Tag: language

11 French Words You Should Know to Sound like a Fluent French Speaker – Frenchly

In honor of la rentrée, France’s return to school and also normalcy, you should make a learning goal of your own:

In honor of la rentrée, France’s return to school and also normalcy, you should make a learning goal of your own: speak French like a real French person. None of this “qu’est-ce que c’est que ça?” stuff, you’re going to say “c’est quoi?” like a normal Gaulle. Here are 11 words and phrases you absolutely need to know for speaking French without sounding like a textbook, as spoken and defined by our French Morning coworkers in the office. Refresh you mind with our lists of words from February,  March, April, May, June, July, and August, then dig in. There’s no time to learn French like la rentrée!

1. Ça fait du bien

A very French phrase, “ça fait du bien” [sa fay do bee-en] means “it feels good” or “it does you good.” It’s often used in reference to things that are good for your health / wellness / general being. For example, “ça fait du bien de faire de l’exercice” (it’s feels good to get some exercise) or “ça fait du bien de prendre les vacances” (it does you good to take some vacation).

2. Gros

An adjective meaning fat, “gros” [gro] is also a slang term for “friend.” Think of it as being the same thing as bro. Next time you see your French friend, greet him like this: “salut gros, ça va?”

3. Ah ouais?

“Ah ouais?” [ah whey] is an exclamation that basically means “really?” (in an interested way, not in an indignant way). Because “ouais” is an elongated, dramatized version of “oui,” it translates to “ah yeeees?” If a friend tells you your ex-boyfriend posted on Facebook that he’s engaged, you’ll probably say “ah ouais?” Keep in mind, if you say “ah ouuuuaaais,” dragging out the wheyyy part without raising your voice at the end, it means “yes, of course.”

4. Kiffer

An excellent French slang verb, kiffer [keef-ay] means to like or love something or someone a lot. Je kiffe les croissants de Maison Kayser (I really like Maison Kayser croissants). Maxime kiffe Shania Twain (Maxime loves Shania Twain). Il la kiffe grave (he loves her so much). You can also use it for “has a crush on.” Jessica kiffe Benjamin Pavard (Jessica has a crush on Benjamin Pavard).

5. Tu déconnes

Using the verb “déconner” [day-cone-ay] which means messing around, you can tell someone “you’re kidding” with “tu déconnes.” You can use it when you’re incredulous about something, or when you’re indignant, like “you’ve got to be kidding me.” In the popular song “Djadja” by Aya Nakamura, she tells off an acquaintance for claiming they slept together: “Putain, mais tu déconnes / c’est pas comme ça qu’on fait les choses” (Damn, but you’ve got to be kidding me / that’s now how we do things.”

6. Justement

Another one of those French words that’s ubiquitous but you don’t know what it means. “Justement” [joost-mahn] is like “exactly” or “rightly.” If your coworker is arguing that the best time to visit France is in the fall and you agree with him, you can respond, “justement, tous les touristes sont partis.” You cannot, however, say “justement” on its own as an exclamation. It has to start a sentence.

Continue reading at 11 French Words You Should Know to Sound like a Fluent French Speaker – Frenchly

How Duolingo uses dirty gaming tricks to get you addicted to French

By watching its users learn languages – and make mistakes – in real time, Duolingo is developing a unique view of education

After months spent away from the language-learning app Duolingo, my level-five French skills were in decline. The “food” category was particularly threatened, coded red (for danger) with just one “strength bar” remaining. I clicked it, and was asked to translate: Je mange un repas. No problem. “I eat…” Wait, what was repas? My mind drifted to arepas, the Colombian snack. Defeated, I Google Translated. A meal! I should have intuited this from the English “repast”. But, in the moment, I forgot.

Learning is forgetting; or, more accurately, it’s virtually forgetting that we know something, but then being able to magically retrieve it when called upon. As Ulrich Boser, author of Learn Better, suggested to me, the human mind is not simply a computer; we will forget things, at a fairly predictable rate. So should I have simply drilled French food vocabulary every morning over my petits déjenuers? No, Boser says. The best thing “is to learn a word right when you’re about to forget it”. With each instance of effortful relearning, you remember longer [ . . . ]

More: How Duolingo uses dirty gaming tricks to get you addicted to French

Raising a glass to the language of intoxication

 

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Language notes on the French art of drinking

As you would expect, there are many French maxims relating to booze. Alfred de Musset, a 19th-century poet, was not too picky with his preferences: Qu’importe le flacon, pourvu qu’on ait l’ivresse – “Nevermind the bottle, as long as you’re intoxicated”. But perhaps the neatest summation of alcohol’s role in French life came from Napoleon, who once said, “In victory, you deserve Champagne. In defeat you need it.”

Autumn is upon us, and the grape harvest is under way in vineyards, from Reims to the Rhône Valley, so here we look at French expressions that relate to enjoying a tipple and having one too many.

We often think of the French as moderate – or, at least, quite sensible – drinkers, but in 2013 the phrase beuverie express appeared in the country’s official journal. It became part of the language and ‘binge drinking’ had officially arrived in France…

It is by no means at UK levels but with this in mind, a stock familiar phrase for saying someone drinks too much is boire comme un trou – literally ‘to drink like a hole’. Similar to this are boire comme une éponge (drink like a sponge) or boire comme un évier (drink like a sink).

To drink oneself into a stupor is boire jusqu’à tomber, while to drink someone under the table is faire rouler quelqu’un sous la table.

Conversely, someone who demurely sips at their drink can be said to boire à petits coups. Other words for ‘to sip’ are siroter and gobeloter.

Need to hand out a few words of warning in French about the inhibition-removing effects of a few glasses of wine? Try Ce que le sobre tient au coeur est sur la langue du buveur – “What the sober hold in their heart is on the drinker’s tongue” This is a rather long winded way of saying in vino veritas.

Cul sec! (‘dry bottom’, or ‘Bottoms up!’).

 

Source: Raising a glass to the language of intoxication

How you can live happily in Paris without speaking French

Living in Paris

 

Writer Charli James, who has recently set up home in Paris, testifies to the fact you can lead a rich and happy life in the French capital even if you can’t communicate with the locals in their own lingo. Here’s how.

I barely speak French but I didn’t let this stop me from moving to Paris. And I do know I’m far from alone.Now I’m not advocating remaining French illiterate, especially if you plan to live here long term, and I am working hard to improve my own French, but soon after moving here, I realized you don’t actually have to speak the language very well to have a full life in Paris.Now this may sound implausible, but I promise there are a truckload of people doing this in Paris. [ . . . ]

French sheep

Read Full Story at: How you can live happily in Paris without speaking French – The Local