Practice your English and French through free Canadian films

Bonjour! Would you like to strengthen your English and French language skills while exploring Canadian films, culture and diversity? We have great news for all English and French language learners and anyone interested. If there are days when you feel like learning in a different and unique way, you might consider visiting the National Film Board Mediatheque (NFB). It is located at 150 John street in the heart of Toronto's "Entertainment District". There you can use the Digital Viewing Stations and watch for FREE one of the 5,500 NFB films!

There is a lot going on at the National Film Board – Canada's public film producer and publisher. Each week is packed with screenings of documenaries, feature movies, shorts and animated films. You can also visit NFB.ca to watch free for personal use nearly 1,500 documentaries, fiction and animations, on the web or on your iPhone. Select films by keyword, title, decade, genre, or language (English or French). I found 1157 English titles and 912 French titles available to watch for free! There is also a kids' movies channel, history channel, hot topics etc.

Here is a favourite Canadian example from the NFB's youtube channel: John Weldon's "Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz", 1979.

Until the end of 2012 the Mediatheque in Toronto also offers the following specially designed workshops for ESL (English as a Second Language) and FSL students (French as a Second Language):

Film as a Second Language – Workshop for ESL students. Students of ESL will strengthen their vocabulary and conversational skills while learning about Canada and the NFB film collection.

Ciné-Jeunesse – Workshop for FSL students. Allows teachers to book private screenings of contemporary French language films, selected for French-learning secondary school students.

Toronto Public Library also has many of the films produced by the The National Film Board of Canada and they can be borrowed. Simply type "National Film Board" in the search box on the library's website. After you see the long list of results, click on the left on "movies and videos" type in order to get a list of all the NFB DVDs (I found 958 DVDs) and videos (2098 videos found). The films with a PPR label on them have the so called "public performance rights". This means that you are allowed under the Copyright Law to show them in a public space (such as a school classroom for example).

Visit us at the Languages Centre on the 5th floor of the Toronto Reference Library to find and borrow books and audiovisual materials for ESL (English as a Second Language) and FSL (French as a Second Language).

Here are some books about the history and work of the National Film Board: