Down The Rabbit Hole: How To Learn French With Youtube
Last summer, I decided that I needed a challenge, and learning French for 3 hours a day for fifty straight days seemed like a great idea. And so I did it. Apart from reading and studying grammar for two hours, I spent at least one hour a day on YouTube watching French videos.
The results?
After these 50 days, I was able to fully understand spoken French, listen to French audiobooks as if they were in English, and ultimately study in this language.
In this post, I will share what I did to effectively learn French with YouTube.
My approach to learning French on YouTube
For human beings, watching YouTube appears to be a very natural activity, on par with breathing, eating, and sleeping. Needless to say, that daily hour of French on YouTube quickly became the most exciting part of my learning experiment.
The watching sessions were relatively effortless on my part. All I needed to do was maintain a rather high level of mental focus and make a real effort to understand the speech.
Although some recommend approaching YouTube with a pen and paper to take notes of every new expression encountered, I ignored this advice altogether. I assumed that if an expression or word is frequent enough, my brain would learn it incidentally by the 50th day. And if not, then I probably don't need it anyway.
I also did not replay the same video even once. Nevertheless, it is an insanely useful strategy for beginners. (I'm using it now to learn Spanish).
So, during my French YouTube hours, all I did was exercise narrow listening. But before I could relax and allow my brain to naturally tune into the language, I had to set up the system.
And it didn't go as smoothly as I expected.
Down the rabbit hole
YouTube is a wonderful tool for language learners for various reasons. It has terabytes of French videos, provides speech samples from a variety of dialects, and is free. But... suggesting that a beginner learn French with YouTube is like giving matches to a toddler. You know why?
In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.
My favorite quote from Far Cry 3 Alice’s adventures in Wonderland
This is exactly what was going on during my first "field trips" to YouTube for learning French. I could be watching a video about the imparfait and passé composé, and my eyeballs would hungrily explore the content of the "Watch Later" sidebar:
"4 astuces pour améliorer ton français écrit..."
"Why we struggle learning languages..."
"Adorable elephant attempts to play with a cat..."
Wait, what? An elephant?! Playing with a cat?!
Needless to say, the next minute I found myself watching another baby elephant compilation. Ugh.
How to Learn French on YouTube: Removing Distractions
After making a similar mistake several times and wasting my precious language learning hour on mindless surfing in the YouTube dumpster, I established a rule.
Searching for videos to watch and actually watching them must be two separate activities.
Since then, I only go video hunting once a week and with a very specific goal in mind. That goal is to find a new French channel or add new potentially interesting French videos to my "Watch Later" playlist. I prefer to keep my Watch Later list with at least 20 videos, which is typically enough for a week.
Secondly, I maintain a separate "Watch Later" list specifically for learning French on YouTube. Theoretically, it's just another playlist that I happen to name "à regarder en français." The reason for keeping my French learning videos isolated is obvious. (Just take a minute to look at what's inside your general Watch Later playlist).
Thirdly, I always create quick access to my learning materials. In the case of YouTube, I created a bookmark for "à regarder en français" and saved it on the bookmark panel. The fewer clicks I have to make, the less temptation I have to abandon the task halfway. Moreover, this way, I avoid getting caught by another TED talk about someone's reasons to travel to 196 countries showing up on my YouTube homepage.
Sometimes, it is useful to create a completely separate YouTube account for learning languages. YouTube bases all its recommendations on what you have already watched. So, if you regularly watch videos in French, more French videos will appear as recommendations. Such a system will greatly facilitate your choice of what to watch next.
How to Find YouTube Channels for Learning French
I follow a very minimalist approach to everything, including language learning. Instead of choosing a hundred and one YouTube channels for learning French, I have literally come up with four. I started with one at the very beginning and added three more as I gained enough confidence with the spoken language.
However, in order to pick those 2-3 bloggers whom I would watch for the next 2-3 months, I often have to weed through a couple of dozen channels. So, I make my choice according to three criteria:
#1: Language
It should be obvious enough, but if your goal is to learn French with YouTube, then the videos you watch should be in French, not in English. I automatically reject bloggers who try to explain points of French grammar, phonology, or semantics in English. The very first sign of such channels is video titles written in English.
That's why I didn't go with channels like "Learn French with Alexa" or "Learn French with Vincent."
#2: Interest
The human brain has a natural tendency to focus on things that matter to us. Likewise, it loses interest within the first ten minutes if exposed to boring content. And as far as my own brain is concerned, a language I don't understand is categorized as "boring stuff" by default.
That's why I always look for bloggers who make videos on topics that interest me. The desire to learn something new about my hobbies motivates me to try to make sense of the mysterious sequence of French sounds for a longer period.
#3: Intelligibility
People speak differently. Speed, enunciation, vocabulary, even dialects – all of these factors matter when I'm choosing YouTube channels for learning French. If I don't understand at least 1/5 of what is being said, it's of little use.
Nevertheless, I often save interesting but temporarily inaccessible channels and return to them later.
Finally, my strategy for finding French YouTube channels, in the first place, is simple comme bonjour. I simply make a list of French keywords associated with topics of my interest (routine matinale, confiance en soi, natation, etc.) and hit the search.
YouTube Channel I Used to Learn French
As I mentioned, I started learning French with just one YouTube channel in mind: Français Authentique. In my opinion, nothing is better suited for the needs of beginner to intermediate French learners.
The entire channel is in French. Nevertheless, Johan speaks very slowly, clearly, and, so to say, calmly; my brain always had plenty of time to catch up with the meaning.
Another reason his French is so easy to understand is his choice of vocabulary: he uses very simple words. So for me, watching Français Authentique was like reading an adapted novel.
I could have watched Français Authentique for years and never run out of content. But as my level of listening comprehension improved (which happened within a month), I started exploring other French channels.
Watching French YouTube
Transitioning from Français Authentique to other French YouTubers (who didn't adapt their videos for language learners) wasn't very smooth for me. In fact, I found myself in a very awkward position. I was already annoyed by Johan speaking too slowly and still frustrated by, for example, David Laroche speaking too fast.
What saved me was an amazing YouTube setting called video speed. So I did two things:
#1: I accelerated the speed of Johan's videos (1.25x was fairly comfortable). #2: I slowed down the speed of my other three YouTube channels to 0.75x.
I spent two more weeks watching French YouTube in slow motion, but it helped me quickly pick up new vocabulary from my three YouTube "teachers." Who were they?
Olivier Roland – A French entrepreneur with almost a thousand videos about business, self-development, and learning.
David Laroche – A very eloquent guy with a deep voice who makes inspirational videos on self-confidence, motivation, and success.
Théophile Eliet – Another French vlogger who covers topics of financial independence, investment, and marketing.
As you can see, these channels have nothing to do with learning French per se. What was important to me was the opportunity to explore interesting topics in my target language. I was able to put my embryonic French skills to use.
Learn French with Youtube
I can summarize my strategy this way:
Find 2-3 authentic French channels that align with your interests and proficiency level.
Create a special French "à regarder plus tard" list and pin it to the bookmark panel.
Spend at least one hour a day watching the videos you have chosen, focusing as much as you can.
By doing this, bit by bit, you will expand your vocabulary, naturally improve your listening skills, and build up your confidence with spoken French.
