The French Language learning toolbox
The Resources We’ll Use
mobile applications
Duolingo – Although Duolingo isn’t great for languages like Arabic, it is one of the best free applications to learn many languages like French, Spanish, German etc. We’ll be using Duolingo to learn the basics of French. This application is also available on the web for computers.
Memrise – This application uses the Spaced Repetition System to teach words and sentences. Memrise has a decent French language course divided into 10 levels. We’ll be spending 10-15 minutes a day on Memrise. This application is also available on the web for computers.
News in Slow French – This is a great app for beginners. The audio is slowed down and is supplemented with transcripts which helps listening comprehension. This application is also available on the web for computers.
Web/desktop Resources
Radio France Internationale – RFI is full of French language learning material. Apart from news articles and live radio, they have exercises for the French language segregated by level.
Anki – Like Memrise, this is another spaced repetition application. We’ll be using this to revise vocabulary that we learn on resources other than Memrise and Duolingo.
Reverso – Reverso is an online dictionary and translation tool. The best thing about this website is that when you translate words and sentences you are not just provided with the meaning but also the context in with the word can be deployed.
YouTube – YouTube is filled with language learning material. A lot of them are not of much use unfortunately but some channels like FrenchPod101, Learn French with Vincent, and Francais Authentique are great.
The French Experiment – This website has French stories narrated with translations. Serves as a wonderful resource for listening and reading practice.
Language Transfer – Created by someone named Mihalis, Language Transfer is a wonderful website with resources for multiple languages. Mihalis gives a great introduction to the French language. Starting from here makes learning the language a lot easier
I know this list of resources may look daunting, and by no means is this an exhaustive list. There are heaps of resources to learn French. Don’t let that discourage you because you don’t have to use them all and there is no single way to learn French. The next section on mindset will (hopefully) boost your confidence.