There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of language learning resources on the Internet and some are better than others. Below is a list of links to online resources that I have found the most useful over the years.
Grammar and Vocabulary
There are hundreds, if not thousands of websites where you can find information on grammar and vocabulary. David from French Learner has a huge number of vocabulary lists and grammar lessons. His explanations are clear and easy to follow, so it's definitely a good place to start.
Laura K Lawless of Lawless French also has some great lessons that you may well have stumbled across before. There are lessons on pretty much anything you can think of over there, so be sure to take a look!
Laura K Lawless of Lawless French also has some great lessons that you may well have stumbled across before. There are lessons on pretty much anything you can think of over there, so be sure to take a look!
Listening
The best way to improve your listening skills is to listen to the radio but French people speak so quickly that listening to Radio France is perhaps too difficult for most students. News in Slow French is therefore the perfect alternative. Podcasts based on recent news articles are released every week and a subscription will give you access to grammar and vocabulary notes. Even if you don't sign up, the podcasts are still available on iTunes absolutely free. This is a great introduction to the world of French radio and will surely help to improve your listening skills.
Online Dictionary
Many online dictionaries are pretty poor; they only give one translation and there are no example sentences to help you with the meaning. Larousse dictionaries are the complete opposite. Available in several different languages, I have found these dictionaries to be the best of their kind - translations are fully explained with examples, you can listen to every word written on the screen with one click and full conjugations are provided for every verb you can find. I rely heavily on Larousse in several languages and their offline iOS apps are no compromise.
WordReference is another excellent online dictionary. Similar to Larousse, it provides example sentences, audio recordings (with both French and Québécois pronunciation) and full verb conjugations. What sets WordReference apart, though is the forum. If you've ever got a question about the French language - or indeed any other language - it's probably been asked before. Either search from WordReference itself or Google your question followed by 'WordReference' and you're bound to find an answer. Even if you're specific question has not already been answered, there's bound to be a thread similar enough that you can use the discussion to find a suitable answer yourself.
WordReference is another excellent online dictionary. Similar to Larousse, it provides example sentences, audio recordings (with both French and Québécois pronunciation) and full verb conjugations. What sets WordReference apart, though is the forum. If you've ever got a question about the French language - or indeed any other language - it's probably been asked before. Either search from WordReference itself or Google your question followed by 'WordReference' and you're bound to find an answer. Even if you're specific question has not already been answered, there's bound to be a thread similar enough that you can use the discussion to find a suitable answer yourself.
Reading
Like listening, the best way to improve your reading is to go into the real world and read French magazines, newspapers and blogs. They are challenging, of course, but it gives a great insight into both the structures used in everyday French and the culture. Le Point, RFI, Yahoo France and 20 Minutes are all equally as informative, although I have found the latter to be the easiest to read. If this is still too much for you, Language Guide has reading material of varying difficulties that can all be read and/or listened to but there aren't many to choose from.
If you're struggling to read a French website, I have found Lingro to be an invaluable resource. Without interfering with the website, it allows you to click on the words that you don't know and see the translations. This way, you can continue to read relevant news articles or blogs without being utterly confused.
If you're struggling to read a French website, I have found Lingro to be an invaluable resource. Without interfering with the website, it allows you to click on the words that you don't know and see the translations. This way, you can continue to read relevant news articles or blogs without being utterly confused.
YouTube
Of course, ParapluieFrench is by far the best resource available on YouTube but if you want to immerse yourself into French culture there are plenty of accessible French bloggers out there. I wouldn't recommend them to beginners since they use a lot of slang and speak very quickly, but for more advanced learners, Cyprien and Norman make both entertaining and insightful videos. I find Cyprien easier to understand but both their exaggerated movements and editing make understanding just that little bit easier.