As I caught myself thinking about World War II this week (yes, I really have the most relaxing thoughts during my breaks sometimes…), a doubt suddenly crept in: do we more often call it “la deuxième guerre mondiale”, or “la seconde guerre mondiale”? The more I was thinking, the less I could remember! I knew that both forms were actually used, but which one was the most common? Or was there a BEST option? (Keep reading and you will see that there is, indeed.) I decided to survey my French friends on Facebook, asking them which expression came to their mind first. Before sharing the … Read More →
Irregular French Plurals : Masculine Words Ending in “_al”
Here is a common mistake I see among students of all levels of French, so I thought this short article would be useful, whether it is only a reminder or new to you ;-) Nouns Nouns ending in “_al” are masculine. Ex: un journal (= a newspaper) un cheval (= a horse) un animal un festival un carnaval, etc. These nouns have an irregular French plural.The plural form of these masculine nouns is generally “_aux”. Ex: un journal → des journaux un cheval → des chevaux un animal → des animaux There are a few exceptions of course : bal (= ball, dance), carnaval, chacal (= jackal, wild … Read More →
Practice Worksheets to Help You Build Correct Sentences in French
The following activity is to help you implement what you have learnt (or brushed up) in my article “Introduction to French Grammar: what type of word is it?”. The aim is to help you build correct sentences together by reflecting on how the words relate to each other and how a sentence is structured. The activity is done in 3 stages: Translate a text into French. Implement and identify: What type of word is it ? Identify all articles, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and prepositions. When I was in primary school, we would do a more in depth version of this … Read More →
FV 005 : Choukette – A Traditional French Patisserie in Melbourne
This is a mouth-watering interview with Nans, a young and talented chef patissier in Melbourne, Australia. His pastries are very traditional: they are exactly the same ones, the same flavours and the same taste as the pastries you would find in any city or village in France… I love them! For Christmas, Nans is also making the “bûche de Noël”, THE traditional French Christmas dessert. Episode Timeline [04 min 22 sec] Nans’s experience and background [06 min 45 sec] About Choukette’s staff [07 min 15 sec] A French library in Choukette! [08 min 00 sec] Choukette’s specialties [08 min 56 … Read More →
How to Use Your French Dictionary Efficiently
A dictionary is a great tool and even a great bedside book. I love exploring it, flipping through to discover complicated or funny words, in English or in French. However, you should not cling to your dictionary as you would cling to a lifebuoy. Dictionaries can be so big and heavy that they would make you drown – quite the opposite of what you would expect from them. When I teach, I want my students to take the habit of not using a dictionary during our lessons (unless specifically asked to do so for a given task or activity). I must have said it over so many times that I once found out … Read More →
Challenge: Can I Make You Love French Grammar?
I am begging you for a chance to explain why learning grammar is SO useful... Please read on!! “I don’t want to learn grammar” - WHY? I often ask students what they find most difficult about learning French. The following feedback from Jillian inspired me to write this article: “It is difficult for me to structure sentences and therefore oral communication. […] I don't want to know about grammar because it just makes me more confused, I would just like to know sentences, then play with the sentences I know to create new sentences.” It's not uncommon to hear: “I want to learn French but I don’t … Read More →
Introduction to French Grammar : What Type of Word is This ?
How to Learn French Grammar Easily ? The following has helped many of my students to get their first grip on French grammar and gain much confidence by understanding the relation between the different words and their order in a sentence. That’s why I would like you to be able to benefit from it too. In this article, you will see how basic grammar notions in French are important in learning to write French essays or to speak French with consistently good results. If you’d like to read more about the power of grammar (or need more convincing!), I wrote an article about it here. By … Read More →
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