Learning French by Watching TV in French… With or Without Subtitles?
Some people say that watching TV in the language you wish to learn is a great idea… although very few actually do it 😉 Going without subtitles is the best way… but it’s like climbing the Himalayas… VERY difficult. And disheartening. Except if you watch a film you’ve...
Can we call a mistake a “FAUTE”?
It started as a conversation about spelling. And, more precisely, about spelling mistakes. And it drifted onto the word “FAUTE”… oh yes, it was all in French 😉 This is what a lady, an English teacher, said (I translate) : “Many people mistakenly speak of “FAUTES...
Table manners… what is the norm here is at fault there… complicated 😉
The French must keep their hands on the table during meals. Not the elbow/s… the hands. It is considered inappropriate to keep your hands on your knees or under the table. Planting your elbows or leaning your whole elbow and forearm on the table are both impolite and...
There is College and Collège…
College... in France, EVERYBODY goes to college... by law! How come? If you're from the USA or Canada - excuse me for the other anglophone countries, I don't know your scholar system - your “college” isn't the same as the French's. The French scholar system is the...
“On” instead of ”Nous“ for “We“
On comes up in conversation ALL THE TIME, you will not ba able to avoid it 😉 1/ “On” is used to represent “unknown” people, as a group. In English, it could be “people” or “You” when it is not meant to point out the exact person/s you're talking to. Ex.: On doit...
Familiar goodbyes
We're going to leave the very formal goodbyes here and dive into the familiar - or overfamiliar - ones. Bye... would be “Salut !” Ciao... would be “Ciao”, “Tchao” (pronounced the same way as Ciao... all'italiana 😉 See ya... would be “À toute” or “À plus” (short for...
Like… Genre en Français… A New Addition to the “Modern” Language.
There are a few “new” words that appear in the language, once in a while. They usually come from the recent teenage standards of communication.... hijacked and given a new meaning... I spare you the body movements that go with... An exemplary sample of those is “like”...
There is More Than You Thought About Genders 😉
We've already talked about genders in French... there is more 😉 There are some words that are spelled exactly the same way... but they change meaning if they are used as masculine or feminine. How come ? I explain : MOULE - “un moule“, masculine, is a form, a mould,...
Bad Press… Rectified !
Today, I'm going to quote Ravin Hurloll, an anglophone journalist, about what he thinks of the French... interesting... and another good reason to get to know them somewhat more closely. I found these few words on Quora. Here it goes : "I am a non-French person, but I...