7 Popular French Radio Stations for Beginners

Listening to the radio in French exposes you to the authentic use of the language. By listening to multiple stations from different regions, you can hear a variety of French accents and dialects.

Plus, you can learn about culture and current events or discover classic French music and modern hits. Let’s look at some of the best French radio stations for beginners, including music and talk radio stations.

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1. Best for Pop and Rock Fans: RTL + RTL2

RTL and RTL2 are sister stations that are great for uncovering your favorite French pop and rock songs. The stations are some of the most popular in France.

The only disadvantage with these stations is the popularity of American music in France! For every French song you hear, you’ll hear an American one as well.

But the quick-talking announcers are sure to keep you on your toes, and you’ll discover a lot of French classic rock like Jean-Jacques Goldman and Serge Gainsbourg, as well as some more modern singers.

2. Best for Retro Music Fans: Nostalgie

Nostalgie is a French radio station that specializes in playing classic hits from past decades. 

The station primarily plays music from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, focusing on popular and iconic songs from these eras. It lives up to its name by evoking a feeling of nostalgia with its retro music.

In addition to music, Nostalgie features programs and shows that often include themed playlists, interviews and segments dedicated to revisiting musical memories.

3. Best for Exclusively French Music: Chante France

Chante France offers a host of French classics, both old and new. It features pop music, top 40’s and hip hop, with a special emphasis on including only French language music.

If you don’t want to be bothered by familiar American songs, you may benefit from listening to Chante France.

Be aware that you’ll be hearing a lot of the same songs over and over again, but that will only help you get to know them!

4. Best for News Junkies: France Inter

France Inter offers music, podcasts, news stories, talk radio and more. You’ll find plenty of French content from cooking shows to book programs.

Hosts of France Inter often bring successful artists and entrepreneurs onto their shows to discuss topics like art and business. Here are some France Inter programs you can listen to:

• Le masque et la plume (The Mask and the Feather): The host, Jérôme Garcin, and a group of critics discuss, analyze and criticize recent artistic and cultural events, including recently released movies and books. 
• L’humeur vagabonde (The Wandering Mood): On this show, Kathleen Evin talks to men and women who have become successful because of their originality. They discuss their dreams, mistakes and successes.
• On va déguster (We’ll Indulge): If you’re a foodie, then this show is for you. Elvira Masson and Dominique Hutin talk about everything related to food and drink, bringing chefs, bakers and artisans onto the show.
• La bande originale (The Original Soundtrack): Hosted by Nagui, La bande originale features a table of commentators and a guest, and they talk about the guest’s most recent project or endeavor.
• La tête au carré (Earth Squared): If you love science, this one’s for you. Mathieu Vidard hosts the show and interviews researchers and scientists from all over the world about their latest findings.

5. Best for Comedy Lovers: Rire et Chansons

If you’d rather your music be interspersed with jokes as you listen to the radio in French, try Rire et Chansons (“Laughter and Songs” in English).

Humor is famously one of the toughest things to learn in a foreign language, so don’t worry if you feel a bit lost at the beginning. Soon enough, you’ll be picking up on the jokes.

Bear in mind that much of French humor is based on references to general culture and wordplay, so listening to France Inter may help you understand this station even better!

6. Best for Learners: Radio France International (RFI)

For new listeners, Radio France International (RFI) does a daily news show called Journal en Francais Facile (Easy French News).

The announcers speak slowly and clearly and use simple words to explain the day’s breaking news, with a transcript so you can follow along and easily identify words you don’t know yet. 

RFI also has a host of other podcasts on subjects as diverse as technology, travel, music and more. I love the show Grand Reportage (Big Report), which takes you on a 20-minute-long journey to a different part of the world every week. 

7. Best for Canadian French: Radio-Canada

This Montreal radio station offers a wide range of programming, including news, documentaries, dramas, entertainment and cultural content.

Popular programs include Tout le monde en parle (Everyone’s Talking About It) and Le Téléjournal, which presents the evening news. Find the broadcasts from each province by searching for “Le Téléjournal” here. 

Radio-Canada operates both national and regional services, providing coverage and content tailored to different areas of Canada, including Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Benefits of Listening to French Radio

There are many reasons why listening to the radio in French is a great way to learn the language. Here are a few:

• There’s a great diversity of French radio shows. For every taste in music or talk radio, there’s a French radio channel that can be streamed internationally. You can easily find a station that covers the topics you’re interested in or genres you enjoy. 
• Radio fits into your busy routine. Even if you have a full schedule, radio is easy and convenient to listen to. You can listen while you get ready in the morning, on your commute to work, while you’re waiting in line or doing household chores for convenient exposure to the language.
• You’ll adjust to the normal speed of conversation.  French radio hosts talk quickly, and it can be hard to keep up. As you continue to listen, it becomes easier to follow the flow of conversation. Your ears will begin to adjust, and you’ll get better at following everyday conversations in French, too. 
• You can immerse yourself in authentic French. Listening to the radio is a great way to immerse yourself in the language as it’s really used by native speakers. You’ll hear French slang, common expressions and a variety of vocabulary related to themes like sports, politics and music.

For additional French immersion with learning tools and a video component, you can use a language learning program like FluentU.

French radio is an excellent tool for French learners of all levels, including beginners. With these stations, you can improve your listening comprehension while staying up to date on the latest news, celebrity gossip, hit songs and more. 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And one more thing...

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.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)