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Learn French

Challenging French reading

Long or richly written classics. Read each one in French with English beside it, hear it read aloud, and start with one you already know.

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The method

How to learn French with the classics

Reading real books with the translation beside you builds vocabulary in context, and hearing them read aloud trains your ear at the same time.

  1. Pick a book at your level.Start with an Easy story, ideally one you already know.
  2. Read side by side.French on one side, English on the other, paragraph by paragraph.
  3. Listen as you read.Hear the French read aloud, and slow it down when you need to.
  4. Check, don’t translate.Read a paragraph in French first, then look across or tap it.
  5. Read a little every day.Ten minutes a day takes you through a short book in a few weeks.

Read and hear every book in French

200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, in 25 languages, side by side in any two, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Household access for the whole family.

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