Study in France with My French Class

I am pleased to announce that this blog has entered into a partnership with My French Class for students who want to study in France for the Summer, a Semester or even for a Full Year. Click the advert below and use the discount code to obtain a special discount when applying for the courses in France.

About the website

Parlez-vous français?” My French Class is a service for foreign students wishing to learn French in France. Our mission is to facilitate your integration into French culture, life and language through our network of partner universities.

Year-round intensive French courses are focused on dramatically improving written and oral comprehension and expression, vocabulary, writing, grammar and pronunciation. Taught by native French citizens, the coursework is specifically designed for foreigners to learn the language and implement it in their day-to-day life in France.

My French Class provides a complete package that begins on your first day with an airport pick up and includes housing accommodations, a city tour, a French cell phone, visa assistance, practical guide and more! With support from the beginning to the end of your stay in France, you can just relax and enjoy your experience -- we take care of the rest!

Take the plunge, French immersion is within reach!

Mot du Jour: Fête (Festival)

Image Source

fête /fɛt/ feminine noun

1. public holiday GB, holiday US;

2. (saint's) name-day;
   ça va être ma ~! (familiar) I'm going to cop it! (colloquial);

3. festival;

4. (day of) celebration;

5. party;
   faire la ~ to live it up (colloquial);

6. fête, fair, celebrations

COMPOUNDS:

~ foraine funfair;
~ du travail May Day, Labour Day GB.

IDIOMS:

faire sa ~ à qn (familiar) to give sb a working over (colloquial).

Compound Forms/Formes composées
faire la fête	v	party (have fun)
faire la fête (fêter)	vi	celebrate (rejoice)
fête d'un saint		saint's day
fête de l'Annonciation		lady day
fête de l'amour		love feast
fête de l'amour	nf	love-feast
fête de la moisson		harvest festival
fête de la moisson, fin de la moisson (saison)		harvest home
fête de quartier		block party
fête des Rois	nf	twelfth-night
fête des sports		sports day
fête du cinquantième anniversaire	nf	golden jubilee
fête du travail		labor day US
fête foraine	nf	fun house
fête foraine	nf	carnival (funfair)
fête mobile		movable feast
fête mobile, itinérante		moveable feast
fête nationale	nf	national holiday
fête nationale de l'Australie		Australia Day
fête, foire (amusement)	nf	blast (fun)
jour de fête/de gala		gala day
jour férié, fête religieuse		holy day
la fête des Mères		mother's day
trouble-fête	nm	spoilsport
trouble-fête	nm	gatecrasher
vie fête (vie fête)	adj	country

My first day at Français 201

I've started my Masters in French last Saturday and indeed I missed being a student. We were around 6-7 only in class (one was absent that day) and of course our professor was really fun and very patient since most of us can't remember a thing or two about French History, since it was a long time ago when we took that subject.

It jumpstarted my French again and at least I could say I haven't lost the touch yet. I could still express myself in French and could still understand what my professor says. Hopefully when I get to teach soon, my French would be better.


Anyway it was a fun experience, seeing former classmates as well as new ones and of course the ver fun professor with all his quotes and his fun way of teaching makes me excited to go to class next Saturday.

The Imperfect Past Tense- L'imparfait

The French imperfect (imparfait) is a descriptive past tense which indicates an ongoing state of being or a repeated or incomplete action. The beginning and end of the state of being or action are not indicated, and the imparfait is very often translated in English as "was" or "was ___-ing."

It is formed by adding the following endings to the root of the verb

• 1st person singular : -ais
• 2nd person singular : -ais
• 3rd person singular : -ait
• 1st person plural : -ions
• 2nd person plural : -iez
• 3rd person plural : -aient

Example:

Parler- To talk/speak

• je parlais
• tu parlais
• il/elle parlait
• nous parlions
• vous parliez
• ils/elles parlaient

However for some verbs the endings could be different.

Example:


finir (to finish)

• je finissais
• tu finissais
• il/elle finissait
• nous finissions
• vous finissiez
• ils/elles finissaient

boire (to drink)

• je buvais
• tu buvais
• il/elle buvait
• nous buvions
• vous buviez
• ils/elles buvaient

être (to be)

• j'étais
• tu étais
• il/elle était
• nous étions
• vous étiez
• ils/elles étaient

avoir (to have)

• j'avais
• tu avais
• il/elle avait
• nous avions
• vous aviez
• ils/elles avaient

The imperfect can indicate any of the following:

I.	Habitual actions or states of being
	Quand j'étais petit, j'avais beaucoup des jeux	When I was young,I had a lot of toys.
II.	Physical and emotional descriptions: time, weather, age, feelings
	Il était midi et il faisait beau.	It was noon and the weather was nice.
III.	Actions or states of an unspecified duration
	Je faisais la queue parce que j'avais besoin de billets.	I stood in line because I needed tickets.
IV.	Background information in conjunction with the passé composé
	J'étais au lycée quand j'ai pris une examen .	I was at at school, when I took the exam.
V.	Wishes or suggestions
	Ah ! Si j'étais riche !	Oh, if only I were rich!
VI.	Conditions in si clauses
	Si j'avais de l'argent, j'irais avec toi.	If I had some money, I would go with you.
VII.	The expressions être en train de and venir de in the past.
	J'étais en train de faire la vaisselle.	I was (in the process of) doing the dishes.

Source

The Rooms in the House- Les salles dans la maison

The Following are the different rooms of the house in French

Le salon- Living Room

La cuisine-Kitchen

La salle à manger- Dining Room

La salle de bain- Bathroom

Le toilette- Toilet

La chambre- Bedroom

Le grenier- Attic

Le sous-sol- Basement

Other things in the house.

L'escalier- Stairs

La porte- Door

La fenêtre- Window

Le jardin- Garden

Here are some of the basic words that are related to the house.

A Magical Post for all who Read this Blog

First of all thank you to all who visit this blog and I hope you have learned quite a lot of the French Language already. As you may have noticed a lot of the posts here are related to grammar and the daily things that could be useful to us.

I've decided that I should add more other stuff here to keep you interested in learning French. This post will be about magic since I'm a magician and I think that a lot of good magicians are French speakers, so in order for you to understand them when they perform, here are a few words that they always use.

Tour de magie: Magic Trick

magicien/nne: Magician

Les cartes: Playing Cards

L'as: Ace

Le Valet: Jack

La reine: Queen

Le roi: King

Le trèfle: club or clover

Le pique: spade

Le carreau: diamond

Le coeur: heart

So when you say Ace of Spades you say "L'as des piques".

Other words related to magic:

la baguette magique: Magic Wand

disaparaître (v): vanish

les pièces: coins

léviter: levitate

For you to fully enjoy the magic, here are my videos on Youtube that you could watch and enjoy. Although it is in English I hope you remember the French terms used in magic.



Until the Next Lesson,

Jordan

Demander son chemin: Asking for directions

Comment dire ? How to say?

Demander son chemin: Asking for directions

Excusez-moi, Madame / Monsieur : Excuse me Sir/Ma'am

Pour aller à... To go to...

Je suis perdu: I'm lost

Je cherche la rue... : I'm looking for(name of)street

l'avenue: avenue
le boulevard: boulevard
la place: place

Pourriez-vous me dire comment aller à... :Could you tell me how to go to...

Décrire un itinéraire : Describing the destination

Vous allez / continuez tout droit. : You go all the way to the right.

Vous prenez la prochaine rue à droite / à gauche. : Take the next street to the left

Vous tournez à droite / à gauche. : Turn left/right.

Vous traversez la rue. : You cross the street.

Vous montez / descendez l'escalier. : You go up/down the stairs.

Learn Basic French Greetings- Video

Here's a video to make it easier for you to learn the basic French greetings. The text could be found here


Learn French Greetings - Funny home videos are a click away

Hope you learn a lot from it.

In the Restaurant - Dans le Restaurant

Essential vocabulary
Vous avez choisi ?	Have you decided?
Que voudriez-vous ? Vous désirez ?	What would you like?
Je vous écoute.	What would you like? (Literally, "I'm listening.")
Que prenez-vous ?	What are you having?
Qu'est-ce que je vous sers ?	What can I get you?
Je voudrais... J'aimerais...	I would like...
Je vais prendre... Je prends...	I'm going to have...
Combien coûte... ?	How much does ... cost?
C'est à votre goût ?	Do you like it? Is everything ok?
C'est terminé ?	Have you finished?
Je suis...	I am...
allérgique à...	allergic to...
diabétique	diabetic
végétarien / végétarienne	vegetarian
végétalien / végétalienne	vegan
Je ne peux pas manger...	I can't eat...
bleu, saignant	very rare
rosé	rare
à point	medium-rare
bien cuit	well done
le serveur	waiter
la serveuse	waitress
le/la chef	cook
l'addition (f)	check/bill
le menu	fixed-price meal (learn more)
la carte	menu
à la carte	side order (not part of le menu)
le pourboire	tip (learn more)
service compris	tip included
service non compris	tip not included
Attention !	Watch out!
bon appétit !	enjoy your meal
défense de fumer	no smoking
les animaux sont interdits	no pets allowed

Clothes in French

French Clothing Vocabulary - Vêtements

un manteau	coat
un imperméable	raincoat
un blouson	jacket
un anorak	ski jacket
un pull	sweater
un tee-shirt	T-shirt
un pantalon	pants
un jean	jeans
un maillot (de bain)	bathing suit
un short	shorts
des chaussettes (f)	socks
des chaussures (f)	shoes
des tennis (m)	sneakers
des bottes (f)	boots
des sandales (f)	sandals
un pyjama	pajamas

Women's Clothing - Vêtements de femme

un tailleur	suit
un chemisier	blouse
une robe	dress
une jupe	skirt
une minijupe	miniskirt
des chaussures à hauts talons (fem)	high-heeled shoes
un soutien-gorge	bra
une combinaison	slip
un jupon	half slip
des bas (masc)	stockings
un collant	pantyhose / tights
un slip	panties
une chemise de nuit	nightgown
un bikini	bikini

Men's Clothing - Vêtements d'homme

un costume	suit
un smoking	tuxedo
une chemise	shirt
un veston de sport	sport jacket
une cravate	tie
un noeud papillon	bow tie
une ceinture	cummerbund
un maillot de corps	undershirt
un boxer-short	boxer shorts
un caleçon	underwear

Jewelry - Bijoux

une barrette	barrette
une boucle d'oreille	earring
un collier	necklace
un pendentif	pendant
une broche	brooch
une épingle	pin
un fixe-cravate	tie-clip
un bracelet	bracelet
un bracelet à breloques	charm bracelet
une montre	watch
un bouton de manchette	cufflink
une bague	ring
une bague de fiançailles	engagement ring
une alliance	wedding ring

Accessories - Accessoires

un chapeau	hat
un ruban	ribbon
des lunettes (f)	glasses
des lunettes de soleil (f)	sunglasses
un foulard	scarf
un cache-nez	muffler
un châle	shawl
un mouchoir	handkerchief
des gants (m)	gloves
des moufles (f)	mittens
une ceinture	belt
un portefeuille	wallet
un sac à main	purse
un sac à dos	backpack
un porte-documents	briefcase
un parapluie	umbrella

Professions in French

Professions in French

ENGLISH	FRENCH
lawyer	avocat
actor/actress	acteur/actrisse
customs officer	douanier
farmer	agriculteur
builder	maçon
architect	architecte
consultant	conseiller
astronaut	astronaute
air hostess	hôtesse de l´air
dustman	éboueur
fireman	pompier
waiter/waitress	serveur
lorry driver	camioneur
singer	chanteur
foreman	contremaître
butcher	boucher
postman	facteur
scientist	scientifique

surgeon	chirurgien
cook	cuisinier
driver	conducteur
accountant	comptable
servant	domestique
priest	curé
dentist	dentiste
shop assistant	vendeur/se
electrician	électricien
employee	employé
bank clerk	employé de banque
nurse	enfermière
writer	écrivain
student	étudiant
chemist	pharmacien
plumber	plombier
farmer	fermier
engineer	ingénieur
gardener	jardinier
jeweller	bijoutier
judge	juge
shoemaker	cordonnier
bookseller	libraire
sailor	marin
doctor	médecin
mechanic	mécanicien
miner	mineur
model	mannequin
instructor	moniteur
monk	moine
nun	religieuse
nanny	nounou
labourer	ouvrier
office worker	employé de bureau
baker	boulanger
shepherd	berger
hairdresser	coiffeur/coiffeuse
journalist	journaliste
fisherman	pêcheur
pilot	pilote
painter	peintre
politician	politicien
policeman	policier
caretaker	concierge
teacher	professeur
psychologist	psychologue
psychiatrist	psychiatre
receptionist	réceptionniste
watchmaker	horloger
reporter	reporter
priest	curé
tailor	tailleur d´habit
secretary	secrétaire
soldier	soldat
shorthand typist	sténodactylo
taxi driver	chauffeur de taxi
technician	technicien
bullfighter	toreador
translator	traducteur
salesman	vendeur
vet	vétérinaire

* In Canada and parts of Switzerland, the feminine form "une professeure" exists.

Comment ça va?: How are you ?

Comment ça va?: How are you ?

For proper pronunciation click here

Comment allez-vous? How are you (formal),
Comment vas-tu? How are you (informal),
Comment ça va?/Ça va? (informal) How are you?

Ça va (très) bien. I'm(very) well

Oui, ça va. I'm ok. Très bien, merci. Very well, thanks.

Pas mal. Not bad.

pas si bien/pas très bien not so well (très) mal (very) bad

Comme ci, comme ça. So-So.

Désolé(e). I'm sorry.

Et toi ? And you? (informal
Et vous ?)
And you? (formal)

Prendre Congé: Leaving

Prendre Congé: Leaving

Salut. Hi/Bye (informal)

Au revoir. Good-bye.

À demain. See you tomorrow.

Au revoir, à demain. Bye, see you tomorrow.

À tout à l'heure. See you (later today)!

À la prochaine. See you (tomorrow

À bientôt. See you soon.