Best resources to learn French

Language resources French
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Hi there, I have been learning French for some time and I can recommend the best in my opinion materials for learning this language. I think that the best application for learning French at the moment is Lingq but I haven't used it much and therefore will focus on books, podcasts and YouTube channels.

In my opinion access to a variety of learning resources is generally good, but there is a catch. In certain situations, it may have a negative effect learning process. In order to learn you need to go back and repeat things. So changing resources too frequently is a mistake because you won't repeat enough.

But, using the same material a few times can be boring so, you need to strike a balance between trying out new things and repeating material. Perhaps the answer to this problem is to use resources you like and are interested in.

This is exactly what I've done when learning French. Below you will find a few resources that can help you with your French but, as important, be fun at the same time.

Best resources to learn French

Podcasts

Listening to podcasts is really a great way to learn a foreign language. Thanks to it we will quickly enlarge your vocabulary and improve your listening comprehension. The only obstacle is that we have to be at a certain level to understand what the podcast host is talking about. The more we understand the better, but allegedly that we should understand about 70% of the whole content for learning to be effective. Here is a list of the best in my opinion podcasts discussing the French language.

Français Authentique is a podcast about French presented by Johan. Johan speaks only in French during the episode, but it is quite easy to understand. I have to admit that not every episode of the podcast is interesting, but if you are interested in personal development (a lot of episodes are on this topic), psychology and effective foreign language learning, you will certainly find something for yourself.

Inner French is currently my favourite podcast created by Hugo. Hugo lives in Poland where he teaches French. Each podcast episodes takes around 45 minutes and presents various issues concerning effective language learning, sociology, psychology and French culture. The episodes are very interesting and are easy to listen as Hugo speaks very slowly and clearly. If you struggle, you can also find the transcript of each episode on the website. I'm sometimes quite surprised that I understand so much (only to discover that is not the case when listening to original content).

All in all, I definitely recommend this podcast to anyone who wants to improve understanding of spoken French.

Learn French by Podcast. You can use this podcast if you already know English. In total, you will find around 200 different episodes presenting various language issues and lots of vocabulary. Most episodes last between 10 and 15 minutes, you can easily listen to them while walking or going to school or work. You receive the podcast audio track for free, but you have to pay for the transcription and language explanations in the PDF file.

However, on the website, some episodes are available for free so it is worth checking out. But paying for the materials is also a good option as they are of good quality and do not cost so much. I think that this podcast is a good tool for developing vocabulary, in each episode, you will learn at least a few interesting French phrases.

YouTube Channels

Of course, there are quite a few French languages YouTube Channels so it is difficult to choose the best. But these are a few ones I have followed or still follow.

Francais Avec Pierre, this is one of the most popular channels for learning French on YouTube. Pierre and his wife published over 250 videos containing many valuable pieces of information. However, we must make a selection to find what interests us most. My favourite episodes are those in which Pierre presents a short story or a French tale.

Yes, of course, Johan appears again in my compilation, this time as the creator of YouTube videos and Français Authentique. As in the case of a podcast, the subject of 'personnel développement' dominates but you will also learn a lot of information about grammar, French pronunciation as well as useful idioms and expressions.

The last channel I want to mention is Home Language, the channel run by Patrycia. Again, not all clips are very interesting and the visual aspect sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, but you will find a lot of valuable language materials such as tests, dictations, grammar and vocabulary explanations, etc.

Books

If you want to start reading in French, the best book, in my opinion, you should read the first is called Pauvre Anne by Blaine Ray. This is a novel written in a simple language and contains many repetitions, which will help you to remember vocabulary. The book is also relatively short, contains 9 chapters and tells the story of an American girl, Anne who takes a trip to Belgium. The book can be found as a PDF file and downloaded free of charge from the Internet. Alternatively, you can buy it for a few dollars on Amazon*.

The next books I recommend are written by Frederic Bibard. Frederic wrote a lot of books but I really like 3 books from the series: Learn French with Stories for Beginners. They are available in printed form and in Kindle format. Each of the books contains more than a dozen easy-to-read stories. An additional advantage of Frederic's books is that when you buy them, you get access to audio recordings at the same time. What's more, the recordings are in two different versions: slower and faster, we can also improve listening comprehension very comfortably.

Stories are moderately interesting and in my opinion, sometimes they focus unnecessarily on one group of vocabulary (for example, someone travels with almost any means of transport). In general, however, this way of learning French is quite pleasant and effective. Frederic is the author of several dozen books of this type, which can be used by people at a more advanced level. Link to Frederic's books on Amazon US.

That's all this time, I hope that this list of helpful French learning materials will help you and help you achieve better results.

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