How to make baguette

April 5, 2023 12:34 PM

I'm learning French and I need to expand my vocabulary. I love watching process videos in English (think a trip to the pencil factory style vibe). Do you have any recommendations of what I could watch en français ?

All channels and mediums welcome bar Tik Tok as I am an ancient. Either audio or subtitles are great. This Ask feels spot on but I want French please!

Merci beaucoup.

posted by socky_puppy to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Best answer: C'est pas sorcier! Short 1-minute demos to half-hour and 1-hour episodes on all sorts of (science-y) topics.
posted by pendrift at 12:59 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I recently learned about Guédelon Castle, an experimental archaeology project started in 1997, wherein they are building a 14th century castle with only 14th century techniques and tools. After exhausting all the English content I could find, I discovered a series of short episodes in French, created by the project to encourage visitors. 33 episodes, 4-9 minutes each. I curated them into a playlist here.
posted by droomoord at 2:21 PM on April 5, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Not sure if these are exactly the sorts of videos you seek (and it's Quebec French, so may be different from what you're used to):

I found this video of a visit to a berry farm (13 varieties of raspberries!) interesting.

And I'm not sure about its availability outside of Canada, but there's also this documentary series about a med school graduate football player who runs his family's bakery.
posted by fruitslinger at 2:43 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I browse through the INA archives from time to time. Quality can vary (people mumble sometimes), but there's a massive collection there, and some are compelling. Some videos are behind a paywall. The INA channel on YouTube also has much of their collection--and is more likely to have subtitles to follow, either supplied with the video or auto-generated.
posted by gimonca at 2:53 PM on April 5, 2023

Here's an INA video, originally from France 2 TV, on colored pencils. They really do have just about everything.
posted by gimonca at 2:58 PM on April 5, 2023

Best answer: Follow Simon Auscher on Instagram. He's a French chef - I vouch for his stacked potatoes, they were amazing - and once you follow him and like a few videos you will quickly be inundated by reels upon reels of other francophone chefs.
posted by mygothlaundry at 3:13 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If one of your qualifiers for "process videos" is recipes - then I'd recommend Hervé Cuisine - here he is talking you through a shimp and avocado salad. - I also like the French version of Masterchef - which is, as you might guess, quite exacting.

Finally - because of your title - I would recommend Geraldine from Comme Une Francaise talk about bread etiquette. Don't be that person who makes the faux pas of putting their baguette on the table upside down!
posted by rongorongo at 1:02 AM on April 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: These are all magnifique, merci beaucoup! For all following, I found this amazing list on Reddit of French videos and podcasts (with transcriptions). This will probably lead me dans le trou du lapin for at least six months!

Highlights so far include the SNCF channel and TED talks en français.
posted by socky_puppy at 1:15 AM on April 10, 2023