5 brilliant websites for French news and history to improve your listening and reading (A1-C1)

November 29, 2022

Unpopular opinion coming through… News in Slow French is sooooo boring!!! I wouldn’t listen to news in purely audio form even in my native language, slowed down or not. So doing so in French when I was trying to move past the beginner phase just felt like torture. There’s a reason they put upbeat music and speak quickly on news shows – to stop their viewers from falling asleep!

Luckily, there are a number of really great and dynamic alternative channels and programmes out there to learn about French news, history and more at your level, with videos and colourful pictures to entertain a wondering brain.

Beginner: Un jour, une question

This is an informative website designed for French children (thus perfect for learners of French!), which features very short videos (1min 42s) on a huge range of cultural topics. Sometimes these are in line with the topic of the moment but they often answer more profound questions or look back at key historical figures and moments.

I used to use these when teaching my top set secondary school students i.e. if they can keep a group of 16 year olds engaged, then you won’t be at risk of the News in Slow French effect! You can get subtitles on some videos if you watch them on Youtube, rather than on the actual site. Find out the French opinion on whether Tik Tok is dangerous, as an amuse-bouche, or how the French language was born, below:

Intermediate: Le Média Positif

For when you feel like your vocabulary is expanding but you like to have time to read instead of the pressure of keeping up with French audio, La Média Positif is perfect; the bonus factor is that it’s all positive news!

Find out what the French thought of Top Gun: Maverick and try out some opinion phrases by interacting with the Frenchies in the comments section!

Intermediate-Advanced: Karambolage en français

Karambolage is a Franco-German venture with a wealth of different videos, from historical explanations like why the Eiffel Tower was almost called Tour Bönickhausen, to games and other activities, all with subtitles in French; the accompanying pictures and titles allow for learners of a range of levels to follow along with ease.

Advanced: 7 jours

Every day on 7 jours, a guest is invited to discuss a topic of the moment. The videos are always accompanied by subtitles in French and often visual aids; this is a great way to gain exposure to a range of accents.

Learn about a number of topics, including the controversial feminisation of the French language.

Advanced: Brut

Brut is a great platform of videos about all sorts of subjects, with videos starting at around 02:00. They have subtitles in French and plenty of visual aids to help you follow along!

Learn about pink tax in France in under 4 minutes.

Final thoughts

All of these channels and sites are what we in the education world call “authentic material;” i.e. they’re all for native speakers of French, meaning you dodge the bore fest (sorry, News in Slow French, but you really left a mark, and not a good one!), in favour of high quality pieces of news, history and entertainment. This is a great thing because it instantly taps you into the world from the French perspective, and if you want to speak like a French man or woman, you’ve got to think like them!

I’d love to know what you think of these resources; do you know any of them already? Which do you like and why? Comment below!