How can you improve your English at collège and lycée?

TV series, podcasts or articles become useful when they lead to a specific activity. To measure progress, it is better to track concrete CEFR skills than to look only at your school average.

The first mistake is to look for “the method to become bilingual fast”. In practice, a student may have a good level of reading comprehension and freeze as soon as they have to speak, know a lot of school vocabulary but not understand a natural audio extract, or succeed at grammar exercises without correctly reusing the structure in a sentence of their own.

The French curricula point precisely in this direction. The new modern foreign language curricula published in May 2025 organise learning around comprehension, production, interaction and mediation activities, with explicit benchmarks in vocabulary, grammar and phonology. From the start of the 2026 school year, they apply in 6e and 5e (the first two years of collège, lower secondary school) and at every level of the general and technological lycée (upper secondary school); they are then rolled out in 4e in 2027 and in 3e in 2028.

1. Start by assessing your real level in comprehension and production

Before adding vocabulary or exercises, you need to know where the block lies. “I’m bad at English” is not a usable diagnosis.

I recommend separating at least four skills:

Skill	Simple test	Difficulty revealed
Listening comprehension	Listen to 1 to 2 minutes of suitable content without a transcript, then summarise what was understood.	Word recognition, speed, accent, vocabulary or overall understanding.
Reading comprehension	Read a short article, then explain the main idea and two specific pieces of information.	Vocabulary, syntax or difficulty distinguishing the essentials from the details.
Speaking	Talk for one minute about your day, a film or a topic studied in class.	Lack of available vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation or fear of speaking up.
Writing	Write 100 to 150 words without a translator on a familiar topic.	Sentence construction, tenses, vocabulary, linking words or precision.

You need to observe what the student does without immediate help. Understanding a video perfectly after reading French subtitles does not tell you what they understand by ear. Reciting a list of irregular verbs does not show that they can use them when speaking, either.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or CEFR, is useful precisely because it describes levels in terms of observable abilities: what a learner can understand, produce or do in different situations.

The level may be uneven. A student may be approaching B1 in reading while remaining closer to A2 in speaking. In that case, working even more on reading comprehension because it is reassuring mainly risks widening the gap.

2. Build a fifteen-minute daily routine

Fifteen minutes is not a scientifically “optimal” length. It is a practical format: short enough to be repeated throughout a week at collège or lycée, yet long enough to complete a small, whole task.

A routine might work like this:

Time	Activity	Example
5 minutes	Reactivation	Recall the meaning of 8 to 10 words or expressions already encountered, without looking at the answer straight away.
5 minutes	Input	Listen to a short extract or read a few paragraphs.
5 minutes	Production	Summarise aloud, write five sentences or answer a question using the vocabulary studied.

The point is not to turn English into a subject you only open the night before the test. One day can focus on listening, another on writing, a third on grammar. Over a week, the skills should end up overlapping.

For example:

• Monday: vocabulary + short podcast + spoken summary;
• Tuesday: reading + three new expressions + five sentences;
• Wednesday: grammar + short exercises + two personal sentences;
• Thursday: video + comprehension + repeating a few sentences;
• Friday: reusing the week’s vocabulary without looking at the cards.

The important criterion is regularity, but also the need to retrieve information from memory. Rereading a revision sheet twenty times quickly gives an impression of ease. Closing the sheet and trying to recall the word or sentence shows what is genuinely available.

3. Learn English vocabulary in context

Learning although = bien que can be useful at first. But knowing a translation is not enough to use the word naturally.

It is better to keep a richer unit:

although — bien que / même si
Although I was tired, I finished my homework.

The student can then create their own sentence:

Although the test was difficult, I understood the last exercise.

Three things then become available: the meaning, the word’s place in the sentence and an example of use.

Learn expressions rather than isolated words

In English, many words become more useful when they are linked to the constructions they frequently appear in:

• make a decision rather than just decision;
• be interested in rather than just interested;
• depend on rather than just depend;
• take part in rather than just participate learnt as an abstract equivalent.

A large meta-analysis published in 2023 in Language Teaching synthesised 24 studies on incidental vocabulary learning in a second language. It shows that reading, listening to or watching content does indeed lead to acquiring some vocabulary, but with variable and incomplete gains.

The practical consequence is significant: watching content in English helps, but exposure alone does not guarantee that the words will become usable. After reading or watching something, select three to five genuinely interesting expressions instead, then reuse them.

How should you use flashcards properly?

A useful flashcard makes you retrieve the information rather than simply recognise it. It might contain:

• on the front: “réussir à faire quelque chose” (the French prompt);
• on the back: manage to do something + an example sentence.

A review published in Studies in Second Language Acquisition stresses that second-language vocabulary learning benefits from going beyond massed repetition of simple word-translation pairs and from strengthening the links between form and meaning, notably through spaced retrieval and semantic elaboration.

On NOEO, a student can, for example, extend a session with a Learn pack including flashcards, a revision sheet or a quiz linked to the session. The point is not to create more content, but to rework the words and structures that genuinely caused problems.

4. Improve grammar without memorising isolated rules

A student can score 10/10 on an exercise on the present perfect and still never use it spontaneously. The rule is then known as a school topic, but is not yet available for communicating.

A more useful sequence starts from meaning.

Compare:

I lived in London in 2022.

and:

I have lived in London for three years.

In the first sentence, the period is over and located in the past. In the second, the situation has a link with the present. Once this difference is understood, the grammatical form can be worked on.

The method can follow four steps:

1. Understand: in what situation is this structure used?
2. Observe: spot several examples in a text or dialogue.
3. Manipulate: transform or complete a few sentences.
4. Produce: create personal sentences without an immediate model.

The new French curricula also emphasise structured progression in grammar, vocabulary and phonology in the service of language activities. Grammar remains essential; the problem is working on it solely as a series of rules detached from any use.

Keep a list of recurring mistakes

Rather than a new general sheet on “all of English grammar”, keep track of three mistakes that often come back:

Mistake	Correction	Reflex
He go to school.	He goes to school.	Check the third person singular in the present.
I am agree.	I agree.	Agree is a verb.
I went in London.	I went to London.	With go + destination: to.

A week later, progress is not measured by having reread this table, but by the ability to avoid these mistakes in a new piece of work.

5. Work on speaking with a tutor

One of the most common problems in speaking is simple: the student waits until they have built a perfect sentence before speaking. They translate in their head, check their tense, search for a word, then give up or answer in three words.

The first objective is not to eliminate every mistake immediately. You need to create a loop:

1. speak;
2. receive a targeted correction;
3. rephrase;
4. reuse the correction a few minutes later.

Suppose a student says:

I go to Ireland last summer.

The tutor could give the correct sentence straight away. They can also ask: “Last summer: present or past?” The student then has to produce it themselves:

I went to Ireland last summer.

A meta-analysis of 15 classroom studies on oral corrective feedback found positive, lasting effects on the development of the target language, with, in this synthesis, a clearer advantage for interventions that push learners to produce the correction themselves than for certain direct recasts. This study dates from 2010: it is a useful specific synthesis, but it cannot on its own establish a universal method for all students.

What a good private English tutoring session should do for speaking

• give the student enough speaking time;
• correct a few important mistakes rather than every sentence;
• get the student to rephrase after the correction;
• come back to the same structures during the session;
• work on pronunciation when it gets in the way of understanding;
• adapt topics to the student’s school level and interests.

Private tutoring is particularly useful when it offers what independent work struggles to provide: a conversation partner able to adapt the conversation and understand why the student is stuck.

General research on one-to-one tutoring is broadly positive, but does not focus specifically on private English tutoring in France. It would therefore be going too far to conclude that one hour of tutoring automatically produces a gain in level. The tutor, the frequency, practice between sessions and the quality of feedback remain decisive.

6. Use TV series, podcasts and articles effectively

“Watching Netflix in English” is not a method in itself. It can become excellent practice or remain entertainment that the brain processes almost entirely in French.

For a series or a video

Choose a short passage, for example two to five minutes.

1. First listen: without stopping, look only for the general idea.
2. Second listen: use English subtitles if necessary and spot the passages you missed.
3. Vocabulary: keep three genuinely useful expressions.
4. Production: recount in English what has just happened, for thirty seconds to one minute.

A meta-analysis published in System on videos with subtitles in the target language found favourable effects on listening comprehension and vocabulary learning compared with conditions without this support. The synthesis dates from 2013 and the effects vary by task: it justifies the educational value of English subtitles, not the idea that watching series would be enough to master the language.

French subtitles can remain useful when content is still too difficult. But if the specific aim is to link English sounds to written words, English subtitles become more relevant as soon as the level allows you to follow the gist.

For a podcast

Do not start with a fifty-minute programme intended for native speakers if you only understand a few words of it. A shorter, suitable extract allows you to listen again and identify what is blocking you.

After listening, try to answer in English:

• What is the main topic?
• What are the two most important ideas?
• Which expression did I hear several times?

For an article

Avoid translating every word. On the first read, look for the general idea. On the second, select only the words that are essential or reusable. Finish with a three-sentence summary without looking at the text.

7. Measure your progress with the CEFR

The CEFR distinguishes six main levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. But its real value is not the label. It lies in the “I can…” descriptors.

The CEFR Companion Volume published by the Council of Europe in 2020 offers detailed descriptors for comprehension, production, interaction and mediation. The framework therefore makes it possible to measure communicative abilities rather than mere knowledge of rules.

Build a small grid every month:

Skill	At the start	A month later
Listening	I only understand a few words of a school extract.	I can identify its topic and several pieces of information.
Speaking	I mostly answer in very short sentences.	I can talk for a minute on a familiar topic with a few hesitations.
Vocabulary	I recognise my lists but rarely use them.	I spontaneously reuse several expressions I have worked on.
Writing	I build my sentences word for word from French.	I use more structures and linking words directly in English.
Grammar	I repeat three mistakes despite corrections.	I spot or correct them more often on my own.

The school average remains useful for following the class teacher’s assessments, but it can mix listening comprehension, vocabulary tests, written work and cultural knowledge. Two students on 12/20 can therefore have very different language profiles.

What level is expected at the end of Terminale (the final year of lycée)?

The level depends on the status of English in the student’s course. For the end of secondary education, an official note published in July 2026 on modern language assessments restates the expected CEFR levels: B2 for modern language A and B1 for modern language B.

More generally, the ministry states that the new curricula now aim for level B1 at the end of collège for the first modern language and B2 at the end of lycée. The ministère de l’Éducation nationale (the French education ministry) presents these objectives as proficiency benchmarks aligned with the CEFR.

However, you should avoid turning B2 into a school mark. A CEFR level describes what a student is able to do across several language activities. A profile may remain stronger in comprehension than in production.

When does private English tutoring become useful?

Private tutoring is not necessary simply because a student wants to “get better”. It becomes particularly relevant when an obstacle is identifiable and hard to deal with alone:

• the student understands written English but freezes completely when speaking;
• they know their lessons but reuse neither vocabulary nor grammar;
• they have been repeating the same mistakes for several months;
• they do not know how to organise regular practice;
• they need more speaking time and individual corrections;
• a school deadline or a certification requires targeted work on certain skills.

The tutor’s first objective should then be to pin down the difficulty, not to impose a general method straight away.

Our guide to choosing a private tutor suited to your child sets out the criteria to examine: subject, level actually taught, teaching approach and ability to build follow-up. For remote support, the guide to online private tutoring also explains how to check that the student genuinely speaks and works during the session.

On NOEO, language tutors can be approved for specific levels, including collège and lycée. Follow-up can then continue between sessions with work to prepare and revision content linked to the sessions. NOEO currently offers online private tutoring only.

Checklist: a simple method for making progress in English

• Assess listening, reading, speaking and writing separately.
• Identify the weakest skill instead of reworking everything at once.
• Plan regular contact with English during the week.
• Learn vocabulary in sentences and expressions.
• Try to recall words before checking the answer.
• Use grammar in personal sentences.
• Speak even when your sentences are not yet perfect.
• After an oral correction, rephrase it yourself.
• Use series and podcasts on short extracts and with a specific goal.
• Measure every month what you can now do without help.