It is widely known that France has a beautiful culture and language, but did youknow the historical reason why French is a 'romance Language' is a result of wars and invasion? French language primarily descends from Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, and thus belongs to the 'romance' Language group. The Romans were a strong empire that once invaded the actual French territory, which was known as La Gaule; where numerous tribes speaking le Gaulois (Gaulish) composed of Celtic dialects inhabited La Gaule. Some traces of Gaulish influence are still present in the French spoken today; for example, these traces include the Gauls' ancient and unique way of counting people by twenty. (in modern French, we still have... Show more

Quick recap from last week: What would we do without French vowel sounds?  Well, the obvious answer is that we'd say a lot of consonants!  We'd end up sounding like a lot of other Eastern European languages rather than the mellifluous French language.This lesson takes a look at the nineteen vowel sounds in detail with some examples and practice exercises.  French vowel sounds are divided into three groups; Voyelles orales ("oral vowels"), Voyelles nasales ("nasal vowels"), Semi-voyelles ("half vowels").  Part 2 of this lesson summary will focus on the last two groups of French vowels; Voyelles nasales ("nasal vowels"), Semi-voyelles ("half vowels"). Voyelles nasales ("nasal vowels"):These vowels are specific to French as the passage... Show more

What would we do without French vowel sounds?  Well, the obvious answer is that we'd say a lot of consonants!  We'd end up sounding like a lot of other Eastern European languages rather than the mellifluous French language.  This lesson takes a look at the nineteen vowel sounds in detail with some examples and practice exercises. French vowel sounds are divided into three groups; Voyelles orales ("oral vowels"), Voyelles nasales ("nasal vowels"), Semi-voyelles ("half vowels").  Part 1 of this lesson summary will focus on the first group mentioned, voelles orales, and its subgroups. Voyelles orales ("oral vowels") are vowels we pronounce by air going through the mouth area and where the tongue, uvula, and lips will have a certain... Show more

You have been studying French for quite some time now...and you are doing such a fabulous job! However, if you are seated at the fancy French restaurant you have always wanted to try, the waiter hands you a menu - completely in French - and quite confusing! The French alphabet is pretty peculiar and a bit different from the English writing system. It includes some unfamiliar markings you may not recognize: 1) Diacritics, or accent marks that help denote the characteric French pronunciation and intonation of words. They include: The acute accent (l'accent aigu)         ‹´› The grave accent (l'accent grave)       ‹`› The cedilla (la cédille)                        ‹¸› The circumflex (l'accent circonflexe)     ‹ˆ› The... Show more

You are learning French, but aside from grammar and vocabulary, you feel challenged by the pronunciation. What is the key to making all those uniquely French sounds? There are different categories of French sounds, and these the most unique ones to the language, and therefore, challenging. They are the following: Voyelles orales ("oral vowels") Voyelles antérieures ("front vowels") You produce them by placing your tongue to the front of your mouth, as in the English word "feet" and "stylo" (pen) in French. Voyelles centrales ("central vowels")Place the tongue in the middle of your mouth, as in "pure" and "lune"(moon) in French. Voyelles postérieures ("back vowels")  Place your tongue in the back of your mouth, as in... Show more

It is widely known that France has a beautiful culture and language, but did you know the historical reason why French is a 'Romance Language' is a result of wars and invasion? French language primarily descends from Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, and thus belongs to the 'Romance' Language Group. The Romans were a strong empire that once invaded the actual French territory, which was known as La Gaule; where numerous tribes speaking le Gaulois ('Gaulish') composed of Celtic dialects inhabited La Gaule. Some traces of Gaulish influence are still present in the French spoken today; for example, these traces include the Gauls' ancient and unique way of counting people by twenty. (In modern French, we still have quatre-vingt... Show more

Just as an engine helps a car move, mastering basic grammar helps you express yourself and communicate your ideas clearly. The more you know about the engine parts, the more you can improve your engine's capacity. Similarly, the more you know grammar, the better your French will be! French grammar has the reputation of being boring and complicated, but it's not so terrible. The main difficulties are the word genders and the conjugation system (shared by all Romance languages). It is just a matter of remembering some basic rules that will reduce your chances of making the most common French grammar mistakes. The most common one is gender. In French, all nouns have a gender, either masculine or feminine. A basic rule for nouns and... Show more

In this series of mini-lesson tweets on Twitter, we help you perfect your shopping vocabulary to become a master in bargaining in French. Here is the recap of last week’s phrases for your reference: Flea market browsing and antique hunting, shopping...Now is time to "marchander", "to bargain"! To find antiques, go to "le marché aux puces", the flea market. "Le marché aux puces est le samedi.", "The flea market is on Saturdays." Now that merchant's old bicycle is overpriced. Just tell him "C'est trop cher", "It's too expensive." You want to lower the price of this antique phone (after all, it doesn't work!), "Vous pouvez baisser?", "Can you lower the price?" A tip to find cheap antiques, look for a "brocante" sign in... Show more

In this series of mini-lesson tweets on Twitter, we help you perfect your house-related vocabulary to become a master in knowing French homes. Here is the recap of this week’s phrases for your reference: Have you ever had a neighbor who kept complaining about "le bruit", "the noise"? Or maybe you are the one who complains... Your female neighbor is "la voisine", and your male neighbor is "le voisin". Neighbors in their whole have a name in French, "le voisinage". A lot of "repas de quartier", "block parties" are organized throughout French cities. And if you live in the French country, you can go to the annual "fête du village" (fem.), like a block party, only for a whole village. Now, if you live the French country, and... Show more

In this series of mini-lesson tweets on Twitter, we help you perfect your house-related vocabulary to become a master in knowing French homes. Here is the recap of this week’s phrases for your reference: If you are lucky and have a backyard, "un jardin", you can sunbathe in the summer. And if you don't have a backyard, you can still open "la fenêtre", "the window", for some fresh air. Take a look at your neighbor's life by getting up "le toit", 'the roof". What do you do with your "garage", "garage"? Park your car? Store your things? You are "casanier" (male) or "casanière" (female) if you are a homebody "Je suis casanière en hiver." In the winter I am being a homebody. Enjoy!