What are you watching/reading/listening to this week?

Came across a reel teaching from this book, with a clickbait caption to find the free ebook in their bio, but then you don’t find it.

Bonsoir tous le monde j'essaie de parler le français aujourd'hui et oh mon dieu...c'est vraiment difficile , le stress... on dirait il y'a des monstres 😭 please any advice ?

Okay, what did I do right and wrong here?( been practicing regularly, and I am on lesson 47 out of 90 in a class called the fluency factory) 🍒🍎

Hi, I am making a goodbye/encouragement card for a mint themed gift bag. The recipient does not speak French, but has enthusiastically supported me and listened patiently as I have learned, and also fumbled the language for nearly two years. I Googled, but I can’t find a decent translation for Encourage “mint” as a pun. I’m getting lots of mint translations, but I was hoping for a one word blend as it would be in English-Encouragemint. Doesn’t need to follow grammatical rules, just simple and fun. Thoughts, ideas?
Edit: Could also be along the lines of a little encouragemint as you begin something new.

I fear this may be too niche. But I've seen it too many times for it to not be a coincidence. Theres a comedy/lifestyle/ pop culture podcast i listen to called "Le Pigeonnier", where they coo at the beginning of the podcast. Theres also this parisian fashion guy on insta who organizes community free for all fashion watch partys who dressed up as a pigeon to attend shows. There seems to be this shared theme of like representing ordinary people between the two - do pigeons represent this in paris? I guess because pigeons are mass flocks and everywhere in paris they might symbolize the public/common people in some way .. (?) I swear Ive seen graffiti of pigeons in the recent student protests too but I mightve hallucinated that. PLEASE if someone knows the answer lmk 😭

Most language-learning lists of resources are to either entry-level, or are standard/broadcast French which lends itself to the intermediate spectrum of learners.

But for those studying or striving for a C1 and C2 level, it goes beyond standard/broadcast/textbook/classroom French. It overlaps with how people speak to each other in the street, with their informal usage of language, and with how different tiers of society converse. It involves grasping jokes, degrés of irony cultural and regional irony, and clarity of vocabulary which support its grasp.

Most people find it difficult to identify digital resources which can provide such input. Alothoug movies, films, and television shows/sitcoms can be good sources help move one towards C1/C2 levels, they are often too rigid or choreographed to offer the same colloquial level and spontaneous manner of speech that reflects how people really talk to each other off screen.

Below is a list of links I put together which offer the normal day-to-day style speaking that isnt taught in classes, and that is of a level that help support C1/C2 Canadian/Québec language acquisition. It’s mostly comprised of REELs, because they often are some of the best reflections of how people speak in real life, both in terms of vocabulary, and style.

This list can help transform your algorithm to so you’re blast you with mega-input content to work towards getting you towards, and honing your C1/C2.

Bonne chance !

Listen to as much media as you can. There are two types of media… 1. broacast media (standard international broadcast French, like Radio-Canada), and 2. common speech (colloquial French).

People the phone talk like the latter, not like the former. Broadcast French is good to an extent, but don’t just rely on that. You’ll need lots of other input to get better with colloquial French.

For standard, international French spoken everywhere in the world (in Canadian/Quebec accents of course):

• Hundreds of podcasts from Radio-Canada OHdio: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio

• Live Radio (ICI Radio-Canada Première): https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere (And if you’re driving across Canada, you can click through the various city versions as you drive through them in all provinces)

• QUB Talk Radio: https://www.qub.ca/emissions - hundreds of past shows. It’s a less formal than Radio-Canada level French, but is still a step above street-talk level French.

• And if you want accent listen exercises, explained in slower in standard French that you can repeat to work your accent, this guy has your reels.

For street-level Canadian French (colloquial / registre vulgar French), how people talk in their daily lives and in their homes:

• Talk Radio - https://radiox.com/# (click through the émissions heading to access many weeks worth of archived shows). This is a politically conservative radio station, and some shows can get political, like Maurais Live, which are not to everyone’s liking. But many others, like the Spacecast, le sexploratrice, le show du weekend, Le last call, etc are non-political and are just chat. However, it is common-man/woman, often crude street-level French. It’s one of the rare sources of 24hr daily new content from Monday-Friday (weekends are music), with how the masses speak every day.

  • You can watch many of their shows on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@radioxquebec
  • Daily highlight segments of the show, Ouillet en direct: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1cEmQ7iMy2/
  • Daily highlight segments of the call-in nighttime show, Last call. Let’s just say it doesn’t attract the brightest callers, but can sometimes be worth a dumb laugh: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19huYRaPUt/

• Here are segments from Canada’s most-watches Television program. Tout le monde en parle, with 1.5 million viewers when it broadcasts every Sunday evening. It covers the most talked about events and goings-on of the week: https://www.facebook.com/ToutlemondeenparleRC/reels/

• If you like over a hundred prank calls on the radio that will leave you in tears, Radio Énergie is a radio station that pranks the public live on air. You can access many of them here: https://www.facebook.com/MarioTessierOfficiel. My favorites are the kinds like this, like this, and like this. I’ve spent hours listening to them, p#ssing my pants in my car, or walking around wearing earbuds while looking like a crazy man laughing to myself.

  The comedian radio hosts pose as fake customer service reps, and so many of the things brought up will be as they’re said in customer service calls.

• If you like fishing, check out the reels by l’ADN du pécheur: https://www.facebook.com/DNdupecheur/reels/

  • and here’s another guy’s fishing reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19UhNejP1r/

• if you like cars, and working on cars, who moonlights as a liquidator, check out the reels by Mechanic Guillaume Loiselle: https://www.facebook.com/guillaume.loiselle.2025/reels/

  • and here’s another mechanic’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14vLD9B5QbX/

• If you like working out/nutrician:

  • check out this guy’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/jimmy.gariepy.2025/reels/
  • and here’s another guy’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1UKEd7E6kj/
  • and another’s: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DZVEjVEoi/
  • and another’s (this guy breaks down nutrician into nutrician 101 for dummies): https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CQxHDoSix/
  • and another’s: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19shtUDqRF/
  • and a trainer/bodybuilders’s / father’s / businessman’s reels from a guy who moved to Edmonton: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EBxuveBHk/
  • and another trainer’s videos: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1FugwDSLAM/
  • and another’s: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GxJavMth6/

• If you like business and want to listen to a business influencer talk about all sorts of things, check out this guy’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/mike.nhmaisonneuve/reels/. And here’s the same guy, but through his company’s official corporate reels: https://www.facebook.com/belleflamme.ca/reels/

• And in other related business themes:

  • a landscaping company’s guy’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1F3Fn6hHgZ/
  • and another landscaper’s reels: (his personal reels - https://www.facebook.com/vincent.picard3/reels/), (and his Professional reels - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19ouPhaqov/),
  • a guys on client/customer building: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EZZ5RshEz/
  • This guy has reels on leveling-up business through scaling and marketing: https://www.facebook.com/hackmancharles11/reels/
  • A construction company/contractor’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1KUzpjyhsc/

• If you like agriculture, and want to listen to a farmer/rural-like talk about his daily stuff, here’s a young farmer’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/alexandre.bisaillon.5/reels/

• If you like politics, and want something that’s middle ground (centre), this young guy has hundreds(?) of reels that break complex political subjects down into simple explanations (Note, he recently put his name in to run for political office at the provincial level): https://www.facebook.com/FarnellMorisset/reels/

• If you want a life-hacks tips and tricks guy, this is your man: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FhST5LXNV/?mibextid=wwXIfr

• If you want to learn about blacksmithing and hear a guy talk about it, this guy has lots of cool reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HMxeobKai/?mibextid=wwXIfr

• If you want an Eastern Ontario French accent, you’ll get it from this renovation guy from Embrun, east of Ottawa.

• If you want an accent from the north coast, you’ll get it with this guy’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FV9ftZyim/?mibextid=wwXIfr

• If you want a Brayon accent from Northwest New Brunswick (from Edmundston, which is different from Acadian accents, found in Eastern/Southern New Brunswick and elsewhere in the Atlantic provinces), then she’s your point person. She’s a beauty-product seller, so often talk about beauty products, and just a mish-mash of other stuff: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19YRAkQmhx/

  • and here’s another Brayon accent, again from the Edmundston area, a dad who just blah blah’s about anything: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CBvSnYcip/

• If you want to listen to a young guy just blah blah’ing about his life (relationships, other people, losing weight, work, etc), you can listen to this guy’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/frank.perron.207544/reels/. He speaks with a very colloqual register from St-Hyacinthe.

• if you want to hear a guy who clears snow and does road maintenance for a living, just blah blah’ing about everything, check his reels: https://www.facebook.com/LeGroupeDumar/reels/

  • and here’s another guy who just blah blah’s: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BisVzVZ2b/

• If you want to hear opinionated rants in a hard-core back-woods accent from the Beauce (in which f’s, ch’s, sh’s, j’s, and g’s are pronounced with an “H”), you can listen to this anti-union anti-woke super-conservative construction worker’s reels: https://www.facebook.com/Jocleconstruction/reels/

• If you ever wondered what C3 French humour would ever sound like, if such a thing ever existed, check out this normal guy’s endless combo of dad jokes and politically incorrect jokes (on his autobody shop’s Facebook page): https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1E2RxJzh1G/

• If you want to learn about nature’s going’s-on in forests, she’s your person: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DF2ij8r9Y/

• If you want reels in Chiac (accent / Frenglish-like French), from Southwest New Brunswick around Moncton, this is your guy: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CRY1i1DgY/

• A comedian’s reels that he just creates as he’s out and about doing things: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19vUNFLpch/

• Here’s a life coach / business motivator: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1J8kVWsKjF/

Anyway, this gives you many thousands of hours of content to choose from, and that you can stream while doing your drive, laundry, shopping, cooking, etc. Hopefully this helps in your language learning journey :)

I'm lower intermediate in Spanish but my vocabulary is pretty solid (I can listen to and understand native content with some effort). I know a lot of which gender nouns are intuitively e.g. endings that are ción are feminine. I wondered how easy it would be, other than the general rule and exceptions, for me to kind of guess accurately in French based upon this knowledge? Are French endings that have the 'ion' principle also feminine? Or is there basically no correlation, and this is a risky method?

I'll try and learn it all in its own right anyway because I can usually remember these things fairly well. But I wondered if Spanish would be a help or mostly a hindrance that will interfere with learning this. Merci!

Hey I want a friend that can practice french speaking with me. My level is around A2-B1. I have various interest on which we can talk about like anime, movies, series, etc

Hey guys, I’m a French beginner. Chinese is my mother tongue, and English is my second language.
However, as a Chinese student, I don’t think the educational system of learning English during my school years is reasonable.
But when I taught myself, I always unconsciously imitate the way of learning English.
What I did most was just memorizing words and their Chinese meanings. Therefore, I find it hard to think in foreign language when I’m learning that one. I always translate sentences into Chinese first, think about my answer in Chinese, and then translate it back into another language to express what I want to say.
Do you guys have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

La ville de New York prévoit d’interdire les promenades en calèche à Central Park. Les promenades sont une activité touristique populaire à New York. La ville prévoit d’y mettre fin d’ici juin 2028. Depuis plusieurs années, des habitants s’inquiètent pour la santé et la sécurité des chevaux. Il y a aussi eu plusieurs accidents. En juin, un touriste de 18 ans est mort dans un accident de calèche à Central Park. La ville prévoit d’aider les cochers à trouver de nouveaux emplois et de trouver de nouveaux foyers pour les chevaux.

Vocabulaire : prévoir = to plan / interdire = to ban / calèche (f) = horse-drawn carriage / mettre fin = to end / d’ici = by / s’inquiéter = to worry / santé (f) = health / chevaux (m pl) = horses / mourir = to die / cochers (m pl) = carriage drivers / emplois (m pl) = jobs / foyers (m pl) = homes

English translation

New York wants to ban carriage rides

New York City plans to ban horse-drawn carriage rides in Central Park. The rides are a popular tourist activity in New York. The city plans to end them by June 2028. For several years, residents have been worried about the health and safety of the horses. There have also been several accidents. In June, an 18-year-old tourist died in a horse-drawn carriage accident in Central Park. The city plans to help carriage drivers find new jobs, and find new homes for the horses.

Learn French, Dominate Trivia Nights. More stories at Le News, In Easy French.

j'aurai une DELF B2 par ce Novembre, cependant mon Écrit capacité n'est pas encore parfait ou prêt pour PE avec 250 mots minimum parce que je suis entrain d'en face au problème quand developper une idée ou paragraphe. je suis à court d'idées

So, I am an artist living in Paris, the issue is that Paris is not att all like it was 10 years ago - namely a city where Parisians would refuse to speak English.
I think the fact that our phones have gone from photo based media to video based media has made the english of the frenchies way better. For my frenchlearning journey this sucks... I have a french boyfriend but if I speak french to him he answers in english no matter how many times I tell him to switch to french. He clearly understands what I say because he answers just as if we were having a conversation except that I am speaking shitty french and he is peaking half shitty english...

I have two french friends who are a bit more patient and encouraging, I text with them in french pretty much daily but I see them maybe just once a week. Also same with the boyfriend...

It is just a bit frustrating because with my english it was way easier and right away I would have long conversations in english when I lived in London because that was the only language at hand.

I just.. wish I had someone I could speak a bit of french with daily ;--(

Idk... maybe someone has some good advice..

I’m feeling frustrated after multiple TCF Canada attempts, mainly because of Expression orale – Task 3.

My biggest problem is understanding the topic itself. Sometimes, I get a question about a subject I’ve never really thought about, and I struggle to understand what the examiner is asking or come up with ideas to discuss.

I’ve prepared topics like technology, agriculture, online shopping, healthcare, politics, and education. However, in my recent exam, I got a question along the lines of:

“Que pensez-vous des habitudes de consommation dans les pays riches ?” (What do you think about consumption habits in rich countries?)

I couldn’t properly process the topic or think of relevant ideas. I was quite confident going into the exam, but as soon as I heard that question in French, I got stuck.

I’ve already invested a huge amount of money, time, and effort into learning French. I have approximately 70 days to pass this exam, otherwise, I may have to leave Canada.

I’m willing to dedicate 5–6 hours a day to French for the next 20 days and attempt the exam again. I’m looking for a practical strategy, especially for Task 3.

How can I understand unfamiliar topics more quickly?

How can I generate ideas when I know very little about the subject?

Should I prepare hundreds of topics, or focus on learning a strategy that works for almost any topic?

How can I improve my speaking fluency, sentence structure, and ability to speak for 4 minutes or more?

I would also really appreciate connecting with someone who is motivated to practise together, exchange speaking questions, correct each other’s mistakes, and stay consistent.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and managed to improve their speaking score, please share your strategy or study routine. Any practical advice, resources, or study partners would mean a lot to me.

Thank you.

Hello, I am 39 and will lose my job in Germany in June 2027 because my employer is closing down. Since I want to take a break and elevate my French from tourist level to nearly fluent, I am planning to spend several months or perhaps a year in France. I want to do this in Lyon. Basically, I don't need a job since I have enough money, but I plan to earn a little extra with occasional jobs. However, much more importantly to me is making connections and having as many different conversation topics as possible. During this time, I would most like to live in a shared apartment (WG) to save a bit of money, but of course also to have contacts to do things with and, naturally, to speak the language. I am currently already preparing with an AI app to get back into it. What should I pay attention to if I want to stay in Lyon for a longer period? Since everything is in the EU, it should be simple, or so I think. How is the best way to find a WG that doesn't consist of students, would you recommend a portal? Is there anything else I should watch out for?

I think that by June 2027 I will have reached about level A2, maybe even A2-B1. Would you still recommend attending a language school? To be honest, I'm skeptical, because during a stay in Ireland for my English, it didn't really pay off. It was much more valuable to talk to different people and exchange ideas—not to mention making new friends and gaining new impressions.

Salut, un peu un question bête mais j'ai un peu mal à gorge, qui me fait du mal quand j'avale, mais en gros ce n'est pas grand chose. Pourtant, ce n'est vraiment pas confortable de dire les "r"s en français. Surtout pour les natifs, vous notez ça ?

Salut à tous, j’ai besoin d’un peu d’aide!

Hier après-midi, j’ai eu une entrevue pour un emploi de barista en Montréal (c’était en anglais pour la plupart, mais on a parler un peu en français aussi). Bref, j’ai un test shift le vendredi matin, où je vais travailler comme caissier pendant trois heures - je ne sais pas comment, parce que je n’ai pas d’expérience en service à la clientèle dans un restaurant et mon français parlé et ma compréhension sont pires que mon français écrit et ma lecture.

Avez-vous des suggestions de phrases, d’expressions ou des conseils généraux? J’ai déménagé ici il y a deux mois et j’ai commencé à prendre des cours de français il y a un mois; je voudrais travailler dans un environnement francophone pour améliorer mon français - mais je me demande si c’est une error et si je ne suis pas encore prête 😬

Merci d’avance!

Is there a way to improve speaking as someone with a strong (mayo) accent? Thank you

I’m in my first semester of college French & in Paris this week. Does anyone have recommendations for middle grade/YA girls’ French historical fiction along the lines of the American “Dear America” series, Catherine Called Birdy, or Wise Child & Juniper?

I saw Les lumières de Paris - Demoiselle des grands magasins at the Louvre gift shop this afternoon - is that the type of book I’m looking for?

I’d love to poke around a bookstore and pick up something in a popular series or one-off about young girls in historical France to practice my reading and learn more French history!

after recently showing some work colleagues the sleepy town I lived in when I was a teenager (my family was one of the waves of English expats on the back of terrible daytime TV shows) I’ve not been able to think of anything but that I missed out on some serious life potential by moving back to this dump of a country.

is the south of France a place still worth going to? (I lived in La Force) and how has the culture changed in almost 2 decades?

also. What’s a better way to learn than duo lingo? 😅

Here's a list of resources for people learning French, plus links to even better lists:

Courses:

• https://archive.org/details/french_in_action
• https://ecoledefrancais.umontreal.ca/en/programs/free-open-online-course-mooc/
• https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/FSI/fsi-french-introduction-phonolgy.html
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z39d7ty
• https://www.lawlessfrench.com/learn-french/french-for-beginners
• https://www.livelingua.com/french/courses

Stories / videos:

• https://app.dreaming.com/french/browse
• https://apprendre.tv5monde.com/
• https://francaisfacile.rfi.fr/
• https://innerfrench.com/
• https://melolingua.com/learn-french/a1-stories
• https://www.clozemaster.com/l/fra-eng/in-the-wild
• https://www.fabulang.com/en/fr/a1
• https://www.lenguia.com/stories/french/a1
• https://www.podcastfrancaisfacile.com/
• https://www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/immersion-in-french-language-les-voisins-du-12-bis/
• https://www.youtube.com/@coffeebreakfrenchofficial/playlists
• https://m.youtube.com/@easyfrench
• https://www.youtube.com/@French_Connection/playlists (Telefrancais!)

Free textbooks (partly historical, but still useful or interesting):

• https://archive.org/details/comprehensive-french/ (2020, A Comprehensive French Grammar)
• https://archive.org/details/initiationnotrel00mign (1949, Initiation à notre langue: cours élémentaire)
• https://archive.org/details/monlivredefranai45frre/ (1949, Mon livre de français)
• https://archive.org/details/premiercoursdefr00roux (1937, Premier cours de français)
• https://archive.org/details/modernfrenchpt1 (1930, Modern French Course. Part 1)
• https://archive.org/details/firstlessonsinle00chourich/ (1874, First Lessons in Learning French)
• https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1475-1640_a-plaine-pathway-to-the-_french-language_1575/ (1575, A plaine pathway to the French tongue)

Similar big lists of resources:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/French/comments/1629pyf/faq_read_this_first/ <----- the best. Start here!
• https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/5q8ggr/my_list_of_french_resources_for_all_levels/
• https://gratisglobal.com/learn-french-free/

Also, these reference works have been useful for me (in fact, I bought them in print!):

• https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-monolingue (Larousse French monolingual dictionary)
• https://www.google.com/books/edition/501_French_Verbs_Ninth_Edition/H6ngEAAAQBAJ?hl=en (501 French Verbs)

Hi everyone. Any good comics recommendations to learn French?

Besides the classics Tintin and Asterix, I heard about Yves Chaland, Jean-Pierre Gibrat and the series Les Cités Obscures. Are those good for B1?

Not looking for children-focused books.

What is the difference between a 9/10 for EO and EE?
Also I have been doing blanc examens from formulations TCF and getting 11 for EE are their scores reliable?