If you are an absolute beginner, you can register for the A1.1 class. If you already know or speak some French, even if the last time was many years ago in high school, make sure to take your free placement test. You can learn more about our levels and how long it takes to learn French here.
Our policies have changed! Make sure to read them before you register.
It’s winter in New England! The following will be applied in case of a snowstorm or extreme weather:
For in-person learning, adults and teens classes will switch to an online format. Kids’ classes will be canceled and rescheduled. Please look for an email from your teacher or the Education Department for guidance and zoom links.
For online learning, classes will continue to be in session during a projected storm. Unless we announce otherwise, please assume classes are in session. In the event of power and/or internet outages, here are some general tips:
– If you experience a power outage or a Zoom interruption at your home, please contact the Education Dept. via email: adultprograms@frenchlibrary.org or at (617) 912-0400. You might also want to be in touch with the teacher directly, to make arrangements to review any missed material.
– If a teacher loses connection during a class, please stay in your virtual classroom for a few minutes while the teacher logs back in. If your teacher is unable to make it back quickly, please check your e-mail for further instructions from your teacher or a member of the education team.
Find Your Class
B1 | Get Ready for the DELF B1!
If you're planning to take the DELF B1 in June, this preparatory class is for you! Ensure your success and work on all four language skills tested on the exam.
A2+ | Travelogue: Special Francophonie
Join Lily on this virtual tour of some of the French-speaking-world's greatest places!
B1+ | Portraits d'Auteurs | In Person
In this class, you will discover the fascinating lives and works of influential French authors, immersing yourself each week in a unique world of ideas, emotions and artistry. In this first part of the Spring Classes, we will embark on a new path, focusing exclusively on the following authors: Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), Anna de Noailles (1876-1933), Marguerite Duras (1914-1996), Édouard Glissant (1928-2011) and Tahar Ben Jelloun (1947).
B1 | Le français en chansons | In Person
Do you love French? Do you love songs? Would you like to know more about French songs and singers? This class is for you!
B1+ | World News with 7 jours sur la planète | In Person
Are you a news enthusiast who constantly needs to stay updated with what’s happening around the world? Look no further—this class is exactly what you need! Every week, we will focus on a current event that has made the headlines, viewed from the perspective of the francophone press. The class content will be based primarily (but not exclusively) on weekly updated materials found in the “7 jours sur la planète” collection, a program developed by the global francophone network TV5 Monde, dedicated to information and the teaching of French since 1984. Boost your proficiency and your critical thinking by looking at the world with un autre regard!
B1+ | Great Historical Figures: L'heritage de Charles de Gaulle
Join this class with History teacher Francois to learn how Charles de Gaulle influenced his time and brought about changes that are still felt today.
B2+ | From War to Words: French Literary Masterpieces
As the French Library celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2025, this literature class was designed to evoke its foundation. Established in December 1945, the Library originated from “France Forever,” an organization developed across the US in 1940 in response to General de Gaulle’s call for all French men and women (and their allies) to unite to liberate France from Nazi occupation. To honor this remarkable historic genesis, we have selected five French literary classics that reflect the aspirations, ideals, ordeals, and memories linked to that period. These works span from the very beginning of WWII, with Yourcenar’s Nouvelles Orientales (1938) and Saint-Exupéry’s Terre des hommes (1939), to Camus’s emblematic L’Étranger (1942), and later works that delve into wartime memories through the shimmering veils of time and pain: Modiano’s La Place de l’Étoile (1968) and Duras’s La Douleur (1985). As Hitler’s Germany had already annexed Austria in March 1938, Nouvelles Orientales and Terre des Hommes offer two kinds of “tour du monde” that feel like one deeply humanistic expression of hope in the beauty of the world, both human and natural. With Yourcenar, it’s about traveling on the wings of mythology and folklore, with ten different destinations scattered throughout the Far East and the Mediterranean, and one final stop in the Netherlands, in the shop of painter Cornelius Berg, who is so disgusted by human nature that he has decided to paint only flowers. With Saint-Exupéry, it’s about sitting in the cockpit of his “Simoun” plane and sharing not just his unbelievable adventures and dangers, but also his unique point of view on life, either discovered from 10,000 feet in the air or within his own heart after his plane crashed and as death seemed inevitable. With Albert Camus’s L’Étranger (1942), we are now well into the war, with the story of a man, Meursault, who seems to feel, understand, or control nothing anymore, and who drifts from one event of his life to the next, possessed only with a perceived meaninglessness of existence. Could it be that an overwhelming feeling of horror and grief, caused by the recent death of his mother—the novel opens with the famous sentence: “Aujourd’hui, Maman est morte.”—made him unable to connect with his emotions or to make sense of anything? Fundamental questions remain unresolved but only deepen into a general sense of absurdity, as mounting violence and eventually murder lead the anti-hero and narrator of the novel to a tragic and yet absolutely inconclusive end. In many ways, it metaphorically speaks to the loss of the motherland and the ensuing barbarity, a dehumanizing process experienced both collectively and individually. Finally, Patrick Modiano’s La Place de l’Étoile (1968) and Marguerite Duras’s La Douleur (1985) look at the war from a distance, but the wounds they explore are still very much open. What happened? What was it? Modiano’s answer is like an autofiction on crack where the narrator, Raphaël Schlemilovitch, born, like Modiano, right at the end of the war (1945), is so obsessed by it that the tale of his own life, like after a slip through a spacetime fault (or maybe clinical insanity?), now takes place during the war, juggling real and fictional characters and places in an alternate reality where logic or chronology have been thrown out the window. Could humor, or madness, be the only response to the horrors of war? Interestingly, La Douleur is written in a completely different tone, and yet boils down to the same questions of time and emotional distortions. Marguerite Duras based this work on a journal she started in 1944, when she was living in occupied Paris and her husband had just been arrested and deported to a Nazi camp. Rediscovering these notebooks decades later, she distilled them into an ensemble of six short stories, creating an auto-fictional vision that imparts this poignant truth: more often than not, reality is too difficult to face directly, and the only way to own and share it is through the art of transformation.
B2+ | Plaisir de Lire
Improve speaking and comprehension while reading out loud French literary works from a wide variety of genres. Is it a pleasure for you to read a great poem, book, or historical speech aloud? In this class you’ll do just that, focusing on the tone, accents, and flow of the text. Readings are selected to highlight examples of hyperboles, alliterations, and keywords, and opportunities to work on your “voice” (tone, silences, inflections, pace, and more) will be prominently featured.
B2+ | L’art français au Louvre
Embark on an in-depth journey through the Louvre. Visit the collections, get great insights and the tools to understand and talk about art!
B2+ | L'art de la photographie en France
Scène parisienne, portrait d’inconnus ou de célébrités, sur la route ou en studio, de mode ou reportage, qu’elle soit purement esthétique ou politiquement engagée, chaque photographie raconte une histoire, ce qui fait d’elle un excellent point de départ pour une conversation.
B2+ | Creative Writing
Build your vocabulary and knowledge of idioms through various creative writing techniques and activities.
B1+| 80th Anniversary of the end of WWII
In this class, we will learn about 5 keys moments that led to the end of WWII.
A2 | Literature: Easy Reading - Eugénie Grandet
You don't have to be at the Advanced level to enjoy reading in French! Develop speaking and comprehension while reading and analyzing simple literary works from a wide variety of genres. For this edition, discover Balzac's Eugénie Grandet.
A2+ | Advanced Beginner Lunch Break
Come join us for this casual conversation class! Learn French in a relaxed environment during your lunch break. Sharpen your skills and discuss everything from daily activities to social issues. No homework and no required textbook.
A2/A2+ | Listen Up!
Strengthen your listening skills while improving your vocabulary and grammar by engaging with a variety of fascinating audio media, including podcasts, readings, and mini role plays!
A2 | Literature: Easy Reading - le Grand Meaulnes.
You don't have to be at the Advanced level to enjoy reading in French! Develop speaking and comprehension while reading and analyzing simple literary works from a wide variety of genres. For this edition, discover Le Grand Meaulnes.
B1+ | World News with 7 jours sur la planète
Are you a news enthusiast who constantly needs to stay updated with what’s happening around the world? Look no further—this class is exactly what you need! Every week, we will focus on a current event that has made the headlines, viewed from the perspective of the francophone press. The class content will be based primarily (but not exclusively) on weekly updated materials found in the “7 jours sur la planète” collection, a program developed by the global francophone network TV5 Monde, dedicated to information and the teaching of French since 1984. Boost your proficiency and your critical thinking by looking at the world with un autre regard!
B1 | Literature: Easy Reading - Germinal
You don't have to be at the Advanced level to enjoy reading in French! Develop speaking and comprehension while reading and analyzing simple literary works from a wide variety of genres. For this edition, discover Germinal.
B1 | Literature: Easy Reading - Candide
You don't have to be at the Advanced level to enjoy reading in French! Develop speaking and comprehension while reading and analyzing simple literary works from a wide variety of genres. For this edition, discover Voltaire'sCandide.
B2 | Evening Chat
You are proficient in French and eager to enjoy the rewards of fun, real-life and intellectually stimulating conversations? This class is for you!
B2 | Ateliers de Grammaire
Learn elements of grammar through structured practice. Topics vary based on class needs.
B1+ | A la découverte de la Bretagne
Join Farida to learn all about Brittany. Discover the region's towns and cities, history, music, cuisine, and cultural events.
B2+/C1 | Literature
Improve speaking and comprehension while reading and analyzing French literary works from a wide variety of genres.
A2 | Listen Up!
Strengthen your listening skills while improving your vocabulary and grammar by engaging with a variety of fascinating audio media, including podcasts, readings, and mini role plays!
A2+ | Pronunciation
Improve the quality of your spoken French by covering basic phonetic rules, challenging sounds, liaisons and intonation in this intermediate level class.
B1 | Pronunciation
Improve the quality of your spoken French by covering basic phonetic rules, challenging sounds, liaisons and intonation in this intermediate level class.