Photo: Cam Evans

The best 7 podcasts for learning French

In part 1 of this series, I gave you a list of blogs that have some great French language content to help you learn the language in a fun way.

Now, it’s time to look at some podcasts for learning French. I don’t know about you, but I love using podcasts for language learning. They’re a very flexible way of learning languages because you can listen to them anywhere – on your way to school or work, on your lunch break, while washing up or doing other things around the house, or simply while relaxing on the sofa or outdoors. And of course, they’re great because you’re listening, which is a very important aspect of language learning!

If you haven’t tried using podcasts to learn languages, check out the ones below and let me know how it goes!

One Thing in a French Day

This is a great language learning podcast idea. It consists of episodes which follow Laetitia, a French native speaker and the podcast’s narrator, throughout her day. You learn about the things she did and you get to know her bit by bit.

The podcast is accompanied by a transcript – part of it is on the website and the other part is the newsletter that you can subscribe to for free.

Je French

Photo: Artur Staszewski

This is a podcast that consists of short stories told by native French speakers. Listening to it is a bit like eavesdropping – each episode includes conversations between two people. If you live in London, like me, you can just do that live on the bus (with so many French people in London) but if you want to look less creepy, try the podcast instead – it’s fun!

News in Slow French

This one is exactly what it says on the box. News in Slow French is a podcast delivered at a slower pace than natural language – not too slow, though, so it still sounds like French! It’s great for practising listening because what learners often struggle with is the pace at which native speakers speak.

Another advantage of this podcast is the fact that it covers current affairs so it’s likely you will be able to understand a lot of it from context, having heard some of the news already in your native language.

Talk in French

This podcast, created by language blogger Frédéric Bibard, includes a lot of useful and interesting information about French culture and everyday life. Examples include episodes focusing on specific regions of France, information about the French education system, and French taboos.

FrenchPod101

These podcasts and videos can be downloaded from the iTunes store for free. They include lessons targeted at learners at a range of different levels. There are lessons for absolute beginners, culture classes, podcasts focused on pronunciation and many more.

There is an emphasis on teaching language in context so you will not always hear the exact translations of the phrases covered in each episode – you will, however, learn how to use them like a native!

Learn French by Podcast

Photo: ZakVTA

This is another series of hundreds of recordings of French lessons. The podcast is accompanied by PDF downloads that explain some of the points covered in the recordings in more detail.

One Minute French

This is literally one-minute French. You don’t need much time to listen to these short podcast bites so you have no excuse not to learn French any more!

A lot of it is survival French – something that you will need if you’re going on a business trip to France or on holiday. It’s definitely a good starting point from which you can build your knowledge with some more challenging podcasts later on.

Bonus: general language learning podcasts

Since we’re already talking podcasts, I’d like to recommend a couple of podcasts that can complement your French learning journey. They’re not focused specifically on learning French but they do contain a lot of practical tips that you can apply to learning any foreign language.

The first one, is the I Will Teach You A Language podcast created by language blogger Olly Richards. You will find episodes on topics such as how to avoid confusing two languages, how to maximise your learning by reading in your target language and how to use vocabulary from songs in conversations.

The other one is the Actual Fluency podcast created by Chris Broholm. Chris’ podcast discusses topics such as how to deal with burnouts in language learning and how to set yourself language learning goals, and includes a range of tips on how to learn multiple languages at the same time. Chris’ podcast includes a number of interviews with inspirational members of the language learning and polyglot communities.

Are you using podcasts to learn French or any other language? What are they? Share your tips in the comments below!