French lessons, events & trips
FRENCH LESSONS EVENTS & GIFTS
Keen to speak like a true French native? It’s time to master Verlan – a form of French slang created by inverting the syllables (or sounds) in a word. Un exemple*? Try cimer – the cool-kid way to say merci*.
Check out this article on the 15 Verlans words you should know. And be prepared to impress your French amis*.
*An example | *thank you | *friends
If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.
La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 2 of the Advanced 2 level.
*The Little Story | *The Prequel
Après avoir passé quelques heures très agréables à boire du Pimm’s sur la terrasse, Robert est sorti de la cuisine pour nous appeler à dîner. Alors que nous nous installions autour de la grande table en chêne de la salle à manger, je me suis enfin sentie assez détendue pour prendre le temps d’apprécier où j'étais.
J’ai souri en regardant Anouk montrer à Beth ses dessins des canards qu’elle avait tellement aimés à Hyde Park. Beth avait la patience d’un saint, écoutant ma fille babiller dans un mélange de langage bébé en français avec quelques mots d’anglais ajoutés pour faire bonne mesure. De l’autre côté de la table, Amina a gloussé tandis que Michael la taquinait à propos de sa prononciation du mot « sheets » en anglais quand elle est arrivée chez eux il y a des années. Hervé regardait avec fierté, ne suivant pas totalement la conversation mais appréciant sa légèreté et le rire cristallin de sa femme. Robert, grand et élégant, faisait tout un spectacle en découpant le rôti de bœuf, transférant soigneusement les tranches sur les assiettes empilées devant lui et demandant à son fils Michael de les distribuer autour de la table.
Même si les images d’harmonie domestique devant moi étaient indéniablement charmantes, j’ai réalisé que c’était plus un sentiment que la scène elle-même qui me rendait si satisfaite. La chaleur avec laquelle les Proctor nous avaient accueillis chez eux était remarquable, surtout étant donné que leur seule vraie connexion était avec Amina.
Involontairement, mes pensées se sont tournées vers ma propre vie familiale, et j’ai pâli en réalisant que, bien que Jean-Louis et moi puissions facilement reproduire l’image de la famille parfaite, la chaleur et l’attention nécessaires pour compléter ce tableau n’étaient tout simplement pas là. À la place de la chaleur, il y avait de l’oppression, et à la place de l’attention, de la méfiance. Désespérée d’échapper à cette prise de conscience, j’ai levé les yeux et croisé directement les yeux bruns et liquides de Simon, qui a soutenu mon regard pendant un long moment, une expression de douleur traversant son visage avant que Michael n’attire son attention en disant : « Tiens, Si, celle-là est pour Leïla. Sauce à la menthe en extra. Papa pense que ça l’aidera avec son anglais. » Simon a souri à son père avant de me tendre l’assiette : « L’anglais de Leïla n’a pas besoin d’aide, fais-moi confiance. »
« Comment tu le sais, Michael ? » demanda Michael. « Tu es arrivé il y a à peine quelques heures et Leïla n’a presque pas dit un mot depuis que nous nous sommes assis. Vous avez eu une leçon d’anglais secrète dont nous ne savons rien cet après-midi ? »
« Non, bien sûr que non – » a commencé Simon, avant que j’intervienne.
« Je suis désolée, Michael, je m’excuse d’être un peu silencieuse. Je pense que je suis un peu fatiguée, mais je profitais aussi simplement d’un moment de calme après tous nos déplacements des derniers jours. Ça fait vraiment du bien d’être ici, à profiter de ce moment en famille, même si je suis une intruse. »
« Ne sois pas ridicule, » a répondu Robert, en lançant un regard désapprobateur à Michael. « Michael aime juste taquiner son grand frère. Ne fais pas attention à lui. »
« Oui, désolé, Leïla, c’était juste pour rigoler. Tiens, laisse-moi t’en donner un autre pour me faire pardonner, » a dit Michael en me tendant le plat de pommes de terre rôties. « Avant que Simon ne les mange toutes, » il a ajouté, incapable de résister à une dernière pique.
J’ai souri faiblement et commencé à savourer mon rôti, bien décidée à me débarrasser des pensées intrusives qui me hantaient à propos de ma soi-disant vie parfaite à Paris.
After a very enjoyable couple of hours drinking Pimm's on the patio, Robert came out from the kitchen to call us in for dinner. As we settled in around the large oak table in the dining room I was finally relaxed enough to take the time to appreciate where I was.
I smiled as I watched Anouk showing Beth her drawings of the ducks she’d loved so much in Hyde Park. Beth had the patience of a saint, listening to my daughter babble on in a mixture of French baby talk and the odd English word thrown in for good measure. Across the table, Amina giggled as Michael teased her about her pronunciation of the word “sheets” in English when she first arrived at their home all those years ago. Hervé looked on proudly, not entirely following the conversation but enjoying its levity and his wife’s tinkling laugh. Robert, tall and handsome, was making quite a show of carving the roast beef, carefully transferring the slices to the plates stacked in front of him and instructing his son Michael to pass them around the table.
Though the images of domestic harmony before me were undeniably charming, I realised it was more a feeling than the scene itself that made me feel so utterly satisfied. The warmth with which the Proctors had welcomed us into their home was remarkable, especially since their only real connection was with Amina.
Involuntarily, my thoughts turned to my own home life, and I blanched as I realised that though Jean-Louis and I could replicate the picture of the perfect family with ease, the warmth and care required to complete the package was just not there. Instead of warmth was oppression and in place of care was suspicion. Desperate to escape this realisation, I looked up and straight into the liquid brown eyes of Simon, who held my gaze for a long moment, a look of pain passing across his face before Michael caught his attention by saying “Here you go, Si, this one’s for Leïla. Extra mint sauce. Dad reckons it’ll help with her English.”
Simon smiled at his father before passing the plate to me “Leïla’s English needs no help, trust me.”
“How do you know, Michael?” asked Michael. “You only arrived a few hours ago and Leïla’s barely said a word since we sat down. Did you two have a secret English lesson we don’t know about this afternoon?”
“No, course not - “ started Simon, before I jumped in.
“I’m sorry, Michael, I apologise for being a bit quiet. I think I’m a bit tired but I was also just enjoying being still for a moment, after all our moving around the last few days. It feels really good to be here, enjoying some family time, even if I am an interloper.”
“Don’t be silly,” countered Robert, shooting Michael a disapproving look. “Michael just loves to tease his big brother. Don’t pay him any attention at all.”
“Yeah, sorry, Leïla, just teasing. Here, let me give you another one to make it up to you,” said Michael, offering me the dish of roast potatoes. “Before Simon scoffs them all,” he added, unable to resist a final dig.
I smiled weakly and tucked into my roast dinner relish, determined to rid myself of the intrusive thoughts plaguing me about my so-called perfect life back in Paris.
We’re going to take a detour this month as a recent trip across the border has given me a fresh perspective on French pronunciation.
A few weeks ago, a group of Chouchous* and I headed south into Northern New South Wales to work on our French. Locked away for a weekend in a beautiful wooden cabin allowed us the time to take a deeper look at the mechanics of French pronunciation.
I say this all the time, but I’m not sure it resonates with beginners particularly: French pronunciation is not that difficult. Granted, French has sounds that we in English do not have (and vice versa - ‘th’ for example), but once you know the rules of French pronunciation it is remarkable how uniformly those rules are applied. It is, in fact, quite rare to encounter exceptions. Even the notoriously-difficult-to-pronounce champagne capital of Reims deviates in only one aspect (the pronouncing of the final ’s’). The rest of the word follows the rules, je te jure*.
I think the problem lies not in my message but in my choice of audience. When people are first learning French, so much is new: different spelling, different sounds, different grammatical structures, different numbering systems (quatre-vingt-onze*, anyone?) that it’s simply a bridge too far for an overwhelmed brain to believe that French pronunciation is arguably much easier than English.
The Chouchous that came to the weekend immersion, however, had been at their French for a little longer and were therefore able to entertain this notion, at least.
We used a series of flashcards to group together different spelling combinations that produce the same sound. An example would be would be the o in tomate* and the au in australien*. Once we had our groups, we then divided up some of the hardest French words to pronounce by sound. The true test came when we took on the French word for squirrel, écureuil (é / cu / reu / il) and I’m happy to report the Chouchous passed with flying colours.
So when I took a look at the list of words in my notes for the article this month and saw the word lieu*, I decided to take un petit détour*. We’ll look at the top five mistakes intermediate learners make in a future article. For now, I’d really like to show you how you can break down French words into sounds to pronounce them with a lot more confidence.
So, here we go. We’re going to learn two sound groups in order to be able to pronounce the word lieu like a pro.
The letter e in French is pronounced very similarly to the first two letters in the English word earth. Of course, if you know your French alphabet, you’ll already know the exact pronunciation.
Alternatively, we all know how to say the French word je, meaning ‘I’. This is the sound you’re after.
The colours are some of the first French words you learn as a beginner, and the colour blue is usually right at the top of the list. The eu sound is bleu is exactly the same as the e sound in je, and by extension, the ea sound in earth.
By the way, another member of the e sound group is œu. This strange little melding of the letters o and e is called the œ ligature in English and (cutely) l’e dans l’o in French (the e in the o). Think of words like œuf (egg), sœur (sister), bœuf (beef) and cœur (heart), among others.
For pronunciation purposes, it functions as a plain e and therefore the combination of œ and u is the same as the eu in bleu. Facile, non*?
Ici, meaning here, is another word we learn right at the start and je suis confiante* that you all know how to pronounce the i sound properly.
If you need un coup de main*, think of the i sound in the English words ‘big’, ‘lift’ and ‘tip’.
So, if we separate the word lieu into its two sound groups, you’ll have the following:
I’m pretty sure you can take it from here…
Bon courage*!
*Teacher’s Pets | *I promise | | *Easy, isn’t it? | *91 | *tomato | *Australian | *a little detour | *I am confident | *a hand | *Good luck
Looking to spice up your French complaints? *Voici 11 expressive ways to say you’re tired (besides *je suis fatigué(e).)
*Nos conseils? Perhaps go to bed *plus tôt this evening.
*Here are | *I’m tired | *Our advice? |*earlier
Nearly every day, I have people telling me they’re good in bed.
While I’m up for a bit of sex positivity in everyday life, I’m not sure I need to hear quite so often what wizards people are entre les draps*.
So how do they come to tell me that? Read on…
It really is the most innocuous question that unleashes the boasting from our Chouchous*:
Ça va* ?
There is a whole host of mild and discreet responses to that enquiry, and yet our keen students seem to default to:
Je suis bon, or
Je suis bonne.
Whether you’re male or female, the message you’re sending is clear. You are good (at it) and it doesn’t take a lot of mental gymnastics to work out what ‘it’ is.
The clue to the best answer lies in the question itself. Ça va literally means how are you going, so stick to the verb aller in your reply. Je vais bien, merci tells the person you’re going well, and that’s probably the limit of what they want to hear about you anyway.
PS, you can also say (among many other options):
Ça va.
Ça va bien, merci.
Bien, merci.
Très bien, merci.
In the last article, we reminded you not to pronounce the ‘s’ on the word ans (years). Now we’re going to ask you to focus on the verb, because unlike English where we ‘are’ our years, the French ‘have’ theirs.
J’ai 28 ans.
Literally: I have 28 years.
Colloquially: I’m 28.
When talking about your daily routine, you may be tempted to say dans le matin for ‘in the morning’. For example:
Dans le matin, je fais de la meditation.
However, you really don’t need the word dans. It’s surplus to requirements as le matin means ‘in the morning’ all by itself. So say instead:
Le matin, je fais de la meditation*.
By the way, this is also true for le soir (in the evening) and l’après-midi (in the afternoon).
When it comes to talking about your weekends, the same rule applies.
No need to ever say sur le weekend thinking it means ‘on the weekend’. Le week-end (note the hyphen in French) will suffice.
Le week-end, j’aime sortir avec mes amis*.
We covered this a little while ago, but it does bear repeating. Once you’ve tamed your response to ça va by answering je vais bien instead of je suis bon(ne), you probably will want to respond in kind by asking the other person how they’re going.
Remember, it’s not:
Et tu ?
It is always:
Et toi ?
Unless you’re speaking to someone in a formal manner in which case it would be:
Et vous ?
Next time, we’ll look at some more advanced errors people make, but I really hope you’re finding it useful to clean up these petite bêtises* along the way.
À très bientôt*.
*between the sheets | *Teacher’s Pets | *How are you going? | *In the morning, I meditate | *On/At the weekend, I like to go out with my friends | *silly mistakes | *See you very soon
If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.
La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 1 of the Advanced 2 level.
*The Little Story | *The Prequel
Un sentiment de panique m'envahit alors que Claire regardait entre nous deux avec impatience. « Désolée, vous vous êtes déjà rencontrés ? Je ne me souviens plus si c’est le cas. »
Je sentais le regard de Simon sur moi tandis que je tordais nerveusement le torchon autour de ma main, espérant paraître détendue.
Finalement, j'ai réussi à dire timidement : « Non, nous ne nous sommes pas rencontrés… Je ne crois pas, » j’ai ajouté faiblement. J’ai vu les sourcils de Simon se lever et j’ai immédiatement rougi.
« Non, bien sûr que non. J'oublie toujours, Leïla, c'est ta première fois ici, non? Eh bien, voici mon charmant beau-frère, Simon. Simon, voici Leïla, la charmante belle-sœur d’Amina, » dit Claire en riant, et la tension est tombée. J’ai poussé un petit soupir de soulagement.
« Enchanté, Leïla, » dit Simon d’un ton raide. « Vous profitez de votre séjour ici ? »
« Oui, beaucoup, merci. C'est ma première fois ici et je me sens si chanceuse de pouvoir enfin rencontrer la famille anglaise d’Amina. J'ai entendu parler de vous depuis si longtemps et tout ce qu'elle a dit est vrai. Je comprends pourquoi elle se sent si bien ici. »
« Et maintenant, tu as enfin rencontré Simon, donc tu connais toute la famille. Je suis sûr que vous vous entendrez très bien. » Finalement, Simon a souri et j’ai senti tout mon corps se détendre. J’ai posé le torchon sur le comptoir.
À ce moment-là, une voiture est arrivé dans l'allée. « Ce doit être eux ! » a dit Claire, « Je vais sortir et les aider à décharger. Vous deux, vous pouvez apprendre à mieux vous connaître.» Claire s’est dirigé vers la porte d'entrée et dès qu'elle était hors de portée de voix, le visage de Simon a changé.
« Pourquoi tu as dit ça, Leïla ? » il a chuchoté furieusement. « Pourquoi tu n’as pas dit à Claire que nous nous connaissons déjà ? »
« Je ne sais pas, Simon. Je ne suis pas sûre. Je pense juste que j’ai paniqué, » j’ai avoué en détournant le regard.
« Pourquoi paniquer ? Qu'est-ce qui pourrait te paniquer ? Ne vois-tu pas que c'est une incroyable coïncidence ? Comment n'avons-nous pas compris le lien ? C'est fou, et maintenant tu viens de mentir à ce sujet ! À quoi pensais-tu ? »
Mon visage m’a trahi lorsque l’image de mon rêve a traversé mon esprit. Nous deux, sous un arbre, si détendus en compagnie l’un de l’autre, la main de Simon effleurant tendrement mes cheveux derrière mon épaule.
Voyant mon visage rougir, Simon a semblé se radoucir. « Leïla, allez. Dis-moi. Pourquoi as-tu compliqué les choses ? Pourquoi n'as-tu pas simplement dit la vérité ? »
« Oh Simon, je ne sais pas ! Je ne suis pas sûre, je sentais juste que je ne devais pas l’admettre. » Je l’ai regardé d’un air suppliant.
« Admettre quoi, Leïla ? Que nous nous connaissons ? Ce n'est pas un crime de connaître des gens, Leïla. »
« Non, je sais, mais ce n’est pas seulement ça. Je suis ici avec ma famille… » Ma voix s’est éteinte alors que je cherchais une manière de m’exprimer.
« Qu'est-ce que ta famille a à voir avec ça ? Nous n'avons rien à cacher, n’est-ce pas Leïla ? »
Je ne pouvais pas croiser le regard de Simon.
« N’est-ce pas Leïla ? Si c’est le cas, je dois savoir ! »
« Maman, je peux avoir un verre d'eau, s'il te plaît ? » a demandé Anouk en entrant dans la cuisine, se frottant les yeux. Je dois te dire, je suis toujours heureuse de voir ma fille, mais cette fois-ci son timing était absolument parfait.
A sense of panic took hold of me as Claire looked expectantly between the two of us. “Sorry, have you met before? I can’t remember if you have.”
I felt Simon’s eyes on me as I twisted the tea towel around my hand nervously, hoping I was projecting a nonchalant air.
Finally, I managed to squeak out: “No, we haven’t…I don’t think,” I added weakly.
I saw Simon’s eyebrows raise and I blushed immediately.
“No, of course you haven’t. I always forget, Leïla, this is your first time here, isn’t it? Well, this is my lovely brother-in-law, Simon. Simon, this is Leïla, Amina’s equally lovely sister-in-law,” with that, Claire laughed and the tension broke. I breathed a small sigh of relief.
“Nice to meet you, Leïla,” Simon said stiffly. “Are you enjoying your time here?”
“Yes, very much, thank you. It’s my first time here and I feel so lucky to finally be able to meet Amina’s English family. I’ve heard about you for so long and everything she’s said is true. I can understand why she feels so at home here.”
“And now you finally get to meet Simon, so you know the whole family. I’m sure the two of you will get along very well.” Finally, Simon smiled and I felt my whole body relax. I placed the tea towel on the counter.
Just then, a car pulled up in the drive. “That’ll be them!” said Claire, “I’ll go out and help them unpack. You two can get to know one another.” Claire walked towards the front door and as soon as she was out of earshot, Simon’s face changed.
“What on earth did you say that, Leïla?” he whispered furiously. “Why didn’t you tell Claire we already know one another?”
“I don’t know, Simon. I’m not sure. I just think I panicked,” I admitted, looking away.
“Why would you panic? What is there to even panic about? Can’t you see this for the incredible coincidence that it is? How did we not figure out the connection? This is crazy, and you’ve now just lied about it! What were you thinking?”
My face betrayed me as the image from my dream flashed into my mind. The two of us, under a tree, so relaxed in one another’s company, Simon’s hand tenderly brushing my hair behind my shoulder.
Seeing my face redden, Simon seemed to soften. “Leïla, come on. Tell me. Why did you make this so complicated? Why didn’t you just tell the truth?”.
“Oh Simon, I don’t know! I’m not sure, I just felt as though I shouldn’t admit to it.” I looked at him pleadingly.
“Admit to what, Leïla? That we know each other? It’s not a crime to know people, Leïla.” “No, I know, but it’s not just that. I’m here with my family…” My voice trailed off as I searched for a way to express myself.
“What’s your family got to do with it? We’ve got nothing to hide, have we Leïla?”. I couldn’t meet Simon’s eye. “Have we Leïla? If we have, I need to know!”
“Mum, can I have a glass of water, please?” Anouk asked as she entered the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. I have to tell you, I’m always happy to see my daughter, but on this occasion her timing was absolutely perfect.
Have a friend or family member who can’t help but fib (or raconte des salades*)? Then the French expression “Arrête ton char!” is one to keep up your sleeve.
Directly translated as “Stop your chariot!”, the familiar expression can be used in place of “Come off it!”, “Stop messing around!” or “Give me a break!”. Essentially, it's the verbal equivalent of an eye roll.
Utile, non*?
*lie/ tell tall tales | *Useful, no?
If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.
La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, the final chapter of the Advanced 1 level.
*The Little Story | *The Prequel
« Au revoir ! Amusez-vous bien ! » Les enfants et moi faisons signe au reste du groupe depuis le jardin devant la maison de Robert et Beth. Les anciens parents d'accueil d'Amina emmènent Hervé et Amina à Stonehenge pour la journée. Finalement, Michael, l'ancien frère d'accueil d'Amina, décide de les accompagner pour faire office de guide non officiel. Comme promis, Claire, la femme de Michael, doit arriver dans environ une demi-heure pour pratiquer un peu d'anglais avec moi autour d'une tasse de thé.
« Allez les filles, à l'intérieur. C'est l'heure de votre sieste du matin. Allez hop. » dis-je en les faisant entrer dans le cottage.
Trente minutes plus tard, la sonnette retentit. « Pile à l'heure, » pensai-je en ouvrant la porte. Claire sourit sur le pas de la porte, un Tupperware à la main.
« Qu'est-ce que c'est ? » demandai-je, grimaçant à cause de mon anglais basique.
« Des scones bien sûr ! On ne peut pas prendre une tasse de thé sans eux. Après tout, tu es en Angleterre, » plaisanta-t-elle en entrant dans le hall.
Quelques minutes plus tard, nous sommes installées à la table de la salle à manger, une tasse de thé à la main.
Notre conversation commence lentement. Je trouve que je peux comprendre la plupart de ce que Claire me dit, mais quand il s'agit de répondre, les mots ne sortent pas comme je le veux. Claire parle très clairement et soigneusement, donc je n'ai pas l'impression que mon cerveau se bloque comme cela arrive parfois pendant nos cours à l'université. C'est plutôt que je me sens si à l'aise en sa présence et que j'ai tellement de choses à dire, mais chaque fois que j'ouvre la bouche, je me rends compte que je ne sais pas comment le dire en anglais. C'est très frustrant.
Claire doit sentir quelque chose, car après quelques minutes, elle me dit : « Leïla, je ne veux pas t'insulter, mais quand j'ai appris l'allemand au lycée, je me souviens très distinctement que notre professeur nous a félicités juste avant nos examens finaux en disant que nous étions maintenant capables de parler allemand au niveau d'un enfant de huit ans. Nous étions dévastés ! »
Je souris à ma nouvelle amie. « Je ne suis pas du tout insultée, Claire, tu es gentille de penser à mes sentiments. J'adorerais pouvoir parler comme un enfant français de huit ans. Ils peuvent dire beaucoup de choses ! »
« Ouf ! » dit-elle. « D'accord alors, voici ce que notre professeur nous a dit. Puisque tu es maintenant un enfant de huit ans, fais semblant de parler à quelqu'un d'encore plus jeune, peut-être à ton petit frère ou ta petite sœur. Cela t'aidera à simplifier ton langage et donc tu seras plus susceptible de trouver les mots. »
« Ça me va, Claire. Merci. » Je suis étrangement soulagée de ne pas avoir à formuler des phrases sophistiquées. Nous parlons de nos familles, de nos lieux de croissance et de nos goûts et dégoûts et, au fil des minutes, je me sens de plus en plus ouverte avec elle. Devoir simplifier mon langage au niveau d'un enfant semble avoir l'effet de clarifier mes sentiments sur ma vie, qui, pendant ce voyage au moins, ont été quelque peu confus. Même ainsi, je suis aussi surprise que Claire lorsque, en réponse à sa question sur ma vie idéale, ma réponse est « voyage, aventure et amour ».
Un peu choquée, Claire dit : « Mais tu n'as pas déjà ça, Leïla ? Je veux dire, tu es ici, non ? »
« Oui, c'est de l'amour dont je parle, » j’ai avoué, les larmes aux yeux.
« Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire ? » demande doucement Claire en baissant sa tasse de thé.
Juste à ce moment-là, la sonnette retentit. « Je me demande qui cela peut être ? » dit Claire en se levant de la table. « Je vais ouvrir, Leïla, mais si jamais tu veux continuer cette conversation, fais-le moi savoir. »
« Ça ira, » dis-je rapidement, « mais merci. Laisse-moi débarrasser ces tasses. »
Je suis entrée dans la cuisine pour rassembler mes pensées, m'agrippant à l'évier et prenant quelques respirations profondes pour essayer de me calmer. Je devais être complètement perdue dans mon petit monde. Quelque chose doit expliquer mon choc total lorsque, quelques instants plus tard, j’ai entendu une voix masculine que j’ai cru reconnaître, suivie immédiatement par Claire entrant dans la cuisine et disant : « Leïla, est-ce que tu as rencontré Simon ? »
“Bye! Have fun!”
The children and I waved goodbye to the rest of the gang from the front garden of Robert and Beth’s house. Amina’s former host parents were taking Hervé and Amina to Stonehenge for the day. In the end, Michael, Amina’s former host brother, had decided to go along, too, to act as unofficial tour guide. As promised, Claire, Michael’s wife, was due to arrive in about half an hour to do some English speaking practice with me over a cup of tea.
“Come on girls, inside. It’s time for your morning nap. Scoot.” I directed as I ushered them inside the cottage.
Thirty minutes later the doorbell rang. “Right on time,” I thought, as I opened the door. A smiling Claire was on the doorstep, Tupperware in hand.
“What is it?” I asked, wincing at my basic English.
“Scones of course! We can’t have a cup of tea without them. You’re in England, after all,” she joked as she stepped into the hall.
A few minutes later we were settled at the dining room table, cups of tea in hand.
Our conversation started off slowly. I found I could understand most of what Claire was saying to me, but when it came time to respond, the words just wouldn’t come out the way I wanted them to. Claire spoke very clearly and carefully, so I didn’t get the feeling of my brain freezing as I sometimes used notice during our lectures at uni. It was more that I was so comfortable in her presence and had so much to say, but that each time I went to open my mouth I realised that I had no idea how to say it in English. It was so frustrating.
Claire must have sensed something, because after a few minutes she said to me. “Leïla, I don’t want to insult you, but when I learned German at high school, I remember very distinctly our teacher congratulating us just before our final exams, saying we were now able to speak German at the level of an eight-year-old. We were devastated!”
I smiled at my new friend. “I’m hardly insulted, Claire, though you’re kind to consider my feelings. I’d love to be able to speak like an eight year old French child. They can say a lot!”
“Phew!” she said. “Okay then, here’s what our teacher told us. Since you’re now an eight-year-old, pretend you’re speaking to someone even younger, maybe your little brother or sister. It’ll help you simplify your language and therefore you’ll be more likely to get the words out.”
“Sounds good to me, Claire. Thank you.” I was strangely relieved to not have to formulate sophisticated sentences. We covered our families, where we grew up and our likes and dislikes and as the minutes wore on, I found myself opening up to her more and more. Having to simplify my language to the level of a child seemed to have the effect of clarifying my feelings about my life, which during this trip at least, had been somewhat confused.
Even so, I was as surprised as Claire was when in response to her question about my ideal life, my answer was ‘travel, adventure and love’.
Slightly shocked, Claire said: “But don’t you have that already, Leïla? I mean, you’re here aren’t you?”
“Yes, it’s the love part I’m talking about,” I admitted, tears welling in my eyes. “What do you mean?” Claire asked gently, lowering her tea cup.
Just then the doorbell rang. “I wonder who that is?” Claire said, getting up from the table. “I’ll get the door, Leïla, but if you ever want to continue this conversation, you just let me know.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said quickly, “but thank you. Let me clear these cups.”
I went into the kitchen to gather my thoughts, holding onto the sink and taking a few deep breaths in an effort to calm self. I must have been completely lost in my own little world. Something has to account for my total shock when a few moments later, I heard a male voice I thought I recognised, followed straight away by Claire walking into the kitchen and saying: “Leïla, have you met Simon?”
Want to sound like a pro discussing the Olympics with your French friends? From ‘envoyer une pizza*’ to ‘prendre un caramel*’ (not as pleasant as it sounds), this fun Olympic glossary will arm you with some weird and wonderful sporting expressions to try out at your next soirée.
*to hit a volleyball in a straight line that’s as flat as a pizza |* to hit the ground hard when tackled
In writing last month’s article on five-minute fixes, I realised two things:
1. There are plenty more where the first five came from, and
2. Fixing these seemingly small errors can really make a very positive difference in how others perceive your French.
So, let’s get going on another five to further hone your French in a way that is très efficace* !
We breeze right past them in English, yet for some reason we tend to hesitate when faced with an apostrophe in French. Not all of them of course…
For example, very few people skip a beat when they say j’ai*. You likely know that j’ai is a contraction of je (meaning ‘I’) and ai (meaning ‘have’), but I’d bet you don’t pause when you see the apostrophe, do you? You’re so used to saying j’ai that you say it as if it were one word, just as you’ve never dream of making a pitstop at the apostrophe in the English contraction ‘don’t’.
However, with less commonly used words, we find that some students baulk like a showjumper whose horse is afraid of water.
Have you ever had un doute* when it comes to these?:
aujourd’hui (o-zhoor-dwee)
jusqu’à (zhu-skuh)
hors d’œuvre (or-der-vre)
ce qu’il (se-kil)
ce qu’elle (se-kel)
Many have, so ne vous inquiétez pas*. You just need to train yourself to glide right on past the apostrophe, treating it as though it’s just one word. Don’t risk being thrown off, just gather your linguistic reins, squeeze your thighs against your steed and prepare yourself to sail over the word with all the grace and ease of an Olympic champion. Bon courage*!
Things can start to snowball pronunciation-wise when we see both an apostrophe and an ‘h’ right next to one another. Think, for example, of the word j’habite*, which many of our beginners struggle to master.
However, now that you know to completely ignore any apostrophes you see, you’ve managed to get rid of one barrier at least.
Then when I tell you that in French all ‘h’s are silent, just like that, there goes the other one!
By ignoring both the apostrophe and the letter ‘h’, you’ve effectively rendered it a single word that looks like this:
jabite
(pronounced ‘zhuh-beet’)
Pas si difficile* after all, huh?
Other examples to try:
l’homme = lomme
(pronounced ‘lom’)
l’huile = luile
(pronounced ‘lweel’)
je m’habille = je mabille
(pronounced ‘zhe mubee’)
Having tackled the double whammy now, let’s return to simpler times: the letter ‘h’ by itself. Remember, wherever it may crop up, you have permission to ignore it completely. For example:
heureux
(pronounced eu-reu)
histoire
(pronounced iss-twar)
herbe
(pronounced airb)
What can trip us up à nouveau* is when we see an ‘h’ sitting cheek by jowl with a ‘t’, as in the word théâtre*, for example. So used are we to pronouncing ‘th’ the English way, it can seem counterintuitive to pronounce only the ‘t’, but this is exactly what you must do.
théâtre
(pronounced tay-ahtre)
mathématiques
(pronounced mat-ey-mat-eek)
Édith
(pronounced Ey-deet)
By the way, you may take some comfort in the fact that the French generally find formulating the English ‘th’ sound very difficult. We take it for granted, but try consciously making that lisping sound yourself (or indeed explaining to someone how to do it) and you’ll likely appreciate that no matter the language, there will always be challenges. Surely that’s part of the fun?
This one is relatively easy to fix: fille* rhymes with the English word ‘fee’. Alternatively, if pronouncing the word famille* (fum-ee) is second nature to you, then you may prefer to align fille with that word, since they’re from the same family (poor pun most definitely intended).
The fact that fils (the French word for ‘son’) rhymes with ‘police’ works for me, but if you’re looking for something different, try thinking of the French tennis player, Gaël Monfils.
If you can hear the commentator saying ‘mon-feece’, you’ve got the right idea. By the way, have you ever thought that his surname literally means ‘my son’? Moi non plus* until recently, but there you are.
Pronouncing the ‘s’ on the word ans* when saying your age is a classic error and it’s not confined to absolute beginners. Oftentimes, when students first learn to say their age, they’re so focused on saying j’ai and not je suis*, that the ‘s’ on ans just slips out. If it’s not picked up early on, it can become an unconscious habit, but if you’re reading this now and you realise this applies to you, ça suffit*. You can stop now.
We really hope you’ve found these quick fixes of benefit to you. There may well be a fresh crop next month. By the way, if you think of a quick fix that could be included in a future article, please feel free to let us know in the comments.
*very efficient | *I have | *a doubt | *don’t worry | *Good luck | *I live | *so hard | *anew | *theatre | *girl/daughter | *family | *Me neither | *years | *I am | *that’s enough
If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.
La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 5 of the Advanced 1 level.
*The Little Story | *The Prequel
Malgré mon léger trac à rencontrer l’ancienne famille d'accueil d'Amina, mes inquiétudes étaient infondées. Robert et Beth étaient très charmants et accueillants. Robert, ancien professeur d'université, et Beth, enseignante d'anglais dans un lycée local, m'ont surpris : j'ai réussi à comprendre la plupart de leurs paroles. Mais répondre à leurs questions en temps réel était une autre histoire ! En classe, je m'en sortais avec des idées simples en anglais, mais là, c'était comme si mon cerveau bloquait dès que c'était mon tour, et j'étais gênée.
Heureusement, tout le monde était adorable et encourageant, surtout ma belle-sœur Amina, qui m'a assurée avoir vécu la même chose lors de son échange chez les Proctor il y a quelques années.
Michael, l'ancien frère d'accueil d'Amina, et sa nouvelle épouse Claire, se sont joints à nous pour dîner le premier soir de notre visite, et ils étaient aussi charmants qu'Amina l'avait promis. Bientôt, nous avons discuté de nos plans pour le reste de notre séjour.
"Donc, Amina, que devraient voir Hervé et Leïla pendant leur séjour ici ?" a demandé Robert. "Quels endroits préférais-tu à Bath lors de ta première visite ?"
"Au fond, Bath m'a semblé si belle. Paris est impressionnante, mais Bath a un charme typiquement anglais. Les jardins magnifiques, les petits pubs pittoresques et bien sûr les Thermes Romains sont chouettes," a répondu Amina, de plus en plus enthousiaste à mesure qu'elle se remémorait.
"Combien de temps restez-vous ici, Hervé ?" a demandé Michael.
Mon frère avait l'air perdu. "Pardon ? Je veux dire... Could you repeat that more slowly, please ?"
Amina a ri gentiment et a pris la main d'Hervé. "Mon mari est encore débutant en anglais. J'aimerais l'aider plus, mais avec les jumeaux, c'est compliqué ! Nous sommes à Bath pour seulement deux jours, Michael."
"Eh bien, profitez-en bien ! Je suis d'accord pour visiter les sites à Bath demain. Claire et moi serions ravis de vous faire découvrir."
"Ce serait super, merci, Michael," a dit Amina. "Hervé, tu viens avec nous ?"
"Oui, j'aimerais beaucoup," a répondu Hervé avec son fort accent français, et tout le monde a ri.
"Je pense que visiter Stonehenge serait une bonne idée pour le lendemain. Pas besoin de parler couramment anglais pour apprécier ce site mystérieux, Hervé, je te le promets," a ajouté Beth en souriant.
"Et toi, Leïla ?" a demandé Claire en souriant. "D'après Amina, tu aimerais vraiment pratiquer ton anglais autant que possible, n'est-ce pas ? Peut-être que Stonehenge n'est pas l'endroit idéal pour toi."
"Non, et de toute façon, j'ai promis de m'occuper des enfants un jour. Je suis contente de passer mon tour pour Stonehenge. Ce n'est pas le meilleur endroit pour les enfants, je pense."
"Tu as raison, Leïla. J'ai une idée ! Le jour où tu gardes les enfants, je pourrais venir pendant la sieste et nous pourrions prendre un vrai thé et discuter en anglais. Quelques heures de pratique intensive pourraient vraiment t'aider. Et j'aimerais beaucoup te connaître un peu mieux. Amina m'a beaucoup parlé de toi."
"Ce serait génial, Claire. C'est une bonne idée !" ai-je répondu alors que nous levions nos verres et nous tournions vers l'agneau rôti que Beth venait de placer sur la table.
Despite my slight nervousness at meeting Amina’s former host family, my apprehension was misplaced. Robert and Beth were extremely charming and very welcoming hosts. Robert was a retired university professor and Beth had taught English at a local high school so to my surprise, I was able to understand most of what they said to me. Formulating a response to what I had heard was a different matter, though, as I soon found out! While in class I was able to express simple ideas in English correctly, it was a totally different story when trying to respond in real time. It was as though my brain froze as soon as it was my turn, and I could feel the hesitation turn to embarrassment and then near-paralysis as the seconds ticked on.
Everyone was so sweet and encouraging, though, especially my lovely sister-in-law Amina who assured me she’d been through the same excruciating process when she did her exchange with the Proctors a few years before.
Michael, Amina’s former host brother, and his new wife Claire, joined us for dinner on the first night of our visit and they were as lovely as Amina had promised. Soon, talk turned to our plans for the rest of our stay.
“So, Amina, what do you think Hervé and Leïla should see while they’re here?” asked Robert. “What were your favourite parts of Bath when you first came here?”
“I just remember finding Bath so incredibly pretty. Paris is majestic and impressive but Bath has a charm that to me is typically English. All the beautiful gardens, the quaint little pubs and of course The Roman Baths are delightful,” Amina answered, her enthusiasm mounting with every memory.
“How long are you here for, Hervé?” asked Michael.
My brother looked confused. “Pardon? Je veux dire…I beg your pardon. Could you please repeat that more slowly?”
Amina laughed kindly and took Hervé’s hand reassuringly. “My darling husband is still a beginner at English. I’d like to help him more, but with the twins there just never seems to be the time! We’re here in Bath for just two days. Michael.”
“Well, you should make every second count, then! I agree it’s important to see the sights in Bath and I think you should do that tomorrow. Claire and I would be happy to show you all around.
“That would be great, thank you, Michael,” said Amina. “Hervé, would you like to do that with us?”
“Yes, I would like that very much,” Hervé answered, in his heavy French accent, and everyone laughed.
“And I think to Stone Henge would be a good idea for the day after. No need to be fluent in English to appreciate the eeriness of that site, Hervé, I can promise you,’ Beth said smiling.
“And how about you, Leïla?” asked Claire, smiling. “From what Amina has told me, you’d really like to practise your English as much as possible, wouldn’t you? I’m not sure Stone Henge would be the best use of your time here.
“No, and I’ve promised I’ll take care of all the children one day anyway, so I’m happy to sit the visit to Stone Henge out. I wouldn’t think it’s a great place for children anyway.”
“You’re right, Leïla. Hey, I have an idea? On the day that you’re babysitting, why don’t I come over and while the children are having a nap we can sit down and have a proper cup of tea and a chat in English? An hour or two of intensive practice would really improve your English. Plus, I’d love to get to know you a little better. Amina’s told me so much about you.”
“I would be delighted, Claire. That’s a plan!” I responded as we all clinked glasses and turned our attention to the roast lamb that Beth had just placed on the table.
Sometimes when you’re learning a new skill you just need a few quick wins to keep your spirits up and encourage you to tenir le coup*.
There are all sorts of little errors that I hear over and over again when I’m teaching. Little errors that are really very simple to fix.
So common are they that I go through periods where I don’t even hear them anymore. Other times, I do hear one of these petites erreurs* while teaching, but it’s not the right time to correct the student sitting across the table from me and so I let it slide.
So, for the last week, and with this article in mind, I’ve been keeping my oreilles* wide open to see if I could pick up on the worst offenders. Not all students make all of these errors but it is interesting how often they do crop up and it’s across all levels.
Let’s be faithful to the title of the article and launch into our five-minute fix. Your French will be likely be markedly better by the time you get to the bottom of the page.
This crops up time and time again, particularly with students who taught themselves before coming to us. I totally understand why they make the mistake of pronouncing the ’s’: it distinguishes it from the singular form and it’s reassuring to hear the difference in pronunciation. However, it’s always wrong, unless your next word starts with a vowel or an ‘h’ and you’re (rightly) making the liaison, or elision. Remember, in this case, the ’s’ is pronounced more like a ‘z’ sound, likely to differentiate it from ils sont* and elles sont*.
While in English we say ‘a thousand’, in French, we don’t, no matter what follows it. Thus:
1000 : mille
1487: mille-quatre-cent-quatre-vingt-sept
Never: un mille.
I know, I know, it’s so tempting to pronounce this word for ‘woman’ or ‘wife’ as it reads, but please don’t. That is, for pronunciation purposes:
femme does not sound like ‘them’
femme sounds like ‘thumb’
Really!
I’m the first to admit that this word is a capricious little mite, as, depending on its meaning, it may or may not end in an é (acute accent or accent aigu). But, can we make a pact that when we see it does end with this little flourish, that that we make the effort to pronounce it? Merci*.
You’re off the hook here:
côte = coast / shore
côte = hill / slope
côte = rib
But all eyes (ears) are on you here:
côté = side
à côté = next to
If you’re anything like me, you’ve grown up hearing sauvignon blanc pronounced as ‘sovinyon blonk’. Let’s spare our French friends’ ears, shall we? The ‘c’ in blanc is always silent.
Et voilà* ! Just five minutes and you’re on your way to being a much more expert speaker of French.
*stay the course | *little mistakes | *ears | *they are (masculine or mixed group) | *they are (female only group) | *Thank you | *And there you go
It’s been a while, it’s been ages, it’s been an eternity... If you find yourself overusing “Ça fait longtemps”*, this handy article provides plenty of other options to spice up your conversation.
*It’s been a long time
Ever feel like all you do is work, eat, sleep, repeat? Well, the frustration and ennui* many of us experience in adult life is shared, and the French have their own spin on the term.
Combining the words for subway and job/ hard work/ graft with the babytalk for sleep (dodo), métro-boulot-dodo* can be translated as commute, work, sleep.
Apparemment, c'est un sentiment universel!*
*weariness and boredom | *commute-work-sleep | *Apparently, it’s a universal feeling!
If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.
La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 4 of the Advanced 1 level.
*The Little Story | *The Prequel
Le lendemain, nous nous sommes levés tôt pour prendre le petit-déjeuner à l'hôtel avant de prendre le train pour aller à Bath.
Depuis notre dispute la veille, Hervé me traitait avec beaucoup de précautions, étant encore plus attentionné que d'habitude. Si j'avais eu le moindre doute sur le fait qu'Hervé avait parlé à Amina de notre discussion, un seul regard sur son visage de l'autre côté de la table du petit-déjeuner a répondu à ma question. Je l'ai surprise en train de me regarder avec un mélange de préoccupation et de compassion et elle aussi faisait attention à la façon dont elle me parlait. Toute la scène était assez inconfortable, je dois dire, et j'aurais aimé ne jamais avoir ouvert ma grande bouche à propos de mes soupçons concernant Jean-Louis et son comportement étrange récemment.
Pour détendre l'atmosphère, j'ai demandé à Amina : « Alors, tu es excitée de revoir ta famille d'accueil ? »
Le visage d'Amina s'est illuminé et elle a souri largement. « Oh oui, Leïla, j'ai vraiment hâte. Ils sont tellement adorables. Et bien sûr, ils vont t'adorer. Tu sais, j'ai vu Robert et Beth quand je suis venue pour le mariage de Michael il y a quelques mois et même à ce moment-là, je leur ai dit que nous viendrions peut-être en famille bientôt. Ils étaient tellement excités à l'idée de te rencontrer, surtout depuis qu'ils savent que tu fais des études d'anglais à l'université maintenant. »
« Oui, j'aurai enfin l'occasion de pratiquer mon anglais ! » j’ai dit en levant les yeux au ciel.
À ce moment-là, mon frère est intervenu : « Au contraire, ma chère sœur, tu as eu de nombreuses occasions depuis ton arrivée, tu n'en as juste pas profité ! Que dirais-tu de promettre de parler anglais et uniquement anglais dès que nous arriverons à Bath ? »
« Que dirais-tu de... » j’ai commencé sarcastiquement, puis j'ai décidé de m'arrêter. Je me suis rappelée qu'Hervé, en tant que grand frère, serait toujours protecteur envers moi et voudrait le meilleur pour moi. À vrai dire, il pouvait être un peu autoritaire parfois, mais vu ce que je lui avais dit hier, je ne pouvais vraiment pas être surprise qu'il s'inquiète pour moi.
J'ai pris une profonde inspiration et dit : « Oui, tu as raison, Hervé, c'est une très bonne idée. Je te promets que j'essaierai au moins. »
« Eh bien, la bonne nouvelle est que tu auras plus que Robert et Beth pour pratiquer. Michael sera là aussi, avec sa nouvelle femme. Tu l'adoreras : elle est intelligente, drôle et gentille, tout comme toi, » Amina a ajouté gentiment.
« Eh bien, j'ai hâte de rencontrer cette version anglaise de moi-même ! » j’ai dit, commençant à me sentir mieux.
« De plus, » Hervé a ajouté, « n'est-ce pas leur autre fils qui va aussi venir nous rendre visite, Amina ? Je crois que c'est ce que tu m'as dit. »
« Oh oui, tu as raison, j'avais oublié. Il - »
Amina fut coupée en plein milieu de sa phrase lorsqu'un des jumeaux réussit à renverser une délicate carafe de lait par terre.
« Oh là là, Mina. Qu'est-ce que tu as fait ? Tiens, non, ne pleure pas, Maman est là. Elle va nettoyer ça. »
« Je pense qu'il y a peut-être une expression à ce sujet en anglais, Amina, non ? »
« Je pense que tu as raison, Leïla, » a répondu Amina. « Tu as envie de faire un peu de baby-sitting quand nous serons à Bath ? »
« D'accord, » j’ai dit. « Je vous dois bien ça après tout. »
« Tu ne nous dois rien du tout, frangine, » dit Hervé affectueusement. « Nous sommes une famille après tout. »
« Tu as raison, » j’ai répondu en souriant. Ouf, les choses étaient redevenues normales entre nous. Quel soulagement.
The following day we got up early to have breakfast at the hotel before catching the train to go to Bath.
Since our argument the day before, Hervé had been treating me very carefully, being more even more thoughtful than usual. If I had had any doubt as to whether Hervé had told Amina about our discussion, one look at her face across the breakfast table answered my question. I caught her looking at me with a mixture of concern and compassion and she too was careful in the way she spoke to me. The whole scene was quite uncomfortable, I have to say, and I wished I’d never opened my big mouth about my suspicions regarding Jean-Louis and his strange behaviour recently.
In an effort to lighten the mood, I asked Amina: “So are you excited to be seeing your host family again?”
“Amina’s face lit up and she smiled widely. “Oh yes, Leïla, I really can’t wait. They are so lovely. And of course they will love you. You know I saw Robert and Beth when I came over for Michael’s wedding just a few months ago and even then I mentioned to them that we may be coming over as a family rather soon. They were so excited at the prospect of meeting you, especially since they know you’re doing English at university now.”
“Yes, I may finally have an opportunity to practise my English!” I said, rolling my eyes.
At this, my brother butted in: “Au contraire, my darling sister, you have had many opportunities since you arrived, you just haven’t taken many of them! How about from the moment we arrive in Bath, you make a promise to speak English and English only?”
“How about you….” I started sarcastically, then decided to stop myself. I reminded myself that Hervé, as my big brother, would always be protective of me and want the best for me. Truth be told, he could be a bit bossy at times, but given what I’d told him yesterday, I couldn’t really be surprised that he was worried about me.
I took a deep breath and said, “Yes, you’re right, Hervé, that’s a very good idea. I promise you I’ll at least try.”
“Well, the good news is that you’ll have more than just Robert and Beth to practise with. Michael’s going to be there, too, with his new wife. You’ll love her: she’s smart, funny and kind, just like you,” added Amina sweetly.
“Well I can’t wait to meet this English version of myself!” I said, starting to feel better.
“Plus,” added Hervé, “isn’t their other son coming to visit as well, Amina? I think that’s what you told me.”
“Oh yes, you’re right, I’d forgotten. He - ”
Amina was cut off mid-sentence as one of the twins managed to tip a delicate jug of milk on the floor.
“Oh là, là, Mina. What have you done? Here, no, don’t cry, Mummy’s here. She’s going to clean it up.”
“I think there might be a saying about that in English, Amina, isn’t there?”
“I think you’re right, Leïla,” answered Amina. “Feel like doing a bit of babysitting when we get to Bath?”
“You’re on,” I said. “I owe you both after all.”
“You don’t owe us anything at all, Sis,” said Hervé affectionately. “We’re family after all.”
"You’re right,” I answered smiling. Phew, things were back to normal between us. What a relief.
Our Chouchous* here at Lingua Franca are a fairly diverse bunch but I’d guarantee almost every single one of them harbours this desire: to be fluent in French one day.
It’s a noble goal, c’est sûr*, and one I still hold myself after all these years, but recently I’ve been thinking about what really means to be fluent and I might be en train de* amending my goal.
Most people would think that I am fluent, and I guess I am in many ways. But if your version of fluent means knowing every single word in French, then I am most decidedly not. I still discover new words in French regularly and it’s this petit plaisir* that got me thinking in the first place.
Until recently, it very much was my goal to one day speak French as easily and as fluently as I speak English, but I’ve realised recently this is simply not possible. I’m 52 and I have lived in Australia for 50 of those years. Even if I were to jump on a plane today and live to the ripe old age of 100 in France, my French would still never catch up to my English. It’d get close, that’s for sure, but all of that imprinting as a very young person in an anglophone environment would not be able to be overridden by mes années glorieuses* in France.
That realisation troubled me at first until a second one hit me: if I was truly fluent in French, I’d have no reason to learn it any more, and what would my life look like in that case? Much poorer, I have to admit. French has been the passion of my life and I can’t imagine my vie* without it. It brings me so much: challenge, exchange, wonder, frustration, joy, connection. Why would I wish that away?
I’ve spoken before about how I was always in a rush to learn French, to get ‘there’, as I thought of it. Any yes, ‘there’ was fully fluent. I know a lot of students wish for the same thing, and while I want them to achieve their goals, I think it might be helpful if we all reframed our aims a bit.
How about we think about achieving proficiency instead of fluency? Linguistically, the difference between these two is actually a bit of a minefield, but on a less academic level, proficiency means being able to get things done, and that sounds appealing to me.
There are different levels of proficiency (and fluency, too, by the way) but in an effort to help you recognise the wins as they come to you, let’s consider some concrete proficiency milestones.
Could you introduce yourself at an AA meeting?
Let’s set our expectations nice and low for our first milestone in order to (hopefully) get a quick run on the board.
The traditional AA introduction in a meeting (in the movies at least) is “Hello, I’m so-and-so and I’m an alcoholic”.
Can you insert your name and an adjective of your choice instead?
“Bonjour, je m’appelle Katrina et je suis australienne*.”
Okay, you’re not going to set the world on fire with that sentence but it’s a start! You’ve got a foot on the ladder.
Could you introduce yourself at a party?
We’re just talking the basics here, not getting involved in a philosophical debate about the merits of Simone de Beauvoir’s later works. Do you think you could have a very short conversation with a French person about yourself: where you’re from, what you do, why you’re here at this fabulous party? Oui*? Félicitations*, you’ve just become a social papillon* in French!
Could you get around France for a couple of weeks without causing an international incident?
Do you think you’d be able to order a taxi, book into a hotel, perhaps hire a car and order in a restaurant without falling foul of the law? Some people call this traveller’s French, which makes it sound a lot easier than it actually is. Being able to pull this off requires a level of proficiency that doesn’t usually come from a quick read of your guidebook on the plane on the way over. Confidently navigating these situations demands not only linguistic skill, but some cultural savvy as well, and this usually only comes after you’ve been at your French for a while. So if you’re able to do this, chapeau* ! You’ve just moved up another rung on the language learning ladder.
Could you have an argument in French?
This is the rung that brought me undone when I was living in Paris. I won’t go into the gory details, but it involved the Musée d’Orsay, my tendency to procrastinate and some missing headphones. For the record, it also involved a gross miscarriage of justice*, but let’s move on.
Not being able to defend myself articulately in French when I felt I was being wronged was a low point in my French learning. I knew that if I broke into English, my French interlocutrice* would have ‘won’, so I continued on in my strangled and mangled French until it became clear to me that my only choice was to walk away. So I did, and managed to keep it together until I got home, but the minute my apartment door clicked shut, I burst into tears of frustration and humiliation. I can still feel it as it write this. Not the best day for my French, je t’assure*.
A former student of mine had the exact opposite experience though, when her car hire fell through on her first day in France. She found herself on the phone, arguing with the Hertz representative and was absolutely gobsmacked when all the words she wanted to say came streaming out of her mouth in the right order and with the perfect level of indignation. It was that day that she realised she’d reached a level of fluency she’d been aiming for. She now lives part-time in France and I can only imagine how incroyable* her French is these days. How about we take Karen’s experience as inspiration over mine?
Could you make and maintain a friendship with a French person?
Finally, the true hallmark of proficiency, making a French friend. What better way to exercise your French muscles but with deep conversations, shared experiences, and maybe even some inside jokes (tout en français*)?
As you know, I don’t consider myself perfectly fluent in French, but I have reached this level of proficiency in the last few years and it feels like the most incredible reward ever for all the hard work I’ve put in.
Don’t get me wrong, for the most part learning French has been an utter joy for me, but there have definitely been times (many, many times) where I’ve felt like I was stagnating, or worse, going backwards, and it was akin to hard labour. But from where I am now, and with the relationships I have with French people, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Ten times over.
So, let’s be careful what we wish for. Being totally fluent in French would be wonderful, it’s hard to deny, but where would we be without the thrill of the pursuit? Bon courage, les Chouchous*! I know you can do it, just go one rung at a time.
*Teacher’s Pets | *That’s for sure | *in the process of | *little pleasure | *life | *my glorious years | *Hello, my name is Katrina and I’m Australian | *Yes | *Congratulations | *butterfly | *Congratulations | *justice | *fellow speaker | *I assure you | *incredible | *all in French | *Good luck, Teacher’s Pets
If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.
La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 3 of the Advanced 1 level.
*The Little Story | *The Prequel
« Ça va, frangine ? » a demandé Hervé avec un air inquiet.
J’ai regardé à ma gauche, désireuse d'éviter la question. Je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de sourire en regardant Amina et les trois enfants complètement absorbés alors qu'ils regardaient une ligne de canetons suivre leur mère vers le lac. Comme c'est mignon, j’ai pensé.
« Leïla, je t'ai demandé si ça va. Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ? Tu as l'air si distraite tout ce voyage. »
« Oh Hervé, pas ça encore, s'il te plaît ! Je t'ai dit, je pense juste que j'essaie de faire trop de choses. Tu as de la chance, tu as Amina. Je veux dire, c’est un rêve. Si aimante et patiente, et vous deux travaillez en équipe. N'oublie pas que j'ai la complication supplémentaire de mes études en plus d'un mari accro à son travail. »
« Leïla, quand on a parlé au pub, avant que tu partes à Oxford, je t'ai dit que j'étais là pour toi et je le suis. Tu n'as pas été toi-même tout ce voyage et bien que nous soyons officiellement ici pour qu'Amina rende visite à sa famille d'accueil et pour que tu améliores ton anglais, je dois te dire que nous pensons tous les deux que tu pourrais vraiment bénéficier d'un changement d'air. Nous avons remarqué... »
À ce moment-là, j'ai coupé brusquement mon frère. « Oh, je vois, donc vous avez parlé de moi dans mon dos. Merci beaucoup. »
« Oh Leïla, je commence à perdre patience avec toi. Je te jure, j'essaie d'être un ami pour toi aussi bien qu'un frère, mais tu me rends la tâche très difficile. »
« Eh bien, qu'avez-vous exactement remarqué, Hervé ? Qu'est-ce qui est si différent chez moi récemment ? »
« Frangine, si nous allons parler ouvertement, ce n'est pas seulement récemment, je suis désolé de le dire. Cela fait un moment que tu es différente. »
« Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire par différente ? » j’ai demandé, sur la défensive.
« Regarde, il me semble qu'à partir du moment où tu as épousé Jean-Louis, tu n'es plus tout à fait la Leïla que nous avons toujours connue et aimée. »
« Quoi, tu ne m'aimes plus, c'est ça que tu dis ? »
« Non, pas du tout, bien sûr que non. Mon dieu, Leïla, nous sommes une famille, bien sûr que je t'aime et Amina aussi. C'est juste que nous avons l'impression de perdre un peu de l'ancienne Leïla jour après jour », il a avoué doucement.
« Et qui est cette ancienne Leïla, Hervé ? Comment est-elle ? Il semble que j'aimerais la rencontrer ! » Je sentais la colère monter en moi, mais plus que tout, ses paroles avaient touché quelque chose au fond de moi que je soupçonnais depuis un moment.
« Insouciante, vive, confiante, légère ! Leïla, crois-moi, je sais que le mariage et les enfants ajoutent un certain niveau de stress à la vie de n'importe qui, mais avec cela devraient venir la joie, la satisfaction et un certain sentiment de calme. » Hervé me regardais d’un air implorant. J’ai baissé les yeux sur mes chaussures, les yeux remplis de larmes.
« Eh bien, c'est un peu difficile d'être calme quand tu penses que ton mari a une liaison, tu ne trouves pas, frérot ? » Et sur ces mots, je m'éloignai en faisant semblant de m'intéresser aux canards.
“Are you okay, sis?” asked Hervé with a look of concern.
I looked to my left, keen to avoid the question. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Amina and the three children completely engrossed as they watched a line of ducklings waddling after their mother towards the lake. How cute, I thought.
“Leïla, I asked you if you’re okay. What is up with you? You’ve been so distracted this whole trip.”
“Oh Hervé, not this again, please! I told you, I think I’m just trying to do too much. You’re lucky, you’ve got Amina. I mean, she’s a dream. So loving and patient and the two of you work as a team. Don’t forget I’ve got the added complication of my studies as well as a husband who is addicted to his work.”
“Leïla, when we spoke at the pub, before you went to Oxford, I told you I’m here for you and I am. You haven’t been yourself this trip and although we’re officially here for Amina to visit her host family and for you to improve your English, I have to tell you that we both thought you could really benefit from a change of scenery. We’ve noticed…”
At this point, I cut my brother off abruptly. “Oh I see, so you’ve been talking about me behind my back. Thanks a lot.”
“Oh Leïla, I am starting to lose patience with you. I swear, I’m trying to be a friend to you as well as a brother, but you’re making it very difficult for me to do that.”
“Well, what exactly have you noticed, Hervé? What’s so different about me recently?”
“Sis, if we’re going to speak openly, it’s not just recently I’m sorry to say. It’s been quite a while now that you’ve been different.”
“What do you mean different?” I asked, defensively.
“Look, it seems to me that ever since you married Jean-Louis, you’re not quite the same Leïla we always known and loved.”
“What, so you don’t love me anymore, is that what you’re saying?”
“No, not at all, of course not. My god, Leïla, we’re family, of course I love you and Amina does, too. It’s just that we feel we’re losing a bit of the old Leïla day by day,” he admitted quietly.
“And who is this old Leïla, Hervé? What’s she like? It sounds like I’d like to meet her!” I could feel myself getting angry, but more than anything, his words had hit something deep inside of me I’d been suspecting a while.
“Carefree, spirited, confident, light! Leïla, believe me, I know marriage and children add a certain level of stress to anyone’s life, but along with that should come joy and satisfaction and a certain sense of calm.” Hervé looked at me pleadingly. I looked down at my shoes, my eyes filling with tears.
“Well, it’s a bit hard to be calm when you think your husband’s having an affair, don’t you think, bro?” And with that, I stormed off to pretend to be interested in the ducks.
If you want to expand your French vocab and pepper your conversation with some fun expressions, bouche*, meaning mouth, is another mot très utile* to add to your repertoire.
The following is just a little *mise en bouche (visit WordReference for a bumper list!) – but we’re sure you’ll find an expression or two that will tickle your fancy.
*mouth | *very useful word | *taster
Looking for an inventive way to tell your kids to turn off les lumières* (and stop racking up your energy bill)? Look no further than the French and give les enfants* a disdainful, “C’est pas Versailles ici”. This tongue-in-cheek saying is a go-to among parents – and one of our favourites from this list of everyday French expressions.
Do you have a favourite French saying? Tell us in the comments below.
*the lights | *the children
We hear from so many of our students that it's the 'little words' they struggle with in French. You may know the culprits: le, la, l', les, un, une, des, au, à la, à l', aux, du, de la, de l', des, mon, ma, mes... the list goes on.
With so many options on offer, there’s understandably some confusion, even among our more advanced students. So, to help you get to grips with les petits mots* (once and for all), Katrina has created a series of petites vidéos*.
We’ll be releasing a video a week on Instagram (we’re up to week 4), so make sure you head on over for ta leçon hebdomadaire*. Below is a taster of week 1’s lesson on the definite article, ‘the’. (As promised, we’re starting back at the basics.)
Enjoy learning this way? You might be interested in our online lessons, set to début later this year. Register your interest here. And make sure you follow us on Instagram for more mini-lessons and helpful tips and tricks.
*the little words | *little videos | *your weekly lesson