Coffee Break French Step by Step

cbf-stepbystep

Coffee Break French is now available as a complete course of eighty lessons, introducing listeners to the French language from scratch, and building to an understanding of the language which will get you by in any situation and allow you to converse with native speakers on a range of subjects. We’re very pleased to introduce an easy way to access all the lessons with our new Step by Step Guide to Coffee Break French. Each ‘step’ lists ten lessons and includes information on the language and grammar covered in each of the lessons.

We hope you find the new Step by Step Guide useful. You can use the links below to access the lessons quickly.

  1. Lessons 1-10
  2. Lessons 11-20
  3. Lessons 21-30
  4. Lessons 31-40
  5. Lessons 41-50
  6. Lessons 51-60
  7. Lessons 61-70
  8. Lessons 71-80

53 thoughts on “Coffee Break French Step by Step”

  1. Hello, I noticed that Coffee Break French reached its final episode, I would like to thank you all for the incredible, helpful, funny and very professional french lessons, I’ve enjoyed each and every episode. Now, that we reach the final lesson, I would like to say that I will miss Anna, Mark and everyone involved in the series. Keep up the good work. Greetings from Costa Rica.

    L.

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  2. I recently discovered Coffee Break French and wanted to thank you for creating this language series!!! It’s a very convenient way to learn French and I’ve been listening to it when I have time and my french is already improving! Your step by step method of teaching crucial phrases is very helpful and the teacher-student interaction is great as well. I am on lesson 12 and hope to get to 80 soon! Merci beaucoup!

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  3. I’ve just discovered Coffee Break French on iTunes and have been cruising through the lessons at around 3 a day. I took French classes in high school and college, but that was well over a decade ago and these excellent podcasts are bringing it all back to me.
    The pacing is excellent and the best feature is how rapidly you are able to build your vocabulary while learning conversational patterns. I also really like how we’re focusing on rapid conversational capabilities without getting bogged down with the linguistic technicalities (conjugation, accent marks, etc) that give French 101 students nightmares.
    Thanks so much for this series of podcasts – this is an incredible resource which you’re offering to the world for free!

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  4. So refreshing that someone is willing to supply educational material without cost. Excellent language course delivered in small, easy to manage chunks.
    Well done to all concerned and a big thank you

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  5. Anna and Mark, thanks so much for your teaching spirit and remarkably enjoyable French lessons. I have been listening for about two years now…make slow progress (currently on lesson 40) and it has been wonderful. I started listen to French CDs about three years ago as I was driving to work from Las Vegas Nevada, 40 miles north to a small USAF Base called Creech AFB. It is a lonely road and since I just finished a NATO assignment; I saw the power of knowing a foreign language, I decided to dive into French. It is slow and wonderful. I just finished the lesson where Anna spoke to the mom and the two young French girls on the beach. I had a smile on my face the whole time. I have introduced you to a colleague who is headed to Geneva to go to the War College there and suspect they will love you as I do. Now, if you decide to come to Las Vegas, we would be happy to introduce to the sights of sounds of Paris….the casino that is.
    Col John Montgomery
    Commander, 98th Range Wing

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  6. It’s wonderful to know that so many of you have enjoyed Coffee Break French and indeed that many of you are continuing to enjoy it. It’s always great to hear stories of where you listen to the shows and we’re really pleased that you’ve found it so useful. Bonne continuation!

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    • Hello Mark,

      It’s quite unfortunate you guys have finished with the lessons. I have just started and i must confess i am really enjoying your lectures. Please I would want you to grant me this favour by kindly granting me the opportunity to have access to the pdf of the lessons. It is becoming difficult for me to continue with the study. Please kindly grant me that favour and I would appreciate it much. Thanks.

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    • I, too, have just recently discovered Coffee Break French and wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed the lessons. I listen to them primarily during my commute to work. I earned a BA in French years ago but haven’t used my language much so I’ve forgotten a lot of it. Your lessons are helping me to brush up on my skills. I very much appreciate that! I’m only sorry I didn’t discover them in time to join you on Facebook! Thank you for your wonderful lessons! I look forward to learning with you in the future! Please say hello to Anna for me. She has been a big help to me with these lessons!

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  7. I have tried (and failed) to learn french several times with various “Teach Yourself” guides over the years. But none are as clear, concise and enjoyable as “Coffee Break French”. Mark – an excellent teacher whose lessons are cleverly contructured and very accesible. And Anna – the model student! I am at lesson 30 and can’t wait to get to lesosn 80 although it will leave a big void in my daily commute to work!! Can you start a follow up series!?

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  8. After booking a trip to France, I had hoped to find something to help me brush up on some very rusty language skills. Coffee Break French did more than that. The grammar lessons are excellent and I feel more comfortable about my trip. I have been listening to the podcasts for a few months and love the informative, witty way that Mark and Anna help us learn this beautiful language.
    Thank you,
    Robin

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  9. I wanted to learn French for a long time, but only after coming across this website last year I finally forced myself into beginning, and I surely enjoy it. Having begun from scratch I hope that by the time I reach Lesson 80 you’ll be going on with further lessons, so I won’t be able to rest on my laurels ;-)! Merci beaucoup!

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  10. What a great idea, extremely well executed. I’m sorry that I found this course, just as the lessons were ending. Mark and Anna are the perfect companions for learning French. I have been fooling around with French for several years but this is the most enjoyable program I have found.

    Good luck Mark and Anna.

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  11. I thoroughly enjoyed all 80 lessons. I hope that you will keep providing this excellent program. To Lesson 81 and beyond!

    Thank you, from Maine, USA.

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  12. wow….i will call you the real teachers because for helping the whole world for free…………THANKS A LOT ANNA AND MARK…LOVE YOU GUYS

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  13. Hi, thanks for all the lessons. I´m nearly through all the lessons and I will miss you guys when I finish. Those are the best lessons I have had until now. I wish you all the best, Mark and Anna.

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  14. And when I was voting, I made a mistake and I cannot take it back. You were supposed to get 5 stars, not 1 star. Sorry about this….

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  15. Hmmm, I LOVE these podcasts, but I am unable to download them from Itunes so that I can go mobile with my Itouch. I can listen to them, but not download them? What do I need to do?

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    • Hi Peggy,

      To download the lessons on iTunes you need to go to your iTunes store and click on your “podcasts” tab, do a search in the top right corner for “Coffee Break French,” and subscribe there for free. When you go to your podcasts section in iTunes, you will have downloaded an episode. There, you can click on “Get all” and your computer will download them all. And once you’ve synced your iPod (make sure you fix the settings so it’ll transfer your podcasts), you can play them one after another — but unfortunately, probably only in reverse order.

      Hope this helps!
      Bonne chance,
      Pamela

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  16. Bonjour Mark et Anna,
    I’ve only just noticed you’ve completed the French course. Ahhhh. I’ve sung your praises so many times, to so many people but when something is this good, it deserves it and the new ‘Step by Step’ guide is great. I feel I know you both as friends after listening for so many hours.
    Wishing well for whatever the future holds.

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  17. So far I have covered 14 lessons in 10 days and they are great.Looking forward to complete in the near feature.
    Thanks

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  18. I am glad I found Coffee Break French having had very little to do with the language before, only had one visit to France almost a decade ago with a very poor attempt to learn a little of the language.

    As a result I have had to listen over and over to the podcasts and have done so for a few months now and I think I can say my ear is becoming more tuned into it.

    My only problem is, there is no description of what the French accent is that Mark often refers to, ie saying things in a French accent. That is rather difficult if something like the alphabet is not covered I think. Good examples are given but as things go with French spelling the written words look nothing like they sound…. pretty confusing if you ask me.

    Great course, thank you very much for that.

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  19. yes! I realy love your program very much, I missed you and I listen to your lovely voice till the time I can wake up every day!
    all the best from Iran. Abbas

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  20. Brilliant series. I did not subscribe to the extra content until around less 65. This was a mistake on my part because the notes and the extra podcasts are very very helpful. However what really is worth its weight in gold is the “enhanced” podcasts. To actually see the printed words as you are listening to the pronounciation and interpretation is very very useful, more so if, like me, your memory could be sharper.
    Strongly suggest investing in the enhanced material – when the next series appears I will do so much earlier I think.
    Agree with comments above. I also feel like Mark and Anna are old friends but still as I am somewhat of a slow learner I will shortly be starting all over again so there is much more of their dulcit tones to come for me.

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  21. Hola! Bon giorno! Bonjour! Kalimera!
    When I have found this page, I’ve simply fallen in love with foreign languages!
    I’m from Czech Republic and I would to say THANK YOU for your work, for the wonderful work you’re doing for the people who want to learn any language! I think the podcasts you make are the best I’ve ever found! I never study Spanish at school, only with your podcast, and I can say my Spanish is better than English and German together, when I speak with somebody in Spanish. But I have to learn more and more for perfect Spanish, I know it 🙂 I really enjoy the lessons! Now I start with Italian (My Daily Phrases) because the language is very similiar to Spanish and as so as charming and nice 🙂 I tried also the “One Minute” lessons Greek, the language of my good friend from Cyprus, I love the feeling when I can understand some new words in the languages! And French = other language I would like to understand a little bit (or more! 🙂 May I give you a question? What about Arabic? Is there a chance to do podcast in Arabic language (for example 10 lesson as “One Minute” – as Catalan, Greek and other)?? I will be so happy if it can be!! 🙂 By the way I learn also English by you and I enjoy it too!:) Sorry for my -not prefect- English (but it was worse before visiting to this website:D ) I wish you nice sunny day and once more THANK YOU SO MUCH! Muchas gracias! Molto grazie! Merci! Efcharisto poli!

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  22. Mark and Anna,

    Thanks for the great French lessons. I’ve tried the computerized software programs but they lack any structure or direction.

    Coffee Break French is excellent and I had the chance to joke by saying I’m learning French from a fellow that speaks with a Scottish accent.

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  23. je vous felicite… ce course est tres bon… je suis colombien… et je suis en train de estudier le francais et j’aime beaucoup les lessons. Merci.. Gracias, thank you so much

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  24. Je suis très heureux d’avoir trouvé votre podcast. Ça fait trois ans que J’étudie le français en utilisant d’autres podcasts, mais je trouve toujours que mon niveau n’est pas ce que j’aimerais… les autres s’avancent trop rapidement, comme vous avez dit auparavant. Maintenant j’écoute le Showtime Spanish et le Coffee Break French; tous les deux me donnent plus de confiance en parler ces langues. Vous êtes vraiment un bon tuteur. J’attend avec impatience un nouveau cours de français qui ressemblera au Showtime Spanish.

    Steve, Honeoye Falls, NY USA

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  25. Thanks so much to Mark and Anna and your team for your brilliant set of 80 podcasts! The work that you’ve put in to produce these free language lessons is really appreciated. I have family in France and although I speak a little French already I never had the confidence to put it into practise. These podcasts are at just the right level to refresh and build on what I already knew and have filled me with the enthusiasm to keep up the learning process and make use of my knowledge. My only stipulation to my husband when we discussed getting a new car was that it would include a means of plugging in my I pod so that I can listen to my lessons as I travel around! Even my 10 year old son has been getting to grips with the basics of French by listening to the first set of podcasts. When my kids start learning French at school, these lessons will make an invaluable back up tool. Such a shame there won’t be more. I am upto around lesson 57 at the moment but occasionally jump forward to later ones where French conversations are analysed. These are so incredibly useful. There is so much to learn that more lessons beyond the 80 would really benefit your coffee break French fans! nevertheless Thanks again

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  26. Finally, an easier way to access the lessons … much like the old interface. Before it was so tedious to locate the right ones! Now, it’s super easy! Yay! Good work IT dept.

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  27. Found this a couple of weeks ago and am now on lesson 19. Amazing resource, really enjoying it. I’ve got Spanish racked up too, looking forward to that.

    Thanks for the free lessons, that’s a cool thing to do.

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  28. I can speak a respectable amount of “schoolboy French” but when I go to France I am continually frustrated by some gaping holes in my vocabulary! I stumbled across the free downloads on iTunes the other day and have very much enjoyed the lessons so far, as event though I’ve only got through a couple, I’ve already plugged a couple of those gaps. I always wondered what bientot meant, but found out in lesson 2! I will recommend this to anyone and I can see myself buying the enhanced versions for the more advanced lessons when I get to them.

    Another wholly unexpected benefit was that my 2 and 4 year old children really seem to enjoy listening to them in the car. In fact, they’ve actually asked us to put on French lessons! While I’m not sure that they are fully following what’s going on, they are practising saying French words all the same, which can only be a good thing for when they do start learning it at school – and in the meantime, they’re giving me a break from that nursery rhyme CD that’s been driving me mad for months!

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  29. Hello Mark and Anna,
    I’m an Arab/English started using your podcast just last summer learning spanish and now i have moved to the french and hopefully i would move to as many languages you have available…;-))

    You are real professionals and i love how you make the language easy and enjoyable I listen to both of you every morning , its part of my life now…And Mark your accent in every language is perfection..To be honest i feel addicted to both of you now!!!

    Wish you all the best and i dont think i will ever stop listening to the two of you….;-)) many languages to come.

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  30. Mark and Anna,

    What can I say? your step by step lessons are absolutely fantastic.
    I have just started picking this up about a month ago and it has helped me enormously.
    About 15 years ago I lived in a town in the south of Belgium where I was forced to learn French.
    Don’t get me wrong, j’adore the French language but it was obviously difficult as a complete novice. I learnt all the basics and acquired a wide range of vocabulary but my grammar stank.
    I never really tried to pick up where I left off and have recently been trying various iPhone apps and web links to try to finish what I started.
    Nothing really gave me the boost needed to further myself, some simply lacked that spark to get me involved.
    Your podcasts however are just what the language doctor ordered. I came across coffee break French by accident but cannot put it down.

    I would just like to say thank you both so much. I am an avid listener, catching up on my trips to and from work.
    Your show is easy listening, simple and concise. Your method works without fail and has aided so much in putting together all these loose words I have rattling around in my head.

    Sorry for the novel, but needed to praise your great efforts.

    Thanks so much guys, and hope it continues.

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  31. I recently discovered Coffee Break French and love listening to it here in Denver. My motivation for wanting to learn French is this: Back in the mid 1960’s, when I was in high school, my family hosted a French foreign exchange student during one school year. After decades of no contact, we have reconnected with him and are planning a reunion. I figure that it’s my turn to learn his language, especially since his wife speaks no English.
    Many thanks for a splendid podcast. Or I should say merci!

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  32. If it wasn’t for coffee break french, I would not be able to learn french, which is a goal I wanted to action for the past 8 years, and just never found anything that really worked and was practical to use.

    Mark and Anna – you rock! Thank you so much.

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  33. Great resource. Been to Paris 3 times in the last 5 years, the kids love it out there. My french speaking abilities have declined since I left school several years ago. These lessons will help me brush it up before our next trip this summer.

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  34. Thank you Mark and Anna! This is a great resource and the lessons are concise, educational, and entertaining. Merci!

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  35. great job. i m listning your french lessons daily. it helps me to easily understand french language. so it saves my money too, as i dont think there is any need to join some institution to learn french. its all here we need. thanks mark

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  36. hi mark and ana!! im already in lesson 13…i really enjoyed your podcast and learned a lot.. I attended french lesson at alliance but I your lessons are superb! merci beaucoup!

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  37. Bonjour les amis mon! I’ve just begun lesson 13 and am quite excited about all of the things I’ve learned with Coffee Break French. I really enjoy the podcast, and Mark and Anna are really funny. I listen on my way to and from work, and speak what I’ve learned to the people in my office or at home, just so I can practice. Yesterday, I was walking around my office counting to 100. It was quite humorous. Keep up the jokes Mark and Anna. Je suis prêt à apprendre le français avec coffeebreak french!

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  38. I have just purchased the mebers version of season 3.

    I think the program is excellent. I plan to also purchse seasons 1 and 2. The quality of the programs is superb and the explainations are very helpful.

    Je habite Australie – in a small town in the mountains half way between Sydney and Canberra (Bowral) and I have always been interested in languages. The shool I work at runs an excursion to Italy, Belgium and France each January. So all of my family are going this Jan for a once in a lifetime trip. We are also planning to stay in Paris an extra week – hence my choice to start French. I have only just started with season 3 and it is very enjoyable to listen to.

    In one of the lessons, Mark, you ask for feedback / suggestions.
    I would like to offer a suggestion re grammar. Please can you recommend something to help with grammar. I grew up in that generation in Australia who were only taught the most basic elements of grammar. I find particples, perfect etc tre tre dificile, vraiment impossible to comprend.

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  39. I started this podcast earlier this year and went through them quite quickly, just finished lesson 80 tonight. I’m a Canadian and you guys taught me more in these lessons than I ever learned in my years of elementary school French. This truly did wonders for my French, in both vocabulary and grammar. I feel so much more confident in my range of expression.

    Huge thanks again for creating this wonderful product!

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  40. Hello, I just wanted to say thank you, I studied French 10 years ago at my high school here in the U.S and decided to pick it up again this past February. At the time I couldn’t even remember basic grammar constructions such as aller+infinitive the verbs of motion, etc.

    But I went through the course and finished it within a month. Fast forward to a couple days ago, I just had a very pleasant chat with a person I met through a language exchange via skype, “almost” entirely in French. True, my conjugations weren’t perfect, and I had to respond in english sometimes when I understood what the person was saying in French but did not know how to respond, but I walked away feeling that we both understood each other through the language which was WAY more than I ever thought I was capaple of. These lessons really gave me the foundation, So I just wanted to say thank you, I truly believe I am well on my way to speaking fluent French.

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  41. Dear Mark, Anna and all.

    Many thanks for this wonderful podcast. You took me much further than school french ever did. I’m following it through to the third series and I now have great expectations of my future fluency – appropriate since I will be moving to France. Many thanks 🙂

    Reply

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