Oh, I'm not talking about using only LLMs, for sure. I am currently taking a college sequence (currently French 3), with textbooks, homework, and everything. 100% agreed on the value of traditional texts/flows. On the matter of LLMs being permissive with grammar, you need to use the tools specifically meant to check grammar. I use LanguageTool for everything I write to make sure my grammar is both correct and current.
LLMs are invaluable IMO for immediate feedback on your writing and speaking. I've started using French inputs for most regular interactions, even with things like Claude Code for my work and for all LLM interactions (I use Grok). Before I input into Claude Code, I check the grammar and content with LLMs. Tutors and traditional paths will not help with this.
The other sequence I'm starting to do is to have conversations as I take baby steps in speaking/listening. Agreed that talking to real French speakers is the best, but initially we tend to be shy because we're so bad, and using a non-human can put us at ease. You may be different, but IMO this is typical. And this post was about refining this via an app that adds spaced repetition, and I appreciate that.
Have you tried looking for a French Beginner Discord voice chat? Or a similar local club for an in person meeting in your area?
Tutors are not necessary. But this is a humanity / language arts problem. Communication with humans is literally the goal. Conversing with other similarly ranked beginners (with a moderator or teacher guiding the group) is among the best practice you can do.
Again, the point of public discussion with other humans is to find all the little mistakes and misunderstandings. The things that other humans find difficult with your pronunciation, rhythm or accent.
Tutors are simply the most expensive version of this available of live, one on one practice. It's a bad overall $$ value compared to class discussion or clubs but the human in the loop is perhaps the most important thing here for training yourself.
Again: it's the LLMs overly generous acceptance that I find problematic. When I talk in German at A2 level, other humans easily point out when I'm doing things in "English order" or other similar mistakes (which makes the sentence harder to understand in German).
But with an LLM, the LLM just understands broken German in English order or whenever I leave out a separatable verb or whatever. It autocorrects too much.