French Short Stories for Beginners

Good way to start learning French

I liked the fact that the narrators speak slowly and sometimes repeat the words/phrases so you can fully understand them. I also liked that they use a simple but really commonly used vocabulary, having the proper French accent.

Now I feel more confident in my abilities to speak French, a language I always wanted to learn. I am currently a bit closer to my dream of going to France and only talk in French.

The stories are interesting because they are contemporary and the narrators talk about very common topics, which is a very good way to learn the most used words.

Overall, it’s a very efficient and easy way to start learning French. I can listen to it whenever I want: while cooking, driving, before going to bed, etc. It’s a game changer!

Definitely recommend!

26 of 26 people found this review helpful

Just what I needed!

Would you consider the audio edition of French Short Stories for Beginners to be better than the print version?

Yes, because now I can learn how to properly pronounce the words instead of just reading them. You can easily find out how to words are spelled online, but you can't always find proper pronunciation for these words, which is quite useful in real life

What did you like best about this story?

What i liked best was the vocabulary flash cards in midst of the stories which helped me stay on track and not lose attention.

What does Frederic Bibard and Mariem Nouni bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

What they brought to the story in my opinion is the sense of understanding how to tell a story as if it's a real story that happened. It's not as apparent as one might think if a book was just read.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Francais pour vous

Any additional comments?

When I was school, French was my third language.. We didn't focus that much on learning it in school, so by the time I finished, I had the basics covered but not much else. I recently had a trip to France, during which I was even more sure that my French was disastrous. This is why I took a decision to improve my French, I started off by Googling for resources and translating as I went but it didn't take me far. However, this audible book was a saviour! The amount of stories included was more than enough and the idea of the "flash cards" in the story helped me keep track of my vocabulary and following through the story as it's being told. I believe this resource is great for people like me with previous basic knowledge in French. It can also be quite useful for people who are still learning at the beginning but are eager to pursue their goal in learning French. C'est une langue tres magnifique!

18 of 18 people found this review helpful

A Fantastic Book! I would definitely recommend

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would most certainly recommend this book to a friend. This book has helped me rediscover my long-lost love of the French Language and Culture as a whole. I bought this book after a recommendation from a friend and I must say that I am supremely happy with it!
One of the hardest things about learning a new language is being able to practice it on a consistent basis, this book tackles that problem head on by providing easy to access short stories which are each fun and engaging. This book comes with audio narration which is very clear and helps an incredible amount with pronunciation. The stories are read at a nice steady pace for a beginner like me. Learn French with Stories will have you talking French in no time at all!

What was one of the most memorable moments of French Short Stories for Beginners?

After reading you part of a story, the narrator repeats the sentence slowly, going over each word and phrase. This is incredibly helpful as it reinforces how words and phrases an be strung together to form meaning.

Have you listened to any of Frederic Bibard and Mariem Nouni ’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Personally, I have not listened to any other performance by Frederic Bibard and Mariem Nouni. However, the narration in this book is truly amazing and based on this fact I would certainly consider giving their other performances a listen.

Any additional comments?

If you are interested in learning French, this is the book for you.

17 of 17 people found this review helpful

Very clear and easy to understand!

What made the experience of listening to French Short Stories for Beginners the most enjoyable?

This book is very informative and great for beginners! Also the audio is very clear.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Excellent Way to Brush Up on Conversational French

Any additional comments?

Since completing my GCSEs half a decade ago, I’ve seldom had the time or the opportunity to rekindle my French speaking and listening skills. Having since tried a few online language-learning sites to keep the spark alive, I quickly found myself unmotivated to push through the laborious process of vocabulary and grammar memorisation.

This book, however, provides a more relaxing and effortless way to experience some conversational French, spoken with clarity and astute inflection. The stories include plenty of simple vocabulary that even I could recall from GCSE French, and provides translations for the more difficult words.

The stories cover a range of topics, and are segmented into complete French readings and recaps of vocabulary. This provides a good balance between being able to sit back and enjoy the stories, and learning the required vocabulary.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone wanting to brush up on their French before travel, or those who would like to supplement their learning after starting the language.

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Helpful book. Do not hesitate to buy it.

I recommend this audiobook to anyone who’s looking forward to learn French.
First of all, I like the fact that the author is open to speak with the public and that he is offering his contact details for opinions about the book.
Second of all, the book is sectioned in chapters. This comes really handy in case you want to get back to a specific story.

Another good thing about this book is that it is not only French. You get translation in English, that comes again really handy if you want to write some words down and memorize them.

In the end, I fully recommend this audiobook for anyone who enjoys learning a new language or just improving their vocabulary in a fun and enjoyable way.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

French Stories review

Where does French Short Stories for Beginners rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was my first audiobook I've ever listened to. It certainly has opened up doors for me to try out new audiobooks online.

What was one of the most memorable moments of French Short Stories for Beginners?

How clear and easy each chapter was to follow. I'm still not ready to fully understand the story without the translation, however the narrators has made this a really enjoyable experience.

What about Frederic Bibard and Mariem Nouni ’s performance did you like?

I liked how the opening chapter was introduced by Federic and how he invited the users to follow him to the later chapters for advanced lessons while leading the beginners to Mariem's chapters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are many aspects to this book to fully understand first to be truly moved by this audiobook. Having said this, the audibook has motivated me to find and learn more ways to study the French language.

Any additional comments?

I found this audible book a great way to pick up the French language even when I have little time to spare; it was great to have it playing in the background as I worked on projects. The audio voice used is of high quality and repeats sentence and words in a clear and slow manner. The sentence/ word begins in French and is then translated into English. It then is repeated in French a final time slowly. I found this format order really helpful as I do not have the need to stop my work progress to rewind and repeat.


As we progress through the chapters, there are vocabulary recaps. This gives the user a sense of progression rather than have them learn tediously from start to finish.

The only downside I found to this style of learning is not being able to spell words I've learnt correctly. There were a couple of times I found words and sentences that interests me enough to note down. Later I had to do a google search to check if I had spelled them correctly.

Overall, I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning or brushing up on the French language.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Highly recommended!!!

It is a very fun and helpful material to learn the French language with. It has further ignited my interest to study the language. Very informative! Easy to recall since words are repeated a couple of times. The pace (of the speaker) was easy to follow. As it is an audio material, you can listen to it anywhere which makes it very handy. Thank you. Highly recommended!

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

An easy and entertaining way of learning French

Would you consider the audio edition of French Short Stories for Beginners to be better than the print version?

Yes. The audio book is indeed a great way of learning the French language especially for someone like me who is just starting learning the language and likewise for someone who is not much of a reader. For me, learning French is quite a challenge because it is different from the way English words are spoken or pronounced; but, this audio book made it easy for me to follow along and practice the proper way of speaking the language. In addition, I can listen to it anywhere and anytime I want.

I think the audio book can function as a stand-alone. However, for someone who is just starting learning the language, I think it is best to combine both the audio and the print version. By listening to the audio and reading the print all at once makes the learning experience more effective.

What was one of the most memorable moments of French Short Stories for Beginners?

I like the story content. They are simple yet interesting and relates to real life and everyday situations and thus easy to picture out. It’s as if I am also there as the story is being told. The story in chapter 9 brings back memories of my travel adventures. I also like how the stories are crafted, that as I continue to listen to it, I gradually get familiar with the words and develop an understanding as to the meaning of the words and the way the phrases or sentences are structured.

What does Frederic Bibard and Mariem Nouni bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The first part is about getting acquainted with the language. Here, Mariem read the story by paragraphs and in between the paragraphs, the words or phrases are then broken down for translation. This is where the first phase of learning takes place; that is, to get familiar with the words and how the words are pronounced. Obviously, the audio book provided the pronunciation lesson which the printed version of the book was unable to address.

The second part provides level 2 of the learning process; that is, to practice listening and integrate what was learned from the first part. Here, the short stories are narrated by Frederick in full French, at a slow pace.

The third and last part of the book I think is for someone who is already comfortable with the language. It is similar to level 2 where Frederick narrated the stories in full French but this time at a normal pace.

Therefore; the audio book sets different levels of learning; whereas, the printed version/PDF copy does not. The PDF copy only provided the first part minus the pronunciation guide.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I think so. Since I like the story content because it is very much realistic and relatable, I would want to just continue listening to it until it ends.

Any additional comments?

I appreciate that the book included a vocabulary recap at the end of each chapter because it allows me to test my learning. I just wished that the audio book also repeated the paragraphs at the end of each set of translations to put newly learnt words or phrases to test and better understand the thought of each paragraph.

23 of 24 people found this review helpful

I am impressed. This beat my expectations.

This is the very first book I got on audible.
I did not expect the book to be the way it was. The book was nicely organized and blew me away by how structured it was. I wish the PDF was part of the audio book like lyrics on an mp3. However reading the PDF and listening to the audio was a pleasant experience. I have naturally put hours into this book. It's perfect for beginners to anyone lacking the French language.
It's my go to place to learn French.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful