I can't believe nobody's recced poetry yet, because honestly, French poetry is amazing. Two of my favorites, off the top of my head: "Demain, dès l'aube" by Victor Hugo and "De même que Rousseau jadis fondait en pleurs" by François Coppée. You can find both online.
The movie "Persepolis", which is also a comic book, I think? I've never read it, but the movie was interesting.
As for music, I find that French music takes a while to appreciate. La chanson française needs to be appreciated in much the same way as poetry - I hated it at first, but now that I've reached a C1/C2 level in the language, I love it. Even if you never appreciate it and are one of the people who think it's cheesy, these might be worth checking out
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I'm just adding things to this thread as they come to me, let me know when you've had enough. Finding things I liked about French culture was a real problem for me when I was learning the language and had nobody to recommend anything to me, so now I'm paying it forward. You won't regret learning French; culturally, it's one of the most rewarding languages there is, in just about any medium. I'm grateful every day for all the years I spent working towards an advanced level.
I hate Amélie Nothomb as a writer (mostly because of sexist, homophobic and fatphobic stereotypes), but her books really are excellent at the level where you start reading authentic French novels for the first time. She writes in short, clear sentences, with little slang, and the story's usually interesting enough to keep you reading. I started with "L'hygiène de l'assassin," which is her first and - in my opinion - her best novel.
Oh don't stop. I'm going to go through all of the different recs slowly over the next couple of months. Add whatever comes to mind xD I'm always looking for stuff :)
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The movie "Persepolis", which is also a comic book, I think? I've never read it, but the movie was interesting.
As for music, I find that French music takes a while to appreciate. La chanson française needs to be appreciated in much the same way as poetry - I hated it at first, but now that I've reached a C1/C2 level in the language, I love it. Even if you never appreciate it and are one of the people who think it's cheesy, these might be worth checking out ( ... )
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I'm just adding things to this thread as they come to me, let me know when you've had enough. Finding things I liked about French culture was a real problem for me when I was learning the language and had nobody to recommend anything to me, so now I'm paying it forward. You won't regret learning French; culturally, it's one of the most rewarding languages there is, in just about any medium. I'm grateful every day for all the years I spent working towards an advanced level.
I hate Amélie Nothomb as a writer (mostly because of sexist, homophobic and fatphobic stereotypes), but her books really are excellent at the level where you start reading authentic French novels for the first time. She writes in short, clear sentences, with little slang, and the story's usually interesting enough to keep you reading. I started with "L'hygiène de l'assassin," which is her first and - in my opinion - her best novel.
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If you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the original, the French dub is excellent and easy to follow.
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