FrenchPod101.com Blog

Do you know which animals the French love most? What about the most popular pets and common farm animals? How many species are there in the gastropod family, and what’s the life expectancy of forest-litter snails? We’re about to answer some of these questions. As I was gathering animal names, I came up with a fascinating theory: the more exotic an animal is in France, the easier it will be for you to learn its French name. Conveniently enough, there are several animal names in French that are identical to their English equivalents: lion, crocodile, panda, koala, giraffe, jaguar... They shouldn’t give you too much trouble! In this article, you’ll learn the names of different animals in French, from pets and farm animals to wild... Show more

Do you sometimes get anxious when the phone rings? For some, this anxiety arises due to the fear of being criticized or judged for what they’re gonna say. Telephone phobia can even make one afraid, by association, of the actual ringing. Even though this type of anxiety was not common for me, I noticed that taking phone calls in a foreign language could get me really tense. I would sometimes struggle to find the right words, and I was afraid I’d fail to understand what the other person wanted from me. As a learner, picking up some French phone phrases can relieve you of most of this apprehension. Equipped with the essential phrases and useful phone vocabulary, you’ll be ready to face almost any phone scenario.  In this article,... Show more

Do you know how many words there are in the French language? Come on, have a guess. Most French dictionaries list around 60,000. But Le Grand Robert, one of the most prominent resources, gathers more than 100,000 words for a total of 350,000 different meanings. Sounds overwhelming? Keep in mind that even native French speakers know merely a fraction of that! To start having basic conversations, you only need a few hundred basic French words for beginners.  Further down the line, you’ll be considered "proficient" in French upon reaching around 5,000 words. That’s only about 5% of the whole collection. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! In this article, we’ll list all of the French beginner words that will allow you to handle... Show more

Have you ever started a conversation in a foreign language, believing you could handle it, only to end up puzzled and confused with the abundance of mysterious and seemingly unnecessary sounds that no academic learning could have prepared you for? Like all languages, real-life spoken French is quite different from what you learn in grammar books. It’s littered with weird "filler words" that easily get in the way when you’re trying to follow a complicated conversation. French filler words are short and meaningless words or sounds we use to fill the gaps. They can get rather irritating, but on the bright side, mastering these filler words in French will allow you to sound even ‘Frencher’ than locals. In this article, you’ll learn... Show more

Did you know that the French language does not differentiate between "love" and "like"? When you say J’aime le fromage, it means that you like cheese. But if you say Je t’aime, it stands for "I love you" in French and certainly not just "I like you." This might be one of the reasons why the French are known to be rather quick about saying "I love you." Unlike other cultures, they don’t necessarily mean that they want to get married and spend the rest of their days with the person, but more like they really like the person and love spending time together. But I’m getting ahead of myself! In this guide, we’ll talk about love, of course, but also about flirting and seduction—from first contact to sweet talk for lovebirds—staying in touch,... Show more

Have you ever paid attention to all those books about The Gentle Art of Saying No, The Power of a Positive No, How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty, and many more?  Based on these titles, it would seem that there’s something inherently difficult about saying no. In fact, it could even be considered rude, insensitive, or socially disruptive......unless you happen to be in France! Here, you can safely say no to most questions without the need to carefully sugarcoat it.  Negation in French is rather similar to that in English, and once you’ve mastered the most basic structures, it shouldn’t give you any trouble. In this guide, you’ll learn how to do negation in French. We’ll cover everything from the fundamentals to the more advanced... Show more

Why should people learn French, and more importantly, why should you? That’s a fair question to ask before committing your precious time and brainpower to the task. If I were to learn another language, I’d personally pick something simple enough, widely spread across the globe, with a thriving culture and lots of business opportunities. Damn, I wish I could learn French again! Whether you're a travel lover, a people person, or a culture vulture, you’ll find many benefits in learning a new language—and French might be just the one for you. In this article, we’ll go over the 10 main reasons why you should learn French for leisure (travel, friendship, entertainment) or business (quality studies, work opportunities). We’ll also... Show more

https://youtu.be/2jEWwkaxM6Q?si=Pesf5UBXUpAo1knO Do you get tense when looking at French conjugation tables? Handling verbs in French can seem quite overwhelming at first: There are distinct endings for each pronoun, six different moods, and soooo many tenses! But of course, there’s a trick. Once you take a closer look, it’s not nearly as complicated as you might think. These verb endings follow rules, only a fraction of French tenses are used in real life, and even fewer are useful in spoken French. In this article, you’ll find a quick overview of the general rules concerning French verb conjugation. Then, we’ll dive right into the list of French tenses: present, past, and future. Oh, and there will be lots of cats involved... Show more

This is the most frequently asked question about the language, and yet it has no definite answer. It depends on many things, such as your native language, education, experience with languages, exposure, and motivation. Beyond that, how long it takes to learn French depends heavily on the proficiency level you want to achieve. Do you want to...  ...reach a beginner level? ...be able to make and understand very basic phrases related to everyday life? ...achieve an intermediate level that would allow you to get by in simple conversations on familiar topics? ...get to an advanced level, so you could have meaningful interactions and read or listen to virtually anything?  As you can imagine, these are very different goals with different... Show more

Why are proverbs so popular? As old-fashioned as they can be, you read, hear, and use them on a daily basis. They reflect who we are and the values we stand for. They’re timeless and comforting, never seem to age, and always bring this old magical wisdom that helps us go through life.Personally, what I find fascinating about proverbs is how they serve as a window to different cultures. When I hear Chinese, Russian, or Indian proverbs, I feel like I’m entering a whole new world with a wildly different culture and mindset to learn from. French proverbs are no different, and this is what I’m offering you in this article: a window to popular French wisdom, made up of common proverbs and old sayings. They might not instantly make you wiser,... Show more