Bonjour! Just started learning French a week ago and I really want to find shows that are actually popular in France. Any genres will do (my teacher recommended Emily in Paris but come on really?)
I learned English by watching shows like The Office and The X-Files, and I want to apply the same method to French.
P/s: Thank you all sm for the recommendations. Now I have French shows for life :)
Lol Emily in Paris is such a stupid reco.. I mean 90% is in english and the few french bits are clearly written in english and then translated.. It's like watching rush hour to learn chinese.
You might want to check "dix pour cent". It is about a management agency for actors. It has real actors playing themselves. It will also teach you a lot about current french pop culture.
AKA “call my Agent” for those based in english speaking countries (in case they get lost!)
I didn't know that. Useful indeed.
i second dix pour cent, i was going to rec that, fantastic show
I think he meant its jokingly, he hasn’t lived in France for years so he said he doesn’t really know what actually popular there anymore. I def going check out “dix pour cent”. Thank you sm
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I don't disagree with that.. but if you specifically aim to learn french by watching it.. That's just stupid.
you can change the dub??????? how is that stupid
Dix pour cent is very good
Le Bureau des Légendes 🔥
This is an absolutely amazing show, but the French is gonna be tough for someone who is just starting out learning the language... But don't let that put you off. It's the show your telly was made for.
One of the best shows I’ve ever seen! I watch it with subtitles as it’s much too difficult to understand. But as a TV show it is absolutely fantastic.
I watched this series as a beginner with English subtitles then after some years without subtitles. Basically used it to test my level. I really enriched my vocabulary with it and not to forget that you get to enjoy it as well. A 10/10 show.
second this. one of the best shows i've ever seen.
The best of the best!
Where can I watch this show ? Or any French shows ? That’s not on Netflix ? Please
https://www.tv5unis.ca/videos/le-bureau-des-legendes/saisons/1/episodes/1
You can try this one. I'm in France so I don't know if it's going to work in another country but let's hope so!
I shall try . Thanks . I’m also in the process of learning French
I streamed it on Hoopla (free from my library), but it looks like it's no longer in the catalog. It was also available on DVD from my library.
Now, it looks like you'd have to use Paramount+ if you're in the US" https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-bureau-2015
Lupin. Dix Pour Cent, Astrid et Raphaëlle
i enjoy lupin season 1 because omar sy is so good in the role. season 2 was really dumb
Lupin is so bad though.
J’accuse !
Chuckled every time at that line.
Here is an upvote because the show is sadly really bad. The writing, the mystery boxes, the "cleverness" ex-machina.
They can change the period, Lupin's race, the story. But at least Lupin should be smart and the solutions he finds to his problems should be smart and convincing on screen and not magical because he's a genius but nothing is demonstrated.
And Astrid et Raphaelle is not bad, but it is hard to understand for a beginner. Astrid speaks way too fast.
I enjoy the episode where Raphaëlle’s son asked Astrid why she always speaks formally and Astrid says “So I don’t make a mistake.” The insightful moment to her growth that gets lost in the English subtitles is later when they are talking about evolution and he uses the verlan “C’est ouf!” Astrid smiles a little and agrees by saying “C’est ouf.” You get the sense she’s never said that before and enjoying the moment. (Season 1 Episode 3 Chaînon Manquant)
see I actually really enjoy Lupin but I'm in season 1, episodes 1-4 and just keep rewatching again and again and again to improve listening, vocab, etc. I'll just lower expectations so not to be disappointed
Lupin has terrible writing, both in dialogues and non credible non passable stories
Astrid is AMAZING
I'm about a year in and I absolutely enjoy all of these but they will kick your ass - the argot and the speed can be so so fast. If you don't already I would highly suggest using subtitles and having the choice to slow the speed way down (which has the side benefit of being able to catch the (sometimes many) words that are not included in the subtitles).
HOW do you slow the speed down on the major TV streaming platforms (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, Apple, HBO, et al)?
Is slowing the speed only possible if you're watching online in a browser?
I know I can do so on the TV with a Lingopie subscription, but it doesn't have much content.
Thank you for any help.
You can slow down every show on Netflix. You just have to click on "speed" when you're watching a show. You can either slow it down or fasten it. No idea for the others, I don't have them sorry
YouTube also works for that though. Caïn is a French series available on YouTube, with English subtitles if you want.
i was trying to say lingopie without saying it. I have not had issues with their de-partnering or whatever they call it so I just assumed that had been fixed. Were that to become an issue there is then no real reason to keep lingo because their content is not that interesting.
Lupin lost me from la 2ème partie…
Not a series actually, but when I started learning French I found some videos on YouTube by a guy named David Castello-Lopes and I found him quite easy to follow without it being content made for students. And besides that, he's quite funny and the subjects were interesting. I still watch his stuff.
There is another channel called "Tu mourras moins bête" with cartoons explaining different stuff. It's funny too.
There are several others, about different topics. Tell me if you want to know more.
David Castello-Lopes is great, thanks for this.
I am watching a video about the Suisse accent, and he explains that the Suisse speak more slowly than the French, which makes him very easy to understand.
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Hey! Here's a comment I left on the other sub, it's more broad than just movies/series but I thought the rest could help other people.
Twitch: Watching streamers might be a good way to have a better understanding of French + practicing your listening skills (Squeezie, Étoiles, Locklear, Gotaga, Wankil Studio, Kameto) There are way more than that but that should be a good start
Movies: I'm not a huge fan of movies to begin with so I hope someone else will chime in. Intouchable / Qu'est ce qu'on a fait au bon Dieu ? (Not my cup of tea but they were good commercial success anyway) / Bienvenue chez les ch'tis (I personally hate it but it can give you an idea of regional french cliché. But please don't think everything is relevant). I think I gave the worst of what we do so sorry about that (really hoping someone else will give the best of what we do ahah). (on Netflix right, you have French lover. Feel free to pick a French actor you like, and search them on Netflix/prime/etc; it will show you every work available on the platform this actor has been in)
Series: I might have an unpopular opinion here but I think we do the detective series the best. L'Art du Crime (on France TV - that's a free application); Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie; Capitaine Marleau; The Forest (Netflix); Anthracite (Netflix); Astrid et Raphaëlle; Caïn (splendid serie, I think the first season is on YouTube, translated in English btw); Mental (on France TV too); Le Parlement (France TV, that's a European series if I'm not mistaken)
"Mini" series: Fiasco; La Flamme; Bloqués (on YouTube); Bref (on YouTube too)
Books: I tend to read American books translated in French so I won't be a huge help except for classic books we have to read in school. In this optic, I'd say Zola (I found Thérèse Raquin kinda easy to read, and maybe less depressing than his usual books but very personal take). The "Chair de Poule" séries of books: that's mostly for children but good start. And honestly, BD (bandes dessinées) in general. I recently read "Les petits mythos", I think a B2 learner should be fine (it's about Greek mythology, when heroes/gods were still children. Don't expect accuracy, it's more funny stories with a reference to the myths)
Podcast: you'll find the best ones on France culture (there's a website or the application).
Journal: Le Monde (that's the journal supposed to be the most neutral one); Le Figaro (right leaning for sure); Libération (left leaning); Mediapart (investigation journalism and left leaning); Charlie Hebdo (left, humoristic, with drawings)
I tried to give you a good overall with different categories but feel free to ask if you want advice for specific ones
Impeccable !
Thanks for this!
this is incredibly helpful, thank you sm 🫶🏻
Thanks for this!!
Médiapart is wonderful
Kaamelott.
This show is highly popular across generations in France and neighbouring French-speaking countries.
All episodes are available for free on YouTube (outside of France and Belgium) with English subtitles.
I wanted to say Kaamelott as well so I’m with you on this
Its good but you really have to know the language to get it
Also many expressions are very region-specific to Lyon, and using them in daily speech usually clocks you as a Kaamelott fan!
Yeah it’s a lot inspired by Audiard with specific expressions
Don't try to learn french watching Kaamelott. Kaamelott is only enjoyable once you're fluent
Not French myself but loved HIP, having lived in Lille and Cat’s Eyes, the crimson rivers.
SKAM is a good teen show, a somewhat subdued french Euphoria.
oh yeah, ska France would be good for more like teen language, a bit of verlan
I second this!! Most of the informal French I knew before my university studies came from Skam France and it really helped me since I don't think I would've been able to understand native French speakers otherwise!
I really liked the gay couple line from skam…I even found their sanctuary in 16e arrondissement.
France Channel is a pay television channel designed to help English learn French; everything is in French with English subtitles https://www.francechannel.tv/
Arte TV is also available on Internet in 6 or 7 languages for free. No subtitles but you can watch the same program in each language. https://www.arte.tv/sites/corporate/
+1 for ARTE. Currently watching Bouchon which is excellent. There are subtitles, they are just in French. For learning purposes I think it's much better to set the subtitles to French anyway, if they are in English you probably won't learn much.
If I was watching to learn, I think I would download the subtitle file and make sure I was across all the vocabulary before I watched each episode.
Un Village Français is incredible, highly recommended
Seconded-- This show is as good as any HBO prestige tv show.
Plan Cœur sur Netflix!
Dix pour Cent (AKA Call my Agent). It’s amazing - funny, caustic, and sweet. And loads of fun cameos from famous French actors who are playing dickish versions of themselves. Highly recommended.
Au service de la France (a very secret service in English)
I was thinking about rewatching this one- very funny.
Tamponne, Tamponne, Double Tamponne...
Engrenages
I'm really surprised Capitaine Berthaud is not top of the list.🔥🔥🔥
Tv5monde has a learning section that is free and has leveled content.
Marseille is also good if you like political drama
EDIT: Into the night, if you like apocalyptic story line. I liked the season 1. Second season was not much fun.
Marseille is a cheesy show but fun. You can pick up a lot of political jargon and handy curse words if you watch with the French subtitles on. The actors are constantly glowering and giving each other smoldering looks which gives you time to figure out what they’ve just said.
It was helpful for me to look up what a Marseilles accent is all about. Some of the actors really go thick with that accent and it’s quite different from the standard northern French you encounter in academic settings.
I thought Drôle on Netflix was great for that purpose. It improved my listening comprehension quite a bit. Anyone got any entertaining French YouTube recommendations?
If you like internet stuff (not only though, he does what he wants subject wise), there's Feldup
TheGreatReview is quite a good at storytelling, if you care about video games or internet culture.
Not French but I speak it. In addition to the already mentioned ones, I like some of the cop/legal shows - Chérif, Engrenages, etc. I watch this stuff on Hoopla.
I understand about 80% at my level. Nothing is funnier to me than watching Love Is Blind France. I have a French tutor and he thinks it’s hilarious but at least I’m studying.
Kaamelot. Its hilarious. its on youtube
In my experience, if you enjoy reality shows those are a great way to learn french the way it's actually spoken, and if you know the format of the show it makes it much easier to follow in french. Theres a lot of good shows like the circle, destination x, the traitors and so on.
Recommending Emily in Paris should be illegal, it is boringly offensive and offensively boring.
I’m not French but I do speak French and Lupin is a fantastic show! I also used to watch a lot of ER when I lived in France. It was dubbed. My professor thought all the medical terms would be hard to follow but the English is similar for those things; probably Latin based terms anyway. Shows/films you already know in one language can be good vocabulary builders, too, since you know what’s going on.
Au service de la France is my favorite!
Tamponée, double tamponée!
Belgian but: Kamelott
I must admit that I watch very little French media and series. Yet, Canal+ is still producing a lot of really nice content be it mainly movies and series in French. I think "Bref" was made by them.
I really enjoyed "La Meilleure version de moi-même" with Blanche Gardin. She's a French stand-up comedian and after receiving an awward she said her brand of humor was inspired by Louis C.K. and now they are together. The serie is the French "Fleabag". It's not an adaptation at all but rather the actress plays herself as she tries to be a better person. It's very cynical about herself and society.
My mother is watching HPI on the television. It's been adapted into English with new actors. But why not watch the French version instead to learn French.
If you're into police shows then you can find a lot of Maigret series made in France in French. After all Maigret is French and the author Simenon was Belgian.
my husband (france-french) watches a TON of television, but the only french shows he watches are reality shows. literally, it feels like, every french reality show in existence (i cant stand them so he uses headphones). otherwise, he's watching basically any show he can find, dubbed in french. im always searching out french media as part of my learning, and ive been the one to get him to discover certain french shows, lol...
If you're in France you should get Canalplus if only for a few months to try.
Obviously I hate that evil capitalist company. But for a person willing to watch French movies and series it's really great.
They are something like the HBO or Warner Bross of French movie and series production.
And also they gatekeep them in their own tv channels sometimes forever. But now they also do (badly) streaming too.
There are so many reasons to hate them but they also produce some of the best French media.
I'd say that if you're not in France and can't get access to it legally then maybe using an IPTV subscription would be morally acceptable (sic).
But it's one of the place where you'll find the most original French series and movies.
Regular French TV channels have less quality overall. But it depends. TF1 has a free streaming website in France. Arte also produces some series and sometimes air some movies. Sometime in French. And obviously you can stream Arte.
OP asked what people watch in France. Every French person would tell him they watch Arte. They might be lying but Arte is actually amazing.
As to your husband, I also hate reality tv shows, but for a foreign French learner it's probably a very good way to learn "natural" French. Sometimes they can't even speak their own language properly too. But that's natives speaking intuitively as best a they can while being limited by drugs, alcohol and low IQ. But it still can inform you on the instinctive part of the language. I am sure it can be helpful for real spoken French.
Foreign movies dubbed in French are supposedly the best dubbing in the world. But it's adapted in a version of French that nobody (should) really use outside of stupid American action movies. They all sound a bit stupid to me. It's not the most natural way to speak French.
But obviously there are few good options.
thanks for the recs. yes, we are in france. there is one reality show i do like (l'amour est dans le pré) and others i can tolerate (any about cooking ; 4 mariages pour une lune de miel for the pure ridiculousness). i agree that it's not bad at all for the purpose of studying the language. and yes, even for the fun of natives messing up the language... the instance that sticks out to me was when a french man pronounced the "f" in oeufs and everyone made fun of him. that being from the farmer show, no less!
I think that in that case it could be a case of overcorrection.
It could be a not super well read guy who says oeufs properly in real life but with the pressure of television wanted to speak perfectly and overcorrected to prounounce the 'f'.
But even people who speak very well are also irrationally pronouncing deaf letters or making creative liasons because they sound like a turn of phrase or an exception and they generalize it also by fear of making a mistake.
It happens all the time. Also to a lot of young guys that don't speak that well but try to raise their register when trying to speak to a girl to appear better educated and more refined.
Whover is overcorrecting it's always very funny.
Can I ask where you watched “La meilleure version de moi-même”? I searched and it on Canal+ and Prime Video but sadly both platforms are not available in my country.
Not French, but Carême was decent.
It’s not exactly current, but I show my students Fais pas çi, fais pas ça.
Engrenages or Spiral (in English) is excellent but check out the international category at Netflix. There are a bunch of crime shows in French that are pretty good. Like others have recommended Dix Pour Cent is terrific too. I’m thinking of joining MHz because they have a lot of international shows.
Family Business and Plan Coeur
Au service de la France
The Weekend Family on Disney+. Eric Judor is pretty funny in whatever he does. Stephan Bern is very popular in France and has a series thats available on YouTube called Secrets d’histoire. Osmosis is pretty good and the french is very basic
Les revenants
Lupin
Do you watch with your native subtitles? Or subtitles in target language?
I watch with Eng sub for now. I tried to watch Ratatouille with French sub but for my level now (A1) is still too hard.
Do you still feel like you are learning though vs just reading English and ignoring French?
I learned with H 🫣
I am going to check out Le Bureau des Legends! Sounds great!! One thing I do when using this method (some might find it tedious, but it works so well for me,) is that I watch one episode several times in a row before watching the second. I did this for Call My Agent and it helped my vocabulary tremendously. I follow along using french subtitles and write down words and phrases that I dont understand. This takes me a couple times through, and I do have to pause to write. By the third or fourth time, I understand everything very well.
I tried to do this when studying English but I just get too caught up in the plot I have to watch it all at once lol. I do re-watch some episodes I like to note new words and phrases tho
Koh Lanta
American here - Lupin is excellent!!!
Did anyone mention HPI? Haut potentiel intellectuel? Love this show, smart puzzly plots and great humor. Morgane is a lot but it’s great for idioms and such.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPI_(TV_series)
Most French people I know only watch US series. I am not French but I have really enjoyed these series: Dix pourcent, Paris Police 1900, Paris Police 1905, La Révolution, Désordres, Family Business, Septième Ciel, Plan Cœur and L'Opera.
My mother in law is addicted to Un Si Grand Soleil. It is a soap opera that started in 2018. She is always home at 8pm to watch it. It is very cringy.
My two older kids like watching Fort Boyard.
My 2 year old loves Pompon Ours.
My wife and I hate tv. She especially hates French tv because it's mostly shit.
They seem really into boring panel shows about current affairs.
There was one show we liked that was about couples trying to guess what our how to use an object they've never seen before. I'm not sure what it was called though.
10 pourcent
Brut on YouTube for whatever you’re interested in.
Children’s shows are good when you’re still learning. All of Code Lyoko is available on YouTube for free, in English and French. Some of my friends like Miraculous Ladybug.
I recommend Trotro kids cartoon with French subtitles. Intro language and grammar and they teach vocabulary and social niceties. When you don’t understand, pause and point Google translate camera at the subtitle for the English translation. And the cartoon is simply charming. Available on YT
Isn’t there a French dub for Emily in Paris? I mean it could work esp if you already watched the show and would have context what the scenes were about.
Yes there is but when I watch movies or shows to learn languages I pay attention to people’s mouth movements when they speak so I can "mimic" them. It may sound silly but it worked when I first learning English.
Baron noir, D'argent et de sang, La Fièvre
Bookmarking this for later.
j'adore 'plan cœur' sur netflix :") à mon avis, c'était très amusant, drôle, et interessant!
Miraculous.
Ernest et Celestine.
Bref.
Palmashow
Kamelott
Bloqués
Fais pas ci, fais pas ça, is worth a watch. think of it as french modern family.
The native French person I know watched Lupin, the Parisian Agency, and Emily in Paris (although he claims he hated that one). These all came up in discussions about shows I could watch with spoken French in them.
I love watching Parisian agency for the French. The level of wealth on display can be a bit much at times but there’s a lot of conversation repetition.
And we all love Majo!
Sorta hard to get if you don’t have cable, but one of the fun things language-wise is to watch daytime quiz shows. They say the same stuff over and over and there’s a lot of small talk… in day-to-day speech by normal people.
Examples: Tout le monde veut prendre sa place, Questions pour un champion, Chacun son tour
Am I the only one who still enjoys watching Les Inconnus?
H is also a nice old and classic sitcom, and it's on netflix
One of my favorite French shows is Fiasco on Netflix, it’ll probably be pretty hard for someone just starting out, but then again so will every real French show.
(Some) Canadian TV works from the US. This one, for example: https://www.tv5unis.ca/videos/serge-a-paris/saisons/1/episodes/1
I am not French so feel free to ignore this comment but I had to add that Fiasco on Netflix is absolutely hilarious. Like the first show to make me laugh out loud in so long. I don't know about it's popularity with the French, but I can tell you it stars an actor who was in Call My Agent (Dix pour cent) (another EXCELLENT show), which I know was very popular in France.
It is hilarious, I just watched the first episode today. Thank you!!
I would recommend watching with French audio and subtitles. I watched a few series while studying. Marseille, Unite 42, Zone Blanche, La Forêt, and The Break were all entertaining. I would just go to Netflix and search "French" to find new stuff until I got recommendations.
90% of French TV is talk shows, news shows, game shows, and documentaries about gendarmes.
Qui a poussé mélodie
And the movie bon cop bad cop lol
honey tell your teacher that that show is an american mockery of parisian snobbery and american airheadedness je dis ça je dis rien
I think he was being sarcastic :)
Bonjour!!! I'm a French Huguenot but I don't speak French *so sad* I only know a tad but I absolutely LOVE French cinema. The majority of films I watch is J-horror and French. The subtitles are not always 100% accurate but it is fun to watch and learn alongside. I need to learn... Problem is to find one that actually does correct subtitles if you're looking into shows. I just watch movies and read the English subs while listening to the French. Not sure if you're interested in French cinema with Eng subs. One of my favs is Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain).
Not a series but def watch La Haïne
The french are generally terrible at making TV. If you want a good time watching some trashy french people, check Love is Blind
I like Baraki. It's kind of like the show Shameless
The French mainly watch American series. The "popular" French series that air on TV are "Josephine ange gardien", "Camping paradis", "Plus belle la vie", "Ici tout commence", etc., but they're frankly rubbish.
The series "Call My Agent!" on the other hand is very good with lots of French star actors
Il n'y a pas que Tf1 dans la vie 😅 Il y a aussi des séries populaires et qualitatives. Le village français, Dix pour cent, Braquo, Les revenants, Le Bureau des légendes, Fais pas ci fais pas ça, Baron Noir, Lupin, Les gouttes de Dieu...
That's true, but everything is bad.
Série Noire is pretty good too if you are not worried about Québec accent. It is a netf’ix show