Frederic Bibard's Blog, page 29

12 Reactions that French Learners Can Totally Relate To

Learning French can be like a rollercoaster of emotions. Sometimes it gets too frustrating to handle, but some days you’re so excited you’d think you’d burst. Here’s a list of 12 scenarios and reactions French learners can totally identify with. Plus a lot of learning tips thrown along the way. Enjoy!               1. When a native French speaker is speaking way too fast   Listening has always been a huge problem for most French language learners. So relax because you’re not alone at this. Just try working on your listening skills by practicing everyday, and to get you started with that, here’s a guide on how to practice your listening skills. Or you can listen to 600+ French songs with lyrics.   2. When you use the wrong word or expressions   Like when you say “Je suis tellement pleine!” and you think it

EVEN MORE Short Stories to Learn French

In the last couple of months, I have launched not one, but two volumes of Learn French with Stories for Beginners. You can read about the introduction to the first one here, and the second book here. To complete the entire package for beginners, I have produced the 3rd and final book of the series – Learn French with Stories for Beginners Volume 3.   Here are some answers to questions you might have about this new book: 1. What is Learn French with Stories for Beginners Volume 3?   It’s the latest ebook by Talk in French written for beginner-level learners. It has 15 different short stories about a variety of topics to help you improve your reading and listening comprehension. 2. How is it different from other ebooks in the market?   The stories all come with a built-in French and English glossary so that you don’t have

The Simple Guide to Informal French Grammar

Already speaking French so well and yet so awkwardly that it seems as if you just came out of a French grammar book? Do you feel so formal yet so out-of-place when speaking French with the native speakers? Well, let me let you in on one practical tip: speak informally! If you can masterfully speak in your own native language, then you would surely agree that you most likely use informal grammar structure at every other sentence (if not always) to better express your thoughts and emotions to your listeners. Certainly, every language has these terms and French is not an exemption. So, in order to boost your confidence in speaking informal French, here are some short guidelines to keep in mind: 1. What’s the difference between ‘tu’ and ‘vous’?   Both of these words mean the same thing: you. We need to note that tu is always used to address a single person.

Weird (but mostly brilliant) French Words and Expressions Part 2

Every language has its own share of weirdness lurking around somewhere; hastily shoved under the rug, away from any prying eyes (and ears). Well, you can take a collective sigh of relief because this list isn’t about any of those. This part 2 of the series is about words that are considered weird because of either of the following reasons: its (ridiculously) funny sound, the strange quality of the word itself, or the awesome fact that it even exists at all. Most of these French words are, in fact, quite brilliant that you should start adding it to your vocabulary – and fast! If you haven’t checked out the first part, feel free to teleport through this link over here. Now on to the list.     1.Mettre en valeur: to show something off to its best light, or to re-arrange a place to make it more aesthetically appealing.  

Weird (but fun) French Words and Expressions Part 3

The French language is not just all beautiful poetry-sounding words and charming accents. It also has a lot of peculiar words tucked up its stylish sleeve as well. You have probably come across some of those words in the first part and second part of this series of articles. In this article, as in the previous two, we will be talking about words that are considered weird because of its funny sound,  the strangeness of the word itself, or the amazing fact that someone actually spent time to come up with it. English is supposedly the language with the largest vocabulary. But still, there are a bunch of French words that do not have an exact equivalent in English. You’ll also be discovering some of those here. Ready? Let’s start. 1.Soutien-gorge: literally, “support-neck” but means brassiere.   Yup, that’s one weird word, alright. First of all, we all know what

Weird (but mostly brilliant) French Words and Expressions Part 2

Every language has its own share of weirdness lurking around somewhere; hastily shoved under the rug, away from any prying eyes (and ears). Well, you can take a collective sigh of relief because this list isn’t about any of those. This part 2 of the series is about words that are considered weird because of either of the following reasons: its (ridiculously) funny sound, the strange quality of the word itself, or the awesome fact that it even exists at all. Most of these French words are, in fact, quite brilliant that you should start adding it to your vocabulary – and fast! If you haven’t checked out the first part, feel free to teleport through this link over here. Now on to the list. 1.Mettre en valeur: to show something off to its best light, or to re-arrange a place to make it more aesthetically appealing.   Now this

Weird (but kinda cool) French Words and Expressions Part 1

Every language has its own share of weird words. French is not exempt from this. Here in this article, we listed down words that we think are quite weird due to either:         its funny sound,         the strangeness of the word itself, or         the awesome fact that it even exists at all. Can you think of even more weird French words? If what you have in mind is not included here, make sure to check the 2nd Part and the 3rd Part of this article series. Feel free to leave a comment, too! So, let’s get the ball rolling, shall we? 1. borgne: one-eyed person via GIPHY Why the French has decided to come up with a single word for a one-eyed person, no one can truly tell. But “borgne” has figured in a couple of French proverbs such as: Au royaume des aveugles les borgnes sont rois.  (In the land

10 Ways to Speak like a Legit French Speaker

So you’ve been studying French for quite a while now, and you’re rather proud of what you’ve accomplished so far – as you should be! But sometimes, you think there’s still something lacking in your French. Like a certain je ne sais quoi  perhaps that you couldn’t put your finger on, and in spite of your good grammar, you still do not feel that confident at all with conversing in French. Your French may still be a little rough in the edges – nothing that a little polishing couldn’t fix. But don’t worry. You’re not alone in this as I’ve heard this dilemma quite often. How does one speak French so thoroughly – …that native French speakers would raise their eyebrows in pleasant surprise? …that listeners’ jaws would slightly drop at your level of finesse? …that your friends would marvel at how well you speak French, thereby cementing your status as

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10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Visit France (+ 1 Reason You Should)

As with anything and everything in this world, people often have conflicting ideas about a certain topic, or place for that matter. You’ve heard people rattle off reasons why they don’t like to go to France, while another half says quite the opposite. France is the number one tourist destination in the world, but should you really go visit it? Let’s explore some probably reasons why you shouldn’t – and why you should.   (Author’s note: this article is written in a tongue-in-cheek manner and may not work well with some readers. So, read until the very end and remember that the irony and sarcasm is strong in this one.) Reason #1: You don’t really care at all about heritage sites. France has 41 heritage sites, but you’re probably not into that. Those that care, however, will find each of the sites insanely gorgeous and  discover that Mont Saint-Michel is

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More Stories to Learn French (for beginners!)

Around this time last year, I came up with a book about stories to help readers learn French. Not some children’s stories like most books of its kind are. Just simple, easy-to-digest ones about everyday scenarios using words that you could immediately put to use in daily situations. What do you know, it shoot up to the bestseller spot in Amazon. And then people were like: With all the clamor, I had to give in and published another one. And so the Learn French with Stories for Beginners was born. But that doesn’t seem to be enough because people still went: And because Talk in French aims to please, we quickly buckled down to work in order to bring you more. So, here it is. Presenting — Learn French with Stories for Beginners Volume 2. This 3rd installment of the Learn French with Stories series is now available in the

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