Intermediate French Resources: Speaking, Listening, Reading and More

An intermediate French learner can often follow a lesson and still lose the thread when somebody shortens a phrase, changes the subject or asks for a personal opinion. The next resource should help you bridge that gap.

Build a small routine around a conversation topic you care about. Listening gives you phrases, reading adds detail, and speaking asks you to retrieve both without a script.

1. ChickyTutor: our first choice for French conversation practice

ChickyTutor lets you practise French with an AI tutor. Select Intermediate in the app, choose a familiar subject, and ask for follow-up questions that require more than yes or no. You can request feedback, repeat a better sentence and continue the discussion.

A useful intermediate exercise is telling the same story twice. First explain what happened; then add the background and say how you felt. That gives the past tenses a job beyond completing an exercise.

Help me discuss a disappointing weekend in French. Ask what happened, what the situation was like and what I would do differently. Correct one recurring tense problem, then ask me to retell the story in my own words.

Our recommendation puts regular spoken use first. Teachers and conversation partners remain valuable for detailed explanations, cultural context and human interaction.

French apps for vocabulary

Clozemaster uses missing-word sentences for vocabulary practice. Pick one expression from a session and explain a personal experience with it. Recognition becomes more useful when you have to finish your own thought.

French reading resources

TV5MONDE provides video-based learning exercises with level choices. Use the accompanying written material to check what you understood rather than treating the video as background noise.

Le Monde offers a step into authentic journalism. Choose a familiar subject and read a short passage before attempting an entire feature. Some content requires a subscription.

French listening resources

innerFrench is a useful podcast starting point for longer stretches of French. After listening, explain the subject to someone who has not heard the episode. Your explanation can be much shorter than the original.

RFI's Journal en français facile gives you another listening direction. Pick one news item and separate what happened from your opinion about it. News vocabulary can be harder than the delivery suggests.

French writing resources

BonPatron is a French spelling and grammar checker. Draft a short message first, examine the feedback, and rewrite the sentence yourself. Automatic suggestions are prompts to investigate, not a guarantee that your intended meaning is correct.

Speaking with a French partner

Tandem connects language-exchange partners. Offer a specific discussion: compare two places to live, recommend a film or explain a family tradition. Agree how to share time between languages and how much correction you both want.

French grammar, dictionaries and textbooks

Tex's French Grammar is a grammar reference from the University of Texas. Use one explanation to resolve a question from your own speech.

WordReference offers French-English lookup and language forums. Check the example that fits your meaning, particularly when an English verb has several French equivalents.

Grammaire progressive du français, niveau intermédiaire supplies structured grammar work. The publisher labels this edition A2/B1, so upper-intermediate learners should check the contents and choose the appropriate volume. Check whether answers are included with your purchase.

Turn one French topic into a week of practice

Choose a podcast about a topic you already know. Record a one-minute explanation, then write an invitation or opinion connected to it. Check one uncertain phrase in WordReference and one repeated grammar error in your reference.

Return to ChickyTutor with the same subject, but ask for an unexpected objection. If you can answer that objection without repeating a memorised paragraph, the material is becoming more flexible.

Do I need fast native podcasts immediately?

Choose audio you can follow well enough to describe afterwards. Increase the difficulty in short sections rather than abandoning an understandable podcast simply because you are intermediate.

Start a French practice conversation, or browse intermediate Italian resources.

About this list

ChickyTutor publishes this guide and places its own tutor first for regular speaking practice. This is an editorial recommendation, not an independent product ranking. Resource discovery draws on Clozemaster's Intermediate French Resources; the selection and practice suggestions here are our own. Resource pages were reviewed on November 6, 2026, although some could not be independently accessed. Check current language coverage, access and editions before subscribing or buying.