French Apps for Kids (And some for Adults)
A list of French apps for kids (and some also for adults) that can help to improve their language skills.
French language learning apps can be a great way to help kids learn the French language.
These apps can help children to practice their reading, writing and for some of these apps, kids are even prompted to practice their spoken French.
Technology can be particularly helpful in this sense when access to native French speakers via the community or through travel is limited.
10 French Apps for Kids
Check out these 10 French apps for kids and get your French learner well on their way to learning Français!
1. Gus on the Go
Ages 2-6
Gus on the Go is a favorite French app for kids among parents and teachers, and it comes in 14 languages! Kids help Gus the owl on his adventures through actions such as picture matching and other games. Before advancing to the game and story component of each section, users complete a short vocabulary orientation session.
This French language learning app is easy to navigate from the beginning- a huge plus with kids and something that makes it easy to pull out for a few quick minutes of language learning while waiting at the doctor’s office.
One of the nicest things about Gus on the Go is that they also offer free pintables such as story puppets, number flash cards and other fun accompaniments to the app.
2. Tchoupi Joue Avec Les Couleurs and Tchoupi Joue Avec Les Lettres
Ages 2-4
Tchoupi is a well-known and well-loved character in French children’s books for the toddler set. Right off the bat, if your child loves Tchoupi and his day to day comings and goings, they’ll be sure to love this French app for kids.
Each application allows kids to experiment with and learn colors and letters. Kids can start off in the app with an overview of colors or letters before they start the activities and games. Fun activities ensue like composing a song on a musical, colorful artists palette or coloring are two of nine different fun learning activities.
3. Nathan Maternelle
Ages- 3-6
Nathan Maternelle is a series of French “preschool” applications. There are three French learning apps that target different age groups (3-4, 4-5, and 5-6). Each of them help children learn French working on math, reading, and writing skills through amusing activities.
This French learning app for kids has activities help children recognize French vowel sounds, count, match quantities, recognize words, and trace cursive letters with their finger. The activities are quick and fun!
4. Je lis et j’écris (I Read and I Write)
Ages 4 and up
This French learning app for kids is from the same company that created Jeux pour Lire avec Sami et Julie. Je Lis et J’ecris focuses on helping kids learning French to read and write. One of the nice things about this language app is it doesn’t just help learners with letters, phonics and words (though those are wonderful tools!). There’s a functionality in the application that allows kids to practice writing letters, letter pairings and words directly on the screen with their finger or a stylus.
One aspect that I love about this French learning app is that it the words are in cursive as French children learn to read and write in cursive first. Je lis et j’ecris also provides sweet rhymes and poems to help kids remember what they’ve learned. To make it a bit trickier, kids can practice writing more quickly while they chase a cute little bunny!
5. Jeux Pour Lire avec Sami et Julie
Ages 6-8
Jeux pour lire is a French app for kids who are school age. This langauge learning app aims to help children learn to read in French with a series of games that focus on phonics and syllables.
The “theme” of the app is an amusement park or carnival lending reading quite the festive atmosphere! Kids can progress through four different levels as they learn more. It starts off with basic phonics matching through click and drags and caps off with unscrambling and decoding activities.
Though simple, this langauge app may prove helpful in your efforts as you teach your child or students to read French.
6. Mon encyclopédie interactive Dokéo (My Amazing Learning Library)
Ages 6-8
Mon encyclopédie interactive Dokéo is an interactive encyclopedia for children ages 6-8. You can operate this app in an exploratory mode or a game mode where users are quizzed. This language learning app is divided into 5 units: Nature, history, the human body, the modern world, the earth & the universe. Each unit has nine interactive scenes.
This French app for kids is great for listening comprehension. There isn’t any reading or writing so this could work for slightly younger kids with a good grasp of French and the maturity to understand the content.
7. Boukili
Ages: 6 and up
Boukili is a French Canadian kids’ app developed by an Ontario-based French language and culture educational resource. It’s a good language learning app for kids that have some basic reading skills.
The app allows kids to access age-appropriate stories in French. So many audio books or listening materials for kids don’t have many stories but Boukili has 54 books! Every book includes audio as well as text to read along with.
In addition to the stories, there are games and activities that kids can do to reinforce vocabulary from the stories as well as their comprehension of what happened in the story they listened to.
French Learning Apps for Kids and Adults
8. Mango Languages
Ages 12 and up
Using the Mango Languages French learning app is a great way to help older children learn French. Adults can also give this one a go too.
The content is approved and designed by linguists, features native speaker audio, and includes essential cultural insights as learning culture is an integral part of learning a language.
French is taught through a variety of activities with one of the most creative options being practicing real world conversations through the app.
9. Duolingo
Ages: 8 and up
Duolingo is one of the best foreign language learning resources for both kids and adults out there. Duolingo is structured like a game. If you already have some prior knowledge of French, you can “test in” and they’ll put you at the right level for you. This is such a bonus for kids that already have some French ability!
After you text in or start at the beginning, you’ll be prompted with questions asking you to identify the French word when provided with the English word. You may also be asked to translate a sentence from French to English or vice versa. There is a native speaker providing pronunciation for each question, sentence or vocabulary word.
One of the great things about Duolingo is they’ll also provide you with a sentence in French, you record yourself saying it and they’ll evaluate whether your pronunciation is close enough to the correct pronunciation!
After you complete a mini lesson, Duolingo will let you know how well you did by awarding different points and badges for things like consistency in practicing the language, practicing without making any mistakes etc. Duolingo also has podcasts with interesting articles in the language including both a French and English side by side transcript. The podcast topics are more for teenagers to adults.
10. FluentU
Ages 12 and up
FluentU is a costly app with a monthly, or yearly subscription, but it’s one of the most comprehensive language learning tools out there.
The thing that makes them the most unique is that they use music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks into an amazing language learning experience- and a much more interesting one at that.
This approach is particularly effective as learners will hear language as native speakers truly speak it in everyday life and not “textbook French.”
Know another French app for kids?
If you know another French app for kids or adults, let us know! We are always looking for more language learning apps in French!
Make sure to check out our main post with more fun language learning apps in French and other languages too. Here are some more French resources for kids.
- Best authentic French books for kids
- Best French movies for kids
- Best French nursery rhymes for kids
- Best French songs for kids
Author: Alexandria is a writer, educator and community advocate who helps readers learn about about travel, history, language, culture and more through through the lens of multicultural and anti-bias education. She is a native English speaker who also speaks French and Mandarin Chinese.
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