Student Resources
Apps
LingQ (free)
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YouTube polyglot star Steve Kaufmann created this app in order to bring together
a community of language lovers. With the free version of LingQ, you’ll have access
to thousands of lessons which consist of small texts with accompanying audio.
With the premium version, you can participate in one-on-one or group
conversations, vocabulary quizzes, and a variety of other activities. The app is
customized to your needs so you can choose the story or topic you’re interested
in. Some of our favorite stories include TED talks in French, Alice in Wonderland,
One Year in France, The Foreign Language Institute French course, and The Little
Prince.
Busuu (free)
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With Busuu, you can have a language-learning pen pal and learn to speak like a
French native. Your speaking exercises are evaluated by Busuu students in France
if you grade someone else’s homework in English. (Since there are over 90 million
users around the world, it’s easy to find a study partner!) Lessons include helpful
tips on informal and local usage.
Memrise (free)
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This app teaches French words and phrases by putting them together with
creative and humorous pictures.
FluentU French
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This app takes a video-based approach to learning French. Video and audio
content consist of movie trailers, tv show clips, and commercials that showcase
French culture. Interactive subtitles allow you to learn vocabulary and translation
in context. “Learn mode” allows you to answer multiple-choice vocabulary and
translation questions.
Mindsnacks ($4.99)
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This app focuses on conversational skills and vocabulary acquisition. It offers 50
lessons and 9 different types of games. Appropriate for all ages.
Duolingo (free)
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This app turns language learning into a game. Match words, fill in phrases, and
practice your pronunciation in order to level up You can even compete with your
friends. Each lesson you complete gives you points that go toward a daily goal.
The app allows you to visualize your language mastery and practice weak skills as
well. Lessons are about 5 minutes long and perfect for a subway ride or standing
in line.
Babbel
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Each Babbel lesson lasts approximately 15 minutes and focuses either on
vocabulary, a dialogue, or grammar. Lessons are often based around games and
are great for students who don’t have more than 15 minutes a day to spend on
French outside of class. Babbel also offers a speech recognition feature that lets
you practice pronouncing words.
Flashcards
Podcasts
(available through Podcast apps)
Learn French with Daily Podcasts
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Native French speaker Louis reports on a current and interesting topic in French.
He then analyzes what he said explaining vocabulary words and certain
expressions. Finally, he reads the transcript again at a regular speed. Each
episode is about 5 minutes long.
One Thing in A French Day
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This is one of the longest-running French language podcasts on the web.
Episodes are released three times a week, are a manageable five minutes long,
each focusing on an aspect of the host Laëtitia’s life. Laëtitia is une parisienne,
who talks about her daily life in the city of lights.
French Today: Easy French Poetry
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Become a literary master and improve your French at the same time with this
poetry themed podcast! Teacher Camille reads a classic French poem twice,
slowly the first time so you can repeat after her, and then at a more natural pace.
Afterwards, she provides an interpretation of the text and some information
about the author.
News in Slow French
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This program presents current news topics in a conversational way and,as the
name suggests, its hosts speak very slowly! Each episode is about 30 minutes
long. More resources are available with subscription on their website.
Le Franchute – Le Podcast Fluidité
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This podcast/vlog is designed for intermediate and advanced learners. It covers
numerous topics such as food, history, famous French historical figures, everyday
life, and politics but also gives great tips and tools to enhance the learning
process. The podcast is free but its author, Fabien Sausset also offers VIP
content.
Français Authentique
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This podcast introduces the listener to all sorts of cultural and grammatical
elements of the French language. The episodes are quite short, and typically
dedicated to one topic such as an idiomatic expression or a French song. The
host, Johann, is a native French speaker, who speaks very slowly and tailors his
podcast to non-native speakers. The episodes are free, but you can also pay to
become part of the Français Authentique community (where you’ll have access to
many more resources).
RFI Journal en Français Facile
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This podcast is designed for intermediate and advanced learners of French. It’s
hosted by real French journalists who speak slowly so that their international
listeners can understand them. Each episode has the most important news of the
day in just under ten minutes. At the end of each episode, the hosts explain in
detail at least one interesting word that they used during the broadcast. You can
consult the free online transcript of the episodes if there are phrases you don’t
understand.
Radio France
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As France’s public radio provider, Radio France offers an array of podcasts for
every interest! Programs range from politics to news, culture, and music. Check
out their website and discover something new.
La Poudre
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Feminist activist and journalist Lauren Bastide hosts this popular podcast. Its
hour-long episodes consist of her interviews with inspirational women—often
famous French authors or artists. What’s great about this podcast is that it’s
made for an international audience and many of its episodes are dubbed in
English. This means that you can enhance your learning experience by
comparing the English and French versions!
Manger
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Unsurprisingly, there’s a plethora of French podcasts related to cooking. This one
considers the questions: Why do we eat the way we eat? And what does this say
about our society? Every first Friday of the month, Manger releases a new
episode devoted to our dining, cooking, and food-related habits. We recommend
this podcast for you if croissants are your raison d’être.
Affaires Sensibles
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Each episode of this podcast is devoted to a different political, economic, social
or cultural event of the second half of the twentieth century. The host, Fabrice
Drouelle, introduces the story and then discusses it with a guest speaker. Their
discussion is usually intertwined with film excerpts, reports, interviews, or music
related to the subject.
Le Tchip
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The three hosts of Le Tchip are of Caribbean and African origins. They start each
episode by talking about pop culture, and then proceed to discuss and
summarize the important events of the week. Their conversations are focused
around events in the black community, and are a great way to learn more about
the French afropop experience.
Entre
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Justine, a precocious 11-year-old, describes an element of her life in each episode.
We learn about her friends and crushes at school, her future aspirations (she
wants to have good grades in English class so she can go to Harvard), and we’re
reminded of how painful and exciting being a pre-adolescent can be. There’s only
one season of this podcast so far, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that they
release the second one soon!
Transfert
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This addictive podcast is the perfect way for you to sharpen your listening skills
by becoming familiar with a variety of French voices and accents. Transfert is the
French equivalent of The Moth: one person recounts an intimate story from his or
her life. The narratives are often about love, family secrets, or strange
coincidences. Some of our favorite episodes include: “Jusqu’ou peut on aller pour
devenir ami avec ses voisins?”, “Savoir cerner les autres”, “La personne en face”,
“Etes-vous vraiment la personne que vous pensez être?”.
La Tête au Carré
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This hour-long podcast releases new episodes every week. Experts converse in
French on a variety of scientific topics. Subjects include pasteurization, the
fragility of adolescents, and the revolution of leisure time. The episodes are long
and contain advanced vocabulary so it might be helpful to slow down the
podcast speed.
innerFrench
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Hugo Cotton created his teaching method based on Steven Krashen’s theory of
second language acquisition. In his podcast, Cotton because he explains quirks
of the French language and breaks down all sorts of interesting components of
French culture.
Les voisins du 12 bis
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This podcast produced by RFI is perfect for beginners. They created dialogues
naturally including French and English at the same time within the story, so you
will understand and learn during the actual conversation without being
awkwardly interrupted to learn some vocabulary or grammar. Each episode also
includes a transcription, a comic version to follow with images and even a little
understanding quiz.
The French Experiment
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The French Experiment website offers free French lessons and well-known stories for both children and adults. You can read along in either French or English as a native French speaker performs them.
Talk in French with Frédéric Bibard
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This podcast presented by French native Frédéric has 3 components. It begins with “the French cultural corner,” where he discusses aspects of French society including history, geography, and stereotypes. He then gives short vocabulary and grammar lessons. Episodes range in length from 15 minutes to an hour. More language-learning resources are available on the podcast’s website.
Coffee Break French
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Coffee Break French has several seasons catered to beginning, intermediate, and advanced French learners. The host, Mark, has an absolutely charming Scottish accent when he speaks in English, and his French is impeccable. You can listen to episodes where he coaches his student Anna or ones in which he travels around France and interviews native speakers. The podcast is free, but you can also buy supplementary resources.
Streaming
FranceChannel.tv
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France Channel is 100% dedicated to French culture and brings together the
largest diversified range of French programs, with the biggest selection of movies,
series, documentaries and magazines, live shows, cartoons for kids and live,
online broadcasting of France 24 international news channels, both in French
and English.
$7.99/month or $79.99/year
Coucou students get 10% off their monthly subscription with code “COUCOU10%”!
Websites
Reverso Context
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Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Reverso Context is an application and website
that provides translation based on resources from daily conversational
sentences to movie scripts and literature. When using the application, you can
see various suggestions based on the context of your subject matter, and then
choose the most appropriate example for you. Your search history is also
automatically saved, and you can even select your favorite words and expressions
to practice for later!
LanguageGuide.org
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Great website to practice conjugating regular verbs.
Lawless French
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Experienced french teacher Laura Lawless created this site for French learners of
all levels. You can find hundreds of lessons that include reading and listening
comprehension. Lawless French has particularly good descriptions of
grammatical concepts, including an amazing tool called the subjunctivisor.
Le Dictionnaire Multifonctions de TV5 Monde
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This handy dictionary site will improve your vocabulary in a number of ways. It
provides detailed definitions in French, and includes a conjugator, thesaurus, as
well as English-French and French-English translations. There are also a number
of games and quizzes available on the site to test your language skills and
cultural knowledge!
Frantastique
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Frantastique sends you a 15-minute lesson every day that’s based on a fun story.
After watching a video that illustrates the story with audio and text, you study the
story through interactive exercises. The site adjusts to your abilities, focusing on
the gaps in your knowledge of French. Ultimately, you learn extremely efficiently
because you don’t waste time going over what you already know.
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WordReference
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This website provides very comprehensive French-English and English-French
dictionaries. Its Language Forum pages provide insights and opinions into
finding translations for idiomatic expressions across the two languages.