To think I can become bilingual by studying online?

[Hubu]

I plan on re-studying French and getting back to B1 level proficiency (intemediate)

I'm a weak A2 now and I know there are a few free courses 1 online to get to C1 level then may do an intensive course for a month in France at a language school.

I've also read Fluent Forever and Fluent in 3 months.

My plan is to do this by August/September this year (2020)

Is this realistic and achievable?

Fluent maybe (if you go to France for a month and do intensive classes plus live and socialise with French speakers).

Bilingual?! Hell no.

live and socialise with native French speakers

I think it'll be possible to speak French reasonable well and read well by then if you study hard. But no way will you be bilingual. You will need to live in the country and socialise with native speakers to become really fluent.

I can't live with native speakers. I have English DP and DD at home

B1 is achievable but for a "true" B1 you'll have to work at it and get exposure to language outside an app. Listen to spoken French eg radio every day, read the news in French, and take a class if possible for speaking practice.

My experience is that with daily reading and listening practice (on top of some study) you should see a significant improvement in 2-3 months. Often the improvement is sudden (I found that after listening to French talk radio every morning there was a moment about 3 months in when I could understand everything without effort).

It's a realistic plan, but you're not going to be fully bilingual at the end of it. Can you supplement the initial online learning with any local conversation classes?

Just out of interest, is there a reason you need to improve so much so quickly?

It won’t make you bilingual, no. I am bilingual in another European language because I spent three years there as a student and speak it with DH. However, despite having lived in France for the past 15 years and being a professional linguist, I would not claim to be bilingual in French. To be bilingual you have to live significant chunks of your life in that language, it needs to be part of your thought process.

No, you won't be bilingual, but you could reach a good level of proficiency. It will be hard to work on your oral skills (both comprehension and spoken), so you will need a plan there.

Oh can get good but not bilingual. There’s more to that then just knowing how the speak the language (from people I know it’s about thinking in the language and it being second nature).

Try to watch french films and find a french radio station to have on as much as possible.

I do admire you though - I am hopeless at languages!

Is there a reason you want to do it so swiftly? I think part of it has to just come with time spent in the country, you can't really skip that bit.

As a PP said, there's a big difference between fluent and bilingual. Achieving fluency this year would be quite a feat but being truly bilingual takes so much more than studying a language. I practiced English at and outside of school since primary, have lived in the UK for the past 10 years, went to uni here etc etc and would say I've been more or less fluent in English since the end of secondary school (I'm in my forties now) and only now do I feel like I am bilingual, as in as comfortable in my native language as English in most situations.

You won’t be bilingual but you should be able to have a conversation in French. It takes more than an online course to become bilingual which to me is the ability to think in the language and understand the culture and context.

No, DD has a first-class degree in MFL and lived there for a year as part of it but she still says she isn’t bilingual. I believe upon graduating she was told she is at C2 and that was after studying the language for years and living there for a year!

YABU. To go from a weak A2 to C1 in 8 months is very ambitious.
I teach English as a foreign language and 100 - 200 hours of guided study per level are generally recommended, the higher you go up, the more hours you need to do.
Generally speaking the students I teach do one level per academic year, or maybe two by the time the get to C1.
Why don't you see how you get on with A2 and B1 first? And like pp have asked, what's the hurry?

Can you find if there's a native speaker locally who'd be happy to talk to you? As you get more confident?

Just out of interest, is there a reason you need to improve so much so quickly?

I just want to get back to B1 level. I used to be able to conversations and understand all the "foreign" sounds quite easily. But right now it's too tricky for me to decide in my head and I can't speak spontaneously anymore. I've forgotten a lot.

But B1 isn't bilingual?

Can you find if there's a native speaker locally who'd be happy to talk to you?

Yes, luckily theres a French convo group near my house every other day. But that costs £10/session (2 hours) and I'd rather do that when I reach B1 again

I'm c1, with full marks in the oral section and I can assure you I am most certainly not fluent nor anything near bilingual.

You could definitely get to b1 but that is not the same thing. Bon courage!

But B1 isn't bilingual?

I meant I'd be happy getting to B1. But would love to be fluent by summer, just because I feel like I should have reach that from level from studying French at GCSE and A level. Feels like a waste to me

And gcse and a level is even further from bilingual level! Sorry!

There are international groups in every big city which meet up in cafes etc. You can go in and chat with people in a language you are interested in.

Oh xposted

Ballet I know that GCSE and A level are nor fluent. I've always wanted to speak french well which is why I chose to study it at school