🇫🇷 French
French graded readers: what to read at each level
French is well served by graded readers. Publishers like Hachette (Lire en français facile), CLE International and ELI have long series adapted for learners, many of them classics. The hard part is picking a level honestly: French spelling hides pronunciation, so a text can look easy and still be slow to read.
ReadNative's French book is Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, retold as one graded story from A1 to B1 over 44 chapters, and the app also includes Voltaire's Candide in the original for advanced readers. The graded book is free, and you can read the first chapters free in your browser, tapping any word for its English meaning or any sentence for a translation.
French graded readers on ReadNative
What to read at each level
A1
Short present-tense sentences and very common vocabulary. The early chapters of Around the World in 80 Days — Phileas Fogg's exact routine, Passepartout's arrival, the wager — keep things concrete and repetitive.
A2
Stories with the passé composé and imparfait and more dialogue. The journey section of the Verne retelling works well here, as do A2 readers from the French publisher series.
B1
Longer chapters, relative clauses and some literary vocabulary. The last chapters of the Verne book reach B1; this is a good time to try adapted classics from Hachette or CLE.
B2
Move to native texts. Candide, included in ReadNative in the original, is short and funny, though its 18th-century style takes some adjusting. Contemporary fiction, comics like Astérix and your own EPUBs are good options.
Not sure where you are? Take the French vocabulary test or check a text with the difficulty checker.
Questions
What is a graded reader?
A book written or retold with controlled vocabulary and grammar for a specific level, so a learner can read a whole story in French with little dictionary use. The aim is lots of comfortable reading, not decoding.
How do I know if a book is the right level?
If you understand the story and need to look up only a few words per page, it is right. If every sentence needs help, drop down a level; if you never tap anything, move up. In French the step from graded books to native texts is steep, so do not rush it.
Should I read the passé simple?
You will meet it in literature from B1 on. You only need to recognise it, not use it, and graded readers introduce it gradually.