Funny French commercial – The Candidate

The French accent is so cute – except when it isn’t. This funny French commercial makes fun of the penchant for dropping the letters “h” and “s” that is found in many French speakers. I have many students who are native Spanish speakers, and I mention to them some of the things that Spanish speakers tend to do when speaking French – saying “éStudier” and “Je vais à parler” for example. Obviously, it’s not a huge deal and people will still understand these accents, but it’s something to be aware of. If you want to show this video in your classes, make sure to preview it – it probably isn’t good for younger learners!

Ideas for finding and using French commercials in the classroom

Are you looking for more French commercial ideas? Or would you like some ideas for how to use commercials in your classes? You may be interested in my recent blog post about using commercials in your classroom. My students love watching commercials from the French-speaking world and they have so much information that can be aligned to the standards for world language learning. In particular, the cultural comparisons standard can be addressed with commercials. Sometimes I will share products that students are familiar with – they especially enjoy seeing commercials for things like McDonald’s or Coca Cola.

But sometimes we will watch French commercials for products that are similar to the products they are used to, but brands they are unfamiliar with. Many commercials look very similar to the ones you would see on TV in the United States and Canada – but some have a particularly European/French viewpoint. There are a lot of risqué commercials out there and sex sells products just as well in France as it does in North America! Humor is also a big plus for commercials in the classroom and some things are just universally funny.