French Language Blog

Idioms showing up when you least expect them is one the best parts of becoming un francophone (a French speaker). The shift from finding something completely incomprehensible to clearly identifiable is an incredible feeling for anyone learning le français. Of the many expressions I’ve misunderstood over the years, there is one that recently came up…

Juliette Gréco, whose career spanned more than 70 years, is an emblematic star of French cinema and song. She interpreted songs by artists from Jacques Brel to Serge Gainsbourg … and even had a romantic relationship with the American Jazz legend Miles Davis. Little French Songs As France’s former first lady Carla Bruni reminded us…

Learning le français is all about making mistakes and being at a loss for words when there’s something important to say. That can lead to some embarrassing moments, but a few uncomfortable seconds is the price to pay for free French lessons. Being a non-native francophone (French speaker), I often hear a new word before…

One of my favorite TV shows when I lived in France was Fort Boyard. Part Survivor and part Fear Factor (but better!), Fort Boyard is a French reality program / game show that features a team of contestants (since the early ’90’s mostly made up of famous people from sports, pop culture, etc.) competing to…

The best way to study French is to do the same things you enjoy in English, just in la langue de Molière (the language of Moliere). Playing games and watching movies are great ways to make memorizing le vocabulaire et les conjugaisons (vocabulary and conjugations) not only fun, but something to look forward to! The…

We’ve just had our first few cool nights here in the Northeastern United States and while still weeks away, it got me thinking about a fall state of mind.  En France, la fin de l’été et le début de l’automne signale l’ouverture de la chasse (In France, the end of summer and the beginning of…

Making mistakes and not knowing the right mot (word) is a big part of learning le français. Improving in a language often depends more on not being afraid of the embarrassment that comes from being wrong than memorizing every conjugaison. Sometimes there are multiple words en français for something that only has one word in…