and for those further south -(like me) there is Occitan as well as local variations of Oc and variations of French itself ā¦ yikes - sometimes seems like 25 languages all rolled into oneā¦ but, for me, it can become clearer after a glass or two (hic) 
I teach a whole sequence on precisely this.
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Blockquote it would be interesting to see if he speaks slightly on the slow side
@anon88169868 I definitely thought he spoke unusually slowly and clearly (rather better than Johan and Pierre, I think) and was gratified to hear @vero confirm my impression, because that suggests the path Iāve followed has improved my comprehension.
Also @anon88169868 - I do the same as you do - āprocessing what is being said in Englishā - but Iām making a conscious effort not to do so. Obvs itās a necessary step on the way for adults in our position (āpeople like youā - sorry, @vero 
) but if we can get beyond it then our comprehension and speed will greatly benefit.
Instead of teasing you, Mme Langlands, can I ask your opinion on my practice, which is now - having gained a degree of understanding - to watch as much, on YouTube and M6/W9, as I can of television programmes on subjects which interest me? I confess to an affection for StƩphane Plaza, for instance 
. Iām doing it as a version of total immersion (though if YT offers subtitles Iām all over them).
It turns out that he did not speak āunusuallyā slowly, just quite slowly, the text from the subtitles (which Iād guess were manually generated from his script as they appear to be pretty accurate) has 1807 words and the video is 12 minutes 24 seconds long - just about 150 words per minute.
Vero confirmed my suspicion that the choice of language was probably aimed at students, and probably specifically students whoās first language is English making comprehension easier - but thatās OK. It might not be full on no holds barred French, but itās still good practice 
I decided to get a proper course and bought one from https://www.language-city.com/
It is not cheap but I find it very good - I feel I am learning French as it is spoken including getting used to the speed.
I also go to local Le CafƩ Langues for real conversation and to make new friends.
About 40 years ago I worked the grape harvest down near the Spanish border. I had decent school French - I had studied it in the 6th Form - but couldnāt understand a word the farmerās very elderly father said. I was puzzled - until somebody spotted my embarrassment and explained that he was speaking not French but Catalanā¦
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Flash cards are good, either words or later phrases, English one side, French the other, then swap round.
Can be used anywhere, anytime, donāt cost much.
Back to Hugo.
Bit of a lightbulb moment with this one - I mightāĀ have been frustrated with the fact that I stillāĀ canāt understand French movies - itās kind-of refreshing to have someone say, āyes, thatās OK - theyāre really hardā.
Whatās hard, the genre or the language?
I find the language easy to follow if thereās French subtitles. Some of the obscenities I need to look up though.
Donāt bust my bubble Peter - you live in France so get daily practice
The language - usually too fast, often slightly obscure vocab.
The genre - well, itās an acquired taste (some more acquired than others), though I tend to rather enjoy French cinema - the fact that profit is not so much of a motive means that some interesting stuff gets made, unfortunately it means that bizarre stuff gets made as well.
Hello, I tried everything and am still trying but the only way is to live there. Maybe itās just me, but when not in France I just lose my French and maybe also I donāt have the discipline.
Good luck and apologies for no advise.
Well if there are subtitles!
I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody a few weeks back, and as a measure of how far Iāve come it was a while into the film before I fully noticed it was dubbed. Sure I missed a couple of obscenities, but one gets the overall sense of them so no need to know precisely which part of the anatomy is being lauded.
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I also find modern French films difficult to follow and, like @anon88169868, was reassured. I find the actors donāt take the trouble to speak clearly, and the language used plainly makes no concessions for non-native speakers. While I can understand pretty much all of RFIās Journal en franƧais facile, and 80% of Chasseurs dāappartā, Iām usually lost with modern French films.
I think itās also a question of style. The classics from the 60s and 70s were quite happy to be seen as creative works, whereas nowadays a lot of films seem to want to appear to be quasi-documentaries.
I find the same with some modern films in english!
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Wellā¦ Someone suggested DuoLingo and I have now completed one week.
āElle manges lāorangeā
There are hundreds of levels. Its a bit like an 80s computer game
Elle mange (no s) 
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Quite rightā¦you win