You know the feeling?
You just finished a long day at work and you can’t wait to get home, take off your shoes, throw dinner into the microwave and crash on your couch to relax in front of a good movie?
Well. That’s not going to happen tonight.
Because you now have to go to your evening language course. Ugh.
How much can you possibly learn at that time of the day, when your brain already feels fried?
I feel you. Fortunately, Internet now offers some great and free alternatives that will enable you to learn online any day you want, any time that is most convenient for you. (Ah, how I love convenience!)
So! Are you ready to get started?
Here are the top 5 online resources for learning French – starting with my favourite.
#1 TV5 MONDE APPRENDRE
I wish I could make a sponsored post for them because I SO love their site and what they do.
Basically, TV5 Monde is a French Channel and they have a website dedicated to learning French. What I really love about that website, is that most of the material you work with is multimedia. So you’ll have a short video and then about 3-5 different exercises related to the video. The exercises are fun and you always learn best when you are having fun.
So, as soon as you are done reading this article, jump to this page and save it in your favourites. 🙂
(You also have the possibility to change the language settings to English if you like.)
#2 BONJOUR DE FRANCE
I really like this website because its interface is so user-friendly and they have some great activities for learners of all levels.
You can either choose your level or what skill you would like to work on (reading, grammar, vocab, verbs, etc.) It’s very different from TV5 Monde Apprendre in that it focuses more on the theory of the language. Still, they have some fun written material to work with.
The material is provided by different French Teachers who want to share their creative ideas and activities online.
#3 LE POINT DU FLE
This website is purely about the theory of French language – which is not a bad thing. It’s a great go-to when you feel you need to drill some tenses or grammar rules.
The exercises and lessons are from many different sources.
What I don’t like about it so much is that I don’t find it organized enough. You will have lessons and different types of exercises mixed up in a list, rather than separate lists for lessons and others for exercises, etc.
But because it’s a great go-to site with many helpful resources for many, many French teachers and students, we’ll overlook that imperfection. 🙂
#4 RFI LANGUE FRANCAISE
RFI stands for Radio France International. Similarly to TV5 Monde Apprendre, they also have a page dedicated to learning French.
You can listen to the headlines or to a news report, etc. Depending on what it is and who is speaking, it can be quite hard to understand even for intermediate students because most of the time, people on the radio seem to speak even faster than on TV. So get your seatbelts out and just try to endure the take off. 😀
They usually provide transcriptions for each exercises (which is hugely helpful) and often a Q&A. I would advise you to give your ear and brain a chance to take the challenge a few times (like 10 times few!) before looking at the transcription. Otherwise, what you’re doing is just a reading exercise and not a listening exercise.
Check out their website here.
(You can change the language settings to English if you like.)
#5 FRANCAIS FACILE
Finally, there is Français Facile. I was a bit reluctant to add it to the list because I have a kind of love-hate relationship with this site.
It is similar to Le Point du FLE in its concept (focusing on rules and exercises) but their interface is so old-fashioned and it looks so chaotic and disorganized that my first impulse is always to click away from it.
But if you can just get over this aspect, they have a few really good exercises you can practice with when you can’t find any more on Le Point du FLE.
Français Facile also provides grammar rules but because of the visual aspect, I just never used it.
You can also learn other languages on that site, but the explanations will be in French. 😀
TIME FOR ACTION!
Click on the different links provided in this post and decide which one you will work with tonight, sitting on your comfy couch with a delicious drink after a fresh shower and yummy dinner!
Ah, what a world we live in!
Have a great one and keep being awesome, you can do this!
Lisiane
