I’m going to talk about the differences between aller/venir (so far so good, in general), but also revenir and retourner (. as I esp notice many misuses of the word retourner) – so I wanted to clarify it all, and I hope this helps! Note: this episode is a little bit different as I wanted to experiment with using a video podcast, but it seems that it is technically a bit harder to do than expected – so I’m just including the audio explanations that come from the video/slideshow I had made for you – and you can see the video itself on my Youtube channel (French Your Way) or on my website at … Read More →
FYW 038 : Next Weekend – This Week or Next Week?
Imagine it’s Wednesday today (if you listen to this episode on the day it’s realeased, it actually IS Wednesday today!). If your friend tells you: “Let’s go camping next week-end!”, when do you understand that you’ll go camping? In 3 days or in 10 days? Discover ways you can avoid ambiguities in French! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Lundi prochain = next Monday Vendredi prochain = next Friday Qu’est-ce que tu as fait ce week-end ? = What did you do this weekend? (= last weekend, the one that just passed). Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire ce … Read More →
FYW 036 : Passions and Phobias – Words Ending in phile and phobe in French
I love comparing language learning to an investigation game, where you use clues to understand the meaning of words! In this episode, I will start by giving a few examples of these clues that can make your French comprehension easier. Then we’ll expand our French vocabulary with words containing the Greek suffixes “phile” and “phobe”. See words in a whole different light and have fun! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Un hippocampe = a sea horse Un hippopotame Un hippodrome = a racecourse, racetrack Hippique = equestrian, related to horse-racing Pluie … Read More →
FYW 035 : How to Improve your French Listening skills? My best tips!
I’ve compiled my best tips about how to improve your French listening skills after receiving this question from many of you. If you find it a struggle to hold a conversation in French because you can’t understand the replies, if you think French people speak too fast or if you find that your ear hasn't tuned in to French language yet, I hope my recommended exercises and resources will help you! A written version of this podcast episode is available on my website for easier reference. Check out www.frenchyourway.com.au/improve-your-french-listening-skills LINKS and RESOURCES Check my … Read More →
How to Improve your French Listening Skills?
Listen to the audio version in Episode 35 of French Your Way Podcast. Many of you find it difficult to understand spoken French. You find it too fast, daunting, overwhelming sometimes: I struggle with understanding the response. It would seem that my ear is still not ‘tuned-in’ to native speakers. I can usually get the drift if something is written down but quite often not if it is spoken. (Deryck) I struggle with holding a conversation in French ( everyone seems to speak so fast). (Willie) Si vous pouvez me donner quelques conseils pour améliorer ma compréhension orale? Selon moi, la … Read More →
FYW 034 : How to Say Including in French
"How to say including in French?" (question was submitted by Souvira from Canberra) For example, how do we say "I did a lot of things today including gardening". Are there other expressions we can use apart from "y compris"? Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Verbs: Inclure = to include Comprendre = to include, to be inclusive of Est-ce que le petit-déjeuner est inclus / est compris dans le prix de la chambre? (= Is breakfast included in the price of the room ?) Preposition / Locution 1. “Including” as in “not excepting”: y compris dont … Read More →
Masculine or Feminine? Telling the Gender of French Nouns
New learners of French are often unsettled or scared when they find out –very early- that every noun had a gender: masculine or feminine. I hear you say: How to know whether a word is masculine or feminine? How the hell am I supposed to tell the gender of French nouns, to guess that the word” telephone” is masculine whereas the word “television” is feminine?? Well, the bad news is that you’ll need to learn/memorise it. And therefore you’ll need to set good learning habits from the start by memorising the gender of French nouns as part as your vocabulary! The good news (because there’s … Read More →
FYW 033 : How to Tell if a French Noun is Masculine or Feminine (Part 2)
This is the second part about how you can tell whether a noun is masculine or feminine in French! (For the first part, listen to French Your Way Podcast, episode 32). In last week’s episode, I’ve ran you through groups of words/categories which are generally masculine or feminine (eg: numbers, names of colours, trees, metals, etc were most often masculine nouns); today the categories we’ll see will be about the spelling of the words. The last letter of a French word can indeed give you a clue about its gender! I’ve also published an article about the gender of French words on my website … Read More →
FYW 032 : How to Tell if a French Noun is Masculine or Feminine (Part 1)
New learners of French are often unsettled or scared when they find out that every French noun has a gender: it is either masculine or feminine. How to know whether a word is masculine or feminine in French? You need to learn it as part as the vocabulary and therefore create good learning habits from the start, so you build on strong bases. Plus, here are tips on how you can predict the gender of a word ! In this episode, I’ll talk about categories of nouns which tend to be either mostly masculine or mostly feminine. This should greatly help you! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words … Read More →
The French cedilla (“cédille”)
I received the following suggestion from Oska: I would enjoy if you could also perhaps do a lesson or two in the future on other French diacritics and ligatures, e.g. the French cedilla, the diaeresis (or tréma), the ligature ‘œ’. As speakers and writers of a language which does not mostly possess such ‘baroque’ written adornments, I think Anglophones (= English speakers) find them quite fascinating. And perhaps a little bit of a barrier, which explication can help overcome. Thanks Oska, these are very interesting questions! I will actually dedicate three articles to them: Part 1 : la … Read More →
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