C2 is mastery of French: you understand almost everything and notice nuance, humour and register. These lessons use rich, idiomatic texts to sharpen the finest details of the language.
What you can do at C2
Understand virtually everything you read or hear.
Summarise information from different sources.
Express fine shades of meaning precisely.
About 16,000 words and roughly 1,000–1,200 hours of study to reach this level.
French lessons for C2
News
Stories
Dialogues
Short talks
Podcasts
Videos
French C2 by topic
Other French levels
Not sure this is your level?
Take the short placement test and we will suggest where to start.
Questions about French at C2
What does C2 mean in French?
C2 is the Mastery level of the CEFR scale, the European standard for describing language ability. Nuance and style.
How many French words do I need for C2?
Around 16,000 words is a good target for C2. The number depends on the language and on which words you choose. Learn the most frequent ones first.
How long does it take to reach French C2?
Roughly 1,000–1,200 hours of study in total, for an English speaker learning a language of average difficulty. Daily short sessions with content at your level work better than rare long ones.