The short version, for adults starting from zero or close to it:
Written by Sora Kalden, who builds Flua, so this plan puts Flua first. The reasons, and what Flua doesn't cover, are below.
Since 1 January 2026, a first multi-year residence permit asks for A2 French and the 10-year resident card for B1, each the first time you apply, and each with a civic exam, while French nationality asks for B2; accepted proof of level includes the TCF IRN, the TEF IRN or a DELF at that level (the prefecture of the Vienne). Check your own case on service-public.fr.
In corpus studies of English, the thousand most common word families make up roughly 80 to 90% of the words in everyday speech (Nation, 2006), and French has the same steep curve, so learning them first pays off everywhere: at the bakery, at work and at the préfecture. The French deck is 1,058 cards teaching 730 words in the order people say them most, and the forms it teaches make up 71% of all words spoken in French film and TV, counted from subtitles. Every card teaches exactly one new word or pattern in a sentence you otherwise understand, grammar is explained on a card before the first sentence that needs it, and every sentence plays at natural speed. In the iPhone and Android apps, speaking cards have you say sentences you already understand.
Flua’s working estimate, from its founder’s own tracked study rather than a test, is about 14 hours to A1, which Flua sets at 700 words; at the same pace per card, the French deck is about 16 hours of study, roughly five weeks at 30 minutes a day. Your own pace shows after your first session. Every card is free while the beta runs. The French deck teaches 730 words so far; Flua’s level model puts A1 at 700 words and A2 at about 2,000. So if your permit asks for A2, the deck is the first part of the way, and a class or tutor takes you the rest until Flua’s next level is published.
Speaking cards train you to say sentences. A conversation, at another person's speed and with their questions, takes practice with people, and a tutor or conversation partner two or three times a week is enough to start. Rehearse the situations you'll meet first:
Most of these are too rare in everyday speech for a beginner deck, so learn them from a list like this one, a few each week. They're easier once the sentences around them make sense.
Take the placement test in Settings first (“Recalibrate my level”); it starts you at your level. If you already follow everyday spoken French, around B1, the current deck is below your level, and your time is better spent on conversation and the level your permit asks for.
No independent study we know of measures how many hours any app, course or plan takes to get someone to a goal like this, so the hours here are estimates. Your own measured pace, which Flua shows after every session, is the number to trust. A few weeks won't make anyone fluent; they can take you through the most common words in the language and into your first real conversations.
Try the first cards free →Other plans: moving to France · a French exam · a job in France · a trip to France
More: all comparisons · common questions · sample cards · Flua Index test · the method · live data · about Flua