Affaires étrangères (podcast)
Subject: French
Type: Podcast
By: Christine Ockrent
How long is it?
There are 498 episodes. The episodes are around one hour long.
Is it easy to understand?
It may be difficult to follow for complete beginners.
Who is it for?
It is aimed at anyone with an interest in world news.
How recent is it?
Affaires étrangères began in 2013 and continues to release episodes to this day.
A sample of episode titles from Affaires étrangères
Élections britanniques : une alternance apaisée
Plus de vieux, moins d’enfants : le monde en transition
La militarisation de l’espace
Ukraine, Gaza : la diplomatie entre deux guerres
80 ans après : l’état de l’Alliance Atlantique
La guerre au Proche-Orient et la justice internationale
Vu du Japon : l’axe Russie-Chine et la recomposition de l’ordre international
Taylor Swift : mondialisation, politique et algorithmes
La recomposition du monde : dialogue Ghassan Salamé/Thomas Gomart
Xi Jinping bientôt à Paris : les enjeux pour la France et l’Europe
Iran-Israël : les limites de la dissuasion
Présidentielle américaine : justice et désinformation
Gaza : l’impuissance internationale
Européenes : une campagne sous tensions
TikTok : algorithmes et mondialisation
Sénégal : la démocratie sur la braise
Russie : le simulacre de l’élection présidentielle
Les États-Unis : la campagne s’accélère
l’Ukraine, deux ans après
Russie : le martyre de Navalny
My thoughts…
Can you learn a language by listening to it?
I think we can learn languages by listening, or at the very least, we can make great strides in our progress. We all learnt our first languages by listening, so it must be possible to do the same when we are older. However, it’s not that simple. We are unlikely to be immersed in the new language we want to learn, as infants are, unless we travel to another country and spend a long time there. Even then, we can get by pretty well in some places without absorbing anything, as long as they have self-service checkouts and digital menus. Nevertheless, some activities are very useful and do not require a plane ticket, such as watching a movie in French (with French subtitles), watching a French TV programme for kids, listening to the News in Slow French podcast or listening to a French audiobook.