French Apps for Kids: 7 Fun Apps to Help Children Learn French
These days, kids grow up knowing how to work a tablet or a smartphone sometimes even before being able to spell or read.
This is an unprecedented situation that has educators and app-makers scrambling to accommodate the generation of digital natives.
For families, that means it’s easy to give kids what they’re hungry for. There are tons of great French apps for kids to choose from, teaching everything from basic words to reading skills to pronunciation.
So if you want your child to grow up fluent in French, language learning is only a click (or a tap! or a swipe!) away.
Boukili is an authentic French Canadian kids’ app developed by TFO, an Ontario-based French language and culture educational resource. It’s appropriate for kids around the age of six and older or those who have some basis in reading.
The app allows kids to access age-appropriate stories in French. Best of all, we’re not talking about a couple of stories here or there in French. Boukili has 54 books, all of which include text and audio for kids to read along with.
Further, there are also games and other activities for kids to complete to test and reinforce their understanding of the stories.
Cost: First lesson is free, $4.99 for 50 French lessons
Suitable for: Ages 6+
MindSnacks’ French app transforms language lessons into games. There are 50 French lessons on the app so your child will have new challenges in French for a long while!
Topics in these games include everyday vocabulary such as numbers and common phrases for conversation. The app also uses native French speech recordings to help kids perfect their French listening and pronunciation skills.
With this app’s spaced repetition system, you can be sure that your kids will retain what they’ve learned through perfectly timed vocabulary revision. Spaced repetition uses an algorithm to show players the words they’ve had the most difficulty with at key moments to promote memory.
I recommend this app for kids aged six and older due to its reliance on primarily text-based activities.
“Gus on the Go” features a friendly owl named Gus as its main character. With Gus, kids can work through a map of France while playing games and puzzles that grow their vocabulary.
They’ll get familiar with common vocabulary topics such as animals and food. The interface itself is fun and colorful and the activities come complete with audio recordings for the French words as well as text.
Best of all, each lesson unlocks a special vocabulary review lesson so that all the new words and knowledge stay in your child’s brain.
This is a fantastic game for kids looking for an immersive French experience. While it wasn’t specifically designed for French learning, it’s great for a simple, interactive game where the language can be toggled into French for reading practice. And did I mention it’s fun?
Primarily, the app consists of the recitation of the story “Little Red Riding Hood.” In the settings menu, you can change the language to French and watch your child become enthralled in the story. The animations are complete with a big font and beautiful pictures.
Best of all, there are games built into the story at major moments that kids must complete in order to advance in the narrative. These games will help kids reinforce their understanding of the text and vocabulary they acquire.
I recommend this app for children aged eight and older because of the reading level of the story.
This app is based on the classic board game Guess Who? It’s great to teach kids how to describe people’s physical attributes in French with useful vocabulary and expressions.
While this app defaults to English, the language can be easily changed to French in the settings menu or when setting up the game.
While kids can play many versions of this game, the most basic, called Devine (Guess), allows kids to select pre-written questions in order to guess a character that the app has chosen. The game answers the questions in French to allow kids to guess.
The best part is that there are a few different versions of the game, and there’s a two-player option so you can grow your French skills alongside your child!
I recommend this app for children aged eight and older due to the complexity of some of the French expressions used.
T’choupi Joue Avec Les Couleurs helps children from the age of two learn the names of different colors in French. They will be guided by the app’s character, T’choupi, who appears across the range of activities that are available.
There are a number of different games that will help kids remember the colors in French, including an activity where they can create melodies using the different colors, as well as various coloring exercises.
Kids can select from nine games in total, and the app’s simple layout makes it a great option for young children who are familiarizing themselves with French.
Note: This app is only available in the French app store.
Cost: Limited version is free, $14.99 per month for more features
Suitable for: Ages 3-10
Studycat helps kids learn over 200 words and phrases in French through a variety of fun games.
Each game is designed to train specific language learning skills including spelling, speaking and comprehension. The lessons teach key vocabulary in different contexts, to help children retain what they’ve learned.
The app combines a structured French learning course with games, which means kids will stay engaged while picking up on some French basics.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.
FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.
For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:
Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."
All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.
2. Learn French by MindSnacks
3. Gus on the Go: French
4. StoryToys Red Riding Hood
5. Who Is It?
