Language courses in Chicago: free City Colleges ESL, Cervantes and Alliance Française fees

Quick answer: City Colleges of Chicago teaches English (ESL) free to Illinois residents aged 18 and over at six of its colleges. For other languages, the Alliance Française de Chicago charges $455 (members) or $500 for an 8-week French class, and the Instituto Cervantes Chicago charges $500–$590 for 30 hours of Spanish. Chicago Public Library cards include Mango Languages free.

How public language classes work in Chicago

City Colleges of Chicago is the city’s main public provider of adult English. Its adult education programme offers English (ESL) and high school equivalency (GED/HiSET) classes for free. To join, you must be 18 or older and live in Illinois, and you confirm residency by uploading ID to the student portal. New students apply online and then take a short placement assessment.

Adult education runs at six colleges: Daley, Kennedy-King, Malcolm X, Truman, Olive-Harvey and Wright. Harold Washington College in the Loop is not on that list, although it has an English Language Learning and World Languages department for college students. Chicago Public Library points learners to City Colleges’ free English and citizenship courses and to a helpline for finding English, citizenship or GED classes.

Chicago language course fees: a sample

We read these providers’ own fee pages in September 2026. They are examples, not a full price list for the city.

Provider	Course	Hours	Fee
City Colleges of Chicago	Adult education ESL	Varies by college	Free (Illinois residents 18+)
Alliance Française de Chicago	Regular French class	8 weeks, usually 2 hours a week	$455 members; $500 non-members
Alliance Française de Chicago	4-week class	4 weeks	$230 members; $250 non-members
Alliance Française de Chicago	Drop-in class	One class	$55 for 2 hours; $41.25 for 1.5 hours; $27.50 for 1 hour
Instituto Cervantes Chicago	Regular Spanish course, fall 2026	30 hours (3 hours a week for 10 weeks)	$590 mornings and evenings; $500 afternoons (2pm–5pm starts)
Instituto Cervantes Chicago	Special course (conversation, grammar, brush-up)	Four 2-hour classes; or ten 2- or 3-hour classes	$160; $395; $595
Instituto Cervantes Chicago	Online Spanish (AVE), self-taught	25 hours of material, 90-day licence	$60

At the Instituto Cervantes, a 30-hour course is about $17–$20 an hour, and members get 10% off. Books are compulsory and extra. The Alliance Française’s 8-week class, at about 16 hours of teaching, works out at around $28–$31 an hour; its fall 2026 session runs from 8 September to 2 November.

Free resources at the library

Chicago Public Library’s Learning English page gathers free tools: Mango Languages, available with a free library card, plus online exercises, a learner’s dictionary and links to free English classes. The library also links to America’s Literacy Directory, which lists local groups that teach English and citizenship. For the federal rules behind free adult English, see our explainer on the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act.

Private lessons and schools: typical prices

We have not found a Chicago-only survey of tutor prices, so use the national ranges in our US language course costs guide: $30–$100+ an hour in person and $4–$25 online, according to italki’s 2026 guide. Chicago schools and tutors set their own rates, so get written prices.

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How to choose a language course in Chicago

No US state licenses leisure language teachers, so compare providers on what they publish and what they will put in writing:

Level and outcome. Ask which CEFR level (or the provider’s own level) the course starts and finishes at, and how many teaching hours that takes. Our guide to CEFR levels from A1 to C2 explains the scale most institutes use.
Price per hour, not per course. Sessions in the sources below run from 4 to 12 weeks and from 1 to 3 hours a class, so divide the fee by the teaching hours before comparing.
What is extra. Books, registration fees and membership are often charged separately from tuition.
Eligibility for free classes. Publicly funded adult education usually has age, residency or documentation rules, so ask what to bring before you go.
Refunds and transfers. Ask for the refund policy in writing before you pay; most institutes only refund before the first or second class.
Cancellation terms. Chicago institutes publish theirs: the Alliance Française keeps 20% (up to $50) if you cancel before the first class, and the Instituto Cervantes keeps a $50 administration fee.

Language course providers in Chicago

These providers appear in public business and education listings for Chicago. We have not checked their teaching, prices or accreditation, and they have not paid to appear.