Prononciation
Fonetik – Les sons français en dix leçons (University of Hong Kong). Very useful site for an introduction to French pronunciation. (Especially for nasal vowels, the R sound, and the E sounds.)
Résumé des sons du français en API
Pour le fun : check out the project Phonologie du Français Contemporain (PFC), you can listen to French from all over the place. This for an interesting example. (If you have a hard time understanding her, don’t panic, it’s not your fault!)
Astuces ordinateurs
To type French on the computer, you can activate a French keyboard and switch back and forth between it and your regular layout. The French layout is called AZERTY (rather than QWERTY). This can be done on Windows, Mac or Linux. Some instructions from UIPUI and from Mount Holyoke. Ask me if you need any help!
For on-the-go typing, try: french.typeit.org
Dicos
The ever-useful WordReference (don’t forget they have a verb conjugator too). Don’t miss the forum links at the bottom.
CNRTL – Very official and staid. Useful for checking pronounciations.
Le Dictionnaire de la zone – slang, argot, verlan…
Not quite a dictionary: La Banque de dépannage linguistique (BDL) to clear up all your doubts about everything.
Radios
Radio France – Inter, Info, Culture…
RFI (Radio France Internationale)
CBC (Canada) ou écouter en direct
RTBF (Belgique)
Si vous avez Internet sur votre portable, ne manquez pas l’appli TuneIn – ça vous permet d’écouter plein de radios différentes (dont celles-ci, d’ailleurs).
Journaux
Le Gorafi – very funny.
Le Canard enchaîné est bien. (Mal)heureusement, ils n’ont pas vraiment de site web.
