Many students of French worry about not getting the tenses of their verbs right when they use "si" clauses in French. As a result, I decided to make the structures of the sentences very explicit in this episode, with lots of examples in order to alleviate these worries. If you speak English fluently, you’ll notice that French "si" clauses are actually no different from English! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode S'il fait chaud, tu dois boire beaucoup d'eau. Si je ne peux pas travailler, je suis frustrée ! S’il fait chaud, buvez beaucoup d'eau. Si tu as une … Read More →

If you've been following me for some time, you know that I'm always curious and passionate about where the words come from. This is also extremely helpful to find out as words then make more sense and become more memorable. In my everyday life, I do ponder or suddenly find connections between English and French words, or between French words themselves and in this episode, I'd like to share some of them with you! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Pho --> un pot au feu (pot au fau, beef stew) Un four = an oven la fournaise = inferno, blazing fire ; … Read More →

Listener and student Yaniv asked me to clarify the meaning and use of the French verbs "arriver" and "se passer". In this episode, you'll see that, although both verbs have a similar meaning, the structure of the sentence is quite different! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode ARRIVER = (sth) happens (to sb) "that happened to me" = Ca m'est arrivé Something incredible will happen to you if you believe in it = Quelque chose d'incroyable t'arrivera/vous arrivera si tu y crois / si vous y croyez. Accidents happen = Les accidents arrivent (à tout le … Read More →

The prefixes "re" and "ré" are very useful to build up new vocabulary very quickly and say that you're doing something again. Let's see practical examples. I'll also explain when to use "re" and when to use "ré". Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Faire, refaire Dire, redire Monter, descendre, remonter, redescendre Editer = ré-éditer Eduquer, ré-éduquer (rééducation = rehab.) Trouver, retrouver Ecrire, ré-écrire Inventer, ré-inventer Prendre, reprendre (to take back) Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, … Read More →

In episode 205 you had the opportunity to challenge yourself with a very French and very academic type of exercise: la dictée! (= dictation). In this episode, I’ll come back on the few grammar and spelling rules that you needed to pay attention to in order to spell the words properly. Listen to episode 205 to do the dictation: www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast205 Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Texte extrait de : "Lettres de mon moulin" (Alphonse Daudet, 1869) " écoute un peu l'histoire de la chèvre de M. Séguin. Tu verras ce que l'on gagne à vouloir … Read More →

The "dictée" (dictation) is the French exercise by excellence. It is very academic and has been the nightmare of generations of students. (I did like them, though!). Put yourself to the test! The text of the dictation is in the show notes - don't cheat and read it before you've tried to do it! ? Why this is an interesting exercise: Check that you hear sounds properly Check that you're trying to make sense of what you're hearing (homonyms, cutting the words/the flow, type of words, etc.) Check that you implement the spelling and grammatical rules you know (agreements in … Read More →

It's finally here! The episode where you finally get the answers to the 15 questions I asked you in episode 200 of the podcast! I'm so glad you loved the challenge and the opportunity to brush-up the older episodes. Well done to the participants who sent me their answers ; there were actually few mistakes! If you had at least 10/15 answers correct, I entered you in the draw to win a 30-minute French session with me and be featured on an upcoming podcast episode. So, let's find out what the answers where (check out the shownotes of the episode) and let me announce the winner! Note: this … Read More →

Many words in French and English are similar or look similar. That's lucky because it helps with learning vocabulary faster. However, these words sometimes means something very different in the two languages! In this case, they are called "faux amis", false friends, or false cognates. Here’s a list of 5 common false friends so you don't make the mistake! False friends, part 1: Episode 85- www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast85 False friends, part 2: Episode 103- www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast103 False friends, part 3: Episode 118 - www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast118 False friends, part … Read More →