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In France, comic books are far from being solely for children and teens. Known as\u00a0bandes dessin\u00e9es\u00a0<\/i>or BD<\/em>s for short, these books can cost a pretty penny \u2013 around 10 euros a volume \u2013 and are beloved by children and adults alike. The proof is in the pudding: clubs like the\u00a0International Bande Dessin\u00e9e Society<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0BD events<\/a>\u00a0exist the world over, and stands devoted to the genre pop up at Paris\u2019 famous\u00a0Salon du Livre.<\/p>\n BD<\/em>s have been known as \u201cthe ninth art\u201d in France since the 1960s, with some of the most famous hailing from either France or Belgium, including “Ast\u00e9rix,” “Tintin,” “Lucky Luke”\u00a0and “Spirou,”\u00a0<\/i>just to name a few. The stories combine history, general culture and a good dose of word games for enjoyable books whose appeal spans generations.<\/p>\n The highly intelligent language typical of most classic BD<\/em>s combined with their innate illustrated aspect make them the perfect way to perfect your French<\/strong>: what can\u2019t be deduced from the words themselves can be gleaned from the context and the accompanying images. Your resulting vocabulary may be a bit unconventional, featuring terms related to pre-common era Rome or the early American West, but you never know when that might come in handy. \u00a0You\u2019re bound to gain more useful vocabulary as well, not to mention talking points with other culturally astute BD<\/em> readers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that learning a foreign language can be made even easier with foreign language films, but it\u2019s gotten even easier now that pretty much every film is available via the web or DVD soon after release. To make your foreign film experience even more enlightening, don\u2019t forget to turn on the subtitles.<\/p>\n Now before people start getting up in arms, let\u2019s take a moment to explain. I\u2019m not talking about English subtitles, which past a certain level are more of a hindrance than a help, causing learners to rely on their native language as a crutch instead of seeking meaning through context. The subtitles to which I\u2019m referring to in this case are the French subtitles intended for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.<\/p>\n As opposed to other subtitles, which tend to stick to the meaning without replicating the dialogue verbatim, this closed captioning should honor the words being spoken fairly accurately, meaning that if you miss something due to an accent or someone swallowing their words on screen, you have a back up.<\/p>\n Expand your vocabulary even further by veering away from classics of French cinema so frequently touted in favor of newer films like “Les Petits Mouchoirs”\u00a0and “Intouchables,”\u00a0<\/i>which will help you\u00a0<\/i>brush up on your French slang.<\/p>\n Check out this post to learn about 16 French movies everyone should see<\/a>. And here’s a great post on the 25 French movies everyone should see to learn French:<\/p>\n The 25 Best French Movies to Learn French<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n2. Watch Recent French Movies<\/h2>\n