Once you\u2019ve shadowed the same source material a few times, reproducing the native speaker\u2019s intonation and rhythm should become second nature to you. At that point, you can try to pay more conscious attention to the pronunciation of the words.<\/p>\n To give you an idea of how this works, Dr. Arguelles himself demonstrates in this YouTube video:<\/p>\n The goal is to internalize the French syllables as they really<\/em> sound. If you pause or overthink it, you’ll end up substituting more recognizable sounds that you already use in your native language. The technical term for these incorrect pronunciations is “eggcorns.”<\/a><\/p>\n That\u2019s where we get mispronunciations like \u201cboo-koo\u201d for the French word\u00a0beaucoup<\/em> (many, a lot), as in the phrase “boo koo bucks.”<\/a><\/p>\n Also, don\u2019t mumble when you shadow French.<\/strong> Speak clearly and deliberately, as though every word you\u2019re saying is of the utmost importance.<\/p>\n Dr. Arguelles recommends walking at a brisk pace while shadowing. Ideally, this should be done in an area with lots of greenery.<\/p>\n When you walk in natural surroundings, you can enjoy these scientifically-backed benefits<\/a>:<\/p>\n Of course, you should also make sure that wherever you’re walking is safe.<\/strong> The last thing you want is to have an accident because you’re so engrossed in whatever you’re doing that you forgot to be aware of your surroundings.<\/p>\n Better posture improves oxygen flow to the brain<\/strong>, and may even boost your mood and confidence levels<\/a>. This can make you feel more positive when doing something challenging like learning a language.<\/p>\n After \u201cblind shadowing\u201d the same material several times\u2014that is, repeating what you hear without any written transcript\u2014you might start to look at the corresponding text as you listen and rapidly repeat.<\/strong> In this way, you can start to clear up any word meanings that are unclear.<\/p>\n For contemporary, everyday French language<\/a> and culture, it\u2019s hard to beat podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n In particular, the ones listed below will provide plenty of high-quality shadowing material, accompanied by additional learning tools like transcripts and flashcards.<\/p>\n True to its name, this podcast presents current news items in a slow and deliberate manner.<\/strong> All of the elements of rhythm and intonation are still intact, but the pace lags behind normal conversational speed. As you progress and become more confident in your speaking, you can change the playback speed from slow (0.5) to normal (1.0).<\/p>\n Each episode\u2019s resources include:<\/p>\n Unlike some of the other shadowing resources, News in Slow French requires a subscription. Subscription levels are tiered, so you can decide which features work for you according to their price points.<\/p>\n Get a personal perspective on French culture<\/strong> through the everyday family life of Laetitia, a Frenchwoman who lives near Paris.<\/p>\n Episodes are only about five minutes long. There are several years\u2019 worth of episodes to download, so you won’t run out anytime soon.<\/p>\n Listening to this podcast is like listening to a letter from a friend. You can imitate a regular person who happens to be a French speaker\u2014not a news presenter, actor or celebrity.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like a written guide for your shadowing, you can get transcripts of new episodes here<\/a>. Although the podcast episodes are free, the transcripts require you to shell out a handful of dollars per month, depending on whether you’d like your transcripts with or without notes.<\/p>\n This podcast covers everything from French idiomatic expressions<\/a> to suggestions for stress management and personal development.<\/p>\n These episodes are accompanied by a full transcript<\/strong>, which is perfect for when you move past the \u201cblind shadowing\u201d phase to shadowing with the text of the audio at hand. Both the written transcript and the audio are downloadable as a PDF and an MP3, respectively.<\/p>\n There are dozens of episodes available for free on the website. You can also access them via Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> and Soundcloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n Like “News in Slow French,” this podcast is exactly what it sounds like.<\/p>\n Each episode covers a specific topic that uses new vocabulary<\/strong> listed in the show notes, complete with translations. The episodes are typically around 15 minutes long (which, incidentally, is the recommended duration for shadowing sessions according to Dr. Arguelles).<\/p>\n No matter where you are in your French, you’re bound to find an episode and\/or topic that you’ll enjoy on here.<\/p>\n You can play these videos through your smartphone or tablet. During the initial phase of shadowing, all you\u2019ll need is the audio component.<\/p>\n Later on, when you\u2019re ready to add visual aids, just start watching. The written resources you’ll need to facilitate your repetition and deepen your understanding will be right before your very eyes.<\/p>\n With rapid conversations and multiple speakers, the\u00a0compr\u00e9hension orale<\/em> channel is well-suited for intermediate students looking for varied material<\/strong> to shadow French.<\/p>\n The dialogues are transcribed on the videos themselves. You can work your way through a composite video with hours of conversation, such as the one above, or make your own playlist of some of their shorter videos.<\/p>\n With quick video clips such as movie trailers, music videos, news segments and comedy sketches, the FluentU language program offers tons of opportunities for shadowing authentic French as heard in the media<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Each media clip is paired with dual-language interactive subtitles, which you can hover over to pause the video and repeat after the native speaker. If there’s a certain word in the subtitles that you don’t recognize, you can click on it to view usage examples or add it to a personal flashcard deck.<\/p>\n Since these videos are short, you can shadow as many French media clips as your study session permits.<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019d love to start shadowing, but you’d already promised yourself you\u2019d read two French books<\/a> every month\u2014and you barely even have time to do that.<\/p>\n Why not combine your reading and listening activities by using French audiobooks<\/a> for shadowing?<\/p>\n Feel free to take advantage of the French literary classics<\/strong> brought to you by the volunteers at LibriVox.<\/p>\n LibriVox displays each book\u2019s chapters in a handy table, where you can easily see the run time for each one\u2014which makes putting together shadowing playlists a snap!<\/p>\n Download the entire audiobook in M4B format (playable on iTunes, Windows Media Player and more) or download the MP3 files chapter-by-chapter.<\/p>\n If you check out the link on the left side of the page, you may be able to see one that leads to the written version of the text\u2014perfect for when you\u2019re ready to read along with the original as you shadow.<\/p>\n Amazon\u2019s Audible service has more contemporary offerings than LibriVox, so you can use it to shadow more modern French.<\/strong><\/p>\n If there are particularly tricky sections of the Audible book you\u2019d like to flag as you\u2019re shadowing, you can do so with a simple press of the bookmark icon. This way, you can easily locate difficult passages later on for extra repetition and review.<\/p>\n And speaking of reviews, each audiobook\u2019s product page on Audible lets you see ratings from other customers. Specifically, you can see how your fellow Francophone listeners liked the performance of the narrator, and get an idea of how easy a given audiobook might be to shadow. Is the narration clear and understandable? Their comments will let you know if the narrator races through like Alain Prost<\/a> or suffers from a bad case of the mumbles.<\/p>\n Unlike LibriVox, Audible is a paid service. If you\u2019re not ready to commit to a full-blown membership yet, give it a whirl with a free, month-long trial.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re ready to start reading the original text while you shadow, simply search for the matching e-book, paperback or hardback version on Amazon\u2019s main site. You can also find the English version to help you better understand what you\u2019re hearing in French.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So don\u2019t be shy\u2014stand up straight, put one foot in front of the other and confidently walk on the road to fluency with these stunningly good shadowing French resources.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Native-sounding French doesn’t just magically happen.\u00a0It takes lots of practice to listen to and imitate real French speech.\u00a0 With a language learning method called shadowing, you’ll be practicing authentic-sounding French…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":454,"featured_media":249804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Shadowing French: The Step-by-step Guide | FluentU French Blog","description":"Shadowing French can be done even when you're not anywhere near a French-speaking country. Read this post for more information on shadowing, why it works, how to make it work and the best resources to use so you can do it right in the comfort of your home."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,572],"tags":[],"coauthors":[159],"class_list":["post-119460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french","category-french-learning-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241571,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119460\/revisions\/241571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119460"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=119460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to Shadow French: The Basics<\/h2>\n
1. Repeat What You Hear Immediately<\/h3>\n
2. Walk While You Talk (Preferably Outdoors)<\/h3>\n
\n
3. Hold Your Head High<\/h3>\n
4. Add the Text<\/h3>\n
Podcasts for Shadowing Everyday French<\/h2>\n
News in Slow French<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"news-in-slow-french\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/french-podcasts-8.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
One Thing in a French Day<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"one-thing-in-a-french-day\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/one-thing-in-a-french-day.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFran\u00e7ais Authentique<\/em> (Authentic French)<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"francais-authentique\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/francais-authentique.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLearn French by Podcast<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"learn-french-by-podcast\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/learn-french-by-podcast.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nVideos for Conversational and Authentic French Shadowing<\/h2>\n
Compr\u00e9hension Orale<\/em> (Oral Comprehension)<\/a><\/h3>\n
FluentU<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/iTunesArtwork@1x.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\nAudiobooks for Shadowing French with a Story<\/h2>\n
LibriVox<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"librivox\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/shadowing-french-3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAudible<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"audible\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/audible.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n