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Learn vocabulary in a game Sep 23, 2024

As learners of French, we don’t often invite our French neighbours or friends around for fear of wondering what to say after all the greetings are done with . . . it starts getting a bit tricky!

So here’s a great game to play amongst your nibbles and drinks where you all expand your vocabulary t...

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Say the R like a Native French Sep 16, 2024

“Rentrer”   

A French word with the dreaded R sound! TWICE! 

Can you say it, or do you recoil in resigned acceptance that it’s just too hard?

I only learnt this relatively recently. Why? Because my teachers never told me, they even found it hard.

Then I decided to look and feel in SLOW MOTIO...

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What are these 2 dots? Sep 02, 2024

How can 2 little dots make such a difference to your speaking and spelling in French?

Are you messing up by putting them in the wrong place?

Here’s another really quick mini-lesson to help you enjoy being just a little bit more French today, as requested by many of my learners. 

Learn: 

  • Wha...
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Is it TU or VOUS? Aug 19, 2024

Anglophones tend to have enough problems with tu and vous, and nobody tells us how to pronounce them well, either.  

Not only that, as soon as someone asks you to “ tuvoyer”, you’re lost! 

In this mini-lesson, you discover not only how to say these lovely words, but how to choose the right one,...

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AL- AUX French plural endings Aug 06, 2024

Oops - are you pronouncing your plurals wrongly? 

Un animal - Deux animaux

That’s how it goes! 

A really quick mini-lesson to help you enjoy being just a little bit more French today.

Make your quick discovery and learn: 

  •  A group of common words where -AL goes to -AUX
  •  How to pronounce t...
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What “histoire de” means in French Jul 29, 2024

“Just to” see if you fancy squeezing in a nice new expression to your French head. . . 

I present you . . . “Histoire de . . .” 

“Just to” . . . 

This is a really quick mini-lesson to help you enjoy being just a little bit more French today, instead of saying “juste pour”.

Don’t make schoolda...

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Sound like a French native with FRENCH FLEXY LIPS Jul 22, 2024

Learning should be fun, and this week, after working in a lesson with French people trying to sound English, we realised it works both ways.  With side-splitting fun we repositioned out mouth, our tongue and even the airflow in our throat. 

Through all the laughter we cracked it with two fun phr...

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Upgrade your French pronunciation with "TÉLÉVISION" Jul 08, 2024

This single word really does have the key to your native-sounding pronunciation: 

Try saying this in your ENGLISH voice: Television, first in your head then out loud.  Then the same in French. Télévision.

In this mini-lesson we swiftly explore how to shift your internal and external pronunciati...

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Is it J’AI or JE SUIS PASSÉ? Jul 01, 2024

We all make mistakes . . . me more than any, it seems at times. 

With the verb PASSER I DENIED for YEARS the whole possibility of it being one of the verbs of ĂŠtre in the perfect tense.

Like many, my teacher told me a way to remember the ĂŠtre verbs with DR.MRS.VANDERTRAMP and it only has one le...

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The silent P in French Jun 17, 2024

Can you say this correctly in French?  COMPTER

Did you pronounce that P? If you want to sound like a native and have some practice with that challenging letter P then check out this mini-lesson and discover . . . 

  • How to say those words with a silent P
  • Practice of the sounds with explana...
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Agreements for the past participle: AVOIR Jun 10, 2024

“Preceding direct object”

Does this leave you wondering what you missed in life? Where you went wrong with French grammar?

Don’t worry - you could argue it’s not the most important thing in the French language. 

But if you want to sound French, this is a common detail that will help, made very...

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4 ways to pronounce EM in French Jun 03, 2024

Did you realise there are actually 4 ways of pronouncing the 2 letters EM in French?

If you’ve got into a habit of pronouncing only the English way, even when you’re speaking in French then this mini-lesson is just right for you!

Head in and discover:

  • 4 ways to pronounce EM in French like a ...
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