Why YouTube is a Useful French-Learning Resource
According to my iPhone Screen Time statistics, one of my most used applications on my phone is YouTube. This isn’t surprising at all as it is one of my favorite apps, but it does tell me something important: YouTube videos easily capture and hold my attention. It makes perfect sense – YouTube is entertaining, inspirational, informative, and educational. For these same reasons, YouTube is an extremely useful French-learning resource.
This article falls into a series of posts about different resources that you can use during your own French journey to help you reach your language-learning goals. Keep reading to find out about using YouTube as a French resource.
1. Content
YouTube has so much content! Obviously, not all of the content on YouTube useful for learning French. However, the French content is varied and extensive. You can find anglophones teaching French grammar, francophones teaching French vocabulary, mini-documentaries about francophone countries, or even just French YouTubers chronicling their lives. Any and alll of these videos will help you along on your language journey.
2. Community
Another great thing about YouTube is the community. Generally, people like to fit in and be a part of something, and YouTube plays to that instinct well. On YouTube, you can interact with your favorite creators and the other community members that have similar interests or the same target language. This creates a supportive and motivating environment to push you to continue learning your target language.
3. Niche Topics
Remember that there are plenty of channels on the platform specifically geared towards language learning, but if you are further along in your language journey, or need a breather from grammar explanations, there is plenty of French-language content focusing on other interesting topics like sports, beauty, music, and more. Watch what you’re interested in and make it even more stimulating by watching in a different language!
4. Accessible
In my opinion, accessibility is an important aspect of any given language learning tool. If you’re reading this article, you likely have access to YouTube! YouTube offers its services through its website as well as through its iPhone or Android application. This allows anyone with internet access to use the platform to watch videos or even upload their own! Another facet of YouTube’s accessibility is its price – it’s completely free!
5. Functionality
YouTube is a great place to learn languages because of its functionality and features. First of all, the platform allows creators to add subtitles/closed captions to their videos. Creators can even open up that ability to the community! Thanks to this, there are often subtitles in several languages on popular uploads that can help you to better understand videos in your target language, or even in your native one. Another great feature of YouTube is the ability to alter playback speeds. For example, when I am listening to French music on the platform, I sometimes have trouble deciphering a word or a phrase. In cases like this, I rewind the video and play it back at half or even quarter speed to help myself understand.
I wholeheartedly recommend taking advantage of YouTube to further your language skills as it’s a wonderful website that anyone can use and enjoy. If you are a fan of YouTube, let us know in the comments what channels help you boost your language skills! Thanks for reading and see you all next week!
Check out our video about our favorite French-language YouTube channels!
Check out the other posts in this series!
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