The Best French Classes in Lyon (2026 Review)

Echoa is a speaking course on your phone or computer, in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian. Each lesson takes about 15 minutes: you hear an English cue, build the French sentence and say it aloud, and Sam answers what you actually said. There is no group, so every answer in the lesson is yours. Call it your speaking bootcamp. Say things you were never taught: sentences you build yourself from the pieces you have learnt. Real conversations in 20 hours. A2 in weeks, not years. The lessons teach Metropolitan French, as spoken in France.

The French course runs from a restaurant first, then meeting people, making plans, saying what happened, sorting things out and having friends round, which brings you to A2. Where the course takes you, from lesson 1 to lesson 40:

• Lesson 1: Bonsoir. Je voudrais une table pour deux personnes, s'il vous plaît.
• Lesson 4: Pardon, je ne comprends pas. Vous pouvez répéter plus lentement, s'il vous plaît ?
• Lesson 40: Non. Quand j'étais petit, j'habitais à Londres.

Pros

• Each lesson gets you giving around fifty spoken answers in about 15 minutes, and each one gets a reply. No class here can give each learner that much speaking.
• Any time of day, so it fits round office hours, the tram from Part-Dieu or a late shift.
• €39 a month for every language course, so three months cost less than the €350–1,150 the schools here charge for twelve weeks of evening classes. The first 3 lessons are free.

Cons

• No classroom and no classmates; nobody notices if you skip a week.
• No certificate; for a permit or citizenship, learners sit the recognised exam, whichever way they learnt.

The CIEF, the French-language centre of Université Lumière Lyon 2, runs a general French evening course: about 25 hours over 12 weeks for €350. Tuesday, 18:30–20:30, at the Berges du Rhône campus (7th); next sessions 11 January–9 April 2027 and 26 April–13 July 2027; pre-registration until 6 January 2027.

Pros

• The lowest twelve-week price among the schools here, and a university course at about €15 an hour.
• One evening a week, the easiest timetable here to keep free.

Cons

• The fewest hours of the twelve-week courses, and groups start at A2: there is no group for complete beginners.
• Fixed start dates with pre-registration ahead, no exam at the end (a certificate of attendance on request), and the class size is not published.

The Alliance Française de Lyon runs an intensive evening course on four evenings a week. Monday to Thursday, 18:00–20:00; a new session each month. Three months give about 95 hours in class for about €1,150, at the three-month rate.

Pros

• The most class hours of any course here, and the lowest price per hour, at about €12.
• A new session starts every month, so there is no term to wait for.

Cons

• Four evenings a week is a lot to keep free, and the highest twelve-week price here.
• Extra: €70 annual registration fee. The school does not publish its class size.

The Alliance Française de Lyon's extensive evening course meets twice a week. Tuesday and Thursday, 18:00–20:00, in central Lyon, plus 4 hours a month of online self-study; a new session each month. Levels run from A1 to C1, and a placement test sets the group. Three monthly sessions give about 50 hours in class for about €695. The school is also an exam centre for the DELF, the DALF and the TCF: Over 2,800 people took a French exam at the Alliance Française de Lyon in 2025.

Pros

• A new group every month from A1, and a placement test to put you in the right one.
• The exams are at the same address when you are ready, at about €15 an hour in class.

Cons

• Extra: €70 annual registration fee; textbook (Défi actuel for A1–A2) not stated as included.
• One month on its own costs more than a month in a three-month block, and the school does not publish its class size.

The Alliance Française de Lyon also teaches its Français 360 course live online. Monday and Wednesday, 18:00–20:00, live online, plus 4 hours a month of self-study. Three months give about 50 hours of live class for about €1,050, in groups of 4–8 learners.

Pros

• The smallest groups any school here states, so a two-hour class leaves each learner at most 15 to 30 minutes to speak.
• No commute: class from home, two evenings a week.

Cons

• About €20 an hour, the highest rate of the twelve-week courses, plus €70 annual registration fee.
• The booking page lists levels A2 to B2, so complete beginners should ask first.

Lyon Bleu International, a Lyon language school, teaches an evening course live online. Tuesday and Thursday, 18:00–19:30, live online; minimum 8 weeks. Twelve weeks give about 35 hours of live class for €460, with a stated average class size of average 12–14.

Pros

• The lowest price for live online evening classes here, at about €13 an hour.
• Ninety minutes twice a week, which ends early enough to leave the evening.

Cons

• Open from A2 only: there is no group for complete beginners. Extra: €30 registration fee.
• Classes of a dozen or more, so a 90-minute class leaves each learner at most seven or eight minutes to speak.

Inflexyon, also known as Lyon Langues, teaches evening French by the semester: 18 weeks, one 90-minute class a week, about 25 hours for €430. One evening a week, 19:00–20:30, the day set by level; semesters run September to February and February to June. It sells a semester, not a twelve-week block, so it is not set beside the twelve-week prices above.

Pros

• One evening a week, at about €16 an hour in class. Inflexyon charges an €80 registration fee on its daytime courses, but not on evening classes, private lessons or online courses.
• People working in France can use their CPF training account for some Inflexyon courses.

Cons

• One class a week makes for slow progress, and there are no evening classes in summer.
• The evening is set by your level, not by you, and the school does not publish its class size.