French

French =**FRENCH LINKS** =

Michele Sherer

There are so many wonderful sites that can help anyone refine his or her skill level in French.
===I try to recommend sites that have a blend of media features including //audio and video//. I also look for translations, so students aren't left guessing what something means. ===

===I don't think sites that are text-only are useful as learning tools except for the most ambitious and self-motivated. These, in any case, are being left behind as more media-rich sites appear. ===

===I think it is important to mention that most of the sites I recommend are not created by French teachers or by students. All the audio and video is NATIVE speech. Only the sites from the University of Texas at Austin are teacher-created here in the States; but they are outstanding and known throughout the French-teacher world! ===

Below, find a few of my favorites:
=[|TV5 MONDE] = ===Tv5 is the only truly French TV station available in the USA. Its website is particularly rich and has an untold number of resources on almost any topic, including many designed just for teachers and students. ===

=[|Yabla French] = ===Yabla is a site that makes its demos available for free. It is fun, because the topics are popular and interesting, but also because the video tool, which has a mirror translation device, can be manipulated by the user to regulate speed, and there are built-in activities that encourage both listening and vocabulary retention. ===

 Yabla is also available in Spanish.
= [|Il etait une histoire] = ===Il etait une histoire is a jewel that I discovered while searching for a site for native-speaking children, to supplement my daughter's experience with reading in French. It is 100% free, and is a site devoted to reading...but as such, it is much more than that; it's rich with color, pictures, and audio; has an interface that is appealing to youngsters; and make available for free worksheets which are unusually professional that do not simply repeat the web site content and are graded by level according to the French school system. There are karaoke features so readers can follow along as they read, follow-up quizzes with audio/visual features, highlighting of text with synonyms/meanings, enrichment of many kinds, explanations, sound effects, games, etc, and the best thing of all, is that all the literature, whether a story, song, or poem, is made available to download in MP3 audio format for free. It is for native speakers, so the accents are perfect. ===

=**[|BBC French] **= ===The BBC has made it a mission to promote language learning. The French site and its lessons are only one small part of the entire language section the BBC offers. It has all the features I look for: video with mirrored, bilingual translations that occur in real time; downloads, printables, and a variety of programs the can meet just about anyone's needs and goals. It too is amazingly rich in information and interactivity. ===

=[|Tex's French Grammar] =

=[|Le Francais Interactif] =