After spending so many years taking French classes throughout middle and high school, it was a pity I hadn’t been able to fit in in my schedule this past year. While it was harder to keep up with a foreign language without taking courses in school, I turned to YouTube to keep learning new words and hearing the language used colloquially, as well as learning more about the culture too.
- Francais Avec Pierre
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For help with grammar and words that appear to have the same meaning, Francais avec Pierre is the best for clearing things up. This channel focuses mainly on the academic aspects of learning a language, such as verbs and pronunciation. Some videos I found helpful were Emmener, amener, apporter, emporter, rapporter, How to use AU FAIT (By the way), EN FAIT (in fact, actually) EN EFFET, and -RAI ou -RAIS ? Futur ou Conditionnel?
- Not Even French
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For more on the culture side of things, Rosie of Not Even French goes into detail about what her life as an expat in Paris is like. She talks about what it’s like dating and then marrying a French man, making French and expat friends, and navigating the French bureaucratic system. I really enjoyed hearing about her French culture shocks, and her tips on how to sound more French when speaking.
- The Purple Palace
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For videos that are both educational and entertaining, my go-to is The Purple Palace. Shayna is an art student in Paris, and along with videos on how to speak better, she also talks about her life as an art student, lookbooks and street style, and weekly vlogs in Paris. I found her video on how to defend yourself in French very useful, as well as her guide on French slang, and her journey to French fluency.
- Damon and Jo
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Damon and Jo have undoubtedly taught me a good amount of slang, outside from my own experience studying abroad. Both Damon and Jo travel constantly and created their YouTube because they couldn’t find a travel show that focused on broke college students. Although they’ve become more successful now, they still make videos geared toward this demographic, and each of their videos is full of energy. My personal favorites are how to swear in French, the official Paris Q&A, and how to flirt in French.
Through YouTube, I was able to keep learning new words, work on my pronunciation, and hear about what culture shock expats experienced. While it’s not as good as actually living in the country, hopefully it’ll keep me from forgetting too much French while I save up for a ticket and figure out a time to go.
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