Where to Find French-dubbed Movies and How to Use Them

Watching English-language movies dubbed in French is a great way to learn the language. If you’ve already seen the movie in English, you’ll be familiar with the plot and can easily follow along.

That means you can focus more on the language, rather than trying to figure out what’s going on and who’s who. Today we’ll look at where you can find French-dubbed movies and how you can use them to improve your language skills. 

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Where to Find French-dubbed Movies

If you’re looking for French-dubbed movies, below are some places you can start. You can also check out this French movie round-up, which includes movies originally in French and dubbed in French. 

Streaming Services

• Netflix offers a range of movies and TV shows with French dubbing. To see the selection, click on “Browse by Languages” from the Netflix homepage on your laptop or desktop computer. Then you can choose dubbing in French to see what’s available. 
• Prime Video provides French-dubbed versions of many films. You can change the audio language in the settings. You can also try searching on Amazon.fr or Amazon.ca (for Canadian French).
• Disney+ includes French-dubbed versions of Disney movies and shows, but you might need a good VPN set to a French-speaking country to access them. Hulu and Max also offer some French content, although their selections are less extensive compared to other services.

French Platforms 

• Canal+ is a French premium television channel with a variety of films and TV shows, including French-dubbed movies like “Mean Girls,” “Grease” and “Clueless.” You’ll have to pay for a subscription for access.
• France.tv is a public TV network in France and the hub for various popular French TV channels. It broadcasts films and series, including some French-dubbed movies. To access the content, you’ll have to create a free account.
• TF1+ is another platform from France offering French-language and French-dubbed content. You can use it for free or pay for an ad-free plan with access to premium content. 

Websites

• YouTube may not offer a ton of full-length movies, but there are plenty of French-dubbed movie trailers—just search for bande-annonce (trailer). You can find a few movies dubbed in French, including Mrs. Doubtfire. 
• Vimeo occasionally features French-dubbed movies or short films. For example, you can watch the original “King Kong” movie from 1933 dubbed in French. 

• FluentU uses video clips such as movie trailers and scenes to teach French the way it’s used by native speakers. Learning tools like interactive subtitles and personalized quizzes will help you learn the language as you watch.

You can also check out FluentU’s YouTube videos to learn French with dubbed movies like “Despicable Me” and “Ratatouille”:

How to Choose French-dubbed Movies

When you’re picking a French-dubbed movie to watch, consider your French level. If you’re a beginner, you might feel most at ease with a movie you’ve seen before, and maybe even a childhood favorite that uses simpler language. 

Intermediate learners may wish to pick more recent favorites but be warned: while comedies are a great way to unwind in your native language, they can actually be harder to understand when dubbed. The jokes will be adapted for a French audience, so you may not understand them. 

Choose dramas first (all those pregnant pauses will give you time to catch up), and work your way up to comedies when your level of French is more advanced.

How to Learn with French-dubbed Movies

While watching a movie dubbed in French can be a fantastic learning technique all on its own, here are a few ideas to take the experience to the next level.

Turn on the French Subtitles

It might seem counterintuitive, but turning on the subtitles can actually help you pay closer attention to what’s being said and how it’s being said.

Subtitles never reflect exactly what’s being said on screen, so you’ll be forcing your brain to catch nuances between what’s written and what’s said, and that keeps you tuned in to the language.

Of course, they’re also helpful when you don’t catch a word or two. Check out these series and movies on Netflix with French subtitles. 

Translate the Dialogue Back to English

Watching a French-dubbed movie that’s originally in English gives you the option to watch both versions. Try listening to the French version and attempting to translate it back to English.

Choose a passage of the film, either a bit of dialogue or a long monologue by one character. Write down your guess for a translation, and check your answer by listening to the original. Try to see why your translation was different from the original version.

Do a Dubbed Dictation

Dictées (dictations) are a fantastic French exercise, particularly for improving your spelling. Pick a passage of the French film and use it to do your very own dictée by copying down, word for word, exactly what’s said.

While subtitles don’t always quite match up with what’s being said, they can be a good indicator to help you correct your dictée—or you could invite a French friend to watch with you and correct afterward!

Once you’ve learned to use French-dubbed movies to your advantage, you’ll see they’re a fantastic tool for improving your language skills. 

Enjoy your next movie night, in French! 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And one more thing...

If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)