Learn to Read French with Newspapers: A Comprehensive Guide to French Newspapers for Intermediate Learners

After you reach a B2 level of French you may find that you hit a bit of a bump, where progress might seem stagnant. One effective method is to learn to read French with newspapers.

Known as the Intermediate Language Learning Plateau, many people begin to feel as if they are exerting a lot of energy into language learning activities, but not really seeing much improvement in the language level.

Written language often has a wider vocabulary, and of a higher register than spoken language, and this is particularly the case with French. So a relatively simple way to improve your language knowledge and skills is by reading different texts.

Newspapers can be a good source of written French to improve your understanding of the language used in current affairs, politics, sport, travel or culture.

An advantage is that, if you consume news media in your native language, you will likely have an understanding of at least the international news items, which helps comprehension as you encounter new expressions.

Luckily, these days most French newspapers are available online, and many of them are free if you will happily accept cookies on the sites. Alternatively, you can pay for ad-free subscriptions for many of them.

Level of French Required

Benefits of Reading a French Newspaper

There are many benefits to reading French Newspapers for the intermediate to advanced learner. They can be a particularly effective way of learning specific vocabulary and technical jargon in more niche topics. It will also help you to both learn to read French more easily, and improve your written French.

Here are a few other benefits of using newspapers to improve your reading of French.

1. Learn contemporary vocabulary. Language can change quickly, and newspapers are more likely to reflect today’s usage. (Historically, in many cases words are first publically recorded in news media.)
2. Grow and refine your repertoire in a specific subject. For example, if you are already comfortable speaking French but never had a conversation about current political affairs, you might struggle to find the right expressions.
3. You can take notes, scribble and highlight words on the newspaper. It is easier to do it on a newspaper or printout than on a book, so don’t hold back – practice active reading! Particularly good for kinaesthetic learners.
4. Seeing the written French is particularly useful for visual and text based learners.
5. Raise your understanding of the French cultural perspective about different issues, give you an insight into the French psyche, and improve your comprehension of the semantics and pragmatics of the French language.

French news media typically requires a high level of French. While some newspapers may have sections or articles that are more accessible to beginners, the majority of the content will likely be written in complex sentence structures and use advanced vocabulary.

Stephen Krashen’s theory of comprehensible input in language learning, also known as the Input Hypothesis, states that language acquisition occurs when a learner is exposed to input that is just slightly beyond their current level of comprehension. The theory suggests that when learners are exposed to input that is too difficult, they will not be able to understand and learn effectively. However, when the input is just challenging enough, it will push the learner to understand and acquire the language.

Keep in mind that this is just an estimate, and that comprehension also depends on many other factors such as familiarity with the topic, understanding of idioms, grammar, and context. Furthermore, having a good general understanding of grammar, idioms and colloquialism will also help you to understand more of the content, even if you don’t know all the words.

Even if you are an advanced learner, reading a newspaper might still be challenging, but with regular practice and exposure, you will improve your comprehension and fluency.

How to Intentionally Learn with Newspapers

Here are a few tips to help you learn to read French with newspapers:

1. Start with a newspaper or article whose content interests you. Choose shorter articles to begin with, increasing the length as your fluency improves.
2. Read the heading, subheading and first paragraph carefully, to get an idea of the subject and content of the article.
3. Read through it all, even if you don’t understand it. Also, reading it out loud may help to improve your pronunciation and intonation, which will in turn consolidate your ability to recognise whole words and read more fluently.
4. Read through it again with, this time with a pencil in your hands. Highlight the words and phrases that you do not understand.
5. Look for repetitive phrases and colloquialisms to increase your vocabulary range.
6. Use a French-English dictionary or translation tool to help you understand new words and phrases, or use a service like HiNative.com to ask a native French speaker what an expression means.
7. Pay attention to grammar and sentence structure, and try to incorporate what you learn into your own writing (and speaking where appropriate).
8. Look for online resources (such as News in Slow French, or 20 Minutes) that have audio AND text, to help you with listening AND reading comprehension.
9. It can be useful to cut out (or print out) the article and paste it into a scrapbook. Then you can leverage this learning into writing practice. Summarise the article in your own words, identifying the subject. Record the new vocabulary for revision.
10. Read regularly; consistency is key to all learning.

Which Newspapers Should You Choose?

To help motivation, it can be a good idea to select papers that have articles that interest you. Check out the summaries below, and see which newspapers attract you.

Political Issues

Financial and Economic focus

If you work in the business world and need to interact with France, reading newspapers is a great way to find out about the economical situation of France and become familiar with a more technical repertoire of French.

International News

Sports

Current Affairs and Lifestyle

General Interest (Easy Reading)

20 Minutes: A free daily newspaper, covering general interest issues, 20 Minutes is often used as an easy-read while commuting. Of particular interest to the French learner, the written articles are accompanied by an audio reading of the article, which can tune your ear to the language and builds auditory memory. This, in turn, helps to improve your pronunciation and intonation.

Religious Newspapers

Culture

Parisien and Regional Newspapers

There are also a number of regional weekly newspapers, that have information particular to their area, and often have a simpler language style. They are particularly interesting if you want to learn about the French way of living in specific areas. 

Newspaper	City	Region covered	Website
L’Alsace	Mulhouse	Grand Est	lalsace.fr/
L’Ardennais	Charleville-Mézières	Grand Est	ardennais.com/
L’Est Républicain	Nancy	Grand Est region	estrepublicain.fr/
L’Union	Reims	Grand Est	lunion.fr/
La Dépêche du Midi	Toulouse	Occitanie region	ladepeche.fr/
La Marseillaise	Marseille	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur	lamarseillaise.fr/
La Montagne	Clermont-Ferrand	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region	lamontagne.fr/
La Provence	Marseille	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region	laprovence.com/
La Voix du Centre	Orléans	Centre-Val de Loire	lavoixducentre.fr/
La Voix du Nord	Lille	Hauts-de-France region	lavoixdunord.fr/
Le Bien Public	Dijon	Burgundy-Franche-Comté region	bienpublic.com/
Le Dauphiné Libéré	Grenoble	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region	ledauphine.com/
Le Journal de la Haute-Marne	Chaumont	Grand Est region	lejournaldelahaute-marne.fr/
Le Journal de Rouen	Rouen	Normandy	lejournalderouen.fr/
Le Maine Libre	Le Mans	Pays de la Loire	lemainelibre.fr/
Le Populaire du Centre	Orléans	Centre-Val de Loire	lepopulaire.fr/
Le Progrès	Lyon	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	leprogres.fr/
Le Républicain Lorrain	Metz	Grand Est	republicain-lorrain.fr/
Le Télégramme	Brest	Brittany region	letelegramme.fr/
Sud Ouest	Bordeaux	Nouvelle-Aquitaine region	sudouest.fr/

Summary

French newspapers are an excellent resource for learning to read French because they offer authentic and up-to-date language in a variety of styles and contexts. They can improve vocabulary, comprehension, and grammar skills, and provide exposure to French culture and current events. Additionally, reading newspapers can increase confidence and motivation in reading French, as well as providing an enjoyable and practical way to practice language skills.