes.
Repeating nouns instead of using pronouns. « J'ai vu Marie et j'ai parlé à Marie » sounds like a beginner. « Je l'ai vue et je lui ai parlé » is A2.
Translating word for word. Some French words look English and mean something else: « passer un examen » is to take it, not to pass it, « large » means wide and « sensible » means sensitive.
Only consuming learner material. Learner videos and texts are perfect to start, but from the middle of the plan, add real French every week, even if you understand only half of it.
How to know you have reached A2
Go through this list. If you can do almost everything on it, with some mistakes but without freezing, you have the A2 level.
To check it properly, use the official DELF A2 sample papers from France Éducation international, which runs the exam. You can score the listening and reading parts yourself, and ask a tutor, a teacher or a native speaker to review your writing and speaking.
After A2 comes B1, the level where you can follow a conversation between native speakers and give your opinion. Good next steps are podcasts made for intermediate learners, like InnerFrench, French series with French subtitles, the Journal en français facile from Radio France Internationale, ten minutes of world news every weekday with the transcript on the site, and 1jour1actu, which explains the news to French children: its articles are written for children but use B1 vocabulary, and most of them come with a short video, so you can read the text, then watch the video to train your listening.
Questions
How long does it take to go from A1 to A2 in French?
The Sorbonne's French course counts 180 to 200 hours to reach A2, about twice the A1 figure, so roughly another 90 to 100 hours. At 45 to 75 minutes most days, that is about 12 weeks.
What is the difference between A1 and A2?
At A1 you manage simple, predictable exchanges with help. At A2 you handle everyday tasks on your own, talk about the past and link your ideas with simple words like « parce que » and « mais ».
Do I need A1 before starting this plan?
Yes. The plan assumes the A1 basics: the present tense, the passé composé with common verbs, and everyday vocabulary. If they are not solid yet, start with the A1 guide.
Do I need to take the DELF A2?
No. It is useful if you need a certificate for a job, a visa or your studies. Otherwise, its free sample papers are a good way to check your level.