Ever wondered how you can use regular ol’ Netflix to pick up on some French skills? Then check this list out!

I’m choosing to focus only on TV series in this article because they’re harder to search for, and also because they’re continuous, giving you (a) more input and (b) more time to adjust to the characters and their manner of speaking. Essentially, TV shows mean more material to work with.

You can’t search Netflix by language yet, but you can enter “French” into the search bar, which will return a mix of titles with the word “French” and some French language movies.

The list isn’t exhaustive though, and most importantly, doesn’t include shows which have a dubbed French option. I know what you’re thinking. Everybody HATES dubbed shows! Yes, dubbing isn’t perfect, but spoken French is spoken French. Just try to ignore the mismatched mouths and words.

A good rule of thumb for finding French TV on Netlfix is simply looking for any Netflix Original Series. They usually have an option you can select during playback that will change the audio to French. Again, the audio isn’t perfect, but it’s grammatically correct, which is enough for me.

It’s helpful knowing that French subtitles are not verbatim. Here are some good examples from “Stranger Things”, of how speech and subtitles can vary on Netflix.

“elle a un balai dans le cul” vs “elle n’a pas marrante, c’est clair“

“que est ce que tu racontes” vs “comment ca“?

The meaning remains the same though, and it’s good to be exposed to both (spicy and unspicy) versions.

Below I’ve created a  quick reference list of some of my favorites, which I personally think are great for intermediate to advanced learners looking to improve their listening comprehension.

Again, this list is by no means exhaustive, and should serve only as a starting point for your forays into spoken French. If you get through a few of these series, you’ll see surprising improvement to your listening comprehension in no time.

Bon Courage!