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So, we learn French and spend ages with our noses in the textbook or in lessons. It's what we do.

Then we dare to step out of our comfort zone and speak to someone. And sometimes, it just all goes wrong! 

Today’s example is when you learn “Je ne sais pas” but totally zone out when someone slips...

Do you find yourself congratulating yourself on using a new French word or some tricky grammar, only to see ZERO ADMIRATION from your French person? 

That’s mainly because they really don’t get just how much hard effort we put into learning their lovely language. 

Then, they go and use expressi...

PAST PARTICIPLES - IRREGULAR ONES.  “What”? 

Ok, it’s ok not to know grammar like the back of your hand, and to be fair, we can get away with knowing very little.  Until learning the French language reminds us that we need to know some basics at least. 

So without getting super complex, a past ...

It’s BAD enough when you want to work out whether to say MAL or MAUVAIS . . . so let’s find some other ways to say this and get expanding our vocabulary.

You see, we love saying something is GOOD, but when people want to explain just the opposite to us, it’s not a MAUVAISE idée (bad idea) to be ...

When you listen to French spoken at full speed it can be a real confidence breaker when you’ve done all that learning yet still don’t understand what’s being said.  Or even, you get some of it but the time it took you to process it, the conversation has moved on. 

You are not alone! In fact, if ...

 Do you worry nobody will understand you and you’ll have to repeat yourself . . . again?

So you use lovely words like “fantastique” or ”excellent . . . yet don’t you want to expand your vocabulary a little more?

Knowing the basics is fine but there comes a time when you actually want to know mo...

Scripting your French conversations can actually leave you feeling worried about opening up a conversation, the exact opposite of its intent.

This is because you might be worried about making mistakes, or that you won’t be able to pronounce the words correctly, or goodness me, worried that you m...

 Don’t you just struggle to recall on demand those fun idiomatic expressions in French that would nicely colour our daily language?

We love metaphors and interesting ways of speaking.  

But recalling them on demand when we’re not using them every day can really chew up our confidence.

So I pre...

What if things just aren’t right and you need to express that clearly?

We’re so busy learning French that we tend to stick to the positive and are always compliant. 

Have you just learnt to keep your opposition to yourself?  

Today, in this mini-lesson, you will learn:

• How to say things are...

Fancy some tense recognition? 

When it comes to listening to French people speaking, wouldn’t we just like some more practice, especially when it comes to recognising verbs in the past, present and future . . . and more 

Therefore, I have a mini listening activity for you - can you work out wha...

Do you get in a dither using  DEPUIS in French? Get into the French brain and make life easier with DEPUIS.

The thing is, we shy away from using tenses like “have been . . . ing” because it looks really complicated. 

But actually, instead of wasting time translating all the time, if only you un...

 Do you mess up your Bonjour and your Bonne journée?  ... Just how DO you greet your guest in the morning? 

If you want to carry on your conversation in French, it’s helpful to know if you’re greeting someone or if you’re basically sending them on their way. 

It’s ok: it’s a subtle difference i...