Category: Learn French

HERE is a fun feature to help you improve your French language skills, courtesy of international television channel TV5.

Hosted by Bernard Cerquiglini each of the Merci Professeur videos offers you quick sound bites on French words and language, delivered in a snappy manner that can become quite addictive.

Each clip takes a couple of minutes and covers everything from whether après-midi is masculine or feminine to the use of the word tennis – even the introductory music will make you tap your toes.

IF you are looking to improve your French language skills then drop in on the Parlons français, c’est facile website.

The site is backed by the Ministère des Affaires étrangères with strong support from other organisations including TV5Monde.

You can follow short film clips and complete quick exercises to improve your French.

IF you need to end an internet contract or maybe write a letter of complaint about a service, then more than 100 letter templates are available on the Institut national de la consommation website.

The letters will help you resolve disputes and are grouped by topics such as insurance, banking, internet and money, they are free to use and come in plain text so you can copy and paste it directly into a new document.

You can narrow your search down via a simple pull down list at the top of the page, and you may need your dictionary to hand to work out a few phrases, but with a little work you can soon work things out if your French language skills are stretched.

Types of letter for complaints

Then for letters on your chosen subject, slide the page a little further down and you will see Format and then an option to choose Lettres Type, click this and a list of letter templates will let you click on an individual one and work from there.

The letters are written in formal French respecting the ‘vous’ format, so that your complaint is clearly explained in a polite and respectful manner, with the closing paragraph also ensuring your letter comes to an end in the correct manner.

Each letter provides an explanation of how it can be used, then you need to update name and date fields and it is usually wise to send correspondence by registered post, or lettre recommandée.

HERE is a very simple online dictionary designed for school children in France, but which may prove useful if you are getting up to speed with the language.

Le dictionnaire des écoliers offers up a quick and simple way of finding the definition of around 17,000 French words.

It is actually aimed at school children in nursery and primary schools, but the easy on the eye way it is designed, providing a simple search as well as alphabetical listings may well appeal.

A LIST of the most frequently used words in French may prove handy when learning the language.

There are a couple of helpful online stops that list common words, the first is Language Daily that lists 700 words, the first collection of which are audio enabled.

So you can listen to the pronunciation of common words such as savoir or aller, while continuing through the list and find mieux at 159, or reconnaître at 546.

Another web page to take a look over is on Wiktionary which lists 2,000 key French words, and if you click on the individual words you can find a simple translation and explanation.

THERE is no doubt that having English subtitles on television programmes really helps you get up to speed with the French language.

Unfortunately few go down this route so you end up with programmes horribly dubbed and quickly losing any of the subtleties or impact of the original.

However, yesterday I discovered one programme that is subtitled and which appears on the unscrambled Canal+ channel – The Daily Show.

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WITH poor savings interest, a struggling pound and an increasing cost in the price of essentials, older couples are opening their doors to help French people with their English.

That’s what the Expatica website is reporting as couples help French students with their studies with brief immersion classes, offering language help and advice.

The article says the courses in western France are the brainchild of Christine Predery, who set up a not-for-profit organisation called Bringing People Together to help French anglophiles get in touch with English families.

ONE simple way of boosting your French language skills is to watch the news at least once a day.

I’ve found it to be a great way to pick up phrases and vocabulary that will help you in day to day life, but TV5 Monde take things on a step or two.

A section of their website offers short news clips from the past seven days and varying degrees of challenging questions, from a beginner level, to an intermediate stage and an advanced level for real linguists.

You can watch the individual news reports, read transcripts and have a go at a number of different types of questions such as simple multiple choice to grammar challenges.

IF you need to end an internet contract or maybe write a letter of complaint about a service, then more than 100 letter templates are available on the Institut national de la consommation website.

The letters will help you resolve disputes and are grouped by topics such as insurance, banking, internet and money, they are free to copy and paste into whatever office software you use or just to email direct.

You can narrow down your search by clicking on the options in the left hand column, there are tick boxes for different services such as banking, insurance and internet services.

It is also possible to get sample letters in French for business purposes or if you are involved in an association.

Each letter provides an explanation of how it can be used, then you need to update name and date fields and it is usually wise to send correspondence by registered post, or lettre recommandée.

A HANDY piece of code has been made available by Google that offers you the opportunity to offer website visitors a translation of the page they are on into the language of their choice.

Many holiday home and business websites provide translation buttons, but in this case the Google code detects foreign language visitors and offers to translate the page automatically into user’s preferred language.

As many people know Google Translate enables you to get the meaning of a foreign language page, it’s not something that should be relied upon for important decisions.

But considering it is just a case of copy and pasting the code into your website it really is a simple option to open up your website to foreign speaking visitors.