Watch French you can follow.
Keep every word.
Short videos you understand from what you see on screen, sessions that end exactly when promised, and a memory system that brings every word back right before you'd forget it.
Start free
You don't study French here. You get used to it.
Your brain doesn't acquire a language from rules and drills. It acquires it by understanding real messages you can follow, which is what 40 years of research since Krashen keeps finding. So every video here is built so you understand it from what you see on screen, from your very first minute of French.
But understanding a word once isn't keeping it. Without reinforcement, most of what you understand today is gone within a week. That's just how memory works, and everything else on this page exists to close that gap.
We acquire language in one way, and only one way: when we get comprehensible input in a low-anxiety environment.
Videos a complete beginner can actually follow
You understand from the scene, not from translation
Hear "la femme porte un panier" while you watch a woman carry a basket, and your brain links French straight to meaning. That direct link is faster and more durable than routing every word through an English translation.
Built on the 1,000 words that matter
The 1,000 most frequent French words cover about 85% of everyday speech. Every video is built around that core, so your effort goes into words you'll actually use.
The same words keep coming back
Research says a word needs 8 to 12 meaningful encounters before it sticks. The videos hand you the first few across different scenes, and the memory system takes care of the rest.
One decision per session: how long
Press start and just be there. The length is your only decision, and the session ends exactly on time.
First pause: a breather
Thirty seconds to let what you just heard settle. That recovery does real work.
Later pauses: words come back
A few key words return. Tap to reveal and hear each one, or wait and it reveals itself. Nothing graded, the timer stays exact.
Short on purpose, so you stop while you still want more.
Every word you meet is remembered for you
This is the part no video library gives you.
Watch a video, and its key words are filed automatically
Each one comes back in a pause the next day, then a few days later, then a couple of weeks later, right before you'd forget it. Decades of memory research agree: recall at the right moment builds long-term memory far better than re-watching ever could.
Questions grow up with you
A new word shows up as recognition (what does "une glace" mean?). Once it's familiar, it flips to production (how do you say "ice cream" in French?). You never set this. It happens as your memory strengthens.
Words you've kept are marked "remembered"
After that they only check in once in a while. Your job is done; the counter goes up.
Nothing ever piles up
Miss a week and words simply wait, silently. There's no debt waiting for you, just the right words at the right time.
Want to own a word for good? Tap +
Tap + on any word to add it to your personal flashcard collection. FSRS (the engine serious Anki users trust) schedules it into a short Review flow you open when you're ready. Two taps after each reveal: I had it, or not yet. It's the only place you ever grade anything.
Calm by design
Nothing to keep alive
No points, no ranking, no red dot. There's nothing to defend and nothing to lose.
Miss a day, lose nothing
Nothing is held against you. When you come back, the right words are simply waiting.
The only numbers go up
Progress is three counts that only grow: words met, words kept, minutes of French.
The calm does real work too. A relaxed brain absorbs more, and with nothing to defend and no way to fail, the input actually gets in.
What the first months actually look like
You start noticing
A few words begin to feel familiar because you keep bumping into them. Homme. Petit. Regarde. No grammar rules yet, and none needed.
You start understanding
You understand a phrase before you can translate it. Words from three weeks ago come back in a pause, and you realize they stuck.
You start thinking in French
A French word arrives before its English equivalent. What's there stays there, because it was acquired and reinforced at the right moments instead of crammed and lost.
Every design choice above traces back to published research. The short version: comprehensible input is how language gets in; retrieval at the right moment is how it stays. The receipts:
References
- Stephen Krashen (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. The Input Hypothesis, the acquisition/learning distinction, the affective filter, the silent period.
- Bill VanPatten & Teresa Cadierno (1993). "Input Processing and Second Language Acquisition." The Modern Language Journal. Input-based instruction matches or beats output drilling on speaking.
- Allan Paivio (1986). Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach. Visual and verbal memory traces are independent and additive.
- Stuart Webb & Paul Nation (2017). How Vocabulary Is Learned. Frequency, repetition, spacing, and incidental vocabulary through extensive input.
- Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885). Über das Gedächtnis. The forgetting curve: memory decay is fast and predictable without reinforcement.
- Henry Roediger & Jeffrey Karpicke (2006). "The Power of Retrieval Practice." Psychological Science. Retrieval produces stronger long-term retention than re-studying; the advantage shows up at a delay, not immediately.
- Nate Kornell, Matthew Hays & Robert Bjork (2009). Journal of Experimental Psychology. Trying to recall and failing, then seeing the answer, still improves later memory, so a missed recall followed by feedback is never wasted.
- Tony Schwartz & Jim Loehr (2003). The Power of Full Engagement. Intense effort balanced by real recovery as the basis of sustained performance.