vendredi 5 juin 2015

30 days French Expressions Learning Challenge

Want to learn French expressions and use them in real life situations?
Come join our 30 days Learning French Expressions Challenge on FaceBook and learn an expression every day for a month!

How to do it? 1. Put down the grammar book for a moment → 2. join the challenge → 3. learn one real French expression every day during 1 month → 4. be happy with your progress :)

On our blog we are also reviewing expressions, start with the first 3:

1. ••• DONNER SA LANGUE AU CHAT •••

Cette expression signifie: arrêter de réfléchir, dire qu’on est incapable de trouver la solution ou la réponse à un problème. Imaginons la situation où deux copines discutent:
This expression means: to give up thinking, to admit that one is unable to find the solution or answer to a problem. Imagine the situation where two friends discuss:
- Hier je suis allée au shopping. Devine combien de robes j’ai achetés!
- 3?
- Non!
- 5?
- Non!
- 100??
- Mais noon!
- Écoute, je ne sais pas!! Je donne ma langue au chat!

2. ••• ÊTRE LESSIVÉ(e) •••

On utilise cette expression pour dire qu’on est super fatigué ou épuisé. Attention! Cette expression ne signifie pas qu’on est entré dans le lave-linge pour se laver! émoticône smile Etre lessivé signifie qu’on est super fatigué. Imaginons Paul qui parle à sa femme:
This term is used to say that we are super tired or exhausted. Attention! This expression does not mean that we entered the washing machine to be washed! émoticône smile être lessivé means to be super tired. Imagine that Paul speaks to his wife:
"Aujourd’hui mon chef m’a épuisé: il m’a demandé d’aller 3 fois à la poste, assister à 4 rendez-vous et préparer 2 litres de café à nos clients… en plus après j’ai dû faire 2 heures supplémentaires pour finir la documentation! Ce n’est pas normal! Franchement, je suis lessivé!"

3. ••• RACONTER DES SALADES •••

Cette expression signifie mentir, dire des mensonges. Pourquoi des salades et pas un autre aliment ? Parce que la salade est un mélange qui est facile à avaler... Comme les fausses nouvelles..
Imaginons que la petite Emma rentre à la maison et commence à raconter à sa maman:
This expression means to lie, to tell lies. Why salads and not another food? Because the salad is a mix that is easy to swallow... Just like the false news...
Imagine that little Emma comes home and starts telling her mother:
« - Oui maman alors aujourd’hui j’ai eu un avertissement à l’école..Mais! ce n’était pas de ma faute.. derrière moi il y avait Michèle qui faisait des bêtises et après c’était Anne qui a commencé à crier et pas moi…
- Bon, arrête de raconter des salades, et dis moi la vérité! »

frenchfromanywhere.com was created to help you to speak, understand and write French fluently. Discover our communicative method on Skype and book your free trial lesson ! Learn French with

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vendredi 8 mai 2015

French Slang

Many language courses concentrate mostly on the formal language. Knowing the formal language is important: you need it to read books and newspapers, watch news and write official letters. But in some languages, such as French, there is a considerable difference between the official language and the language people actually speak in everyday life. Indeed, understanding teenagers in a foreign language can be more difficult than reading a scientific paper in this language! The French learner who comes to France can be confused when they hear a sentence such as Je ne sais pas pronounced as Chais pas, or when they hear the colloquial boulot more frequently than the more formal travail.

The website French Slang has been created in order to teach colloquial words and slang that French people use in their everyday life. You will find there explanations about French slang and colloquial language with examples written by a native speaker from France. Feel free to comment the articles or to contact the author if you have any question or suggestion!

jeudi 2 avril 2015

How to prepare for an interview in French on Skype?

Above all – and specially to give you encouragement – it is important to know that during an interview one uses relatively limited vocabulary. One talks about one’s job, one’s past, one’s objectives, one’s personality… so, no need to know by heart the main dates in French history or to be able to explain how to prepare a quiche lorraine without fresh cream…

So here is an important piece of advice: while preparing your interview, concentrate. It’s fine to be comfortable with the passé composé (present perfect), the present and the future, but you probably won’t need to say anything using the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect). Neither is it the time to revise your conjugations, as you’ll probably only use the personal pronoun je (I) and vous (you).

Are you having a job interview in French?

Don’t panic! We will help you succeed with ease. When preparing….

- we review the most frequent questions encountered during a job interview

1. Introduce yourself

What is you work experience?

Why do you want to change your job?

etc.

2. What are your strong points, your weak points?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What interests you in this job?

Why do you think you are a good candidate for this position?

What do you know about our company?

etc.

3.How do you spend your free time?

Will you be free to start next month?

Do you have any questions?

etc.

- we recapitulate in French the information that you need to know about the company where you are applying

- we reinforce your self-confidence. You need to feel at ease speaking French. During the interview you need to pay attention to what you are saying and not to your correct use of grammar. To be fluent you need practice!

Are you going to have an interview in French? Make the most of our French lessons Online on Skype to prepare your interview. Our lessons are personalised, effective and 100% Online to help you save time and money. The first course is completely free of charge!

Advice + : Why you don’t need to speak perfect French for your interview: because your future employer is not looking for a language teacher, but for someone who can solve problems in French. You can have that competence without speaking perfect French. Remember this while you prepare!

Advice ++ : be honest! If you have difficulty with French grammar, with rapid speech or understanding in French, say so. It is better to admit that sometimes you will encounter problems that to find yourself in unpleasant situations later on. If you already have the required level and you are hired, you will no doubt have an opportunity to improve your French with the help of your colleagues or during training courses.

If you want to go on a course we suggest that you take French lessons Online on Skype. You will be guided throughout your progress and will attend lessons that are adapted to your needs. The lessons are designed to enable you to make immediate use of your knowledge in real life! To register for a free trial lesson click here.

frenchfromanywhere.com was created to help you to speak, understand and write French fluently. Discover our communicative method on Skype and book your free trial lesson ! Learn French with

us on Skype !

You have questions about French lessons on Skype. You need more information about the

lessons, the method or the teachers. Contact us: info@frenchfromanywhere.com

mercredi 21 janvier 2015

Do you learn French ? Give us a LIKE on FACEBOOK and discover all our advices, tips and ideas for learning French ONLINE!

Video for verbs Porter, Apporter, Emporter, Rapporter, Remporter

Do you learn French ? Then don't hesitate to discover our Youtube videos ! They are going to help you to progress in French! To start let see how to use the French verbs

Porter, Apporter, Emporter, Rapporter, Remporter:

frenchfromanywhere.com was designed to help you to speak, understand and write fluently in French. Reserve your free trial lesson on Skype and discover our communicative method! Learn French with us on Skype!

Take a minute to register on frenchfromanywhere and take a trial lesson on Skype free of charge.

How to be productive when learning French?

Repeat, repeat, repeat again

Repetition is the key to success. If you concentrate just on new words you will quickly forget what you learned previously… don’t forget to repeat!!!

5 x 20 minutes is more productive than 1 x 100 minutes a week

Dedicating 20 minutes each day (why not on the bus?) for learning French is more useful than sitting down for a couple of hours at the weekend with the idea of “now I’m going to learn everything by heart”. 20 minutes is enough for repeating 15-20 new words and to revise the explanation of a rule of grammar. With this technique you’ll go far!

Concentrate on what is important! Personalise your learning!

What is the point of learning the names of all the plants in French if you are not interested in gardening? You’ll have no-one to talk with about it. Concentrate on the words and expressions in French that are important for you, that you are really going to use in your work or daily life. You will move forward faster and have the impression of using what you have learned!

Put into context!

It is very important to learn new words by heart in their context (meaning in a sentence) and not on their own. This technique will allow you to retain the meaning of a word more easily and also to know how to use it (with a suffix? In an expression? At the beginning or the end of a sentence? etc.)

Avoid translating

Putting new words into context will help you avoid translation!. Translation may seem helpful to you as a technique for learning, but it is not. It will get you into the bad habit of thinking in your native language and then translating your ideas into French. The result is that you won’t speak real French, with genuine French expressions. So stop translating and start thinking in French, even if that seems difficult at the beginning!

Here is an example to illustrate this problem with beginners:

You want to say: I am 35 years old. – I’ll translate into French - Je suis 35 ans…. No way! That’s not how it works… in French you use the verb avoir (have) when you are talking about age. ⟼ J’ai 35 ans (I have 35 years).

Learn to think in French! It will help you save time and energy!

Accept the way you are

You are not learning French as rapidly as the others. You need to revise a word three times to know it by heart. Don’t worry, each person works with their own resources! If you need to hear the rule for the passé compose (present perfect tense) four times to know it by heart, don’t hesitate to ask your French teacher to explain it four times. No need to be ashamed of asking questions when you are learning French!

Concentrate on the communication

Whatever your goals for learning French you must always find the time for spoken exercises!!! Written French is very different from spoken French. If you don’t learn them at the same time it will be harder later on! Don’t forget that a language is above all meant for communicating.

You need to be productive when you learn French? Then follow our method and ask for help from a native-speaking teacher. He will accompany while you learn French and will follow your progress. Discover how you can learn on Skype.

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Take a minute to register on frenchfromanywhere and take a trial lesson on Skype free of charge.

How to choose a good French teacher Online on Skype?

A good teacher …

- suggests interesting subjects for discussion in French during lessons on Skype

- encourages you and motivates you to speak French

- bases lessons on vocabulary and communication, rather than on grammar

- can suggest activities to go even further… literature, films, series, exercises… and give the right advice to get the most out of those activities

- creates desire for the French language

- loves their own culture and enjoys conveying it

- is creative, trying to vary the type of exercise without always following the same pattern, enabling you to choose your favourite activities to learn French

- manages to incorporate topical affairs into the lessons, approaches new subjects without always working on the same things

- knows how to organise progress – is perfectly aware of your needs to continue to progress in French

- gets you speaking French right from the start because he knows that you can reply which gives you a lot of self confidence

- finds out your rhythm – an explanation that is too slow or too rapid? No, there’s no such thing, what matters is your own rhythm for learning French!

- is at ease when working with authentic French texts while remaining spontaneous

- is honest with pupils concerning their progress in French

- enjoys teaching French

- is always punctual.

You are looking for a competent teacher?

Come and make the acquaintance of the friendly, dynamic, professional native-speaking teachers of frenchfromanywhere.com.

You are interested in our method on Skype?

Make a reservation on our calendar for your free trial lesson!

Advice + : If you are looking for a good French teacher it is better to go through an Online language school. Why? Because a school provides teacher supervision, ensuring uniform quality. Also, in a school, if you are not satisfied you can always change teacher, which is not the case with a private tutor.

Advice ++ : develop a good relationship with your French teacher. It is important to get on well with them and trust them and their degree of professionalism, so that you can follow their advice without hesitation.

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Take a minute to register on frenchfromanywhere and take a trial lesson on Skype free of charge.