From the age of four to 10, I spent my childhood in the suburbs of Paris. It’s a fact I often like to dish out at dinner parties if you can remember them. “Go on then, give us some French?” comes a swift retort from down the table. I fumble my way through some rote phrases before the party gets bored and conversation moves on. Quel dommage.<\/p>\n
Whatever learned fluency has been lost, you see, and like most Brits, I was arrogant and never thought I had to apply myself to learning anything but the English language. That was until I started watching Call My Agent and Lupin, two recent releases on streaming giant Netflix, both completely in French.<\/p>\n
I’ve been hooked, not just on the charming characters and sleek Parisian backdrop. But the language. The rapidity of the phrasing, the languid vowel cramming, the purring uvular trill. It’s turned me onto the French language in a way I’d never experienced before. Duolingo has been downloaded and lessons have commenced, not out of necessity, but out of a previously undiscovered love of the language.<\/p>\n
I’m not the only one who’s been sucked in. Mystery thriller Lupin is projected to reach 70 million households in its first 28 days, romping to a spot in Netflix UK’s top 10. Likewise, comedy series Call My Agent, now in its fourth and last season has become a sleeper hit over on these shores, the UK remake now in the works.<\/p>\n
Language learning app Duolingo has also seen numbers sore, up 67 percent worldwide since 2019, with an increase of 132 percent here in the UK. French is the second most popular language to learn on the app. Spanish comes up trumps, perhaps a small consequence of Netflix’s previous international hit, Money Heist (of course, it’s also the second most spoken language after Chinese). But just how useful is watching Netflix when it comes to learning a new tongue? Can our TV binges really lead to coveted bilingual abilities?<\/p>\n