Best Podcasts for French Language Learners by CEFRL Level
Image credit: Karolina Grabowska
Some people naturally excel at learning languages.
I am not one of these people.
To achieve even a basic level of comprehension and fluency, I made French language learning my primary hobby for two years, spending hours per day studying French in all its facets: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
For me, understanding spoken French came a lot harder than understanding written French. (Everyone learning a language will have a special sticky point, I’ve heard.)
As I listen to podcasts in English, I decided to search for them in French to see what I could find that would help me with my language learning on the oral comprehension scale.
Surprisingly, when I asked for podcast recommendations from teachers and other language learners, few people had them. In fact, people rarely recommended podcasts at all when I asked for language-learning tools.
I had to cobble together podcasts as I went along, listening and learning through trial and error which podcasts to keep and which to jettison.
In the hope of saving you the same effort, I decided to compile the lists of podcasts I used at each stage of my journey to learning French, whittling it down to the ones I found the most helpful and engaging.
Why Podcasts are Fantastic for Learning French
First: Why listen to podcasts when learning French? Why not just watch videos on the web and French-language series and films?
Absolutely watch videos, films, and series in French. However, consider giving French-language podcasts a try as well—they have advantages that video content does not:
Unlike a video, which requires your visual attention, you can listen to podcasts while on the go or while doing other things, providing a more multifaceted immersion experience. I listen to French-language podcasts while cooking, cleaning, running errands, exercising, and even in the background while doing some types of work.
With video of all kinds, you typically have the option to turn on subtitles. Though subtitles can help immensely with comprehension, especially at the early stages of language learning, they held up my comprehension of spoken French considerably. Given my greater ease with reading French over spoken French, I tended to just read the subtitles, rather than forcing my brain to process the incoming speech.
Many on-line video platforms allow you to change the playback speed, though you can’t do so with most series and movies. However, with podcast players, you can listen at normal speeds and can slow them all the way down to two times below their normal speed. The ability to adjust a podcast’s tempo allows you to ramp up to a new level of difficulty, because you can slow down the playback speed as your brain adjusts and improves its comprehension at a higher complexity. Further, listening to a podcast at different speeds helps you know when you can increase the level of difficulty. If you can understand everything at a normal or even faster-than-normal speed, you can try a podcast at a higher difficulty level.
Podcasts, even if you don’t listen to them in your native language, will give you a valuable language-learning tool when it comes to improving your French.
What’s the CEFRL?
I ranked my podcast recommendations by CEFRL level—so I figured it’d be smart to give a quick summary of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages before I launch into my lists.
The CEFRL divides language competency for European language into different levels of language learning, from the A levels to the C levels. The A levels demarcate the beginners, the C levels signify mastery, and the B levels move from proficient to fairly fluent (with a few gaps).
Across Europe, the CEFRL rankings standardize language teaching and learning and they help governments, universities and schools, and employers assess or quickly understand a person’s level of language competency. Many European institutions require a proven level of CEFRL to apply for residency or citizenship, to attend a school, or for employment consideration.
Given that Europe uses the CEFRL as its typical framework for language classes and assessment in European languages, it made sense for me to use the CEFRL grid for carving up my podcast recommendations into difficulty levels. If you’ve learned or are working to learn a European language, you likely know where you stand on the CEFRL scale or know what level you want to achieve.
If you don’t know your CEFRL level, you can find free tests on-line or you can take a guess based on the CEFRL rubric and then listen to a podcast in your assumed category, as listed below.
And as you do, take heed: Do not get discouraged if you do not understand a podcast at a level you assume you should have achieved. Just bump down a level.
Also, keep in mind that you can have a certain CEFRL language for one type of language ability and another level for a different type. In other words, you could easily read at a C1 or even C2 level but still have an oral comprehension in the B1 or B2 levels (as I did).
Podcast Recommendations for Listeners in the A Levels
I understood almost nothing of what anyone said to me in French for what felt like ages—and it really discouraged me.
If this sounds familiar to you, take heart: You’ll get there. Don’t give up.
To start trying to understand spoken French, give these language-learning podcasts a try:
I confess: These podcasts don’t cover the most fascinating topics, though they do they best they can, given that they cater to early-stage French learners.
At this stage, you need to gradually gain the ability to understand what you hear in French. You haven’t yet reached the point where you can expect to understand entertaining content in French. (I know, I know, and I’m sorry! I felt the same frustration. I promise it will happen for you, too, if you keep at it.)
Podcast Recommendations for Listeners at the B1 Level
Do you feel ready to level up—or wonder if you’ve reached the B levels of oral comprehension in French?
Try these early-intermediate language learning podcasts as a next step:
You’ll find endless other podcasts that focus on language learning at a slightly more advanced level than the podcasts I recommended for beginners. However, I enjoyed these two the most of all the podcasts I tried (and I tried dozens).
Podcast Recommendations for Listeners at the B2 Level
At the B2 stage of French language learning you’ve likely—like I had—gotten a little weary of the language-learning format for podcasts.
Even if you still listen to a few podcasts focused on teaching French as a primary objective, like the ones I listed above, you may want to sprinkle in a few French-language podcasts that don’t specifically address learning French. At a certain point, I started to tune out on the language-learning podcasts due to lack of subject-matter variety. Podcasts that touched on different subjects helped keep me motivated and interested.
I found these podcasts reasonably clear and followable at the B2 level, even before I reached the C levels, mainly because the guests and the hosts speak clearly, well enunciated French at a reasonable speed—and without too much slang or jargon:
I’m still listening to podcasts in French at this level and beyond, so I’ll add more podcasts as I discover them.
Podcast Recommendations for Listeners at the C Levels
When you get to the C levels, you hardly need me to recommend podcasts for you. You can listen to almost anything in French and understand all or almost all of it.
However, if you want to test a few podcasts at the C level to see if you’ve reached the C levels in French, try these options:
If you can follow the podcasts on this list fluidly, even at a slightly reduced speed, search for podcasts in your areas of interest and listen away. You’ve got this.
Really, anything recorded with multiple people speaking—especially recorded at an event, which roughens the sound quality—and using a lot of jargon and slang would classify as a C-level podcast. If you can find something with multiple comedians slinging repartee, even better.
Stay Tuned for Updates with New Podcast Recommendations
People often ask me about my language-learning journey. I confess that I’ve found learning French a lot harder for me than I’d expected. I used every tool and resource I could find.
Leveling up through different podcasts, though, turned into a great motivator for me, especially with oral comprehension as my “bête noire”—the area of French comprehension I found the most frustrating and difficult.
With the hope of helping others, I’ve decided to collect my French-learning resources into an article filled with recommendations based on my experiences.
And click here for a link to all the articles I’ve written so far on my journey to learning French!