Do you think that Francophones swallow their words and speak too fast? Are you convinced that you’ll never be comfortable speaking and listening French?
Wrong! Totally and absolutely wrong. With 300 million francophones in the world and 50 million learning French as a second language, if they can do it, there is no reason you can’t.
I am going to explain why podcasts could be the ideal way to help you! There are 770 000 podcasts available and I’ve just added one more about la langue française for intermediate and advanced level! Follow me on Spotify and Itunes.
Problem identified : it’s difficult to improve your listening skills in French
As a Private French teacher and a school manager, I know my customers very well. My customers are people like you, who want to learn and speak French but they don’t always have the benefit of living or working in a francophone environment. Most of them, and maybe you too, don’t have time or don’t know how to practice French on a regular basis outside the classes and even after the end of the training. A common concern is to lose all the amazing work you’ve done to reach this level. “You didn’t come this far, to come this far” Especially for those of you living outside francophone territories.
I was concerned about my English when I moved from international Brussels to Paris. I knew I was losing my English skills. After 6 months, I even hired a private English teacher. In 2016, I discovered what would stop me freaking out: podcasts. Listening to podcasts is exactly what I needed to maintain my languages skills: educational and entertaining with real talks.
The solution to improve your French: podcasts
In my opinion, podcasts are the best option available for so many reasons:
🥐 They improve your listening skills, which is often considered the most challenging part of learning French.
🥐 They are ideal for multi-tasking. You can listen to them while going to work, doing your laundry or cooking, at the gym…
🥐 They help you reconnect with yourself and return to the “slow” pace. You’ll improve your French without stress and pressure.
🥐 They are content oriented. You choose the content and the topic or cause you’re interested in.
🥐 They are very deep.
🥐 They are an amazing detox from screens and social media.
🥐 You can create your own routine easily. You can listen to them every day, once a week, once every two weeks.
🥐 You can pause them whenever you want.
🥐 They’re unlimited.
🥐 You can rewind easily and relisten to the things you didn’t understand.
🥐 They are a modern alternative audio from classic radio channels.
🥐 So far, French podcasts don’t have as much advertising compared to the French radio or English speaking podcasts. Let’s hope it won’t change.
🥐 The more you listen, the more you’ll be able to imitate the sounds and the expressions of your host. Babies learn to speak by hearing and listening, surprisingly adults do too. Your brain becomes more familiar with intonations, sounds and expressions. You’ll get use to the musicality of the language and to native speakers. It’ll help you to be less overwhelmed when native speakers speak.
🥐 If you listen to one specific host, after a time you’ll identify typical expressions that you can easily memorize and use in other circumstances.
🥐 Listen like a native! It’s time to say good-bye to boring audios created by boring teachers to help you listening to boring content to learn boring French. You can finally enjoy content created by native speakers with less formal speech than news and radio channel. Consequently, you’ll enjoy content that is more dynamic and closer to real conversations.
The reasons why podcasts works to improve your French
I’ve tried, tested and approved it myself! As I listen to several episodes of the same podcaster, I start to memorize their specific expressions and tones of voice. Furthermore, I’ve heard myself repeat their expressions and intonations of voice while speaking English or Portuguese. It’s a very, very interesting exercise and I’m amazed by the results.
Babies don’t learn to speak while reading grammar books therefore I’m convinced that, like babies, the more French language and audio you hear, the better your French will be. Your brain needs to be surrounded by the language to help you produce coherent and comprehensible speech in French. This is the reason why I’m convinced that podcasts should be your new best friend.
Let’s improve your listening skills together
Now you know that podcasts are an incredibly helpful way to improve your French skills take a look at my podcast for intermediate and advanced level. In my podcast I talk about topics and answer to all my students’ questions. Follow me on Spotify and Itunes. In addition, I’ve created a selection of different podcasts just for you. This is how you’ll enjoy results:
🥐Choose two topics you like
🥐Listen to one episode per week.
🥐Do that for 3 months.
🥐Share your experience
Disclaimer
I recommend these podcasts to people who have reached at least an intermediate level. Therefore, if your level is complete beginner, while listening to podcasts is useful for your brain to get used to a language, please be aware that you probably will not understand everything.
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