By Camille Turner Last updated: May 25, 2023

Tap into Kindle French Learning with 3 Handy Tools

Do you love nothing more than curling up on the sofa with a good book?

If the answer is yes, then chances are you’re already making use of the super handy Kindle for reading old favorites and discovering new treasures as well.

You can also use this nifty commodity to learn French at the same time.

I’ll take you through three super helpful resources for using your Kindle as a French-learning resource!

Kindle Your French! 3 Reading Tools to Spark E-learning

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Kindle Your French! 3 Reading Tools to Spark E-learning

The Kindle resources in this list will help you learn French grammar, enlarge your vocabulary and improve your French reading skills.

Resource #1: French E-books for Learners

No matter what level you’re at, there are many great books intended for French learners that can be purchased for Kindle. These can include grammar books, textbooks, readers, bilingual texts and more.

These can be a huge help for language learners because they often provide individual lessons divided into subjects, offer different approaches to learning and studying and suggest methods for practicing what you’ve learned.

Below are a couple of my favorite instructional books on Kindle, each with a very different approach to learning.

Frederic Bibard’s French Short Story Books

Bibard is the author of many different books on learning French through stories, including his bestselling “French Short Stories for Beginners” and “French Short Stories for Intermediate Level.”

These are great tools for learners, as they each contain numerous intriguing stories with varying themes, such as food, jobs, family and traveling. This ensures that you’re exposed to a plethora of new vocabulary.

Both books include a French and English glossary for any words you might not understand, so that you don’t have to search for them in a separate dictionary.

What’s more, there’s a very handy vocabulary recap at the end of each chapter to solidify new words and phrases and make sure that you fully understand what you’ve just read.

Listening to audiobooks is another great way to learn French, and each of these Kindle books is accompanied by an audio recording.

Furthermore, the audio recordings of each story include two different versions—a slow version to help learners improve pronunciation and better follow along, and a natural-speed version to practice listening to the language as you would normally.

Lucas Jagger’s “Learn French Step by Step”

If you’re looking for an even lower-cost Kindle option, Jagger’s “Learn French Step by Step” is an excellent choice for beginners or for higher-level speakers seeking a thorough review of the basics.

This book will take you through the initial process of learning French and includes a couple of unique sections, such as a history of the French language and a look at how English has been influenced by French.

“Learn French Step by Step” covers all of the basics, starting with the alphabet and pronunciation and ending with the essential grammar rules and verbs.

Along the way, you’ll also learn how to ask questions, form negatives, understand gender and plurals and distinguish between formal and informal French.

It’s truly a great guide to French, and it’s hard to beat the price!

Resource #2: French Dictionaries

There are many French dictionaries available for your Kindle and it’s very important that you have one on hand at all times when learning the language.

See, the wonderful thing about putting a dictionary on your Kindle is that you have the option to go to your settings and make it your default dictionary.

That means that whenever you’re reading on your Kindle, you’ll be able to conveniently look up any French word just by touching it, and you’ll never have to leave the page or flip to another resource.

“Merriam-Webster’s French-English Translation Dictionary”

If you’re looking for a great dictionary, you can’t go wrong with this ever-popular Merriam-Webster’s, which is one of the cheaper options among the high-quality dictionaries.

It includes more than 40,000 entries and 50,000 translations and provides plenty of contextual examples of French words.

Just be aware that it only works when looking up French words to see their English equivalents. In other words, if you want to search for English words first and have their French counterparts shown, you’ll need to purchase the English-to-French edition as well.

However, if you’re reading in French (which is the idea, after all!), you really shouldn’t need the second edition.

“Dictionnaire de l’Académie française” (“The French Academy’s Dictionary”)

While there are many free ways to learn French through reading, there are unfortunately not many free French dictionaries for Kindle.

(I will note, however, as a positive, that all of the ones for purchase are really very cheap.)

However, there is one completely free one, the “Dictionnaire de L’Académie française.” It’s the eighth edition (1932-1935), but is still a good free option. I recommend downloading it because it will certainly cover most basic words you’ll need to search for, as these haven’t changed over time.

Secondly, it’s extremely helpful with older books, as it contains older French vocabulary as well. Surprisingly, this older dictionary may even serve you better than a modern one when reading the French classics!

Resource #3: French-language Literature

Along with the support of instructional guides and dictionaries, the best thing you can do to learn French with your Kindle is to simply sit down and read a French e-book for pleasure.

Luckily, there are thousands of French Kindle editions that can be purchases at a low cost or for free, and you can certainly find something that interests you. Amazon’s website allows you to search for French Kindle editions under the Foreign Language Books section.

From there, you’ll be able to refine your search for things such as new releases, children’s books, nonfiction, travel and much more.

You can also go up to the search bar from this page (which will now be preset to French books) and type in something very specific, such as “French Kindle instruction” or “French Kindle classics.”

While there’s an endless number of books available, below are a few must-read French Kindle editions.

J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter à l’École des Sorciers” (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”)

Most of us are already big-time Harry Potter fans and would jump at the chance to re-read this great classic.

If you’re not already in love with all things Hogwarts, then chances are you will be after reading this first book!

For any muggles (non-magic folk) out there, this story follows the life of a young boy who discovers that he’s a wizard and subsequently joins a special school for witches and wizards while unlocking the secrets to his mysterious past, facing unspeakable trials and discovering the power of friendship.

The book is perfect for those trying to learn French, as it’s written for young adults and therefore uses a simpler sentence structure.

For those of you who are familiar with the book series, it can be a great way to learn a new language, as, already knowing the storyline, you can contextualize words you don’t understand at first glance.

There’s truly no better way to remember new French words than by associating them with something that you love, such as “Harry Potter” or another English favorite.

What’s more, reading your translated favorites (or any other French-language book) on Kindle comes with a lot of benefits. For example, you can easily save phrases you don’t understand and would like to return to for further study.

You can also make notes by highlighting words, which is a great way to keep track of any new vocabulary you learn. Try going through your highlights and notes later on and quiz yourself to see if you remember what they mean!

If you enjoy reading it in French, you’re in luck, as you can biu the entire series in French e-book format!

Gustave Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary”

If you really want to immerse yourself in French culture, you have to embrace France’s great literary classics, one of the greatest being Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary.”

This novel was first published in 1856 and was written by one of the most famous and iconic French authors of all time.

The story follows Emma Rouault as she marries Charles Bovary and discovers that her expectations of a luxurious and passionate marriage are far from realized.

To cope with her despair and what she finds to be an incredibly dull marriage, she begins having an affair and is carried away by her romantic fantasies and her search for a fulfilling love.

This must-read is free on Kindle and is an excellent choice not only for its literary genius but also for the fact that it’s perfectly accompanied by the “Dictionnaire de L’Académie française,” which I mentioned above is also free.

If you have this dictionary to reference while you’re reading, you won’t be intimidated by the higher-level French and you’ll have everything you need without spending a dime!

Jean de Brunhoff’s “Histoire de Babar” (“Babar’s Story”)

If you really feel you aren’t ready to take on a big classic like “Madame Bovary,” or even something at the level of a Harry Potter book, try a French children’s classic like “Histoire de Babar” instead!

This super cute book is a great read for those seeking to learn and practice lower-level French.

The story follows everyone’s favorite little elephant, Babar, who escapes from hunters and eventually finds his way back home, where he claims his position as king of the animals.

If you enjoy this charming kid’s book, then you’ll be happy to know that there’s another one from the same series, called “Le Voyage de Babar” (“Babar’s Trip”).

It’s clear that the Kindle can be an excellent resource for learning French, as it offers some of the cheapest, high-quality tools for learners of all levels.

Because you’re reading books in French, you’re picking up new vocabulary in context while absorbing sentence patterns naturally. Kindle’s dictionary feature also makes it easy to look up words, and there’s an entire universe of books for you to dive into based on your interests. If you’ve ever gotten lost in a book for hours, it’s thrilling to start experiencing that with French.

Once you’re comfortable with books, you can move on to other French media to continue exploring the language in an engaging, authentic way. This can be French movies, podcasts, music or web videos.

Just as the Kindle works with books, there are also digital resources for other media that can make the learning process more direct and seamless. For instance, FluentU takes bite-sized French videos and unpacks them for learners through interactive subtitles and quizzes. You can read and hear authentic French in context, and like with Kindle, you can see what a word means just by tapping on it.

With so many interesting French books, shows, and other media out there, it’s time to take advantage of technological tools to help immerse you in the language. So grab your Kindle, experiment with different apps, and read away!