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A few sentences of real French, no account needed.
Real French podcast
Why French is harder to understand than to read
French is the clearest case anywhere of a language whose spelling and sound have drifted apart. Written, "ils ont" and "il sont" are distinct; spoken, liaison joins words together and half the letters on the page are not pronounced at all. Learners who studied from books arrive able to write French and unable to hear where one word ends and the next begins. The fix is not more reading. It is hearing the stream and seeing it segmented.
How Lingush works
1. Pick a real French podcast
News, current affairs and conversation — the same audio native speakers listen to. Nothing is re-recorded, slowed down, or scripted for learners.
2. Listen one sentence at a time
Each sentence plays on its own and loops until you have it. This is the part ordinary podcast apps cannot do, and it is the difference between listening and drowning.
3. Check what you missed, word by word
The English translation is aligned phrase by phrase and highlights along with the audio, so you see exactly which words you heard and which ones went past you.
4. Ten minutes a day
Listening improves through frequency, not session length. A streak and daily picks keep it to something you actually repeat.
French episodes with transcripts
Every episode below has a French–English transcript you can read right now, no account needed.
- Des inondations meurtrières au Népal et en Chine / SpaceX veut construire un centre spatial en Louisiane / La chanteuse Dolly Parton, icône de la country, est décédée...From deadly floods in Nepal and China / SpaceX wants to build a space center in Louisiana / Country icon Dolly Parton has died...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 26 Aug 2026
- En Ukraine, le parlement valide la nomination du nouveau ministre de la Défense / La France va expulser deux agents de l'ambassade d'Iran à Paris / Les pays européens n'auront bientôt plus le droit d'exporter leurs déchets vers les pays pauvresIn Ukraine, the parliament has approved the appointment of a new Minister for Defence / France will expel two agents from Iran's embassy in Paris / European countries soon no longer have the right to export their waste into poor countries.Journal en français facile (RFI) · 19 Aug 2026
- Une éclipse solaire visible en Europe / Les hôpitaux dans un état catastrophique à Gaza / À Maurice, les jeunes pensent de plus en plus à émigrer...A visible solar eclipse in Europe / Hospitals in a catastrophic state in Gaza / In Mauritius, young people are increasingly thinking about emigrating...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 12 Aug 2026
- Yémen: les rebelles houthis disent avoir attaqué un pétrolier saoudien en mer Rouge / Allemagne: un drone muni d'un engin explosif découvert à l'aéroport de Leipzig / États-Unis: Donald Trump lance un abonnement payant à Truth Social...Yemen: Houthi rebels say they have attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea / Germany: A drone with an explosive device discovered at Leipzig airport / United States of America: Donald Trump launches a paid subscription to Truth Social...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 5 Aug 2026
- Foot: Zinédine Zidane au sommet des Bleus / Ouganda: la fin d'Ebola / Les incendies en Europe...Football: Zinédine Zidane at the top of the Blues / Uganda: the end of Ebola / The fires in Europe...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 28 Jul 2026
- Inde: la jeunesse est dans la rue / La guerre au Moyen-Orient / Foot: qui organisera la Can 2032?...India: youth is on the street / The war in the Middle East / Foot: who will organize Can 2032?...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 22 Jul 2026
- UE-Ukraine: accord militaire / Pas d'accalmie entre Iran et États-Unis / Mondial de foot: Argentine-Angleterre...EU-Ukraine: military agreement / Peace of mind between Iran and the United States / World Cup: Argentina - England...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 15 Jul 2026
- Trump: un nouveau missile pour l'Ukraine? / Canicule en France: les conséquences sur l'agriculture / Mondial de foot: pas de match...Trump: a new missile for Ukraine? / Canicule in France: the consequences on agriculture / World Cup: no match...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 8 Jul 2026
- Mondial 2026: les Ivoiriens peuvent-ils battre les Norvégiens? / Immigration: un revers pour Donald Trump / Canicule en France: dispute à l'Assemblée nationale...World Cup 2026: Can the Ivory Coasters beat the Norwegians? / Immigration: a reversal for Donald Trump / Canicule in France: dispute at the National Assembly...Journal en français facile (RFI) · 30 Jun 2026
Why learn French?
Official in 29 countries
Around 300 million speakers across Europe, Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, and a working language of most international institutions.
Liaison is a listening skill
Nothing about French spelling prepares you for how it is spoken. It has to be trained by ear, which is exactly what sentence-level listening does.
Deep media catalogue
French public radio and podcasting is among the richest in the world, with hours of clear daily news audio.
A gateway to the Romance family
French vocabulary overlaps heavily with English and with the other Romance languages, so it compounds.
Common questions
Why does spoken French sound like one long word?
Because in a sense it is. French groups words into rhythmic units and links the end of one word to the start of the next through liaison and elision, with no pause at word boundaries. Your ear has to learn to segment the stream, and it learns that by hearing real sentences while seeing where the boundaries actually fall.
Is Canadian French very different?
In pronunciation and everyday vocabulary, noticeably — enough that an ear trained only on Paris will struggle with Montreal at first. The written language is close to identical. Lingush labels the variety of each podcast so you can train on the one that matches your situation.
How does Lingush help me understand spoken French?
You listen to real French audio one sentence at a time. Each sentence is shown in French with an English translation aligned phrase by phrase, so as the audio plays you can see which words you just heard. You can replay a sentence until it clicks, then move on. Nothing is slowed down or re-recorded — the audio is what native speakers actually said.
Do I need to already know some of the language?
Some, yes. Lingush is built for the stage after the basics: you have a few hundred words and can read simple sentences, but native speech still goes past too fast to follow. If you are starting from zero, use a beginner course first and come back once you can read a short article.
Is it free?
You can listen without an account. A free account adds progress tracking, a daily streak, favourites, and picks up where you stopped.
Start with one episode
Ten minutes of real French, one sentence at a time. You will miss things. That is what makes it work.
Start listening — free