Fortunately, it’s been a good couple of decades for French children’s films and action movies. If you’re a beginner, you might want to start with children’s films and simple fare like action movies. If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably want to select films with nice, uncomplicated French.
It’s also a good way to reinforce any new vocab or grammar points that you pick up during your French movie night.
Using FluentU in this way will set you up for success with full movies, since you’ll be equipped with the knowledge of how to learn actively and actually engage with the content. You can use FluentU to watch bite-sized snippets from your content of choice, then study any new vocabulary you learn through these videos by creating and reviewing flashcards right in the app.Īnd since each flashcard has further videos that use the word in the same context, you’ll be able to seamlessly move from one video to another for a full learning program. The program also provides interactive transcripts and subtitles, which you can toggle to English, French, both or neither if you prefer.
It brings together authentic videos for learning French, including plenty of movie trailers and clips, as well as other types of French media like news segments, music videos and commercials-you know, the type of content that French speakers consume on a regular basis. This is an effective approach, but like many real things in life, it’s going to take time and energy.įluentU was designed to address exactly this problem. Make sure you look up the words in a good dictionary and then review them on a regular basis. If you’re not sure what it is, use the French-language subtitles to get the spelling and article correct. If you hear an unfamiliar word, note it down. To begin with, start by trying to watch the film without subtitles.
Using a film to improve your French means watching it actively rather than just sitting back and enjoying it. It isn’t enough to just soak up the vocabulary, though. That doesn’t just mean slang and profanity – although you’ll pick up a thing or two if you watch enough crime dramas – but includes poetic language, subcultural jargon, and even everyday bad grammar.
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. Advantages of Learning French with Movies.In hindsight, I was doing my teacher a disservice, since French movies offer a ton of advantages for learners. When I was studying French in high school, our teacher showed lots of movies.Īt the time, I thought the teacher was being a bit overefficient, sticking on a movie while keeping half an eye on the class and grading papers without too much stress. JLearn French with Movies: The Quick GuideĬan you really learn French through movies, or is it just a convenient excuse for not doing your French homework?