Podcasts are an excellent resource to learn French. Podcasts are convenient and time-efficient because you can listen to them anywhere. Learning French through podcasts can be done while you are on the road, at a coffee shop, or at home.
We love learning French. We have listened to and reviewed some of the best French podcasts for you. We hope that you find these podcasts enjoyable and useful, whether you are just getting started with French or are an advanced learner looking to brush up on the language.
Overview: The format is a mix of English and French. For each episode, the host speaks in English and native French-speaking guests take turn to talk in a slow, deliberate, and easy-to-grasp speech. Duolingo French Podcast offers a great material for beginners to practice their listening skill.
Episode length : 20 – 25 mins.
Transcripts : Yes.
Available on : Website, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts.
Overview: The French Learning Kit is created by Guilaine Andre, a certified French teacher with over a decade of experiences. The podcast focuses on everyday life and French culture. Stories from the same topic are presented in four episodes, by the CEFR French levels A1, A2, B1, and B2. Online class is also available for individual and group sessions.
Episode length : 3 – 5 mins.
Transcripts : Yes.
Available on : Website, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher.
Overview: Alexa Polidoro has one of the most popular YouTube channels with over 1.4 million subscribers. She released her first podcast episode in 2017 and it has gone through a significant makeover in early 2022. The new podcast focuses on French culture and a comprehensive analysis on French expressions.
Overview: The podcast offers more than 200 episodes that cover a broad range of topics. Due to its extensive episodes, the formats are quite different from one to another. For the beginner level, you hear French dialogues followed by explanation in English. For the advanced episodes, everything is spoken entirely in French.
Episode length : 5 – 25 mins, depending on topics and levels.
Transcripts : Transcript of a single episode comes with vocabulary list, grammar guides, and exercises at a cost of $ 1.00 USD.
Available on : Website, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts.
Overview: Created by Hugo Cotton, a French teacher who also runs a YouTube channel under the same brand. The long-talk, French-only format aims for an intermediate / advanced learner (B1 / B2 level).
Episode length : 30 mins.
Transcripts : Yes (sign up for a free account to access).
Available on : Website, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts.
Overview: The title pretty much says it all. News in Slow French is a fantastic podcast with a group of native French speakers read out news articles at a much slower pace. Their excellent enunciation allows you to distinguish each word clearly and build up your listening skills.
Episode length : 3 – 15 mins.
Transcripts : Require $19.90 USD monthly subscription (7-day free trial is available).
Available on : Website.
Overview: Produced by Radio Lingua Network and hosted by the founder Mark Pentleton, the podcast features casual, everyday conversations for beginners as well as content for advanced learners. Mark and his guests keep the lessons light-hearted, fun, and entertaining. At the beginner’s level, it focuses on basic phrases and slow speech; whereas the advanced level highlights on complex grammar structures.
Episode length : 15 mins.
Transcripts : $124.00 USD per season (40 episodes).
Available on : Website, Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts.
Overview: For intermediate and advanced learners, this is a must-listen podcast for you. Created by a well-known French Youtuber, Johan Tekfak, it emphasizes on the authentic spoken French that helps you expand vocabulary naturally.
Episode length : 10 – 15 mins.
Transcripts : Yes.
Available on : Website, Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts, PodBean.
Overview: Laetitia Perraut, a French woman living near Paris, shares her daily life in this uniquely personal podcast. She talks about grocery shopping, TV shows, meals she has with friends, bookstores she stops by, casual walks in neighborhood areas, etc. The podcast is narrated entirely in French and in a normal speaking speed. New episodes drop 3 times a week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Episode length : 3 – 5 mins.
Transcripts : $ 4.00 USD for monthly subscription to get 3 transcriptions per week.
Available on : Website, Apple Podcasts, PodBean.
Here are some more French podcasts to practice your listening skills:
Overview: Pierre Babon’s French-only podcast is geared for those who already have some familiarity with the language and want to further improve their skills. He also has a successful YouTube channel which he publishes content regularly. Most of the podcast episodes are the audio files extracted from his YouTube clips.
Episode length : 5 – 15 mins.
Transcripts : Yes (sign up for a free account to get the transcript directly sent to your mailbox).
Available on : Website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.
Overview: As the name suggests “the news in easy French“, Journal en français facile publishes summery of daily top news stories, with free transcripts on their website. Towards the end, they explain some intriguing words that been discussed in the episode.
Episode length : 10 mins.
Transcripts : Yes.
Available on : Website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, PodBean.
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