French

French is a language with which I have a love/hate relationship. Because I'm nationally Belgian and grew up with my mother speaking it to me, watching TV shows and movies, and using it each visit to Belgium, I'd like to claim complete fluency. However, because I went swaths of time with no practice, prioritized other languages, and put it on the back burner, I have a C1/C2 level in the language for speaking proficiency, with some vocabulary gaps for words that I don't use on a daily basis (spices, for example). When I visit family in Belgium, the language comes back in its entirety after a day or two, but on any given day in the USA, it takes extra effort. The list below contains some of the resources that I have used to maintain my French.

French Language Resources

Online:

Mango
- Cost: free
- Details: different dialect courses, focus on vocab & not so much on grammar, helpful for beginners & learning useful phrases
Lingopie
- Cost: $12 per month
- Details: Watch TV shows & movies with the subtitles in the target language (French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, German) & click on the words to view the translation & add to vocab
Pimsleur
- Cost: $20 per month
- Details: different dialects, focus on vocab & not so much on grammar
Mondly (free French app)

Books:

Schaum’s Outline of French Grammar ($11-$20)
50 French Coffee Breaks ($10)
Complete French All-In-One ($38)

Instagrams:

@alsenegomis ; French street comedian
@atfrenchies ; French language learning comedians
@theo_landji ; French language comedian
@french_take_out ; French language learning

Youtube:

Zoe Languages
Easy French
French Pod 101

Podcasts (Spotify)

L’Heure du Monde (news, advanced)
Cafe Français (language learning, intermediate)
Podcast en français pour réussir (beginner, intermediate)

Music

Stromae
Kendji Girac
Khaled
MHD
Black M
GIMS
Soolking
Orelsan
Stephane Legar
Dadju

Movies & TV Shows

The Takedown (Movie)
Lupin (TV Show)
Les intouchables (Movie)
Under the Bombs (Arabic & French, Movie)
Represent (TV Show)
Marseille (TV Show)
Standing Up (TV Show)