What is a graded reader?
Graded readers are a fantastic way to improve your reading in a foreign language. Graded readers are stories that have been written for a specific level.
So if you’re a beginner French learner, you can find fun stories that have been written specifically for French beginners.
Why use graded readers?
Graded readers are great to use to help you improve your reading comprehension in a language.
If you are reading stuff that is too difficult for you, you’re going to lose interest and you probably won’t take that much in. If you have to look up one in ten words you won’t engage with the story and you’ll be more likely to stop.
Similarly if you’re only reading children’s stories, they can become quite boring as the stories are aimed at children and you might find that you don’t want to read.
Of course children’s stories work for some people, but we would recommend graded readers as they have been written with old learners in mind but who are at a beginner or intermediate level.
Check out the benefits of graded readers here.
Best French Graded Readers
We have broken our selection down into French graded readers for beginner, intermediate and advanced French leaners.
Best French Books For Beginners
At a beginner level you want to find books that are fun and interesting while still being manageable for a beginner French learner. The books you read need to have appropriate vocabulary and grammar for a beginner level.
Short Stories In French For Beginners – Olly Richards
The reviews on this book speak for themselves. Olly Richards has managed to create a whole collection of language books to help learners and his French short story collection for beginners is just as popular.
Olly is an active member of the language learning community and as someone who has learned foreign languages himself he understands what his readers need to get started. This is a French book for beginners that we would highly recommend.
Buy on Amazon here
French Short Stories For Beginners – Lingo Mastery
Lingo Mastery’s French short stories for beginners includes 20 short stories for readers to engage with and use to improve their French. And after each story you will find a synopsis in both French and English to help you check your understanding.
Buy on Amazon here
Best French Books For Intermediates
At an intermediate level your French will be reaching a certain degree of fluency but you won’t have mastery of the language yet, which makes books at this level the most difficult to find as you still need targeted vocabulary and grammar.
Intermediate French Short Stories – LingoMastery
Lingo Mastery’s Intermediate French Short Stories are the perfect stepping stone between beginner and advanced French reading. The book contains 10 short stories with vocabulary matched to intermediate learners.
They have also made a conscious effort to include natural dialogues to help you read French that you might encounter in day to day life.
Buy on Amazon here
Intermediate French Short Stories – Touri
The great thing about the Touri French short story collection for intermediate learners is that at the end of each chapter you can find a list of the vocabulary that appears in the chapter. So if you encounter a new word and you’re not sure what it is you know you’ll be able to check once you finish the chapter.
Buy on Amazon here
Best French Books For Advanced Learners
At an advanced French level you’re probably at the stage where you no longer need graded readers and can move onto French books for adults.
However, if you’re working towards advanced and you would like that step before you transition to regular French books then here are our recommendations of best french books for advanced learners.
The Picture Of Dorian Gray – Le Portrait De Dorian Gray
A French to English bilingual book with a French dictionary to help you with the words you don’t know, while reading a story that you do.
Buy here on Amazon
Alice In Wonderland – Alice Au Pays De Merveilles
These two bilingual books are the perfect step for intermediate French learners before they move onto regular French books. They take the stories that you know and love and deliver it in a way you can learn French while engaging with your favourite characters.
For an intermediate French learner we would highly recommend these two stories. They are also more stories in the MostUsedWords collection which you can explore for yourself and choose your favourite story to read.
Buy here on Amazon
Final thoughts
These are our recommendation of the best French books for beginners, intermediates and advanced learners. But it’s important to remember that every learner has different needs and interests. The right book for one person may not be the right book for somebody else.
Take a look at different French graded readers, read reviews and find out which one suits you the best. Remember reading should be fun!
When learning French it’s important that you practise all of the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. And reading French graded readers is a great way to practise the reading component.
Even if you just read one page a day you’ll notice a different to your French reading skills. The important thing is finding a French book that is interesting to you and that you can enjoy. Although you’re learning, reading should be fun, it shouldn’t be a chore.
So unless you’re advanced and really into books, don’t go finding a French translation of a Charles Dickens book. Start at your level and work your way up and you’ll find that you enjoy reading in French a lot more. A little bit of success can go a long way for your confidence.
What are your opinions on our list of best French graded readers? Are there any that you think should be added to the list of are worth a mention? And which French graded reader are you currently reading? Let us know in the comment below.
And now that you’ve found some fun French books to read why not take a look at our recommendations of the best French textbooks currently available.
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