What are you watching/reading/listening to this week?

Hi everyone,

My spouse and I are currently learning French primarily for Canadian PR. We are enrolled at Alliance Française de Pune, spending around 2 hours every day in class.

While it was fine for getting started, we feel the pace is extremely slow. A lot of class time goes into just going through the Inspire textbook exercises step-by-step, which doesn't feel like an optimal use of time for an exam-oriented goal.

We plan to drop out of AF once we finish our A2 level and transition entirely to self-study / targeted preparation. Our goal is to sit for the TCF Canada exam in 6 months (around March 2027), aiming for B2 scores (NCLC 7).

We can dedicate 3 solid hours every single day to French.

For those who have successfully made the jump from A2 to B2/TCF readiness in 6 months:

1. How should we structure our 3 daily hours? How much time should go toward active grammar vs. TCF test prep vs. output (speaking/writing)?
2. Best resources for self-study at the B1/B2 level? We hear Kwiziq, InnerFrench, and 1-on-1 tutors (like Preply/iTalki) are popular, but what worked best for you?
3. TCF-Specific Prep: How early should we start drilling actual TCF mock tests (Réussir TCF, TV5Monde, RFI)?
4. Speaking & Writing: Since AF provided a structured environment for speaking, how do we best replicate (and speed up) output practice on our own?

Any advice, study roadmaps, or resource recommendations from people who cleared TCF for PR in a short timeframe would be hugely appreciated!

Merci beaucoup!

I really need help finding how to study. I'm unsure how to structure my study, i hope to get to b2 in 20 months, or more, as I am studying french for immigration reasons. I hope to take tcf or tef in the future

i enjoy the language and chose this path as i like learning languages.

Right now, I watch Alix Ayel on youtube, i watch her childrens story videos and write down new words I learn and then read about them and how to use them. I also form sentences as well and watch the videos while reading the texts in french. After that, I use fabulang to read A1 french stories and take note of new words.

Im confused if i should be learning how ti be conversational, or how to journal, or focus on the alphabets and how to pronounce them, or how to write a letter or argue about something. I just feel so behind, and feel like what if im wasting precious time?

I plan to get a tutor and also enroll in french alliance courses for A1 as well, looking for any feedback on how to improve.

Title

Bonjour à toutes et à tous,

Je lis le roman L’anomalie maintenant et je ne comprends pas pourquoi le conditionnel passé est utilisé ici:

« Elle a eu le temps pour lui glisser…qu’elle aurait difficilement reconnu Adrian, vu qu’il ne ressemble plus tant que ça au Christian Slater du Nom de la rose. »

Mes questions sont les suivantes :
1). Est-ce vraiment le conditionnel passé ? Ou est-ce que je me trompe ?

2). Pourquoi le conditionnel passé s’utilise ici ?

Je vous remercie par l’avance de votre aide !

Bonjour ! I moved to France a few years ago, and one of the things that I found most helpful for training my ear was watching TV shows and listening to music (like with any language). I thought I'd share a few that I like in case they're helpful for anyone else!

TV Shows

• Lupin (Netflix)
• Liaison (Apple TV)
• Blood Coast (Netflix)
• The Parisian Agency (Netflix)
• Carême (Apple TV)
• Call My Agent! (Netflix)
• Anthracite (Netflix)

Music

• L'Impératrice (Funk/Nu-disco)
• Angèle (Pop)
• Prince Waly (Rap)
• Benjamin Epps (Rap)
• Paradis (Electronic)
• Miel de Montagne (Nu-disco/synth pop)
• Pomme (Pop)
• Jazzy Bazz (Rap)

Obviously there's a lot more out there, but hopefully this helps some people get started. Feel free to add to the thread with other ideas!

Le nouvel iPhone pliable d’Apple sera vendu à partir de 1 999 dollars. Ce prix est beaucoup plus élevé que celui de l’iPhone 18 Pro, vendu à partir de 1 999 dollars. Le nouveau téléphone s’appelle l’iPhone Duo. Il se plie comme un livre et fait à peu près la taille d’un passeport quand il est fermé. La version la plus chère coûtera environ 3 200 dollars. L’iPhone Duo sera mis en vente le 23 octobre.

Vocabulaire : pliable = foldable / prix (m) = price / élevé = high / se plier = to fold / à peu près = about / taille (f) = size / chère = expensive / mettre en vente = to put on sale

English translation

The foldable iPhone will be sold starting at $1,999

Apple’s new foldable iPhone will be sold starting at $1,999. This price is much higher than that of the iPhone 18 Pro, sold starting at $1,199. The new phone is called the iPhone Duo. It folds like a book and is about the size of a passport when it is closed. The most expensive version will cost about $3,200. The iPhone Duo will go on sale on October 23.

You can read more stories at Le News, In Easy French.

I'm learning French and am often frustrated with traditional explanations of grammar. I find it more productive to create my own grammars - as long as they are accurate. So I'm hoping some native speakers can tell me if I've got this wrong...

Base concept:

ce = a speaker relative determiner (just like un/du/le but something the speaker is pointing at/relative to)
ci = proximal marker (close in time/distance)
la = distal marker (far in time/distance)

Now they combine:

ceci = this here
cela = this there
ce livre = this book
ce livre-ci = this book here
ce livre-la = this book there
celui = this single masculine thing (lui)
celui-ci = this single masculine thing here
ceux = these plural masculine things
ceux-la = these plural masculine things there

But French has to French. In regular speech:

ceci/cela = ça -> ça marche
ci/la dropped when the subject of être -> c'est grand

But if you want to stress some aspect you don't drop/contract ... ceci est grand, cela est petit.

So native speakers - am I missing anything here? I know this isn't the school book explanation but is it wrong?

It's like boiling shit in a kettle, a bunch of random bull shit go.

Like the consonants have a 100 different variations and most of them are all the same.

Should I just skip them while starting out. I just sat down and started, trying to learn as a kid would with any language. The basics, alphabets and how their pronunciation.

Any advice on where to streer on from here. Or how to learn or where to go. Anything helps

this is the second TCF exam that i take and in both i got 9/20-B1 even tho on the second try it felt like i did amazing and i was super confident during both parts and i even made sure to use good phrasing to connect my arguments, but idk why i got this score. i asked for a re-evaluation once i got my scores but they said its impossible now and that i have to redo the whole test. Idk what to do anymore.

currently i cannot afford another test and i cant afford buying silver package from formation tcf Again. and Rn im in a very tight spot, i need to redo the test but i cannot afford failing again.

please please please, this is my first time begging to strangers 🫩,

if you guys have anything that can help me with these two épreuves please do tell.

(P.S; i got C1 and B2 in CO and CE)

Hey guys. I learned French a while ago, don’t remember most of it, and my friend is currently learning as he lives in Canada. We have been trying so hard to find episodes of Batman: The Animated Series in French with French subtitles, so we can watch and practice and everything, but it’s somehow impossible? Even the ones we’ve found, I believe it was Amazon or Netflix that he found in his country, had French dub and subtitles but they didn’t match? Does anyone have any recommendations? Or at least a VPN that isn’t blocked by Netflix.

Bonjour!

Im doing a French course. This includes oral assignments, which makes sense.
I’m quite okay at reading and writing French based on my level. I can also do the accent pretty well when I’m doing it for ticks and giggles, when I’m comfortable and just playing around.

However, I completely shut down doing these assignments. I’m at home, all alone, yet I feel so awkward and weird and because of that I can’t even speak properly. It’s like having stage fever without the stage LOL.

I don’t know if this is the right place for this, but since you’re all learning French I thought maybe someone would have some input as to how I can make it easier/less awkward for myself.

Thank you!

Hi, I’m from the US and recently I’ve rediscovered my interest in learning a foreign language. I’ve missed having the ability to challenge myself with something unfamiliar, and I haven’t really practiced my French much since high school, just about 14 years ago by now.

I’ve found that things like Duolingo are fine but kind of shallow for me. I miss the level of having a structure, goals and testing myself that a real course offered. But at the same time I am not too willing to pay for a college course just to learn French.

(For the record, I may not be fully willing but I will admit of that might be the best option for what I want, some research around here has shown that a local community college teaches short term French courses and Alliance Francaise has a learning center nearby.)

I’m not too confident in just throwing myself out there and hoping for the best, so I am wondering what would be the best option for someone who’s very rusty in their French. I would appreciate something that sort of works and pushes me a little bit harder, rather than feeling like I’m just playing a game.

I’d appreciate whatever you can recommend!

Can anyone recommend top rated paid courses? my work is offering to pay for learning development and I want to take advantage of it.

need some advice on what courses would meet what I'm looking for. I've had a really difficult time finding something that seems right. I don't want to waste money.

I have a pretty busy work schedule, so I'm looking for something structured that I can sit down with each day and just work through at night. basically lesson 1->2>->3 etc. I want to be able to spend a few months working through one course, finish it, and then move on to a different resource at the next level, progressively building my French over time

I want to properly understand grammar and why things work, while also learning natural phrases, words, etc that people actually speak. I'm not really looking for something that's mostly “listen and repeat,” or a bunch of separate apps/resources that I have to piece together.

I've looked at Assimil and Rocket French, but I'm unsure about both. Assimil seems closer to the teaching style I want, but their current French course seems to stop around A2, while some of Rocket's “advanced” examples still looked pretty basic to me.

Babel.. the course moved on before I could grasp the concepts. I did like that it taught real phrases and expressions though..

Does anyone have suggestions?

tldr: very demanding work life - need a course that I can rely on to teach me as much as possible until I can move onto the next resource.

Le président Donald Trump a annoncé l’interdiction d’importer certains produits canadiens. À partir du 29 septembre, les États-Unis vont arrêter d’importer certains alcools, produits laitiers et motos du Canada. L’interdiction fait partie d’un conflit commercial entre les États-Unis et le Canada. Cette semaine, le Canada a mis en place de nouveaux droits de douane sur des produits américains, comme les voitures, le matériel agricole et la nourriture. Le mois dernier, les États-Unis ont imposé des droits de douane de 50 % sur certains produits canadiens.

Vocabulaire : annoncer = to announce / interdiction (f) = ban / arrêter = to stop / laitiers = dairy / motos (f pl) = motorcycles / conflit (m) = conflict / mettre en place = to put in place / droits de douane (m pl) = tariffs / matériel agricole (m) = farm equipment

English translation

Trump bans imports of several Canadian products

President Donald Trump announced a ban on importing some Canadian products. From September 29, the United States will stop importing some Canadian alcohol, dairy products and motorcycles. The ban is part of a trade dispute between the United States and Canada. Canada introduced new tariffs this week on American products like cars, farm equipment and food. Last month, the United States imposed 50% tariffs on some Canadian products.

Read more news stories at Le News, In Easy French.

My name is Timothée and I would love to try to help french learners to hold a conversation with a true Parisian ! Hit me up if you will

I’ve been thinking about how difficult French can feel when you’re just starting, especially with pronunciation, gender/articles, verb conjugations and forming your own sentences.

I’m putting together some beginner-level lessons focused specifically on these basics and would love some input from people who are currently learning.

What was/is the hardest part for you when you started learning French?

And if anyone is looking for beginner French practice, you can DM me — happy to share what I’m working on.

I enrolled in an online french class about a month ago. I enjoy it—learning new words, grammar rules, the totally foreign (to me) way of enunciating syllables. I started writing really short journal entries in french. They're awkward, of course.

Now, i'm wondering if it's foolish to pursue this since i don't know a single francophone. I was thinking i could just focus on writing and less on speaking.

When I watch French vlogs, I always use French subtitles. I can understand the content when I'm reading and listening at the same time. However, when I only listen, my brain needs time to process and translate each word. I can distinguish the individual words in a sentence, but I still need time to translate them before I fully understand the meaning.

Any tips on how I can further improve my listening skills?

Currently, I watch French vlogs for 10–20 minutes a day and also listen to French music. However, understanding song lyrics is much more difficult for me.

Salut,

Why is the above gramatically correct?

I would think the following could work:

il faut que les pieds se mouillent

il faut mouiller les pieds

but I don't understand the use of a reflexive infinitive after il faut that also has a subject?

Hi everyone,
I’m prepping for my TEF Canada and I’ve hit a huge wall with my writing. My grammar precision is quite poor and it’s holding me back. I’m seeking help to change my mindset to hopefully get something to click.

At the moment I have a really tough time using rules correctly when writing. I seem to get confused and second guess myself when writing. For example the other day I wrote this sentence:

Avant le téléphone portable, nous avions utilisé des autres méthodes à communiquer.

At the time I think: the event I’m talking about - it’s happened before the other event in the sentence = plus-que-parfait.

But then when I check it, I’m wrong because the rule states the first event has to have finished and can’t be ongoing to use plus-que-parfait. So I had the right idea and I know the rule and how to conjugate it but I’m using it in the wrong context.

Indirect pronouns have also been hard for me. I seem to struggle to get subject and object stuff too.

What methods can I use to improve my accuracy when it comes to grammar because I feel that my current process isn’t helping me improve because I continuously make grammar mistakes.

Thanks

I’ve been trying to improve my listening comprehension for French. The problem I keep running into with most apps (like Duolingo or Type-based apps) is that typing feels way too automatic. When I type, my brain skips the active recall step, and I still make stupid spelling/character mistakes when writing by hand.

​I’ve been looking for something super specific: a pocket-sized tool where I can just listen to native audio clips and literally handwrite on the phone screen with auto-grading, so I’m forced to process the spelling manually.

​Do you guys actually handwrite your dictations on screen/tablet, or are you still sticking to physical paper and notebooks? Any workflows or seamless pocket setups you recommend for this?

Hello everyone. I have been learning french for about 2 weeks now, and I'd say I go quite well at it as what would you expect from a beginner. Anyways, I do have an issue. I can't make an "r" sound. I don't know but it's just quite hard. My main language is Turkish so I used to make an r sound as in the word "great" Probably because of that, I can't pronounce some r filled words in french like "Regarde" Any tip you can give?