Polyglot · course
Learn Old French
Learn to read the French of the Song of Roland
The course teaches the literary Old French of about 1100–1250 — the language of the Song of Roland, Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France. Its own examples use one normalized spelling, the central French of about 1200 used by the teaching grammars. The real texts are quoted as their editions print them, and the course shows you how their spellings differ: the Anglo-Norman of the Roland and of Marie, copied in England, and the Champagne spelling of Guiot, the scribe whose copy of Chrétien many editions follow.
About 5–10 minutes per lesson
By the end of the course
Finish the course and you read Old French itself — the Roland, Chrétien's romances, Marie de France — in the original.
Try it — the first check of Lesson 1
Quick check
In a manuscript you meet uin. An edition prints it…
Old French, the language of the Song of Roland
Old French is the French of roughly 1000 to 1350 — the language of the Song of Roland, the Arthurian romances of Chrétien de Troyes, and the Lais of Marie de France. This online course takes you from the alphabet to reading real passages of that literature in the original.
It is built for beginners: no prior Old French and no grammar-term fluency required. If you know some modern French you will recognize much of the vocabulary; if you know English, you will recognize more than you expect — English borrowed thousands of French words after 1066, many of them in their Old French shape.
What the course covers
6 units · 18 lessons — progress saves in your browser.
Real texts, from the first unit
Every reading is a real, attributed passage, quoted exactly as standard editions print it — never invented app-sentences alone. By the final unit, the readings are the literature:
- La Chanson de Roland— from pronouncing line 1 aloud in Unit 1 to reading the first three lines, nearly every form owned, in Unit 6
- Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain— King Arthur holds court — the opening of the Knight of the Lion
- Marie de France— the werewolf of Bisclavret and the honeysuckle of Chievrefueil
- The Strasbourg Oaths and Saint Eulalia— 842 and about 880 — the oldest texts in the language that became French
- Villehardouin— the dated opening of his history of the Fourth Crusade
How the course works
The method is graded reading: short lessons that teach one system at a time — the pronunciation, the two cases, the present, the past — and then put it to work immediately in real, attributed text. Every literary passage is quoted from a standard edition or its manuscript, in that spelling; the one practice fable is retold after Marie de France and labeled as such.
Every example word and reading line carries audio in a reconstructed pronunciation, every word in a reading can be tapped for its meaning and grammar, wrong answers explain why, and vocabulary returns for review on a schedule that spaces out as you get it right.
Common questions
Is Old French the same as Middle French or modern French?+
No. Old French is the French of roughly 1000 to 1350; Middle French follows until about 1600, and modern French after that. A modern French speaker recognizes many Old French words but cannot read it unaided: its nouns have two cases, its verbs have forms that have since vanished, and its spelling varies from manuscript to manuscript. This course teaches the real thing: the French of the Song of Roland.
Which Old French does the course teach?+
Old French was a family of regional varieties — the French of Paris and Champagne, Picard, Norman, the Anglo-Norman written in England, and more. The course's own examples use the central spelling of about 1200 found in the teaching grammars. The real texts keep their own spelling — the Roland and Marie de France survive in Anglo-Norman copies — and the course points out each difference as it comes up, so the editions you read next will not surprise you.
Do I need to know modern French?+
No. The course is written in English and explains everything from the alphabet up. Modern French helps with vocabulary, and the course points out the connections — but it also flags the false friends, like vilain, which meant “peasant”, and ennui, which meant “grief”.
How long does the course take?+
The course is 6 units — 18 lessons of about 5–10 minutes each — so the core is a few hours of focused work, plus spaced review. By the end you read short real passages of the Roland, Chrétien and Marie de France with tap-glosses. Reading whole works unassisted takes months more; this course is built to get you started honestly.
Do I need an account?+
Unit 1 is open to everyone with no account at all — progress is saved in your browser. From Unit 2, a free account keeps your lessons, streak, and review deck saved to you across devices.
What did Old French sound like?+
Nobody recorded it, so its pronunciation is reconstructed from rhymes, spellings, and the words English borrowed from it. Around 1150 French still pronounced its final consonants and its diphthongs: rois (king) sounded like “roys”, chevaliers ended in an audible s, and ch was “tch”, as English chief and chamber still say it. Every example word and reading line in the course has audio in that reconstructed pronunciation.
Why does Old French have two cases?+
Latin had six; Old French kept two, a subject form and an object form. In the masculine singular the subject adds -s — li murs is “the wall” as the subject, le mur as the object. The system collapsed by the end of the 1300s and the object form survived, which is why modern French says mur. A few words survived in both forms, with different meanings: sire and seigneur, on and homme, copain and compagnon.
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