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

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

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!

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?

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!

• 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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Why choose a native speaker for your teacher rather than a non native speaker?

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!

You are learning French? You are having trouble choosing between a native-and a non native speaker?

Our school offers French lessons Online on Skype and here are the reasons why we work with native-speaking teachers:

They have…

- perfect mastery of the French language

- an authentic accent

- a linguistic and cultural background that is difficult to acquire for a non native speaker

- an understanding of the problems encountered by pupils learning French grammar… they analyse these problems and always provide a satisfactory explanation

- a better understanding of the French language, for example for subtleties such as irony, sarcasm, formal address, etc.

- a better understanding of the meaning of expressions in French: in which situation to use them, for what purpose, to whom?

Advantage + :

There is no question of whether to speak French or another language during the lesson: speaking French is automatic, which accelerates learning of the language and fluency comes very quickly.

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

Six reasons for learning French Online on Skype

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!

If you learn French Online on Skype:

- you are in regular contact with a native French speaker. It is the best way to learn French, but you know that it is not easy to find a native-speaking teacher in your environment, and in addition one who is competent, but here is the solution: learn French on Skype and converse with a native speaker at any time of the day… and from anywhere you want!

- you no longer need to travel to attend your French lesson. You no longer waste time and specially you save money! All you have to do is find a quiet spot with an Internet connection and your French lesson on Skype can begin!!

- you have your French lesson on Skype whenever you want!  Our French teachers are available between 8AM and 8:30PM, so you are sure to find a moment that suits you. You no longer have to adapt to school timetables, you learn when you want!

- Online French lessons are cheaper than those in a language school or with a private tutor who comes to your home, so that you also save money.

- If your learn French on Skype you can attain exactly the same proficiency as with a traditional course. Let’s see how:

1. You can see your teacher: that makes your French lesion more personal, which also is important for comprehension! If you look at someone’s face, you understand what they are saying much more easily (on the telephone it’s difficult). Seeing the person is important also for imitating the movements of their mouth, which helps you considerably in improving your French pronunciation.

2. You can hear your teacher: if you have earphones and a good Internet connection you can hear your French teacher better than from the back of the classroom in a language school. This is fundamental for the music of the French language to penetrate your ears.

3. You can also communicate in writing: on the “chat” space on Skype you can write whatever you want during your French lesson. Doing exercises, writing examples, doing corrections, reviewing the lesson, making comments, sending questions to your teacher… on the “chat” all that is possible! You have even more facility for direct communication with your teacher than in a class. 

4. And how do you find the subjects to work on for your written comprehension? It’s easier than you thought. Just imagine the tons of documents in French that are available on the Internet! Articles, novels, all kinds of written material, current affairs, poems, etc, etc… You have only to ask your teacher to send you the links to the relevant subjects and you can begin reading in French.

- last but not least: you have fun learning French on Skype! Our teachers are very friendly and helpful. They are there to make learning easy and enjoyable for you. The methods and subjects that we offer are relevant and interesting. We give you the opportunity to talk about what interests you, because we believe that 

« Learning a language, learning French, is learning to talk about things that you would talk about in real life »

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