There are plenty of different ways to listen to French in the UK.
Radio
Radio is a great way to listen to French in the background while doing other things. You can then start integrating the music of the language and the culture of the country without realising it. For those with a higher level of French, it is a good way to improve on your French.
Since 1986, French radios are legally obliged to broadcast at least 40% of French songs with 50% new hits / new singers (if you want to know more about this regulation, click here). This law was passed to protect French artists from international / English speaking hits. As a result, you will always be able to listen to a lot of French songs while also accessing the latest english speaking international hits from the USA and UK. We usually also have a lot of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian hits, especially in the summer.
France Bleu Nord (FM 95.5 mHz) A radio with songs, games and nice chats. France Bleu is a national radio with regional programs. Here we can get France Bleu Nord, the radio for the North region of France. https://www.francebleu.fr/nord
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RTL (AM 234 kHz ) One of my favourite radio to get the latest news in France and keep in touch with how the French are feeling and reacting. RTL is a great radio for information, nice talk shows and some music. https://www.rtl.fr/direct
Please note: these three radios are available quite far up Kent providing you have a good aerial. If you live closer to the coast like in Folkestone or Dover, you should be able to get more French radios directly in your car.
RFM is my favourite radio for the morning. A radio with a mix of French and international songs from the 80’s to nowadays and the right amount of news and games http://www.rfm.fr/player
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NRJ, a radio for the younger generation radio with the latest hits. It is one the most popular din France. The equivalent of Heart radio d://www.nrj.fr/webradios/nrj
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Nostalgie, a great radio if you want to listen older hits from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s or sometimes older and get a feel of what France was listening yesterday. https://www.nostalgie.fr/webradios/nostalgie
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France Info, for hardcore information and talkshows and for those with already a good level in French. It used to be available directly in the UK but changes in coverage rules stopped this. I used to listen to it quite a lot in the morning on my way to work to get a good overview of what was happening in news (France & International). https://www.francetvinfo.fr/en-direct/radio.html
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Fun Radio, the dancefloor radio with the latest hits and usually for the younger generation. The equivalent of Radio 1. https://www.funradio.fr/
Extra Resource: This site gathers all the key radios allowing you to access the live streaming and the list of their programmes in one place. You just need to click on the name of the radio you wish to listen to https://www.ecouter-en-direct.com https://www.ecouter-en-direct.com/
TV
TV is a way trickier than radio. Due to copyrights and broadcast regulations, there are a lot of programs that you cannot access outside France and very very few channels are available free to air without a specific system.
However, there are ways! And considering the amount of hours I have spent trying to access my favourite programs and channels, I have become quite an expert!
Since the end of 2018, TV5 is no longer available in the UK (this was a disaster for many French people…). So the only channel you can widely watch is France 24, the news channel. You will get the information with the French angle but it will be in English.
The other way is to get Fransat or TNT directly. This will require a dish installation (you cannot use your Sky dish as it is too small, 60 cm minimum and is not set up towards the right satellite, Eutelsat 5° ) and a box with a card (you can get the box directly in France providing you can supply a French address or get it from the many dish companies in Kent). perosnnally, I used an Ashford aerial company for the dish and got the box in France. This involves a set up fee but then it is free!
Ok so watching TV directly is not that simple. So the obvious behavior would be to online and watch everything you want. Nooooo…. Wrong answer!!!!!
A enormous amount of programs can only be watched from France and are VPN recognised. However, you can usually watch entertainment and news related programs, which already quite a lot! Usually if there aren’t any celebrities or it is not a movie, you can watch it. Here is the list of our key channels with their VOD pages. Listing all the programs available will take too long and it changes too often. So I will leave you have a play with it! I do post program links on my facebook, so keep you eyes open!
You will need a French account but film and serie bonanza!
You can also access French series and movies via Netflix and Amazon Prime
*To listen to French (adults)
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