Frederic Bibard's Blog, page 24

Vote for Talk in French in the 2016 Best Language Learning Blogs!

Bonjour, tout le monde ! Bab.la and Lexiophiles’ annual contest for the top 100 Language Learning Blogs is here again. Last year, Talk in French placed at #4 and ranked highest among French language blogs. In 2014, Talk in French was at #6. This year, Talk in French has been included in the shortlist once again under the category Language Learning Blogs. With your help, I hope to make it to the top 10 once more. So if my work has been helpful to you in any way, please do me a huge favor by sparing a couple of seconds to help vote for Talk in French. You can go to the voting link here: http://en.bab.la/news/top-100-languag... Voting is very simple. All you need to do is go to the link I gave above, look for the button marked  Talk in French, and click to vote. The voting phase is from

25 Tasty French Expressions

Every language has its own share of unique idioms and expressions, and learning these would give us insights into the thoughts and culture of its native speakers. The French, for example, has a long list of funny and absurd expressions which gives you a glimpse of their creative, deadpan humor. The French language also has a seemingly endless list of idioms about animals such as cats, dogs, and goats, among others. But another common theme in French expressions is food. Being a country that is utterly in love with good food, fresh ingredients, and tasty desserts, you’ll notice that different kinds of edible delights have made their way into French idiomatic use. Today, we’ll be learning about 25 French expressions that are all about F-O-O-D. Let’s start the ball rolling with two expressions about cheese. Expressions about Cheese   1. En faire tout un fromage Literal meaning: to make a

Newsletter Q&A: 3 Tips for French Teachers

Bonjour tout le monde. In the weekly Talk in French newsletter sent to email subscribers every Sunday, I feature a question from subscribers. The questions cover everything—French language, culture, travel, and even totally random ones—and a lot of it are quite useful. So in the interest of helping more readers, I am also publishing some of them here in the blog. Today, I will be sharing with you a question sent by Daniella. « My Core French classrooms in Southern Ontario read your article about not worrying about sounding French! It was last week’s article! These students, most are not personally invested in learning French, although it is one of Canada’s two official languages. My question: how can I help students improve their oral French in an Anglophone environment? There is no immediate reason, beyond required curriculum, to learn and practice oral French. They can conjugate a verb. They can’t

10 useful French proverbs for all situations

Life is one hell of a roller coaster ride. One moment you’re up and feeling like the king of the world, the next you’re down in the dumps and wishing the earth would just swallow you whole. But hey, no matter what situation you’re currently in, there’s always a good French proverb to knock some sense into you. From the lowest of lows to the the most mundane situations, here are some useful French proverbs that would be a perfect advice for you or for anyone in your life. 1. Un clou chasse l’autre. What it literally means: One nail drives out another. But its real meaning: Life goes on. Oh, life. Some days just truly suck. Perhaps your dog died or you broke up with someone you thought is “the one”. Or maybe, you lost your job… or heck, your super embarrassing photo went viral on social media. *sobs*

Get Your Copy of My French Routine Volume 6 Today!

After you have learned the basics of the French language, at some point you will find yourself wondering how to continue. You still need to polish your French every day, and you will still need some guidance and a lot of practice, but the materials are either too easy or too difficult for your level. How do you find that perfect balance? If you are a high-intermediate to advanced learner, here is an e-book that is exactly what you’re looking for: My French Routine Volume 6. This 6th volume of the My French Routine learning series is created for learners who have already mastered the basics but still need guidance in polishing their French. The e-book will give you four weeks of lessons broken down into five lessons each week with recaps during the weekend. Some highlights: Each lesson is a mix of grammar and vocabulary topics with audio guides

French Vocabulary: At the Airport

Can you imagine how confusing it could be when you’re in a foreign airport where people are communicating only in French? But whether you are planning to travel to a French-speaking destination or not, today we’ll be sharing with you a list of vocabulary and phrases related to airports.   Knowing these words and phrases could surely come in handy soon. Plus, it will give your French vocabulary a boost, too. So if you’re ready, let’s start!     French English une compagnie aérienne airline un avion airplane un aéroport airport un vol flight les bagages baggage la livraison des bagages baggage claim les arrivées arrivals les départs departures la carte d’embarquement boarding pass les bagages à main carry-on luggage les bagages enregistrés/ un baggage en soute checked-in luggage un chariot cart un guichet d’embarquement check-in counter l’enregistrement check-in une boutique hors taxes / un duty-free duty-free un passeport passport

The French Cuisine and When to Pronounce the s in “plus”

Salut, ça va? If you have already subscribed to the weekly Talk in French newsletter, you’ll know that in every issue that comes out on Sundays, I feature a Question of the Week. These questions are sent by different subscribers and covers everything from French language, culture, and even random questions. (If you’re not yet subscribed to the newsletter, it’s not too late. Subscribe now—quick!) Beginning this week, I will also be publishing here in the blog some of the questions I answered in the newsletters. Some of you might have the same questions so these series of articles could be a good additional resource for you as well. The first question I’m featuring in this article was sent by Aijaz gul: “What is so special about French dishes?” Here’s my answer: Bonjour Aijaz, you sent a short question but my answer is somewhat long. I will, however, try to

61 French Text Slang and Instant Messaging Shortcuts

Text messaging and social media messages are all a part of our daily lives. And it has introduced so many new terms into the mainstream. The little LOL that you add on a comment when you’re at a loss of what to reply, the K that you hurriedly press when you’re in the middle of something, and even abbreviations like IDK and IKR that only the young ones seem to know about. By the way, IDK= I don’t know and IKR= I know, right. Yeah, IKR???   via GIPHY The French language have these kinds of text-speak and slang, too. While many would think that these shortcuts are some sort of bastardization of a beautiful language, those who use these argue that modern conversations that happen online or on SMS require fast, hurried typing and text lingo serves that purpose. In order to understand this aspect of the modern French

30 Difficult to Pronounce French Words: Part 4

This is the fourth and final list of the most tricky French words to pronounce. We asked our Facebook followers what they think is the French word that trips them up every time, and we were able to round up a list of 120 words which were broken down into a series of four articles. So today, let’s look at the remaining 30 words in the list. Make sure to practice with the audio I recorded! Rappeler to remember, to recall  (0:01 min) Ratatouille a traditional stewed vegetable dish from Provence (0:13 min) Regarder to look at (0:26 min) Regret regret, same as in English (0:38 min) Reims A city in France (0:49 min) RER Réseau Express Régional; the train service in Paris and its suburbs (1:01 min) Restaurant Same as in English (1:14 min) Robe rouge Red dress (1:27 min) Roi King (1:35 min) Stade Roland Garros a stadium in Paris; a popular tennis venue (1:50 min) Rouen

The 5th Volume of My French Routine Learning Series — Out Now!

Are you an intermediate French learner looking to continue your lessons? Are you interested in trying a different approach to learning French? If youranswer isyes, this new e-book from Talk in French is definitely for you. My French Routine, a complete step-by-step French learning series, is now on its 5th volume. This volume, like the previous books in the series, offers a unique and effective learning method which includes the following: Short daily lessons that mix grammar and vocabulary topics, audio guides, and learning exercises. They are short enough to be easily comprehended, but challenging enough to keep you motivated. A strong focus on listening. Each lesson contains embedded audio material you can listen to. The audio consists of French conversations that illustrate grammar points and vocabulary usage, as well as pronunciation guides recorded by native speakers. Four weeks of lessons to help you build a sustainable learning habit. The