Why You Can’t Understand French Movies & What to Do About It 😭🇫🇷

Bonjour !!

A common complaint I hear from French learners is how difficult it is to understand French movies and TV shows, even after years of studying the language.

One reason why is really quite simple: they rework the audio. 

It gives the audio this dramatic effect which sounds great for a movie, but it makes it way more difficult to understand for someone learning French.

Even in English (my native language), if a character in a film whispers or mumbles a bit too much, I might have a little trouble understanding them (Batman is a perfect example! His voice is very unique ).

So instead of making things more difficult than they need to be, you should try watching YouTube videos based on your interests!

Some examples of videos that would be easier to understand:

  • Vlogs - travel, cooking, etc

  • Sports - football, hockey, etc

  • How to videos - DIY, crafts, etc

  • Interviews w/ celebrities, musicians, etc

You might still find these videos difficult to understand, so here are some more tips:

  • Watch with subtitles

  • Be ok with not understanding everything!

  • Listen for keywords and try to understand the general sense of what’s going on

  • Watch shorter videos, maybe 3-5 min in length so you’re not overwhelmed

  • Practice consistently !! This is something you need to do everyday to get good at

We recently updated our free French e-Course and there’s a video where I discuss this topic in more depth.

Another thing that would really help you understand spoken French is studying French phonetics, which is the science of French pronunciation.

I go over it in great detail in our French pronunciation e-Courseand we just opened enrollment this week.

“Seriously the best pronunciation class I've found after 2 years of searching and trying other things.” -Ciara

We’re offering 20% off for Black Friday !!

Just use discount code: FRENCH2022

The e-Course consists of 17+ videos & 4 PDFs where I explain the intricacies of French pronunciation in an easy to understand way. 

Even if you don’t have a lot of time to study, you can still have a great accent if you just keep a few things in mind and I can’t wait to share them with you in this e-Course.

And the best part is this e-Course comes with a 1 hour one-on-one session with me (Charlie). I will personally make sure you have a beautiful French accent within 30 days or your money back.

We currently have 11 spots left and enrollment closes on Saturday, November 26th at midnight Paris time!

You literally have nothing to lose, other than your current, less than ideal French accent

À bientôt !

-Charlie

Charles Whitesides