Learning French!

[eclipse-francais]

salut! Je cherche une partenaire pour parler francais! Je apprendais francais pour ~5 ans. Même je suis ne tres bein pas. Je veux un personne apprendres francais ou English. Nous parlerai en francais! S'il vous plaît répondre si intéréssé!!!

hi! I'm looking for a partner to speak French! I have been learning French for about 5 years. I am not very good. I want someone learning French or English. We will talk in French! Please respond if interested!!!

[eclipse-francais]

Salut! Aujord'hui je apprendais 'pronoun + conjugated venir + de' pour 'just came from doing'. Pour examplé, je veins de manger. En anglais le phrase est ' Ijust ate'. Le phrase est bon pour passé recent. Et je n'ai pas conjugate!

[logogreffe]

French TV show recommendations :

L' Art du Crime (2017- en production) : -> A policeman teams up with an art expert to investigate art related crimes. Each episode is about a specific artist. The policeman knows nothing about art and the art expert (who works in the Louvre) often imagines herself having conversation with famous (dead) artists. One of my favorite shows ! If you like dark/light academia you might like this show ! ✅ : Art History, casual everyday French, ART HISTORY ! (Bonus point : The main actor) ❌ : The episodes are very long !

Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (2007-2020) -> If you want to have a good idea of what French everyday life is like, this is the TV show for you ! The show follows the lives of two completely different French families. The show started like Modern Family with the characters speaking to the camera before becoming a more "regular" show. ✅: Casual everyday French, really good insight on French culture, really funny, you see all the characters grow and evolve, the theme song is fantastic. (You also get to see the evolution of France between 2007 and 2020 which is interesting) ❌ : Nothing extraordinary is really happening, you get an idea of French life, so it might be a bit boring.

Kaamelott (2005) : -> "Based on the Arthurian legends, it followed the daily lives of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in Camelot." This is a comedic show, I feel like French people either HATE or ADORE this show, there is no in between. One of my favorite shows ! ✅ : Hilarious + knowing this show will make you sound extremely cultured to French people. ❌ : Not only do you need a good French level for this one (a lot of Knight related vocabulary I guess) but also some ...French humor ? I don't know if foreigners might like this one ...

Bref. (2011) : -> Web-serie, the episodes are super short. During each episode the narrator, a Parisian guy tells you about specific events in his life. The way it's shot is really interesting. ✅ : Casual French + slang, very short episodes ❌ : The main character is, in my opinion, kind of annoying

Le Visiteur du Futur (2009) : -> A man coming from the Futur, trying to save the world from terrible things, classic right ? Well, his way of saving the world involves stuff like "stopping Clément from buying a sandwich at the bakery because he's going to fall in love with the Baker's daughter, and live a happy life and have a child BUT the child is going to join a far right extremist movement and become the new face of the neonazi movement and cause WW3 and..." This show was first made with the lowest quality imaginable, the makeup is NASTY, but the plot...the plot is fantastic. ✅ : Casual French + slang , you get to see the quality of the show increase ❌: The quality of the set is questionnable in the beginning and the humour is a bit ..."pipi caca" as we say in French.

Very Bad Blagues (2011) : -> Web-serie, sketches and parodies of French shows, (or French people) ✅ : Some episodes are hilarious, (some are maybe a bit cringy) ❌: Some parodies might be a bit hard to get for foreigners as you might not know the original shows or characters.

Bloqués (2015) : -> Web-serie, super short episodes. Two friends and a couch, each episode is about a different subject like "Si j'étais riche" (If I was rich) ✅ : Casual French + a lot of slang ❌: They make a lot of references to popular French culture - But on the bright side, if you look up every cultural references that they make you might be able to get a Master in French popular culture (I personnaly get only a third of their references).

L'Effondrement (2019) : -> During each episode you get to see a family or group of people trying to survive after the collapse of the society. No electricity, little to no petrol, shortage of food... ✅ : Casual French + Really interesting ! ❌: A bit "anxiogène" as we say in French (anxiety-provoking) because ...well... it could happenned exactly as it's portrayed in the show.

La Flamme (2020) : -> a parody of the Bachelor  ✅ : Casual French + slang , the main character is played by Jonathan Cohen who is hilarous ❌: Warning : French humour

Family Business (2019) : -> "The plot revolves around a failed entrepreneur, Joseph, who finds out that cannabis is about to be legalized in France. He consequently decides to change the family kosher butcher shop into the first marijuana coffeeshop in France"  ✅ : Casual French + a lot of slang , extremely funny , Jonathan Cohen again ❌: Warning : French humour

BONUS : La Demoiselle d'Avignon (1972) -> Koba, from Kurland meets, François Fonsalette, a French diplomat. They fall in love in France but Koba has to go back to her country. Missing Koba, François manages to get a job as ambassador in Kurland and Koba, missing François, manages to find a job as an AuPair in France... ✅ : Formal French ( French from the 70 sounds sooooo nice), really cute story + you get to see France in the 70s ❌: Nobody speaks French like this anymore, (unfortunately)

(Some of thoses shows are on Youtube in France, but I don't know if the videos are visible outside the country) (feel free to ask me for links)

[bhashashikhi]

I just came across this article on my DELF French book. It mentions how numerous studies have shown that associating a word with its translation is not the most efficient way to learn it. It then gives us alternative ways to learn vocab. Since I think these tips can be helpful for all languages, here’s a small summary of them:

We can learn words better if we organize them into sets.

-Associate words with scenarios already existing in your memory.

-Some words are parts of descriptive sets such as ‘shower’ is a part of the set ‘bathroom’.

-Words can also have synonyms or antonyms.

Different words of the same meaning are often used in certain scenarios such as a different version for professional and informal settings. They may also vary from culture to culture. The more we are able to associate words with strong images and ideas, the easier it is to learn them.

[asimplelanguageblog]

French essential verbs

AVOIR = TO HAVE

ETRÊ= TO BE

MANGER = TO EAT

BOIRE = TO DRINK

MARCHER : TO WALK

VOIR = TO SEE

DORMIR =TO SLEEP

ACHETER =TO BUY

VENDRE = TO SELL

PARLER = TO TALK, TO SPEAK

DIRE = TO SAY, TO TELL

LIRE = TO READ

ALLER = TO GO

VENIR = TO COME

APPRENDRE = TO LEARN

LAVER : TO WASH

UTILISER : TO USE

COUPER : TO CUT ,TO CHOP

CUISINER =TO COOK

METTRE: TO PUT

DÉPENSER : TO SPEND

ESSAYER :TO TRY ,TO TRY ON

OUBLIER : TO FORGET

FERMER : TO CLOSE

OUVRIR: TO OPEN

VERSER = TO POUR

ÉCRIR = TO WRITE

CHERCHE : TO LOOK FOR

SAVOIR = TO KNOW, TO KNOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING

VOULOUIR : TO WANT

POUVOIR = CAN , BE ABLE TO

[i-read-in-five-languages-deacti]

french language resources masterlist

Last updated: 02/11/2023

Websites

RFI Savoirs has lots of listening and reading activities (from A1 to B2)

Apprendre le français TV 5 Monde has listening activities from A1 to B2

Tester son niveau - this is a free placement test (just listening)

CNTRL Dictionnaire is a dictionary

France Université Numérique - free MOOCS (massive open online course) with different levels: Level A1 - Level A2 - Level B1

Kwiziq (a website that you can test your level and study grammar)

Music

French songs you should listen to

french aesthetic songs (youtube)

Crème French playlist (youtube)

Books/Reading

GEO Magazine is a online magazine with articles about nature and history

Library Genesis has many books in french and other languages too

TV/Movie

TV 5 Monde has series and movies from France and other countries (for free), available for desktop and mobile (ios and android)

TV 5 UNIS has series and movies in French (mostly from Quebec). Some of the shows are not available outside Canada (but you can use it with a vpn)

Podcasts

Artips podcast (art, music, science)

France culture podcasts (various subjects)

Apps

WLINGUA app (both IOS and Android) teaches grammar

Other

French grammar pdf exercises - if you search the topic you're learning (example: le passé composé) + pdf, you're going to find many pdf activities from University of Quebec. Like this one: Passé Composé UQuebec

Artips is a newsletter about art, music, science and ecology that you receive in your email. You can chose the topics you wanna subscribe (example: I subscribed for art and music newsletters).

Bon courage !

[asimplelanguageblog]

French essential verbs

AVOIR = TO HAVE

ETRÊ= TO BE

MANGER = TO EAT

BOIRE = TO DRINK

MARCHER : TO WALK

VOIR = TO SEE

DORMIR =TO SLEEP

ACHETER =TO BUY

VENDRE = TO SELL

PARLER = TO TALK, TO SPEAK

DIRE = TO SAY, TO TELL

LIRE = TO READ

ALLER = TO GO

VENIR = TO COME

APPRENDRE = TO LEARN

LAVER : TO WASH

UTILISER : TO USE

COUPER : TO CUT ,TO CHOP

CUISINER =TO COOK

METTRE: TO PUT

DÉPENSER : TO SPEND

ESSAYER :TO TRY ,TO TRY ON

OUBLIER : TO FORGET

FERMER : TO CLOSE

OUVRIR: TO OPEN

VERSER = TO POUR

ÉCRIR = TO WRITE

CHERCHE : TO LOOK FOR

SAVOIR = TO KNOW, TO KNOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING

VOULOUIR : TO WANT

POUVOIR = CAN , BE ABLE TO

[logogreffe]

French Podcast Recommendations

The following list contains podcasts in French that I, a native French speaker, listen to. So if you're a beginner in French, those might be too hard for you !

The rest of the post will be in French !

1) Chasseurs de Sciences : Chaque épisode dure une dizaine de minutes et porte sur des scientifiques/personnalités "méconnu(e)s". (Il y a plein d'épisodes sur des femmes qui ont eu un impact énorme sur leur discipline)

Super intéressant !

Mes épisodes préférés : Henrietta Lacks, morte il y a 70ans..et toujours vivante ; Ada Lovelace, autrice du premier programme informatique..en 1843 ; Rosalind Franklin, une femme à la conquête de l'ADN ; Nelly Bly, 10 jours dans un asile psychiatrique et 72 jours autour du monde ;

2) Vénus s'épilait-elle la chatte ?

C'est un podcast sur l'histoire de l'art et le féminisme !

Les épisodes sur Picasso et Frida Kahlo sont à écouter absolument ! Frida Kahlo, au delà du mythe ; Picasso, séparer l'homme de l'artiste ;

3) Thinkerview :

Séries d'interviews sur différents sujets (qui ne sont pas vraiment mentionnés dans les médias).

Super intéressant si vous vous intéressez un peu à la géopolitique/ réchauffement climatique

Mes épisodes préférés : L'effondrement, le point critique ? Aurore Stéphant (Elle parle de l'industrie minière et de ses impacts sur l'environnement. L'écoute de cet épisode devrait être obligatoire pour l'ensemble de la population)

Guillaume Pitron : L'enfumage de la transition écologique

4) Mythologie Grecque

Un podcast sur ... la mythologie grecque !

Remarque : Je crois qu'à la base c'est un podcast à écouter avant d'aller dormir donc les effets sonores sont un peu...particuliers.

Voilà voilà, après, je vous conseille, s'il y a des sujets particuliers qui vous intéressent, de juste les taper en français dans la barre de recherche de Spotify et de choisir au hasard des podcasts ! C'est comme ça que j'ai découvert un tas de podcasts en anglais/ allemand/ espagnol. Bonne écoute !

[linguistness]

Apps i use to learn languages

1. Babbel

This is a language app that also teaches grammar & offers grammar exercises. You can practise the vocab words you learned & it teaches you about the people & culture of your target country.

However, it only offers 14 languages (English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Indonesian) and you need a payed subscription to unlock the courses and can only learn one language at a time.

2. Duolingo

This is a language learning app that offers dozens of languages, even fictional ones from Game of Thrones & Star Trek. You can access all courses without subscription and can learn several languages at a time.

However, it doesn't offer any grammar exercises and you can't revise the vocab you learned.

3. LingoClip

In this app, you can listen to songs in your target language & have to fill in the gaps in the lyrics. You get 3 free songs per day without a subscription.

The languages they offer are English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Polish, Swedish, Finnish, Catalan.

4. Beelinguapp

This app helps you practice reading texts in your target language by showing you the text in your native language & in your target language and reading it to you sentence by sentence.

The languages they offer are English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Hindi, Turkish, Korean, Arabic, and Swedish.

5. LingQ

This app works similarly to Beelinguapp, but you can mark any words you know and don't know and practice the ones you didn't know.

The languages they offer are English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Greek, Finnish, Norwegian, Czech, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Latin, Romanian, Esperanto, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Catalan, Bulgarian, Persian, Danish, Gujarati, Cantonese, Croatian, Hungarian, Armenian, Indonesian, Icelandic, Malaysian, Slovakian, Serbian, Tagalog, and Taiwanese Mandarin.

6. Quizlet

This is a vocab card app. I really like that it gives you translation suggestions when you type out a vocab word and it recognizes the language automatically. You can also use vocab lists from other users and from specific exercise books or courses, and you can sort your vocab lists into sets and files and share them with others if you'd like. If you subscribe to Quizlet, you can also keep track of your learning.

7. AnkiDroid

This is another vocab card app which i use for learning sign languages. You can put formulas, pictures, videos, and more on the vocab cards and you can synchronise the app with the pc programme.

8. Chatterbug

Chatterbug offers live streams in English, German, French, and Spanish where they explain grammar rules, cultural aspects, idioms, and more. They also offer private language lessons.

9. Slowly

On Slowly you can find penpals around the world that are learning your target language or people from your target language's country that want to learn your native language, so you can help each other.

[lafilledanslaville]

📺 words & expressions i have learned from french shows, movies, & tiktoks

c’est pas grave - it’s okay / it’s no big deal

(ne) t’inquiète (pas) - don’t worry

qu’est-ce que tu fais là ? - what are you doing here?

tu me manques - i miss you

on y va - let’s go

bien sûr - of course

j’suis là - i’m here

je vous en prie - you’re welcome (formal)

mytho - liar

ouais - yeah

un truc - something

voilà - there it is, that’s right, exactly, there you go

oh là là - wow, oh my god

bof - so-so, whatever

hein - the french “huh” or “eh”

ben / bah - well… / uhh…

s’il te plaît ➭ s’te plaît - please

félicitations - congratulations

un mec - a guy (slang)

une meuf - a girl (slang)

[linguistness]

Language Learning Tip #2

Copying texts into a notebook

Choose some short & fun texts, something like fairy tales, local news, wikipedia entries etc. in your target language and copy the text into a notebook, leaving a bit of space at the side. Then go over the text again and mark any words you didn’t know & write down their translation or definition next to the text. Also check for any unknown & difficult grammar you noticed and mark that in a different colour.

By writing in your target language (even if it’s just copying) you’ll get used to the sentence structure and overall grammar of your target language. If you do this regularly, you’ll soon find it more easy to form and produce sentences by yourself!

[ruhua-langblr]

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

[eclipse-francais]

à Duolingo je apprends mots, por examplé, travailler, prendre, train, aeroport, gare, homme, fille, femme, et plus de mots!

[eclipse-francais]

Jour six (je ignoré cinq)

salut! Demain je parlerai pour mon Francis examen. J'espère je fais bien! Si je ferais bien, je serai hereux. Pour demain: (je)

futur- infiinitive + ai

conditional- infinitive + ais

nouveau mots:

espoir- to hope

[eclipse-francais]

jour six

Salut! Aujord'hui nous supprimons les decorations de Noël. Quand je serai agê, je apprendrai plus langues. Je ne sais pas les langues je apprendrai toujours, je veux apprendre plus! Si je habiterais France, je apprendrai les lanagues de Europe.

[eclipse-francais]

jour quatre

Aujord'hui, j'ai joué softball. J'aime softball parce que on est amusement. Je leve poids Aujord'hui parce que je veux être forte. Je veux être bon à francais. Cette est difficile toujours je suis à determiner. Désolé c'est petite, j'ai fatigue.

noveau mots

amusement- fun

désolé - sorry

[eclipse-francais]

Jour Trois

aujord'hui je é'tait heureux. Je le ferai apprendre le futur tense. Je ecrivé beaucoup de francais aujor'hui, cette ferai petite. Je suis heureux je continue le tous de jours

nouveau mots

heureux- happy

Tous de- every