In episode 192 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 192 to do the dictation: frenchyourway.com.au/podcast192 Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Texte extrait de : Réparer les vivants (Maylis de Kerangal, 2014), Editions Gallimard, page 37 « On a quelqu’un pour vous. Un appel à dix heures douze. Neutres, … Read More →
FYW 189 : French pronunciation: What’s the difference between a “mute H” and an “aspirate H”?
This episode is an exclusive peep into one of the lessons from my online French pronunciation and intonation course “How to sound like a native French speaker”. If you yet need to find out the influence of the latter “H” in the French liaison, or simply if you need a French phonetics brush-up, this episode is for you! I’ll also read and comment on a testimonial for my French pronunciation course...and have a bit of a rant against some language “teaching” methods! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Testimonial for my online course “How to sound like a … Read More →
FYW 181 : Listen to a real French lesson! (French session #2)
Listen to a real French lesson that I recorded This is a new concept to give you the opportunity to have a casual French session on Skype with me, since I can’t commit to recurring lessons anymore. For you, it is a great opportunity to get my personal feedback on your French and ask me anything that you need help with. Students taking the lesson agree to be recorded (I make sure any personal detail is then edited out) and the result may become a podcast episode…like today! This way, my feedback is both personal and still helping as many of you as possible ? When you participate, you … Read More →
FYW 172 : Listen to a real French lesson! (French session #1)
In this somewhat different episode you’ll get to hear a real French lesson that I recorded with Stephen, a student from Sydney! A few months ago, I introduced a new concept to give you the opportunity to have a casual French session on Skype with me, since I can’t commit to recurring lessons anymore. This is a great opportunity to get my personal feedback on your French and ask me anything that you need help with. Students taking the lesson agree to be recorded (I make sure any personal detail is then edited out) and the result may become a podcast episode…like today! This way, my … Read More →
FYW 170 : French pronunciation (3) – How to sound like a native French speaker? Everything you need to know about French pronunciation, intonation and rhythm.
If you're putting in a lot of time, effort and money to learn French, chances are that you also want to be able to SOUND it properly. If your pronunciation is poor, French people will struggle to understand you. Worse, they may understand something else - something potentially very embarrassing! To sound like a native speaker, You need to be able to hear and say every sound of the French language. Some of these sounds will be easy because they already exist in your language. Some will be different (U, R and the nasals are typical examples) You must learn how to choose the right … Read More →
FYW 169 : French pronunciation (2) – How to pronounce the letter “E” when it has an accent over it?
This is the second episode to help you with your French reading and French pronunciation and celebrate the upcoming launch of my online course, "How to sound like a native French speaker", coming out next week! Stay tuned as there will be a special, limited offer! Get updates about my upcoming course: www.frenchyourway.com.au/course Last week’s episode: "How to know when the letter "S" is pronounced [s] or [z]?": www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast168 This time I'm answering a question from Tanya who would like to know how to pronounce the letter "E" when it has an accent over … Read More →
FYW 168 : French pronunciation (1) – How to know when the letter “S” is pronounced [s] or [z]
I'm really excited to start a short series of episodes dedicated to French pronunciation to mark the achievement of over 2 years of creating, testing and refining the online course that I’ve been working really hard on for you! "How to sound like a native French speaker - Everything you need to know about French pronunciation and intonation" will officially open on May 9th, 2018. Save the date because it will come with a special and limited offer! I'll also do a live session on Saturday May 19th, at 1.30pm (Melbourne Australia time). You can send me your questions about French … Read More →
FYW 159 : The difference between tout, toute, toutes, tous, toux
Larissa from Brasil would like me to clarify the difference between tout, toute, toutes, tous, toux. I’ve already tackled some of these aspects as well as how to pronounce "tous" in episode 14 of French Your Way Podcast, but a little reminder would not hurt! ;-) Listen to episode 14 : Oops I ate all the lollies – how to pronounce "Tous": www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast14 LINKS and RESOURCES FYW 014 : Oops I ate all the lollies – how to pronounce "Tous": frenchyourway.com.au/podcast14 The Definitive Guide About the Word "tous" (French Grammar, French Pronunciation): … Read More →
FYW 151 : French homonyms part 2 – mère et père
When two words have a different meaning even though they sound alike or have the same spelling, they are called homonyms. In today's episode, find out the different meanings of the words pronounced [mɛʀ] and those pronounced [pɛʀ]. Also listen to episode 142: "French homonyms (1): vert, ver, vers, vair": www.frenchyourway.com.au/podcast142 Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode La mère= the mother La mer = the sea Le/la maire = the mayor L’amer = bitters Le père = the father Pair vs impair = even vs odd Une paire (de chaussettes, etc) = a pair (of … Read More →
FYW 142 : French homonyms (1): vert, ver, vers, vair
When two words have a different meaning even though they sound alike or have the same spelling, they are called homonyms. In today's episode, find out the different meanings of the word pronounced [vɛʀ]. You'll also understand how this word has been at the heart of a polemic about the tale Cinderella! Vocabulary and Spelling of the French Words mentioned in this episode Vert,e (adj) = green Ver (nm) = worm Un rat de bibliothèque = a bookworm Vers = towards Vers (nm) = verse, line, line of verse Verre (nm) = glass vair (nm) = vair petit-gris (nm) = Siberian squirrel Cendrillon = … Read More →