Build a Strong Core
Finally overcome the intermediate plateau!
You got this far but now you’re stuck
There’s no denying it: learning a new language can be tough sometimes.
The beginning is usually fun. You just learn ready-made sentences and soon enough, you’re able to talk about your family, describe your weekend etc. You’re progressing quickly so your motivation is high!
However once you reach the intermediate level, things get messy.
You know how to build basic sentences, but whenever you try to say something slightly more complex, you find yourself trapped in a minefield of errors.
You see those “en“, “dont” and “y” everywhere, but you don’t know how to use them.
There are so many tenses that you start to believe French people live in a different time dimension.
But the worst part is that you have no idea what you should learn next.
Salut, c’est Hugo!
For seven years, I’ve been helping intermediate French learners become confident French speakers.
I started my career at the French Institute in Warsaw, Poland, and decided to learn Polish to better understand my students.
But just like them, I ended up getting stuck at the intermediate plateau. I knew all the grammar rules and enough vocabulary, yet I couldn’t use the language to have meaningful conversations.
Everything changed when I discovered a Polish podcaster named Piotr. Instead of teaching grammar, Piotr was simply talking about interesting topics in an easy way so that listeners could learn the language naturally.
After listening to him for just a few months, I realized I was finally able to understand Polish people and talk to them with confidence.
That experience was so eye-opening that I decided to create my own podcast to teach French through topics that matter.
Today the innerFrench podcast has over 10 million downloads and it has helped tens of thousands of French learners.
How is this course different from the podcast?
After some time, listeners told me they enjoyed the podcast but they had questions about grammar and vocabulary that I wasn’t able to address, both because the podcast wasn’t the right format and I didn’t have enough time to reply to all of them.
It took me months to figure out a way to teach grammar without giving up on what made innerFrench different in the first place.
I finally found the right formula: a mix of interesting topics, grammar in context and fun exercises to practice. And, most importantly, a clear roadmap to go from intermediate to advanced.
The Build a Strong Core course was born!
“I loved this course and looked forward to it everyday! It gave me the structure I needed to improve my French listening as well as overcome those common, nagging grammar mistakes. Not only did I learn about the French language but also French history and culture. And Hugo’s kindness and encouragement shone through each lesson!”
Why learn French with this course?
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A proven roadmap to finally break through the intermediate plateau, so you can confidently move toward fluency.
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Flexible lessons designed for your pace—learn anytime, anywhere, and review as often as you need to feel confident.
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Interactive and engaging activities—fun quizzes, exercises, and tools to keep you motivated while developing your skills.
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Captivating stories about French culture and society, offering a unique way to expand your vocabulary and understanding.
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Clear, approachable grammar lessons—say goodbye to common mistakes and hello to speaking like a pro.
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Personalized support from expert teachers—ask questions, get answers, and feel supported every step of the way.
Build a Strong Core is designed to help you make learning French a habit.
But you don’t have to complete a lesson everyday. The course is self-paced so you can take as much time as you need to finish it.
“After studying French for a few years, I was finding it difficult to make progress as an intermediate student. And then I started this program – and thought “this is exactly what I needed!”.
It clarified a lot of grammatical topics that I always struggled to understand fully; it had a good mixture of lectures and exercises; and (maybe most importantly) it taught me how to get into the habit of learning French everyday. Because each lesson was so interesting and fun, it was easy to keep my motivation to go through it till the end!”
What does a lesson look like?
In every lesson, you will find different activities to develop the skills you need to move to the advanced level:
• A story about the French-speaking world to learn some interesting facts and new vocabulary in context.
• A grammar section to address the most common mistakes made by intermediate learners and how to fix them.
• A phonetics section to understand the pronunciation differences between formal and informal French.
• Interactive exercises to test yourself and make sure that you understood everything.
“The program was very well-structured and easy-to-follow. It contained various nuanced points on grammar that other courses/books usually disregard, but that commonly cause mistakes among not only beginner but also intermediate level learners.
I especially appreciated the little shortcuts for remembering some tricky little grammar points easily (e.g. genders, prepositions, pronouns, etc.). The downloadable cheat sheets were super helpful as well.”
A glimpse of what you’ll learn
Week 1
Learning to learn
• Why French people speak so fast, and what strategies you can implement to better understand them.
• How to overcome your fear of speaking French and improve your pronunciation.
• The most efficient ways to study grammar and memorize vocabulary.
Week 2
The French Society
• Three paradoxes about the French that they’re not even aware of.
• Why they were ranked as the most pessimistic people in the world.
• How to use que, qui, dont, où to stop sounding like a robot.
• When to pronounce the “s” in “plus“.
Week 3
France and its regions
• Why some French regions want to become independent.
• Why Paris could look like an urban jungle in 2050.
• Why some French suburbs are seen as powder kegs.
• How to finally nail “en” and “y” .
Week 4
The French speaking world
• Why Africa is becoming the epicenter of the French-speaking world.
• Why l’Académie française sees the feminization of the names of professions as a mortal danger.
• How to master the dreaded subjunctive.
• When to use “à” or “de” after a verb.
… and a lot more !
“Since retiring I have been trying to resurrect the French I knew at school. I have found lots of resources online and elsewhere, but InnerFrench has been quite different.
The materials were varied and interesting, Hugo’s video lessons were clearly spoken, and the explanations of grammar and common errors cleared up several things I was confused about.
Hugo also explained the reasons for some of my frustrations and how to deal with them, such as why ‘normal’ spoken French is still so hard to follow in spite of all I have learned.”
Is this course for you?
✅ Yes if…
- You’re at a lower intermediate level (end of A2 – B1 on the CEFR scale).
- You can understand the first episodes of the innerFrench podcast without too much trouble (with or without the transcripts).
⛔️ No if…
- You’re at an advanced level (B2 or above on the CEFR scale).
- You find the innerFrench podcast too easy/slow.
- You don’t want to practice grammar.
“The lessons cover a number of topics that I needed to learn to improve my French. Thanks to this course, I’ve already seen a significant improvement in my ability to understand and communicate in French. It’s the perfect combination of challenge and encouragement.”
What’s inside the course
Lifetime Access
Use the course for ever + get all the future updates
30 Lessons + Bonuses
Fascinating stories with a sprinkle of grammar
7 Hours of Video
+ downloadable MP3 files and transcriptions
Over 120 exercises
Interactive activities to practice and track your progress
“I’m glad I bought this course and I think the price is very reasonable! Not only did I learn the grammar rules and vocabulary, but I also found ways to continue my learning.
I know that I still make grammatical mistakes, but at least I have already written 22 journal entries thanks to this program and I have been speaking French regularly for six months. I was dreaming of such progress!“
Lifetime Access
199€ one-time payment
Your success matters to us.
If you’re not satisfied within the first 30 days (and haven’t completed more than 50% of the course), we’ll refund your purchase.
I thought I had struck gold when I came across your podcast, but when I discovered this course, I was truly in heaven! I enjoyed everything: the variety of interesting topics covered, all the other resources you provide, the grammar lessons, but most of all, your humor, encouragement and positivity. Thank you for this gem.
Your program is very intuitive in guiding me to better understand the structure of the French language. You have given me the “glue” for the crossword puzzle that I have been wrestling with for the past 2 years. Your style and encouragement made me feel like this was a private class. Many thanks to you & Anna!
I love the variety of interesting topics that were in every lesson. Also I never felt bored doing it because the exercices were always changing and kept me focused all the time. I was excited before every lesson to open it and learn something new.
In 2010, I was living in Quebec, where I learned to communicate, but I wasn’t really studying grammar or topics related to France. So this program made me want to study again, and the way the course works is great! Talking about writers, more contemporary topics, Africa, the notes you can download… Thank you very much, Hugo and the innerFrench team!
I really enjoyed this course and my understanding of French has really improved. Even though I learned grammar in school, I had forgotten a lot. The grammar explanations are very clear and the exercises helped me a lot. You can get answers to any questions or problems you have. In addition, I appreciated all the tips that help to learn a foreign language and all the recommendations of resources. Hugo is an encouraging and generous teacher. I have gained confidence in myself and I am very motivated to continue studying French!
Hugo is an excellent teacher. I would highly recommend this course to others who want to improve their French. It was great!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your efforts, Hugo, and to everyone who helped you along the way. I loved the course and learned a lot of new things about the French-speaking world while improving my French. You are a genius, and I am happy to be part of your growing family.
I really appreciated all the tips and strategies the course gave me. I am also glad to have a “library” of words and phrases. I now have a good, clear and structured knowledge of French grammar!
Just a big thank you! Thanks to the program (and your podcast), I’ve rekindled my passion for French. I took your advice, and now I do something in French every day.
I liked the most variety of topics, quality content and enormous quantity of positivity that is put in the program. Creators of the program thought of everything; including how to practice language in free time which is not spent on the program. Focus on French language, culture and history helped me in learning and understanding some of the customs/behaviours of French people.
This course helped me rediscover what I had learned 50 years ago and showed me where my gaps in grammar and vocabulary are. So in the future, I will know better how to work on improving my French. I also found the video presentations very interesting. The stimulating topics inspired me to think and helped me retain vocabulary and grammatical structures. Finally, I found the lists and diagrams you prepared for us very useful.
Thank you for all the work Hugo and his team have done. What you have created is wonderful.
Thank you Hugo and Anna, you have created a course rich in useful and exciting content. I imagine it took you a lot of time and effort. So, well done. I would also like to thank you for your promptness and thoughtfulness in answering all the questions. I am delighted to have participated in the course!
Many thanks to you, Hugo, Hugo’s family, and Anna. As an intermediate student, I had already tried other courses before yours, but this program helped me the most, even though I finished it in over 30 days. Better late than never! So, let’s get started with “Raconte ton histoire.” I can’t wait!
Your teachers
Hugo
I started my career 10 years ago at the Institut français in Warsaw. In 2017, I created innerFrench to help people learn French naturally through topics that speak to them.
Anna
I completed my Master’s Degree with a double specialization in French didactics and literature, then taught in several language schools before joining the innerFrench team in 2020.
“Prior to joining the course, I had been studying French for 1.5 years, just dragging myself and finding it hard to continue. However, joining this course was one of my best decisions in my language journey. It offered me a one-stop portal to stick to over the last 4 to 6 weeks for learning French grammar, vocab and culture in context. The discussion topics covered were of varied interests and engaging.”
Why this program is different from other French courses
Most French courses either overwhelm you with grammar rules or bore you with artificial conversations about buying croissants. We take a completely different approach.
Content-driven learning: Instead of building lessons around grammar points, we explore fascinating topics about French culture and society. Grammar naturally emerges from context, making it easier to understand and remember.
Intermediate-focused: While most courses cater to beginners, we’re laser-focused on the specific challenges you face at the intermediate plateau—those tricky pronouns, complex tenses, and cultural nuances that textbooks skip.
Sustainable habits over quick fixes: Rather than promising impossible results, we help you build a daily French learning routine that actually sticks. This habit-building approach is what creates real, lasting fluency.
Proven content foundation: If you already enjoy the innerFrench Podcast, you’ll love diving deeper with structured lessons, targeted exercises, and expert guidance on the topics you’re already curious about.
The result? You’ll make consistent daily progress while actually enjoying the process.
“This is a wonderful program with fun, engaging content and a very effective design that’s really helped me make progress in French. The lessons are full of helpful learning strategies and interesting explorations of French life and culture, and Hugo is great at making complex grammar easy to understand and calling attention to important nuances in the way people actually speak.“
Train your ear
Since you probably understand me pretty well at this stage, it’s important to get used to different accents.
That’s why we’ll also work with videos made for native speakers. But don’t panic: I’ll be there to help you along the way.
Thanks to these exercises, not only will you get a better grasp of spoken French but you will also discover some fascinating speakers.
“This is exactly the course I was looking for! I had been frozen in place in my French learning for years — but Hugo managed to light the match! His challenging and stimulating lessons have filled in the crucial gaps in my learning, and he’s boosted my confidence to put what I know into practice!”
Frequently asked questions
“Being a language teacher myself, I know how important it is to improve as many skills as possible (which I did have a chance to do).
What I appreciate most about this course, though, is a certain attitude: being passionate about what you do. I strongly agree that discovering the pleasure of learning and curiosity are the main keys to successful learning. With Hugo’s material and attitude, it’s a piece of cake!”
Course syllabus
Contenu Cours
“It really was an excellent and enjoyable course. I particularly liked the fact that it covered some tricky concepts that were hard to understand in a way that made sense, and combined this with interesting cultural information. And I really like that I can go back over the course and the exercises again to reinforce my understanding anytime that I like.”
“‘After listening to almost all of Hugo’s podcasts, I finally decided to sign up for the “Build a Strong Core” course. Good decision! This course was not only very enjoyable, but I found it very well designed to present, in an easy-to-understand way, those particular areas of grammar and constructions that I think challenge many of us. It definitely helped me to progress. !”
“I was a bit skeptical, but the online format and 30-day program was really good. On the couple days when the content was dense, it allowed me to take some extra time and continue when I was ready. It was great for flexibility in my schedule.”
“I had a series of questions before I started and I’m very, very happy because they were all answered. The topics were exactly at my level and Hugo explained everything in a structured, clear and simple manner.”
“I’ve been studying French for a number of years: in high school, in adult classes or with some independent programs… During these years, I always had questions! Like a magician, Hugo read my mind and created the course I was looking for!“
“‘Build a Strong Core’ was everything I’d been looking for: enriching, fascinating and, what’s more, fun. Who could have imagined that even the grammar would be so interesting? Thank you so much!”
“Thanks to Hugo, I have regained my confidence. I’ve gotten over my fear of speaking and have also started attending conversation groups.“
“I just redid this excellent course as preparation for the next one. I’m a big fan of Hugo, his videos, his podcast, but especially “Build a Strong Core”! The course is worth every penny and I highly recommend it.”
“Thanks to this course, I’ve enjoyed learning French and it’s become a daily routine that I love! Thank you so much for helping me improve my French in such a pleasant way, thanks to your many useful tips!”
“I really like the structure of the course: lessons with stories, grammar and quizzes.”
“I enjoyed this course, especially the videos and the content on the cultural aspects of French and all things Francophone. I don’t really like grammar, but I know it’s necessary!”
“I enjoyed the lessons on informal language, pronunciation… In short, the modern language!”
“The highlight of the program was Hugo, who made everything interesting and clear! I don’t want to sound like the teacher’s pet, but the program was a big challenge and I needed something inspiring.“
“Build A Strong Core was a great course for understanding French grammar in a way that improves my comprehension and expression. I spent a year in France as a young man and worked in ski shop where I had to speak French all day long without having a grammatical base. I am little embarrassed looking back about how bad my French really was. It’s actually better now, particularly with some grammatical underpinning.”
“I’d dropped out of French since high school, and a few months ago I decided to catch up. Thanks to Hugo, through his podcast and his “Build a Strong Core” course, I managed to reach B1 level in no time. And I achieved this level in a very pleasant way, because while I was learning the language, I was also learning a lot about France and the French.“
“Each lesson topic was interesting, with new vocabulary sprinkled throughout, and the grammar lessons were useful, relevant, and easy to follow. There was nothing to “skim past” because everything in this course was useful or answered questions I had. Hugo’s organized approach kept me very motivated, and I looked forward to each lesson because I didn’t have to create that schedule for myself. Throughout taking this course I felt that I could truly enjoy “mon apprentissage” while learning about French history and culture. I could trust the process, and I came out feeling as though I learned so much.”
I have a very busy job, so, what I have loved about ‘Build a Strong Core’, is that although the encouragement and structure has a focus on doing the videos and exercises for each consecutive day on actual consecutive days, it is also possible to do the course entirely at the pace you chose (over about a year in my case!). I engage with the French language as a hobby and for the simple enjoyment of being able to both understand, and speak to French-speaking people, when I visit France on holiday. I have also recently had the pleasure of discovering that some French people have begun to tell me that I speak good French – especially after engaging with InnerFrench podcast and courses over the last few years, of course!”
“I like the course because it contains a lot of very interesting videos and also because it is well structured. I’ve learned a lot of very important things. But the most important thing, in my opinion, is that it can be repeated. Because it’s impossible to learn everything the first time. And it combines well with podcasts. I recommend taking a little time to listen to and read the podcasts, noticing excerpts that contain grammar from the course to understand everything better. “
“‘This program gave me the tools I needed to improve my French and enabled me to continue my learning using research-based strategies!”
“I found it a pleasant combination of effort and relaxation. The useful grammar sections help avoid silly mistakes and make it easier to communicate in French. I worked hard and had fun at the same time.”
“The course is really comprehensive and allowed me to greatly improve my understanding of B1/B2 levels of French communication and grammar. Thank you Hugo and team!”
“16 years of studying French in school wasn’t able to give me as much understanding and confidence as Hugo has. With Hugo’s help, guidance, and clear instruction, I’ve been able to surpass a level I never thought I would. 100000% recommend!”
“The course is very well constructed, easy to follow and there was a lot to learn; especially facts, which are hard to find elsewhere. Now at the end of the course, I think I’ve improved my French a lot.“
“The course was very nice and engaging. It is well designed so as not to be tedious. I will continue to take the advanced course and also the podcast.”
“What I really liked about the course was that it was about the French language and culture. Not just words, not just grammar, but everything together. At the same time, I learnt methods to improve my French. I have had many of my questions answered.”
“This course was amazing! Thank you so much to Hugo and team for making it not only a great learning tool, but also something super interesting and engaging that I wanted to keep coming back to.”
“The content is interesting, the explanations are clear and the exercises are both useful and fun. I recommend it!”
“This course was the best I have ever attended. If I would have had this style of teaching in school, I would have been fluent in French long ago. I appreciate you sharing also your “private you” in teaching, it makes me feel I know you in person and lessons feel more private. This encourages me to continue.”
“I found the setting extremely useful. We practiced the things that are most difficult for students learning French. I’m sure I’ll still make a lot of mistakes, but I hope there are far fewer. I really enjoyed all the cultural videos as well as the educational ones and the variety of exercises.”
“These are the best grammar lessons I’ve found: very clear and concise, and the quizzes are very well done. Also, Hugo speaks slowly, but not too much, his pronunciation is perfect, easy to understand and gives students confidence.”
“Diverse approach, rich content, not monotonous and better organized than other online courses I followed.”
“Hugo’s knowledge of language acquisition made this class excellent in content, structure, and organization. His explanations are clear, succinct, and easy to assimilate into your working knowledge of French. This was a fantastic review of a variety of details to help learners grow in their proficiency in French.”
“This course is fantastic – it is the perfect blend of comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar. Anna and Hugo are quick to respond to questions and I love the community of learners that I met along the way.“
“I liked the structure of the course as well as the way grammar points were clearly explained.”
“After listening to the InnerFrench podcast for some time, I decided to sign up for “Build a Strong Core”. I liked it so much that I then signed up for “Raconte ton histoire”. Fantastic courses! The quality and depth of the content make them both an incredible value.“
“Thanks again for this course, it was very interesting and easy to understand with your explanations. I also enjoyed some of the current topics, now I just need to talk more.”
“I’ve been enrolled in the intermediate course for a few very busy years in my personal life. I really appreciate that my subscription is ongoing. I can return to the course whenever I want. The content is methodical and has just enough repetition. I like InnerFrench for its personal approach and balanced presentation. I’ve started many French courses in the past and InnerFrench is academically sound, varied in current topics and stays in touch with its community of learners.“
“I have tried and purchased most of the main French online programs and see that this course is by far the most inspirational, detailed, clear, and the best value.
What I really liked is Hugo’s encouragement and honesty about acquiring the language. I appreciate his sense of humor, personal stories and opinions, and his deep thoughts about a variety of topics. Also the obvious amount of work and resources and attention to details he has provided.”
“I wanted to refresh my French, which I had studied in Hamburg 30 years ago. I succeeded. Even more: I have brought my beloved French back into everyday life. I listen to French music and podcasts, read French newspapers and watch French videos. Through the course, my French has improved a lot. I understand so much more. I follow various French people on Instagram and can understand a lot.“
“Hugo and Build a Strong Core have helped me improve the French I can speak and, even more importantly, understand. For me there are two big problems when learning French: comprehension and especially grammar. I have to say that all the lessons have addressed these problems. Since doing this course, I can understand more podcasts and even understand little things on French TV.“
“I loved the course and learned a lot of new things about the French-speaking world while improving my French. You’re a genius and I’m happy to be part of your growing family.”
“The course didn’t feel like yet another chore. I did it with great enthusiasm and desire. It is addictive and I will redo certain parts over and over again before proceeding to the next level. I definitely feel my core strengthened 😉”
“I’d forgotten most of the A level French I studied decades ago – this course was a perfect, and always engaging, refresher.”
“This course made me want to learn French instead of feeling like I was working 😀”
“I really enjoyed the grammar explanations. Thank you for this wonderful course!”
“What I liked about the course: the structure and content (cultural, historical and social), the warm, friendly tone, its flexible format, which allowed me to do it at my own pace”
“Hugo concentrated on aspects of French that are confusing, for English speakers at least, such as “en”, “y”, “plus,” “lequel/duquel/auquel” etc. The exercises are presented in varying formats, with cultural subjects relating to France, and are brief and easy to fit into the day.”
“After following and enjoying Hugo and Ingrid’s podcast for several months, I decided to sign up for the online course. I needed a lot of time to complete the course, well over three weeks. But fortunately, that wasn’t a problem. I could go back to my lessons whenever I had time. And it was a great feeling to finally get to the last chapter.”
“I’m retired and trying to relearn French. I’ve forgotten a lot of the language since I was young. This course is perfect. I’ve done it twice and now I feel ready to do the next course – « Raconte ton histoire »”
“I liked this course which helped me to clear up a lot of doubts I had. I found the grammar lessons very well structured and easy to understand, as well as the pronunciation notions. But above all, Hugo helped me to find my own way of taking advantage of the resources available online to stay motivated in my learning.“
“I liked learning things that were very important and useful in the real world. In my lessons at the Alliance Française, I found that we were learning things that weren’t very useful, and we were learning too slowly. In this course, I also liked practicing listening comprehension because that’s the thing in the language that’s most difficult for me.”
“I found the topics very interesting and I like the grammar explanations (because grammar is difficult for me).”
“Thanks to your course, I passed my Government of Canada exam. I think every civil servant in Canada should buy this course if they want to pass!”
