Frederic Bibard's Blog, page 25

20 Fun Ways to Insert Learning French Into Your Day

Learning French as an adult can be quite challenging. Between work, family, social life, and all the numerous adulthood responsibilities that you juggle every day, it’s difficult to find a way to insert learning a language into your already crammed schedule. We hear this time and again:   “I’d like to learn French but I’m too busy.” “My hands are quite full these days. I’ll learn French when I have time.” “I wish I could find time to learn French; my schedule is just so full.”   All these kind of reminds me of the autotune song that went crazy-viral sometime ago:   Okay, I hear you. Which is why today, we’ll be taking a look at 20 different fun ways for you to incorporate learning French into your day—and immerse yourself in the French language and culture—regardless of how busy you are. Is it possible? With your ultra-busy schedule

30 Difficult to Pronounce French Words: Part 3

French pronunciation can be a total pain sometimes. When we asked the people over at the Talk in French page on Facebook what the French words they simply couldn’t pronounce, we received a whole truckload of answers. As Elizabeth described it on her comment, “It’s easier to list the ones I can pronounce.” We totally feel your pain. Which is why in this series of articles, we have provided the pronunciation for the most troublesome words submitted via the Facebook post. This is the 3rd part. You can also check out the 1st, 2nd, and the 4th part. So, are you ready? Let’s hear it! 1. Hurluberlu     an eccentric person, a weirdo (0:01 min) 2. Instruction       education (0:14 min) 3. Jaune vs. jeune      Jaune is yellow while jeune means young (0:27 min) 4. Je préférerais      I would prefer… (0:42 min) 5. Joue      cheek (0:51 min)

At The Supermarket: 112 Useful French Vocabulary for Grocery­ Shopping

Buying stuff at the store is a necessary part of living, regardless of whether you find it a mundane task you’re too lazy to do or you actually enjoy it. When you’re in a French-speaking country, it’s incredibly important to know the French words for items you need to grab at the store, as well as the vocabulary that you will encounter during this task. But even when you’re simply learning French from your own non-French-speaking country, the terms related to buying groceries are still among the common words to know. This article is all about food and basic items that usually make up your grocery list. We’ll be learning French words for different types of stores, common grocery items, meat products, dairy, as well as equipment usually found inside stores. First, the types of stores.     Types of Stores 1 le supermarché supermarket 2 une épicerie small grocery

It’s Finally Here: the 1st Episode of the New All-French Podcast

Hello, everyone! After months of delaying this project, I am finally releasing the first episode—a sort of pilot, actually—of the all-French podcast. The entire episode is totally in French, except for a few difficult words. You will notice that this episode is a bit low-key (no intro, sound quality is good but not perfect, no thumbnail…) but the idea was to release an episode quickly instead of waiting long for a well-polished podcast. For this first episode, I would like to have your feedback first. Here are a few things about this podcast :   It’s for advanced learners only. I will produce some other podcast for lower levels later on, but for this one, I want to target advanced learners.   About the transcription. I mentioned one before, but for now I don’t think I will be doing it. It’s too time-consuming to produce and I highly doubt people will

30 Difficult French Words to Pronounce: Part 2

Welcome to the second part of this series of articles about the most difficult French words to pronounce. We asked the Talk in French community what are the French words that they are having a hard time saying… And here are the results. If you haven’t seen it yet, there is also a part 1 which can be found here, as well as parts 3 and 4. 1. dehors   outside, outdoors  (0:01 min) 2. dessus, dessous   dessus means on top while dessous means underneath; both can be used as adverb, preposition or a noun (0:14 min) 3. deux   two, as in the number 2 (0:29 min) 4. droit vs doigt   droit means straight while doigt means finger (0:40 min) 5. écureuil   squirrel (0:55 min) 6. en couleur   in color (1:08 min) “I can’t say ‘en couleur’ without sounding very offensive. I dread the printers in work breaking down and explaining to the technician that

30 Difficult Words to Pronounce in French: Part 1

One of the most difficult things non-French speakers all agree on when learning French is the pronunciation. You’ll often hear French learners grumbling about: how to pronounce the letter u’s and the r’s, how to let the French words roll off the tongue without sounding funny, and how to say certain French words that almost seem impossible to pronounce. In some cases, these words are too difficult to say that you’d probably just have to avoid altogether any scenario that requires you to say the particular word, otherwise you’d go: via GIPHY We asked the Talk in French community on Facebook to share the French words that they have the most difficulty pronouncing. The response was overwhelming! So here in this article, we’ve listed down the answers you shared and we’ll also provide you with a free audio that you can download—and listen to—to help you with the pronunciation. We

22 Embarrassingly Awkward English-French Translation and Pronunciation Mistakes

Have you ever had an embarrassing translation faux pas that is so cringe-worthy it made you want to duck to the nearest restroom and hide there forever? Or probably pronounced a French word so inappropriately that it made everybody snicker? French words, with its subtle nuances and undertones, is quite easy to bungle. You might be saying something that you think is totally innocent, but the word you choose or a slight error in your pronunciation could all too easily make you sound like a horndog pervert…or even highly rude and offensive. via GIPHY “Did I just say THAT?!” Don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone. Stuff like this happens to the best of us.  But to avoid awkwardness from happening ever again, you should take a look at this list of words and phrases we compiled. So without much ado, let’s get on with the list. 1.“Je suis chaud(e)” or”

5 Lovely French Poems with English Translations

The French language is beautiful, but when strung together to paint lovely pictures and create lyrical melodies, it becomes even more so. Which is why the French has always been immensely proud of its poésie (poetry), and the enduring works of great masters such as Victor Hugo, Pierre de Ronsard, Alphonse de Lamartine, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and many others continue to be read today. French poetry covers a lot of topics, from the blissful heights of love to the depths of melancholy and despair it brings. But regardless of whether it talks about the profound or the mundane, French poems evoke a lot of emotions through the use of carefully expressed words that capture different thoughts and moments. Here in this article, we will be sharing with you five beautiful poems from great French poets. You’ll find: the French version its English translation you can also listen to the

[QUIZ] Can you guess what these goat-related French expressions mean?

It’s funny how French idiomatic expressions and metaphors resemble a menagerie. Or an animal farm perhaps. There are expressions about dogs, cats, bears, pigs, horses, oxen, foxes, elephants, and just about all your favorite animals. But today we’ll talk about expressions that involve goats and we’ll test just how many of these expressions you know. Can you take a guess? Try your hand at this quiz and don’t try to peek at the answers at the bottom of the page. As a clue, the literal meaning of the expressions are in the image. If you’re ready, let’s start! 1.What do you think “bêler comme une chèvre’ means? a. to shout at the top of your lungs b. to speak with a shaky voice c. to wail like a crybaby d. to be a tad too melodramatic 2. Can you translate what “bouc émissaire” is in English? a. a travelling companion

The Quick Guide to Making Small Talk in French

Small talk is the polite (sometimes dreadfully awkward) conversation usually shared between people who are strangers or mere acquaintances. Though it may sound simple enough, it’s not as easy to pull off as one would think, with some people claiming that there is a special “art” to it. But whether you’re fond of it or not, small talk is a fact of life—just like taxes or public transport that go on strike. When you’re in public places or in a social situation such as parties or a wedding reception, small talk is (a) necessary (evil). Small talk also comes handy in breaking the ice during important life events like before your big job interview or that important networking event you need to join…or when the person whom you’re convinced is *the* love of your life is standing beside you in the buffet area. But wait—what if you’re in France or