Ten years ago, when I was a mere 70, I discovered IS Aix-en-Provence and signed up for two weeks of intensive French. Yes, I arrived one day at the language school in beautiful Aix-en-Provence with virtually no French … and left two weeks later with an A2 certificate.
Learning French after 70 has taken me down all sorts of paths since then — private teachers, group classes, apps and studying on my own. But I’ve never again made that much progress in such a short time.
For years, I thought it was simply because I went away and immersed myself in French. But after talking recently with Anna Diaz, director of IS Aix-en-Provence, I realized there was more to it. The way they taught us mattered, too.
And some of what worked is almost the opposite of the way many of us think we’re supposed to learn a language.
Watch: What Actually Worked
You Don’t Have to Understand Everything
One of the hardest things about learning French is accepting how much you don’t understand. Someone starts speaking, you miss a word, and your brain immediately goes searching for it. While you’re mentally translating, the speaker has moved on, and you’ve lost the conversation.
Anna sees this particularly among some American students, who tend to translate everything word by word or phrase by phrase. In the long run, she says, that doesn’t necessarily help us get into the language.
Her alternative is wonderfully liberating: “Fifty percent is fine.”
If you can understand half of what’s being said, or make yourself understood “more or less,” that’s enough to begin. You build from there, little by little.
The goal changes. Instead of asking, Did I understand every word?, the better question becomes, Did I understand enough to stay in the conversation?
Mistakes Are Part of the Method
For adults accustomed to being reasonably competent at life, making mistakes in front of a classroom isn’t always comfortable. We tend to think a mistake means we haven’t learned something properly. In language learning, it can be exactly how the learning happens.
“Mistakes are so important when you’re learning a language,” Anna says.
At IS Aix-en-Provence, students try words, phrases and structures together. One person makes a mistake, and someone else learns from it. The aim is what Anna calls a “safe environment,” where speaking imperfect French isn’t something to avoid; it’s part of the process.
Eventually, she says, “some magic happens.” Students stop simply doing French exercises and begin expressing themselves with what they know.
Looking back, I’m certain there was plenty of imperfect French coming out of my mouth during those two weeks. I just wasn’t waiting until it was perfect to use it.
Why There’s No Prescribed Textbook
The teaching itself was different, too.
IS Aix-en-Provence doesn’t use one prescribed textbook that every class follows from chapter to chapter. Teachers create activities and exercises based on the group’s objectives and level, with the freedom to adapt what they’re doing to what students need.
A textbook can teach grammar and vocabulary. Podcasts and apps can provide practice and repetition. All of those can be useful — and all can be done independently.
Going to a French language school in France should offer something different. The classroom becomes a place to apply what you’re learning: listening, responding, trying a sentence, getting it wrong, correcting it and trying again.
Some students arrive with definite expectations about what they should be learning and how quickly they should progress. They put pressure on themselves before they’ve even found their footing.
Anna’s advice is simple: “Relax and let us do the work.”
Immersion Was Only Part of the Answer
For those two weeks, French wasn’t something I fitted around the rest of my life. I had gone away to learn it, and that concentration mattered enormously.
But immersion by itself doesn’t fully explain what happened.
I was immersed in a particular way of learning. I wasn’t expected to understand everything. I spoke before I could speak perfectly and made mistakes in a room where mistakes were useful. The teachers decided what we needed to work on and adapted the lessons to us.
The immersion created the conditions. The teaching made use of them.
Together, they produced something I’ve never managed to duplicate with an hour of French here, an app there, a group class for a while, or studying on my own.
The A2 Certificate I Didn’t Know I’d Need
I didn’t go to IS Aix-en-Provence because I needed A2 or a certificate. I went because I lived in France and wanted to learn French.
But I left with documentation that I’d reached A2. Later, when I applied for French residency and discovered I needed to demonstrate A2 French, I already had the certificate to prove it.
The requirements are different today. Since January 2026, applicants for a first 10-year carte de résident generally need B1 French.
For anyone considering a future in France, formal French study can offer practical benefits you may not think about at the start. I certainly wasn’t.
Learning French After 70 — Ten Years Later, I’m Going Back
I’ve spent the years since IS Aix-en-Provence learning French after 70 in all sorts of ways — private teachers, group classes, apps, and studying on my own. Now I’m 80, and I’m still learning. But I’ve never made the kind of progress I did during those two weeks.
Now I understand why.
So I’m going back — not to start over, but to pick up where I left off.
What Actually Works
For me, learning French after 70 came down to five things:
- Stop translating every word
- Accept that 50% can be enough
- Speak — and make mistakes
- Immerse yourself in using French
- Relax and trust the process
While You’re There … Fall in Love with Aix-en-Provence
My upcoming return to IS Aix-en-Provence is in collaboration with the school. My original two-week course, about ten years ago, was my own experience
