Category: French Language Learning

Articles about learning the French language in general. Interesting things about the French language and the French culture. What, when, how, why of the French language learning.

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French Vocabulary: Les vacances à la plage

Summer is here and this year you may be heading for France for holidays. Here is the first list of the common French words (with exercises) that you will need while at the beach in France. 

Vocabulary with audio: 

French 

English

1. bronzer [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/01-S.mp3″]

1. to tan / to get tan / to sun

2. nager [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02-S.mp3″]

2. to swim

3. plonger [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/03-S.mp3″]

3. to dive, to plunge.

4. faire la planche [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/04-S.mp3″]

4. to float (lit. to do a board)

5. un coup de soleil [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/05-S.mp3″]

5. sunburn

6. l’ombre [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/06-S.mp3″]

6. shade

7. les lunettes de soleil [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/07-S.mp3″]

7. the sunglasses

8. les vagues [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/08-S.mp3″]

8. waves

9. le sable [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/09-S.mp3″]

9. the sand

10. un matelas gonflable [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://simple-french.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/10-S.mp3″]

10. an inflatable mattress

les-vacances

Exercises

Exercise 1: 

Exercise 2 A: 

Exercise 2 B: 

 

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Getting Student Accommodation in France

Finding Accomodation in France

A brief note on what you need to know about finding a dormitory or other form of accomodation when coming to France to study. While it might seem easier for exchange students to be offered a dormitory, the opportunities also exist for the non-exchange students.  

1. The Most Important Place to Know: CROUS

First of all, let's take a look the CROUS institution. CROUS in an acronym in French for Centre Régional des Œuvres Universitaires et Scolaires, which is an organisation dealing with things related to French universities and their students, among others.

It helps both local and foreign students. Each city / region in France has its own CROUS and there are 20 CROUS centers in France. It is the place for every student in France. In CROUS you will find help on how to:

  • Pay or fund your studies

  • Get help in any situation throughout your studies (social work services)

  • How to find accommodation (University dorms, private housing, flatsharing)

  • University restaurant

  • Get help for your student projects (financial help, organisation, etc.)

Therefore, if you arrive out of the blue to any French city, without having found an accomodation in advance, CROUS is the place you need to head. 

2. You Are On A Foreign Student Exchange Program

You automatically get a file from your University. You need to complete the file and return it with all the necessary documents specified in that file (your id, proof of enrollement, residence permit, bank account details, etc.). The University will inform you whether you will get the University dorm or not. In general, it depends on the number of places and the date your application (the sooner the better).  

Once you have been granted a dormitory, you will have to pay a security deposit (1 month of rent) on the bank account of CROUS to confirm the reservation. You may also be asked to provide  “a commitment of joint and several guarantee” (la caution solidaire in French), which is a security check in case you changed your mind and didn’t want to pay you rent. But it only applies to the private sector in general, so no worries. 

3. You Are NOT On A Foreign Student Exchange Program

If you want to get a university dorm, you must know that you don’t have the priority and all you can do is to put your name on a waiting list at the end of August. Your request should be treated at the beginning of September.  

The places at the University dorms are rapidly taken, so your chances of getting one are rather slim. You’d better start looking for accommodation in private student residence, a private flat or flat sharing (la collocation) opportunities. The are plenty of websites offering flats to rent or flat sharing. However, few of them are in English.    

If you don’t get the University dorm, don’t panic. Finding a private flat or flat sharing may turn out even a better option for you. It might be a stressful and difficult situation to anyone anywhere, but you must know that France has the APL (Aide Personnalisée au Logement), a very unique and interesting way of helping students, whether their are local or foreign, in paying their rent. Check out their information brochure on the CAF website.

How to Get a Student Accomodation in France (1)

More Information: 

  1. Crous
  2. CAF
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Getting Around in Paris by Metro

Paris Metro

If you travel to Paris, the chances are that you will take the metro. It is one of the cheapest (the cheapest one being walking) and definitely the fastest mean of transport. The aim of the first dialogue is to give useful phrases of everyday French in the context of the Paris metro situation. The exercises are not only meant to check the understanding of the dialogue but also make the learners do the effort of trying to find the answer by themselves. You can either look them up on simple-french website or on the Internent. The bigger the effort, the better the results. Be careful with the French names of the stations ! They can be tricky to pronounce !

In the Dialogue 2 you will learn how to buy a metro ticket. When you buy tickets, it is really straightforward. So don't worry too much about it. You will also find some challenging exercises to be fully prepared for your stay in Paris. 

Dialogue 1

Voyage en métro à Paris:

A: You B: Your Friend

  • A: Alors, on est ici, à la station Montparnasse Bienvenüe et on doit aller dans les grands magasins, aux Galeries Lafayette.
  • B: Tu sais quelle ligne de métro il faut prendre ?
  • A: Oui, ça parait compliqué mais ça ne l’est pas. Alors Il faut qu’on prenne la direction "Asnières", on descend à "Miromesnil", là c’est une correspondance. On prend ensuite la direction "Mairie de Montreuil" et on a 3 arrêts jusqu’à "Chaussée d’Antin Lafayette". C’est très simple.
  • B: Très bien. Allons acheter les billets de métro.

Paris Metro Entrance
Paris Metro Entrance

Exercises 

Exercise 1: 

 

Exercise 2: 

 

Exercise 3: Challenge 

What line numbers of Paris Metro are they talking about in the dialogue? 

Métro de Paris2 [RERTRAM]

Useful Links:

 

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10 Most Important French Cities

There is more to France than Paris. If the names such as Bordeaux, Strasbourg or Marseille don't mean anything to you, then you'd better read on. And even if they do, you should read on too :-) You won't regret it.

Learning French (through) Geography

A little bit of knowledge of the geography of the country where your target language is spoken may tremendously change the way you interact in that language.

The more you know the better, but let's start with something really simple but really essential at the same time. 

Knowing the most important cities will influence not only your knowledge but may also improve your conversations in French.

Even the simple exchange: – D’où viens-tu ? – Je viens de Bordeaux may either lead to a much more developped conversation or just end up in a simple – Ah, d’accord… 

You will certainly feel much less alienated and overwhelmed by the language because you will know better what the people are talking about. 

Only a couple of days ago I heard a French man making fun of a poor foreign girl because she didn't know well the basic georgraphy of France (she didn't know what and where the French départment of Gers is).

Of course, that's an extreme example but the truth is that the more you know about the country (its history, culture and geography) the easier it is to learn that language and feel at ease with it.

This is what you need to do in order to truely master the language. The famous german polyglot Emil Krebs (1867-1930) is said to have used this kind of approach in his language learning. 

france-sète-port

10 Most Important Cities in France

In general, the most populated cities are the most important. But not always.

There are several different reasons why some cities are more important than other, even if they are not bigger, although it is rather rare.

To give you an example: I'm sure that all of you have heard of Cannes but less of Nantes…. 

Different sources will give the names in slightly different order.

I have decided to choose the biggest but also the most famous ones, so there are chances that you might have heard or read something about this or the other particular French city.

The 10 most important French cities that you need to know are:

Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Lille

Exercises

The best way to remeber things is practice. Try to place the names of the French cities you saw above into the right spots on the map of France. You may either do it by "trail and error" method, starting first with the things you know best, or first have a look at a map of France ( la carte de la France)  then come back here and try to do the exercise on your own. Good luck !

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French Professions and Occupations

Occupations in French

Learn how to speak about jobs and professions in French. It may come in handy when meeting new people (that's one of the questions you will be asked or you will ask) or if you are planning to work in France. This lesson will allow you to make your French small talk richer and more engaging.

Gaël est pompier. Il est pompier volontaire. C'est un pompier très courageux.

No Article Please

In French, contrary to English, you put no article before the name of the profession. So: 

  • Je suis un professeur. I'm a teacher. 
  • Il est médecin. He is a doctor. 

Remember !

When you precise things about somebody's the profession (his / her qualities), you need to add an article. However, if you are only precising the category it belongs to, there is still no artilce. 

  • Mark est un médecin exceptionnel. (quality) 
  • Marie est médecin généraliste. (category) 

When speaking about professions, you need to remember about the masculine / feminine forms of certain professions. Many of them have only the masculine form. 

  • médecin / écrivain / ingénieur / professeur
  • Marie est médecin et Joachim est écrivain

Serving coffee

Exercises

Exercise 1

Exercise 2