Coming up with French listening activities for novice French students can be such a struggle. Most “authentic” listening resources are far too difficult for our beginner French students. Today I am sharing some of my favourite French listening activities for novice French students.

If you are looking for French listening activities for intermediate French students, please read my blog post on my top French Duolingo podcast episode picks. I even have free printables to go along with my favourite 5 episodes.

You! You are one of the BEST French listening activities for your students!

I think that Core French teachers often forget that they are the most powerful listening activity resource. You can turn any photo, video, quote, or resource into a French listening activity for your students.

Let’s say that my lesson today is all about breakfast. My main tool is going to be a photo of a typical Punjabi breakfast. I am going to use this photo to talk about :

a) what I had for breakfast

b) to begin to discuss what francophones around the world may have for breakfast

c) survey my students on what they had for breakfast.

When I am planning this activity, I like to write down what kinds of questions I want to ask my Core French students in order to guide the discussion around my lesson goals. I also brainstormed some French vocabulary I will need to teach as it becomes relevant during our lesson.

These kinds of French listening activities have been the most successful for me. They are very simple, yet engaging.

Map talks for novice French students

Map talks are one of my favourite French listening activities in the Core French classroom.

Please note that I learned ALL about this strategy via the incredible Benjamin Tinsley of Afro Franco. I recommend that you stop what you’re doing and check out how Ben does map talks with his own students.

Because I teach a semester without prep time and I am always pressed for time, I have purchased quite a few of Ben’s map talk scripts and they have been an invaluable resource.

For my novice French class, I actually love doing a map talk of our own neighbourhood. It’s a great way to introduce everyday vocabulary to students.

YouTube videos with no speaking

One of my favourite French listening activities for novice French students is YouTube videos with no speaking.

Here’s an example!

I like to pause the video everytime the next changes and read the text out loud and facilitate a classroom discussion with my students.

Easy French videos on YouTube

Have you ever watched an Easy French video with your novice French students?

I LOVE this YouTube channel for so many reasons.

Here are all of the reasons why I love this YouTube channel :

• the hosts interview Francophones in the videos.
• students are exposed to a variety of accents in their videos
• the topics are often cultural so the hosts aren’t just explaining French grammar topics
• their videos have French AND English subtitles
• the hosts use simple French and enunciate clearly as they are conscious of their audience’s level of French

Do you have recommendations for engaging French listening activities for novice French students?

Let’s keep the chat going! Drop a comment below if you have ideas for relevant and engaging French listening activities for novice French students!

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