French language stops on the web: This French Life

NOT sure why but I seem to have crossed quite a few online resources that could prove helpful if you are looking to improve your French language skills.

One of the advantages of learning via the internet is that websites can easily mix audio, text and video letting you try different methods, and in the case of audio clips take them with you on your MP3 player.

Curiosphere.tv
This is a project backed by France 5 and provides a vast array of video clips from television programmes, featuring everything from the impact of mobile phones to life in schools and colleges.

As you would expect the videos are of a very high quality and cover recent news events, with special programmes and interviews, giving you the opportunity to improve your vocabulary.

Learning Space: Modern Languages
Online courses in a variety of languages, including French, provided by the Open University. They provide short video clips that hook into different modules, letting you understand different aspects of French grammar via the accompanying text.

Paris by Pod
Learn French by travelling around Paris and listen to audio descriptions of events, such as the Chinese New Year, that also uses photographs from around the city.

You can also listen to the poems of some of the French literary greats, as well as find out more about France, there is also the option to have lessons from the teachers behind the site via a membership section.

Get lost in translation sites
The Lifehacker website gathers together a number of translation websites, although as it warns you can't beat a 'human' when it comes to important documents.

Forvo
This is a cute idea for a website - listen to the pronunciation of foreign language words. The French section could do with some padding out, but if you are willing to help out you can set up a free account and record words directly through your computer.

Related article: Online French language resources