Today one of the most popular ways of learning French is with podcasts. Basically, a podcast is an audio or video file which you can download and listen or watch.
The word podcast is a combination of the words pod (taken from iPod) and cast from “broadcast”. French language podcast lessons are usually taught by a male and female, cover a vocabulary list and offer a dialogue in a real-life situation.
The main advantage to studying the French language via podcasts is that you can put a strong emphasis on listening – the most natural way of learning languages – as well as download lessons to your PC or mobile device (iPhone, iPad, etc). Here’s a list of my favorite sites for learning French with podcasts.
FrenchPod101.com
FrenchPod101 is by far one of the most popular French podcast sites online today. The company offers hundreds of both audio and video French lessons that are packed with great educational material.
Lessons cover all levels ranging from absolute beginner, beginner, intermediate and advanced. You can also choose to go through the lessons based on themes including studying, work, business, travel, living and family. Each audio lesson is about 5-10 minutes long and taught by a native speaker.
You can download both the audio lessons (in MP3 format) as well as PDF lesson printouts to your computer or portable device. What’s also great about FrenchPod101 is that they keep coming out with new lessons every week so learning French never gets boring!
Rocket French
Rocket Languages offers a leading online course for learning French called “Rocket French“. While many people don’t know this, Rocket French is actually a podcast French course.
The core part of Rocket French includes over 30 interactive audio lessons aimed at beginners. Lessons cover subjects such as introductions and greetings and meeting people, travel, food, dating and romance, shopping, family and friends and hobbies.
You can download each lesson in MP3 format as well download lessons in PDF format. With Rocket French you can also get your questions answered on their forum which has over 17,000 members. Read our full review here!
Frenchetc.org
A excellent resource for podcats for learning French is Frenchetc.org. The site was founded in 2007 by native-speaking online French teachers. Initially, they had the aim of teaching French as it’s actually spoken in France. Hence, it’s an excellent resource for learning how to speak the kind of French that the people actually use.
The site offers a free access to its series of podcasts for beginners French. Furthermore, they offer access to series of podcasts covering grammar, songs, dictations as well as advanced study material.
iTunes Learn French Podcasts
Another great resource where you can find French podcasts is iTunes. What’s really good is that iTunes offers some high-quality free resources. Basically, three podcast providers offering free lessons: Learn French by Podcast, French for Beginners and Learn French for Beginners from DailyFrenchPod. These three links alone offer over 700 free downloadable individual lessons in audio MP3 format.
Radio Lingua
Radio Lingua is an industry leader in audio podcast lessons and offers a ton of material for learning French. The company offers a number of different courses. The main, flagship course is called “Coffee Break French” and offers weekly 20-minute lessons. This is an excellent starting point for beginners and comprises over 80 audio lessons.
Intermediate students can find more advanced material in Season 3 of Coffee Break French. What’s also great is that the company lets you listen to lot so of the podcasts for free. The “One Minute French” course is for students who just want to learn the essentials and consists of 2-3 minute-long audio podcasts. They also offer a course which focuses on French grammar called “Walk, Talk and Learn French”. This is a series of video lessons.
Finally, Radio Lingua offers a course designed for kids between the ages of 6-11 called “School Run French”. The course makes learning French for your children fun with audio shows, games and puzzles.
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- Rocket French Review
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- Tips For Learning French Fast
- How To Learn French
- Why Learn French
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About David Issokson
Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho (near Jackson, Wyoming) and have helped hundreds of students to learn French online since 2013.
