Thanks for trying to help Chris but I'm afraid it still doesn't clarify it. You said that it was asking for the present subjunctive in your 1st answer but in your second answer you say "The PAST subjunctive is used here to express that between" actions " 1) and 2) there is no temporal overlap. "
Perhaps if I ask it a different way
The English version is "Before I started to learn french". 'Started" is in the past tense, therefore shouldn't I translate it into the past subjunctive ie "avant que je n'aie commencé à apprendre le Français"
Thanks