Entendu: Great French Radio

Obviously, I love music. With online French radio, I can kill two birds with one stone: improving my French and keeping up with the best new tunes. Here are a few of my favorite internet stations to listen to:

Radio Nova: I discovered this station on my first trip to Paris and listening to its internet stream back in the States kept my ears and heart connected to Paris until my return. Radio Nova plays all genres of music, from oldies and pop to reggae, trip-hop and rap, plus they feature in-studio interviews and acoustic concerts and sometimes broadcast live from events around the city. I've discovered some of my favorite new songs and even absorbed a few French phrases by keeping this continuously on while working or doing chores around the house.

OuiFM: This site allows you to choose from several genre streams, (blues, rock, indie, alternative, pop), all of which feature impeccably chosen tunes. My favorite is the OuiFM Collector station, which usually plays great classic rock and exposes me to some old gems I never even heard in my dad's pickup truck in the '80s.

CherieFM: This one is like the silly, cute cousin of the other two stations - it has celebrity gossip on the home page and gives you a choice between 28 stations, some of which crack me up like "Cherie Adele," "Cherie Fitness" and "Cherie At Work"(in case you like the safe sort of music you'd hear at the dentist's office). Personally, I'm partial to Cherie Party, for obvious reasons.

And here's a bonus listening experience I just discovered: News In Slow French. It's exactly what it sounds like and it's fantastic for people like me who continually ask Parisians to please slow down and repeat every single sentence. In addition to weekly podcasts, they offer downloadable flash cards that reference the trickier (i.e. non-beginner) phrases in each podcast.

And, if you enjoy being overwhelmed, check out Listen Live, a comprehensive list of French radio stations. Let me know which ones you listen to!