I've often heard people around me say to me: "I'd like to be able to learn French from the series, but I'm no good at it. I need subtitles in my mother tongue to understand".

If you recognise yourself in these uncertainties, then this article should clear up your doubts and limiting beliefs. After all, everyone is capable of understanding or even speaking a foreign language, and French is obviously one of them. It's all a question of preparation and following an action plan. So why not combine business with pleasure? Use series to learn French. After all, many of us spend time entertaining ourselves by watching films and series in our mother tongue. Why not take advantage of this to learn while having fun? In this article, I'm going to try and provide you with the most suitable solution possible, depending on your current level and even if you think you're "not good at French".

In general, I don't recommend series for beginners because the vocabulary is often familiar, the speech rate is very fast, the pronunciation of words is sometimes truncated, etc. However, I'm also in favour of making language learning routines as interesting as possible. Besides, it could be a springboard for you to start learning French in a fun and pressure-free way, as you would probably have watched this series in your mother tongue, if you haven't already.

In short, if you enjoy watching an episode of your favourite series in French, then it's a great way to get into a routine and then maintain it more easily.

So how can you learn French from the series you love even if your level of comprehension isn't high?

To learn a language naturally, you need to understand the content you are consuming. But therein lies the paradox. You're just starting out in French, so you can't understand what's being said. I'm going to share my tips with you so that you can make your routine with the series as comprehensible as possible and therefore the most suitable and effective for you.

Now that I've got the basics down, I'll share my tips with you.

1) Choose a series you already know

Yes, I'm asking you to choose a series that you already know, i.e. that you've already watched in your mother tongue. "Why should I do this?" you might ask. Quite simply because you already know the plot, the characters and sometimes even the details of certain scenes. It's important that you like the series, otherwise it might not be fun to watch.

By doing this, you remove the additional difficulty of not understanding anything of what is going on. You will then try to guess the meaning of words that appear frequently, as the brain is able to deduce the meaning of words and expressions thanks to the repetition and variety of contexts in which this vocabulary is encountered.

You don't have to watch hours and hours of series every day. One routine you can set up is to watch a 20/30 minute episode every day, or one episode a week if you prefer to vary your routine from day to day. An example of a varied routine would be: watching an episode of your series in French on Mondays, listening to French music on Tuesdays, reading an article in French on Wednesdays, watching a Youtube video in French on Thursdays, etc. It all depends on what you like to do, but make sure you always do an activity in French every day (at least 10 minutes when you're very busy in your adult life). I recommend 30 minutes every day or, if you have the time, 1 hour. But it's better to do 30 minutes every day without pressure than to try and do 1 hour a day and not be able to keep it up in the long term because it's too time-consuming.

If you've already watched the Friends series in your mother tongue, then this could be an option, because as well as the fact that the dubbing is in French, the episodes are short (around 20 minutes) which will keep you relatively focused until the end of an episode. Besides, each episode deals with a different subject from everyday life. So, over time, you'll come across the same words and expressions in different contexts, and that's what we're looking for.

2) Choose a series suited to your level

I recommend a series that's adapted as much as possible to your level. For example, you could choose an anime series where the words used are easier to understand because they are aimed at children. And don't choose an anime you don't like just because I've recommended it. The important thing is that you always enjoy doing your routine. It doesn't have to become a chore, quite the opposite. You should be looking forward to the next episode.

What I'm trying to explain is that you have to reproduce exactly the same pattern as when you watch a series you like in your mother tongue. An example of an animated series available on Netflix in French is Pokémon. If, like me, you loved Pokémon as a child, go and watch it! You'll learn a lot of useful vocabulary.

3) Watch a series with audio and subtitles available in French

I know. There's a tendency to think that putting on English subtitles when you're watching a series in French is a good option when you're a beginner and don't understand much. The big problem with this is that you'll spend your time reading the English subtitles and won't really be able to concentrate on listening to the French. The point of watching series in French is obviously to learn French.

So, to acquire French naturally, you need to listen to and read a lot of comprehensible and compelling content in French. This is what we call "comprehensible input". With Netflix, you have the opportunity to have the audio in French (V.O.: Version Originale if possible) and the subtitles in French (CC: close-captions) if possible too. Close-captions means that the subtitles are synchronised with the audio. The other advantage of having the subtitles in the same language is that you will develop good pronunciation of French afterwards. In fact, by reading them, you are unconsciously speaking in your head, making it easier for your brain to record the equivalence between sound and writing in its long-term memory. Besides, French is notoriously difficult to speak, as pronunciation often differs from writing. Subtitles are almost a necessity if you want to understand the language better. And if you have a visual memory, subtitles will also help you acquire vocabulary.

Conclusion

To recap, I recommend watching an episode of your favourite series on a regular basis. The idea is to vary the content of your daily routines. If you like watching videos, listening to music or reading articles in French on the Internet, then I recommend that you do one of these activities one day, another the next day and so on, so that you are sufficiently exposed to the language on a daily basis.

If you love the series and feel that you understand it better and better, you can also watch an episode every day (no longer than 30 minutes). If it's longer, watch the first part today and the second the next day. It's up to you to decide which you prefer.

Setting up routines is a personal thing and can be changed later on. In other words, if you no longer enjoy watching this series, change it! It's as simple as that. Ideally, you should choose a series that you have already watched in your mother tongue and that is adapted as much as possible to your level (anime or a series aimed at children, for example). It's essential that it also contains French subtitles. This will both improve your pronunciation of French and make it easier to remember vocabulary.

However, I told you that to learn French naturally, you need to listen to and read a lot of comprehensible and compelling content in French. So far, listening to and reading interesting content is the case, but what about the comprehensible part? Well, there's no secret there. You're going to have to face up to your first difficulty in the natural acquisition of a first foreign language like French, which is accepting that you won't understand everything. Yes, when I consume content for which I don't know the vocabulary, it's normal not to understand everything.

Nevertheless, it is thanks to the context, the most frequently used words and the fact that the vocabulary used is not too technical or difficult, that over time you will be able to guess the meaning of words or expressions in an indirect, passive way. But this doesn't happen overnight. It takes consistency and perseverance, which is why you need to watch a series you enjoy.

After all, there are also tools available to make your language learning more effective. One that I use myself with the languages I'm learning is a plugin that can be used on the Google Chrome browser. I'm going to share it with you as a bonus and explain why I think it's an additional tool and not a magic wand.

Bonus: How can I get more comprehensible input?

I've included it as a bonus because it's a tool. That's not to say that you'll be able to avoid the routine of learning French every day, but it is a tool that can help you acquire new vocabulary more quickly.

It's a plugin called Language Reactor. It can be used on Netflix and YouTube too. With Language Reactor, you can view both French subtitles and English subtitles (or any language you know well) while watching the series in French. It's handy when you don't understand a word or expression, to watch the translation live. However, here again, be careful not to fall into the trap of reading only the English subtitles. I know, the temptation is strong, but if you do, there's no point - you might as well watch the series in English. I repeat it again because it's really important. It's a tool that's there to give you a helping hand at times. Instead, you should concentrate on listening to and reading the French subtitles.

I hope you've enjoyed this article and learned a lot. If you're interested in this subject, I've explained in detail how to improve your level of French comprehension with the help of the Internet in my guide "Learn French naturally from scratch".