This recording is in French, here’s the outline of what I talk about to help you follow:

A comeback video in a new environment: we’re in France! We’ve been settling down, enjoying family time after two years of separation, finally meeting my little (and very cute nephew), creating memories (e.g we took the kids to the snow!)

The children have started attending French school…on and off really, due to the absurd C*vid protocols in place here. Still, I’m hoping this will give me some time to resume working on French Your Way!

In 2021, I worked on a personal project (I’ll tell you about it when the right time comes) and spent quite a while in lockdown being my daughter’s private teacher. We also prepared our departure to France.

In order to help you with your French, I need YOU to give me your input, your feedback:

Please get in touch! Email me

/!\ Don’t forget: I explain French concepts in English. If you know me, you know that! For authentic conversations in French, check out my “French Voices” podcast.

Thanks for your patience while I wrap my head around things again and release new content! I am grateful for your support and your kindness.

Jessica

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The post FYW – I’m back ! News and what’s next appeared first on French Your Way.

By popular demand, I’ll record some episodes to help you learn or recognise common French slang expressions. As you may know, the French you learn in the classroom and the French you hear in the street or in the movies can sometimes sound quite different !

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also find my short eBook “How to improve your French conversation skills” useful! It includes a section featuring common differences between French as you know it and as it is actually spoken in real life

Check out my eBook : https://frenchyourway.com.au/improve-french-conversational-skills

La mater

The post FYW 236: French slang expressions (2) appeared first on French Your Way.

A simple French grammar tip can help you go a long way to efficiently translate common expressions from English to French!

Rien/quelque chose / quelqu’un / personne + DE + adj SING MASC

rien de spécial / de grave / d’important / d’urgent

quelqu’un d’important / de généreux / d’honnête… BUT de BIEN vs BON

quelque chose de bizarre / d’étonnant / d’incroyable / secret

The post FYW 235: How to translate “Nothing serious, something urgent” and more expressions in French appeared first on French Your Way.

I received an email from Abhijit’s, Tasmania, who is struggling to translate some sentences from English to French. He says he prefers to learn phrases as opposed to grammar and asks for my opinion and any potential book recommendation. This is a good opportunity for me to share MY thoughts about the best way to learn French language.

Take this conversation:

Hey! I haven’t heard from you for a while. How are you? and how’s everything going? I was on leave for about 7 days and now back to work. Hope to catch up soon.

Now to translate this I really struggle. I learn by phrases as opposed to by grammar. I personally think it’s better. Do you have a basic book that you would recommend?

Regards

How to translate:

“Hey! I haven’t heard from you for a while. How are you? and how’s everything going? I was on leave for about 7 days and now back to work. Hope to catch up soon.”

Avoir des Nouvelles (de quelqu’un)

The post FYW 234: Learning phrases vs learning grammar appeared first on French Your Way.

By popular demand, I’ll record some episodes to help you learn or recognise common French slang expressions. As you may know, the French you learn in the classroom and the French you hear in the street or in the movies can sometimes sound quite different !

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also find my short eBook “How to improve your French conversation skills” useful! It includes a section featuring common differences between French as you know is and as it is actually spoken in real life

Check out my eBook

The post FYW 233: French slang expressions (1) appeared first on French Your Way.

What’s the difference between SUR and DESSUS, or SOUS and DESSOUS? Can they be used interchangeably? In this episode we’ll see how to use these words in sentences, along with more examples and a vocabulary booster!

Le livre est sur la table.

The post FYW 232: Sur / dessus, sous / dessous, etc. appeared first on French Your Way.

This is yet another question from Artur, who was featured in the previous episode!

“I recently stumbled upon one hitch in one exercise in a course, namely:

“Si quelque chose tente Robert, il l’achète” becomes “Il achète ce qui le tente.”

According to you, it should be: “Il achète ce que le tente”? I am confused here. Could you clarify this?”

The difference between QUI and QUE is by far my most popular post and as such, is well worth a brush-up! See the links to my article, audio version and FREE printable worksheet with the answers below.

The post FYW 231: “qui” vs “que”, a brush-up appeared first on French Your Way.

Here’s a question from Artur:

“I wonder if the last letter “t” is pronounced in the phrase “Il part en chantant”, because of the liaison? Same question for “c’est une bonne idée.”

I’ve heard some folks pronounce “t” and some not.”

What do you think? How would you pronounce the above sentences? Give it a try then listen to find out!

The post FYW 230: Liaison or not liaison? A rough guide to help you decide. appeared first on French Your Way.

I received the following question from Jane:

Hi Jessica, I am new to your podcasts but hoping to work my way through them slowly as I study French. I am very much enjoying them.

I have just listened to episode 6 (FYW 006 : “To demand” vs “Demander”: ) and have a question about agreement in the following sentence :

“Mon mari m’a demandée en mariage à Uluru.” Why do you use the -ée on “demandée”? Doesn’t this verb agree with your husband (“mon mari”)?

Here’s a great opportunity for a brush-up if you’re an intermediate or advanced learner of French!

Le professeur a demandé le silence aux élèves.

The post FYW 229: Brush-up of the past participle agreement rule – Why is there a feminine agreement in the sentence “Mon mari m’a demandée en mariage à Uluru”? appeared first on French Your Way.

An end-of-the year message for you in both English and French, with the French text below

Bonjour à tous,

J’espère que vous allez bien. Je voulais dire avec vous “au revoir” à cette année 2020 et vous adresser mes meilleurs vœux pour 2021 ! En français, on dit “Meilleurs vœux”, ou “Bonne année, bonne santé”. Et le “bonne santé” n’a jamais été aussi sincère que cette année, que le Covid-19 a rendu si spéciale. Donc, plus que jamais, prenez soin de vous, de votre santé et de celle de vos proches. Nous avons tous vécu l’année qui se finit de façon différente ; certains ont été très anxieux, préoccupés, éprouvés psychologiquement et/ou financièrement, tandis que d’autres ont apprécié de pouvoir continuer à travailler chez eux, de ralentir et se retrouver un peu. Le bout du tunnel est bientôt là, je le sens, alors courage ! Je voudrais vous inviter à prendre un moment pour réfléchir à toutes les choses positives qui sont arrivées cette année, car je suis certaine qu’il y en a. Même des petits bonheurs tout simples !! J’en profite par exemple pour souhaiter la bienvenue à mon petit neveu Marius, qui est venu agrandir la famille cette année, et aussi pour remercier Craig et Julie, un charmant couple de Melbourne (femme française et homme australien), que je ne connaissais pas. Il se trouve que Craig a participe à des sessions que j’ai organisées sur Zoom. J’ai eu la grande surprise de trouver dans ma boite mail un samedi matin de décembre un message dans lequel ils proposaient de me donner des livres pour enfants en français dont ils n’avaient plus besoin. Mes enfants ont donc reçu une trentaine de très beaux livres (ainsi que des CDs avec des comptines en français !), et c’était un cadeau tout à fait inattendu et qui nous a fait énormément plaisir !!

Paroles de la chanson / Lyrics:

The post FYW 228: Meilleurs voeux appeared first on French Your Way.