# Want to Improve My French on a Budget **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062 "2009-01-19T23:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/1 "2009-01-19T23:58:35Z")
As I seem to have more time than employment these days I’d like to improve my French skills. I haven’t spoken French for more than 25 years so my spoken skills are… well, they suck, OK? I can get some very basic sentences out but with poor to horrible accent. Sad, really - when I went to France lo these many years ago I was able to speak and be spoken to and be understood. It wasn’t perfect French, but it was serviceable. My hearing French is better (it always has been) but weak. In some circumstances I “get” what I’m hearing (in _Fly Boys_, for example, I had no problem understanding the French dialogue) but that tends to be very basic conversations. I mean, c’mon - in _Fly Boys_ it was largely French people speaking to monolingual Americans, they kept it simple. My reading is, as it has always been, my best French skill. I’ve been reading _Le Monde_ a couple days a week, I still have a lot of my French textbooks, and still have books and novels in French (and better yet, Project Gutenberg has books in French! I will _finally_ get my French copy of _20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea)_ My budget - effectively $0 The goal - improve my French so I can say “French language skills” on my resume without looking like a fool or a liar. So - suggestions welcomed please - especially the help of Francophile Dopers. Although I have reading materials new material is always welcome. Cheap, on-line sites would be very welcome. I don’t think I could keep up with a chat room at this point, but message boards that will tolerate an inept writer would be appreciated as I know the more I use the language the better I’ll be. I live in the Chicago/Northwest Indiana area - are there TV stations around here the broadcast in French? (I still have satellite TV at this point and we’re hoping to hang onto it although, realistically, it may be turned off next month now that we have our digital-to-analog box. However, if only I get two weeks that’s still good) Any French clubs anyone knows about? I’m not even sure how to find such things. I have looked at the tape/CD collections at the local library. I’m thinking that if I get those and not only concentrate on them in lessons, but also play them in the background as I do housework, cook, etc. it will help retrain my ears to the language. Any other suggestions? Like I said, I haven’t got hardly any money to put towards this. (Next step, of course, is to make a lesson plan/schedule for myself and then _do it_, but ya’ll can’t help me with that part!) (If this works out really well I’ll try picking up Spanish, but French is essentially relearning something I once knew, Spanish is a new language) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/2 "2009-01-20T00:13:34Z")
I worked with an intern from France this summer. He used [meetup.com](http://meetup.com) to find french people in the area (Boulder). Maybe you could try that. I was amazed at how much I remembered. He said I could speak better than most (he was being VERY kind). I had a hard time understanding him. But the best way to learn is speak it to someone. I would imagine there are some Francophiles in IN. I used meetup to find some motorcyclists here. It was kind of fun. I do see a lot of requests for bilingual Spanish speakers. I am tempted to take classes in Spanish. The Hispanics at work have taught me most of the popular words 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/3 "2009-01-20T00:22:18Z")
[http://www.rfi.fr/radiofr/pages/001/accueil.asp#](http://www.rfi.fr/radiofr/pages/001/accueil.asp#) [http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/indexPC.html](http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/indexPC.html) ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/4 "2009-01-20T00:33:12Z")
Missed the edit window. Some DVD’s have an alternate vocal track dubbed in French and/or Spanish. My copy of Casablanca for example. I’m too lazy to put the French version on and watch the movies. Or maybe I’m not. Hmm. :dubious: As to the above links, w/ my connection, I can listen to French radio all day if I like. Again, too lazy at the present time to make a go of it. There are probably commercial talk radio stations out of Montreal you can access too. Is there a Quebecois equivalent of Rush or Dr. Laura? The possibility fascinates and horrifies me at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/5 "2009-01-20T00:35:57Z")
Listening to radio out of Quebec would be a challenge - even when my skills were at my peak I struggled with Quebecois, which is as different from French French as American English is from English English. On the other hand, it _would_ improve my skills, most definitely. Thanks for the suggestions, folks, keep 'em coming. Or should I say _merci beaucoup_ ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/6 "2009-01-20T00:42:23Z")
Apologies for the multiple posts, but I’m having way too much fun here. Sports talk radio, en Francais. [http://www.corussports.com/audio.php](http://www.corussports.com/audio.php) What are they talking about? (Hockey.) Shocking, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/7 "2009-01-20T00:46:16Z")
I’m not find the announcers hard to understand. Some of the callers, yeah, but the announcers seem to have a standard diction that’s not totally different from the rfi guys. YMMV. Thanks for this topic. I haven’t listened to French radio in years. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/8 "2009-01-20T04:26:46Z")
[Here’s](http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/) a site with a bunch of public domain language courses developed by the Foreign Services Institute. There’s pdf’s of the texts as well as mp3’s of audiotapes. I’m working my way through Swedish and it’s okay, but you definitely need to speak and listen to it to really get a good understanding. This’ll help you with the niggly little grammar rules. And hey, I’m bilingual in French if you want to practice your written skills, just drop me a PM. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/9 "2009-01-20T04:39:24Z")
Try watching videos on YouTube. A good friend of mine is French and she has shown me loads of French videos. Loads. Which she then translates in between giggles. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/10 "2009-01-20T04:43:01Z")
Once you’re past the initial learning curve, IMing with someone is a very good way to get practice. It isn’t as realtime as conversation, but you get faster feedback than if you’re emailing. There’s time to compose a reply. ---
**Author:** ![TorpedoTed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@TorpedoTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TorpedoTed)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/11 "2009-01-20T05:43:49Z")
> [@Queen of Town](#): > > [Here’s](http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/) a site with a bunch of public domain language courses developed by the Foreign Services Institute. I second these courses. They’re amazingly effective. Mind-numbingly boring, I must admit, but they _do_ work. It won’t bring you to complete fluency–no _single_ course will but it will give you a very solid foundation which you can effectively build upon with more advanced materials, and greatly improve your pronunciation and speaking confidence as well. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/12 "2009-01-20T06:09:25Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I have looked at the tape/CD collections at the local library. I’m thinking that if I get those and not only concentrate on them in lessons, but also play them in the background as I do housework, cook, etc. it will help retrain my ears to the language. The library system in my area has language learning software (Rosetta Stone\*) that can be accessed from a home computer. Yours might have something similar. \*This is not a ringing endorsement of Rosetta Stone. It is a ringing endorsement of free. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/13 "2009-01-20T06:40:37Z")
[FreeRice](http://www.freerice.com/index.php) has French vocab practice- just click on the subjects link- which probably won’t be super helpful if you can read French newspapers already, but, on the other hand, is free. And it gets rice to people who need it! So it might be a nice time-waster that isn’t quite a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Omgalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/41988e/32.png) [@Omgalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omgalion)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/14 "2009-01-20T07:27:27Z")
I’m not a fluent French speaker (yet), but I’ve spent a lot of time learning it independently. I listen to RFI mostly, but there’s a huge list of other French Internet radio stations here: > **[French Internet Radio - Listen to French online radio news and music and...](http://www.multilingualbooks.com/online-radio-french.html)** > > French Internet Radio - Listen to French online radio news and music and practice your French! To find French clubs in your area, check with the Alliance Française… [http://www.alliance-us.org//en/Directory.aspx](http://www.alliance-us.org//en/Directory.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/15 "2009-01-20T15:22:16Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > [FreeRice](http://www.freerice.com/index.php) has French vocab practice- just click on the subjects link- which probably won’t be super helpful if you can read French newspapers already, but, on the other hand, is free. And it gets rice to people who need it! So it might be a nice time-waster that isn’t quite a waste of time. This is such a NEAT site - and they have more than just French language. You’re correct, the vocabulary is a little basic for my reading level, but I did learn a couple new words while playing. A great way to work on language skills while helping others. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/16 "2009-01-20T15:35:47Z")
It’s not $0, but I found [My French Coach](http://ds.ign.com/articles/836/836882p1.html) for DS in the discount bin for ~$10 last year. Other than sometimes getting annoyed at the flash cards for showing me a verb/noun word but not saying which way they wanted me to translate it, it wasn’t bad. If you _have_ a DS and want a portable way to be able to spend the occasional spare 5 minutes on french, it’s not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/17 "2009-01-20T16:11:42Z")
One of my friends uses [LiveMocha](http://www.livemocha.com) and likes it a lot. He’s using it for Indonesian, but they do French and most of the other likely suspect languages as well. (As of this posting the site seems to be down, but as far as I know it’s still valid. Maybe just technical problems this morning) ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/18 "2009-01-20T17:17:38Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > This is such a NEAT site - and they have more than just French language. You’re correct, the vocabulary is a little basic for my reading level, but I did learn a couple new words while playing. A great way to work on language skills while helping others. I’m really glad you like it! I took a crappy year of French in high school (example: we spent a month on Je suis and its plural/second-person/third-person conjugations, but never past or future tense) so it’s more useful for me, but the whole site is so fun and makes me feel like a good person even for procrastinating. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/19 "2009-01-20T19:16:52Z")
There are a number of French podcasts out there. I’m in Mandarin-maintaining and Spanish-learning mode now, so I haven’t really explored too many, but [Learn French By Podcast](http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/intermediate.php) seems decent. The mp3s are free, but the written lesson guides cost money. Thanks Leiko, Freerice is really addictive; I’ve gotten a first taste of a ton of Spanish words through it, and I’ve donated a couple thousand grains of rice, woot! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AliceP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@AliceP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AliceP)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-improve-my-french-on-a-budget/482062/20 "2017-05-29T18:52:51Z")
> [@Figaro](#): > > One of my friends uses [LiveMocha](http://www.livemocha.com) and likes it a lot. He’s using it for Indonesian, but they do French and most of the other likely suspect languages as well. > > (As of this posting the site seems to be down, but as far as I know it’s still valid. Maybe just technical problems this morning) livemocha is not available anymore, try [https://www.lingq.com/](https://www.lingq.com/)