One story, every level
A beginner and an advanced reader read the same story, so you can move up a level without losing the thread, and check the harder version whenever you want.
About Easy French News
Real French news, made readable
Easy French News publishes real news stories in four versions of the same French text: A1, A2, B1 and the full original. Tap any word for its meaning, listen to the text, and move up a level when the story starts to feel easy. This page explains where the stories come from, how the levels are written, and who is responsible for them.
What we stand for
Every source credited
Each article names its source and author, states the licence it is published under, and links to the original reporting.
Made for real goals
The levels follow the CEFR and are mapped to the NCLC scale used by TEF Canada and TCF Canada, so the practice counts towards an exam, not just a streak.
How an article is made
- A real story. Each story starts as published reporting from a public source whose licence allows reuse with credit. Today that is first INRAE, France's public research institute for agriculture, food and the environment, whose news is written in French and published under the French government's Licence Ouverte 2.0. When INRAE has no new story, it is Agencia SINC, Spain's public science news agency (CC BY 4.0). Earlier articles came from The Conversation France and Global Voices, and the Reports are adapted from Statistics Canada's « Le Quotidien » under its Open Licence.
- Into French. A story that isn't written in French is first translated in full by an AI model, and the translation is checked automatically for missing or added passages. That translation is the text you read at the original level. A very long story is first shortened by an AI model, keeping its facts and figures, and the shortened version is the one you read at the original level.
- Three levels. AI models then write the A1, A2 and B1 versions from the French text. A1 (about 300 words) and A2 (about 500) are short briefs that give the main facts in a fixed order. B1 follows the original paragraph by paragraph in simpler sentences.
- Checks before publishing. Software checks each level for length, structure and repeated text. An article that fails is retried, and if it still fails it is held back rather than published. Comprehension questions are added afterwards.
- A human editor. I read published articles, correct mistakes and take down any that went wrong. If you spot an error, tell me through the contact page and I'll fix it.
What the levels mean
A1 is for beginners (about NCLC 1–2), A2 for elementary readers (NCLC 3–4) and B1 for intermediate readers (NCLC 5–6). The original sits around B2–C1 (NCLC 7–10), the range Canadian immigration programmes ask for.
What Easy French News is not
Not a newspaper
We don't report news ourselves. We adapt other publishers' reporting for language learners and always link to the original.
Not an exam body
Easy French News is independent. It is not affiliated with IRCC, France Éducation international (TCF) or the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TEF). NCLC bands and placement results here are estimates, not official scores.
Not a reference for facts
The levels are written by AI and checked by software and by a person, for reading practice. For anything that matters to you, such as health, money or immigration, read the original source.
How it is paid for
Reading is free, with no account needed. Ads shown to free readers and Plus subscriptions, which remove the ads and add exam practice, pay for the site.
Who runs it: Nikita Kostin
Hi, I'm Nikita Kostin. I build Easy French News on my own, and I'm a language learner myself. It started with a simple frustration: French news was either too hard to follow or written for children.
So I built the reader I wanted: real stories at a level you can actually read, with the original one tap away. I write the code, choose the sources and read the corrections you send, so questions and feedback come straight to me.