As a teacher, developing French listening skills are essential for students’ development of French proficiency. In order to understand spoken French, they need to listen to French. If we think about our own native language, we first were exposed to speech and the language of others before we formed our own speech. Similarly, in a second language, French learners need to develop French listening skills for a variety of purposes and they need extensive and daily opportunities to practice the development of these skills. Thankfully, the Internet has a wealth of resources that are available for French learners. Here are a few of my favorite FREE online websites to help develop French listening skills in the classroom.
This is one of my favorite sites to gather French listening materials for my students. 1 Jour 1 Actu is a website created specifically for kids and is perfect for beginner and intermediate French students. My students love the series : 1 Jour 1 Question, as they are short daily videos that are cartoons and use simple language for students to understand. These videos cover a variety of topics and include lots of visuals that students can use for clues when decoding the message in the clip.
There is also an option to read a transcript that aligns with the audio that you are able to download for free. This is a great accommodation for students who need them to be successful in your French class.
This was my intermediate students’ all time favorite website to improve their French listening skills outside of the classroom. Students test their listening comprehension by listening to a francophone song of their choice and filling in the gaps in the song lyrics as fast as they can. They will earn points based on their performance and can compete against others or individually. This is a fantastic website for :
Enhancing your students’ French listening skills as they train their brains to recognize the words and sounds of French. It also exposes them to different French accents and dialects
Expanding students’ French vocabulary as they new learn words and expressions in context
Exploring grammar in context and allowing students to digest it with daily practice
Improving your students’ French pronunciation as they listen to the lyrics and model the proper pronunciation later in real-life conversations
Students who are music and auditory learners
The other benefit of this site is that it allows students to pick the appropriate level: beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert. Therefore, they can work at their own level and feel confident in their accomplishments. Beware, this website tends to be addictive and lots of fun for students but it allows them to really listen to the lyrics that they are hearing.
Podcasts seem to be the hype these days! I was shocked when my students were telling me about their favorite podcasts and then a few months later, I found that I also was excessively listening to them. Coffee Break French is a fantastic podcast that every French student can use. There are five different levels that students can pick depending on their level:
Season 1 – Absolute beginners
Season 2 – Lower intermediate
Season 3 – Upper Intermediate
Season 4 – Advanced learners
Upper Advanced
Within each season, you will find a multitude of content geared towards the specific learning level. Topics range from French introductions, ordering food, reflexive verbs in daily routines, idiomatic expressions, and beyond.
Students are able to listen to the podcasts on Spotify, Apple, or Google and all the podcasts are FREE. Please note that additional supplementary material (extended audio, lesson notes, etc.) for the podcasts can be bought or you can make your own work.
Lawless French is another fantastic website that hosts so many resources for practicing French grammar, vocabulary, speaking, and French listening skills. For the oral comprehension tasks, students are able to listen to a variety of audio clips that are organized by French levels ranging from A1 to C2. Within the listening exercises, you have access to the transcript, the English transcript, key vocabulary and expressions in the audio along with target grammar. Afterward, there are reading comprehension quizzes that align with the content in the video. Some examples of the oral comprehension videos include :
À l’hôtel
Arc de Triomphe
Au cirque
Bise à la française
Cajun French
Carnaval de Nice
Bruxelles
Therefore, there are many options that target French language and culture. Students can filter the listening exercises based on their French level and also participate in different dictées, proficiency tests, tricky number exercises, videos with interactive subtitles, and more.
RFI Savoirs is a fantastic website where you can get access to over 1000 clips and exercises for various levels of French learners. Students will learn about French with the international news and have access to a variety of audio and text articles aimed at improving French comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary.
The audio clips on RFI Savoirs range in topics. Your students could learn about fashion, politics, sports, the environment, global issues, social media, business, health, science, and more. These various topics are sorted by CEFR levels ranging from A1 (French beginners) to C2 (highly advanced French learners). There are also complete transcripts that correspond with the different audios, making these clips perfect for various French learners.
Now Putting This in Action to Enhance French Listening Skills
To develop your students’ French listening skills, they need extensive and daily opportunities to listen to French in a variety of interactive settings. It is important that teachers research and provide adequate activities that foster these French listening skills for students to develop their French proficiency.
Have another “must have” website that you use in your French classroom to enhance your students’ French listening skills? Leave a comment below and spread the knowledge 
P.S. Interested in enhancing your students’ French Reading Skills? Check out this blog post: 6 Phenomenal French Websites for Enhancing Reading Skills.
I’m looking forward to trying some of these!
I started using Mauril.ca with my core intermediate students as an alternate listening activity and they are really enjoying it. They like that the clips are short and that they can replay it as many times as they need to.
Thanks so much for sharing Deanna! I will have to check that one out!
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Can yoᥙ suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over
the same topics? Тһank you so much!
Thank you so much! My blogs posts have been inspired by my experiences as a teacher and the solutions that I’ve implemented to help my students enhance their French proficiency. I’m sure that there are some Facebook groups that are geared to Intermediate/Senior French teachers that would also explore some of these issues and strategies. I would also recommend the OMLTA website as they often have some useful tools for teachers!