French Short Stories: Use Stories You Love To Learn A New Language

One of the best and most enjoyable ways to learn French is by reading short stories. 

Forget the endless rules and requirements; by reading French short stories, you actually learn to think in French — and that's a vital progression in every language learning journey.

If you're just looking for the best books of short French stories, here's what I recommend:

• French Short Stories For Beginners
• French Stories For Intermediate Learners

In this article, I'll explain exactly what you'll get from these short story books. I'll also let you in on the secrets as to why reading stories is such a powerful way to help you master the French language.

Why Learn French With Stories?

Have you ever thought about learning French through stories? It sounds like a dream — Is learning to understand a language and having fun at the same time even possible?

Well, from all my years of teaching and learning languages myself (eight and counting!) I've discovered that basing your language learning around an input method like reading stories is a powerful way to succeed.  

Remember the textbooks and tedious classroom studies you sat through in school?

You can say goodbye to that boredom when you read short stories in French. Instead, with French Short Stories, you'll find a rich and rewarding day-to-day experience of language learning, quite unlike anything you've tried in the past. 

Learning by reading and interacting with stories is entertaining as well as being extremely effective, and here's why:

1. Context – Instead of focusing on unrelated grammar points or isolated words, you see them all in the context of a story. As you read and reread each tale, you naturally internalize the language and understand how it's used in real life.
2. Meaning – Stories make it easy to understand what's happening in the text. You can relate to the events within a tale more easily than a set of theories or facts. And, of course, when learning is fun and memorable, it's far more likely to stay in your brain. 
3. Emotion – You get emotionally invested in a fictional story. It's easy to care about the characters and want them to have a happy ending. That alone makes a story fun to read.

The anticipation and desire to discover what happens next draws you in. You can't help but keep reading — and every word contributes to your growing comprehension. Your vocabulary expands, and grammar rules suddenly seem to make sense in a way they didn't before. 

And, of course, there's such a sense of achievement when you get to the end of a story. 

That's the beauty of reading a French short story…

They are fun, entertaining AND educational. All your vocab and grammar wrapped up in eight, charming stories. 

Introducing… Short Stories In French

I've published two short story books in French:

• Short Stories In French For Beginners
• Short Stories In French For Intermediate Learners

These books use my unique StoryLearning® method to teach you French naturally.

They allow you to absorb the French language naturally while reading entertaining stories at your level, instead of wading through endless rules and practice exercises.

Each book features a collection of eight entertaining short stories for young and adult learners.

The beginner book of easy French short stories has been written primarily for students from beginner to intermediate level (A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference).

The short stories in French for intermediate students are written for students from a low-intermediate to intermediate level (B1-B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference).

The beauty of this is that you're reading at your level, which allows you to focus on enjoying the story and absorbing the meaning without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. 

Learning French stops being a painful chore; instead, it's an easy, pleasant part of your everyday routine.

Click here to purchase your copy now.

What's Included In The French Short Story Books?

I've carefully designed these books to be fun, easy to use and comprehensive so you can get the most out of your learning.

Here's what you'll find inside:

• Delightful reading practice at YOUR level (beginner or intermediate) lets you spend time with the story instead of burying your head in a dictionary.
• Controlled language – lets you progress confidently between levels. The beginner book includes the 1,000 most frequent French words, and the intermediate book has thousands more.
• Authentic spoken dialogues – introduce conversational expressions and help you improve your speaking ability even while you read.
• Accessible grammar – not only do you use new structures naturally, but the Beginner book focuses on the passé composé, used in spoken French. That makes it easier for you to transfer from reading to speaking.
• Chapter summaries and comprehension questions. These features scaffold your understanding and help you follow the plot. 
• Vocabulary lists help you to speedily look up unfamiliar words without interrupting the flow of the story.
• Beautiful hand-drawn illustrations which bring the stories to life and make them more memorable.

Now, if you want to practice your French listening while you read, we've made high-quality new audio recordings available to accompany each book. With two forms of input – listening and reading, you can double your learning time's effectiveness. (Audio sold separately.)

And there's also a handy ​Interactive app so you can read, listen and learn all at the same time…at home or on the go! “I don't have enough time” will never be an excuse again!

Click here to purchase your copy now.

About The Author

In case you’re new here, let me introduce myself. My name is Olly Richards and I’m a language educator, author and polyglot from the UK, who speaks 8 languages.

I’ve created dozens of critically acclaimed language courses and published a bestselling series of short story books in sixteen languages.

I’ve also been featured widely in international press from the BBC to the Independent, and am a regular speaker at international language events.

What Do Readers Say About These Short Story In French Books?

Students from around the globe love learning with my short story books. But don’t take my word for it.

Here’s how readers describe the experience of learning with short stories: 

Language Teachers Love These Funny French Short Stories Too

As you can see, language learners around the world love learning with Short Stories in German. But they’re not the only ones…

Language teachers often tell me how much they enjoy using a story in French in their lessons because they make learning fun and minimise all those hours of stressful lesson prep.

Supplementary teaching materials are available to accompany these books for teachers who want quick, easy, and engaging supplementary materials for their lessons.

If you’re a teacher, click here to find out more.

Short Stories In French: A Great Way To Learn Fast & Have Fun!

As you can see, reading French short stories is one of the best things you can do to improve your language skills.

And best of all… it allows you to learn the language in a fun and natural way, without memorising long lists of words and grammar rules.

So what are you waiting for?

Head on over to Amazon or your favourite local bookshop and grab your copy of my French short story books now!

Click the link below to purchase your copy (available in Kindle & Paperback):

• Short Stories In French For Beginners
• Short Stories In French For Intermediate Learners

Happy reading!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.