According to a study by PhD graduate Paul Sulzberger from Victoria University, listening to a language is one of the most efficient ways to learn it.To do that, you could listen to a podcast, watch French TV or watch French movies.
Or you could go to Youtube and learn French with one of the Youtube channels I selected for you.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced French learners, there is a Youtube channel for you here!
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The Best Youtube Channels for beginner French learners
Learning French with videos can be extremely rewarding and fun, but you need to make sure you don’t end up watching videos that are 90% in English.
Otherwise you may have fun, but you won’t learn much.
Here is a selection of Youtube channels where you can learn authentic French without spending hours hearing English.
Frenchpod101
Frenchpod101 is mainly known as a podcast. but it’s also a Youtube channel full of short videos that’ll teach you common French words as well as sentences and help you improve your understanding of spoken French with listening exercices .
Comme Une Française
After living in the UK for a while, Géraldine decided to come back to France to help English speakers learn about the country and act like real French persons.
Comme Une Française videos focus on everyday topics and teach you useful vocabulary, but also explain how to act like a real French person in every situation.
For example you can learn about “la galette des rois” or discover how to take part in a French debate (the French love to debate everything).
Oh La La, I Speak French
This web series for French learners shows the life of two French sisters in Los Angeles.
Each episode has subtitles and contains daily French conversations of DELF level A1 (beginner).
These videos are ideal to discover the French language and get used to its sounds and sentences.
Once you’re done with the first season, make sure you check out the second one to discover the adventures of Soso in her favorite city, Paris.
Damon and Jo
Damon and Jo travel the world and produce hilarious videos dedicated to their adventures, food, beauty products, dancing…and French grammar.
The duo succeeds in making boring topics such as le passé composé entertaining and explains French culture from an American and Brazilian perspective.
They occasionally publish videos in French with English subtitles which makes their Youtube channel a must for French learners of all levels.
I usually don’t recommend listening to non native speakers speak French because their pronunciation is often imperfect but I have to admit Damon and Jo’s accent is pretty impressive.
Walk, Talk and Learn French
In this series of videos, Pierre-Benoît walks around the streets of France and explains the meaning of ads and other signs he stumbles upon.
This approach gives you the opportunity to discover the streets of France as if you were there, to learn plenty of useful words and to learn grammar in context.
Learn French with Vincent
Vincent’s goal is to help you go from beginner to advanced with his videos.
His videos follow a logical order and teach you useful vocabulary and grammar.
If you already understand basic French, you can also learn French with realistic dialogues.
Learn French With Pascal
This Youtube channel contains a large selection of videos on different topics such as verb tenses, pronunciation, songs and grammar lessons.
Alexa Polidoro
With 120,659 subscribers, Alexa is one of the main French teachers on Youtube.
You can learn basic French words with her videos or you can choose to use her Conversational French Vocabulary series and learn with authentic and fun French videos that come with English subtitles.
French in Action
French in Action isn’t a Youtube channel, but rather a complete French course for beginners.
The idea is that you watch everyday situations in French and learn in context.
Unfortunately, the videos are only accessible from the US and Canada. If you live in another country, you can use Hide My Ass to watch them.
The Best Youtube Channels for intermediate and advanced French learners
Easy French
Want to know how French people think?
Each episode features French people answering questions and sharing their opinions and feelings about different topics in authentic street interviews.
Topics include Paris, French cuisine or being a tourist.
Français Authentique
As its name indicates, this Youtube channels is all about authentic French. You can find lots of nice videos where Johan explains common French idioms or simply talks about topics he is interested in such as personal development.
Johan is also the host of the Français Authentique podcast and creator of the Français Authentique course.
Français avec Pierre
Like Johan, Pierre regularly explains common French expressions, but he also interviews other French speakers and talks about a variety of topics such as culture and grammar.
Golden Moustache
While Golden Moustache isn’t made specifically for French learners, this Youtube channels contains lots of entertaining videos with English subtitles.
For example you can find lots of parodies of movies like Star Wars of Skyfall.
French Together
I know finding French videos with English (or even French) subtitles can be tough.
That’s why I regularly add French videos with English subtitles to French Together’s Youtube channel.
You can click here to subscribe.
7 French stand-up comedies that will make you laugh out loud
Do you enjoy stand-up comedies?
Many talented comedians are French, but it’s not always easy to find shows with English subtitles.
Here is a selection of stand-up comedies that will make you laugh out loud, and give you a fun opportunity to practice French.
Florence Foresti
Florence Foresti often tackles issues such as motherhood and femininity.
In this show, the comedian talks about pregnancy and gently makes fun of men who complain at the slightest bit of pain.
Gad Elmaleh
Have you ever been traumatized by your French teacher asking you silly questions ? Gad Elmaleh tells us the story of Brian, and shows you what an English lesson in a French school looks like.
Ah Valentine’s Day, you either hate it or love it. It seems like Gad hates it. But whether you love this day or not, this video is going to make you laugh for sure.
Patrick Bosso
Want to speak French like a marseillais? Patrick Bosso teaches you how to use the word “putain” and speak like a perfect marseillais.
Cyprien
In this video, Cyprien, a young French comedian talks about studies abroad, an experience that is perceived very differently by the person going and other persons.
Norman
We all know at least one Apple addict, a person who can not live without her Iphone and Ipad and who constantly needs to tell you how superior Apple devices are. Discover what Norman think about them in this video.
2 websites to learn French with videos
Learning French on Youtube is great, but there are three main limitations:
- It’s hard to find videos with subtitles
- You can’t slow down what you hear
- You don’t have easy access to a dictionary
FluentU and Yabla solve these problems. They’re both websites that make watching videos in French easier by adding subtitles and allowing you to slow down videos, play them in a loop or even click on words to see their translation.
While FluentU uses videos from Youtube and add subtitles, Yabla uses videos created specifically for French learners.
Here is my review of FluentU!
And if you want to discover even more Youtube channels, check out this list of the best French youtubers!
Image credit: wavebreakmediamicro / 123RF Stock Photo
Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on a link in this article.
Thanks Benjamin. I appreciate this list and am enjoying exploring the different sites. I love the concept behind the “Walk Talk and Learn French” and am revising so much by watching the series. I wonder could you or anyone out there help me out with another resource I used some time ago but which I cannot seem to track down.
It’s based on a young male American visitor to the very small apartment of a French girl via a letter he sends to her. He stays in the apartment, meets her friends and due to language and cultural differences lots of comedy ensures. The level is at beginner or beginner plus and, I think, has French and English subtitles if one chooses to use them.
Thanks a lot. That was really helpful .
French in Action is available for streaming VOD directly from the producer Annenberg Learner https://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html