Today we are going to talk about summer… en français.

I’ve been to France over the summer season two times thus far and there’s no way I would’ve survived without memorizing these vocabulary words first!

Well, okay, that might be a tad bit extreme, but the list of words and phrases that I’m about to share with you definitely came in handy during my summer trips.

When we think of summer, we inevitably think of holidays – “les vacances”.

Traditionally, families and friends take advantage of sunny days (les journées ensoleillées) to travel (voyager) or simply go to the beach (aller à la plage).

“Je suis en vacances!” (I’m on holiday) This is what you can excitedly exclaim once you’re off your study or work duties.

French people have a specific term to indicate the summer break: “les grandes vacances” which means “big holidays”.

Why is that?

Well, that’s simply because summer is the longest period of school holidays for kids – from July to August, 8 weeks total.

Once school is no longer in session, les enfants are finally free to engage in fun outdoor activities.

French Summer Vocabulary – Vocabulaire de l’été
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Summer Activities in French

• Aller à la mer – to go by the beach
• Faire ses valises – to pack
• Défaire ses valises – to unpack
• Marcher sur la plage – To walk on the beach
• Se bronzer – to sunbathe
• Nager – to swim

Summer Months in French

• juin (June)
• juillet (July)
• le mois d’Août (August) – Beware of the pronunciation! The correct pronunciation of août is “oot”.

“Des aoûtiens” is the name given to August vacationers: un aoûtien (if he’s male), une aoûtienne (if she’s female).

People taking their vacation in July (juillet) are called “un juilletiste, une juilletiste”.

Summer Weather in French

When talking about the weather, French people use the verb “faire” (to do).

The usual construction is: “Il fait + ___”  followed by “chaud”, “froid” or what else.

• Il fait chaud – It’s hot
• Il fait du soleil – It’s sunny
• Il fait beau – The weather is nice
  
• La chaleur – The heat
  Le soleil brille – The sun is shining
  Le ciel est bleu – The sky is blue

YOUR FREE FRENCH SUMMER VOCABULARY!

Click below to receive your French Summer Vocabulary straight to your inbox for free.

If you’ve already got access to the Language Learning Library, use your password to download it directly from there.

What are your plans for the summer? Did you learn any new French words by reading this post?
Please share in the comments!

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Learning new languages at superspeed is probably the dream of every aspiring polyglot.

Lingvist offers you just that – or at least that’s what it promises.

What’s Lingvist? I hear you ask. Lingvist is a brand new platform, launched in 2014 and still in its beta version.

Lingvist is also the tool I am currently using to practice French – I am on a 10-day streak and I have no intention of stopping!

Overview

The big claim behind Lingvist is: “Learn a language in just 200 hours”.

For any skeptic out there – like me! – the website also adds that “it’s no magic, just pure science!”.

What’s the formula, then? A scientific, technical, data-driven approach.  The tool uses a smart algorithm that teaches you the important words and phrases that matter first. As if that wasn’t enough, this is a proven method. It was tested by the co-founder himself, Mait Müntel. He was looking for a quick way to learn French while working at CERN in Switzerland that didn’t demand as much time as a class would. He developed a prototype of Lingvist, he put himself to the test and took a high-school level French exam. He passed.

First impressions

Can you learn French in 200 hours, then? Umm, I don’t believe so. Certainly not by using this platform alone. You can learn some French in 200 hours but I think this claim misrepresents what you’ll be actually able to do once you complete the program (according to them you’ll reach a B2 level proficiency).  

First of all, each one of us is different so every learning experience is different. Secondly, there is no speaking practice on Lingvist. You won’t have any conversation with native speakers because most of the emphasis is on listening, reading and vocabulary. Nonetheless, Lingvist is a magnificent tool.

What do you get when you log into the website?

Let’s have a closer look.

The dashboard

Audio Files on Lingvist

Lingvist consists of three sections:

• ‘Memorize’ which is where you’ll find lots of interactive fill in the blank exercises.
• ‘Listen’ which is full of good listening material.  The bite-sized audio recordings also come with transcripts (awesome!).
• ‘Read’ which provides a variety of texts – from articles to funny jokes and dialogues. To be completely honest, I usually prefer finding materials to read in a foreign language by myself so I didn’t spend much time on this section.

I really like the interface because it’s very sleek and modern-looking, extremely easy to navigate.

Grammar in a nutshell  

A feature that I’ve found to be quite useful is the grammar guide on top. It’s called “Grammar Hints and Tips” and you can find it in the header under the button with quotation marks.  It doesn’t focus extensively on grammar explanations, it just covers the basics and it goes straight to the point by answering some of the most common grammar-related questions.

The Good Stuff

The best part for me is the memorization system. It forces you to come up with the right words and to actively remember them. Keyword: actively. There’s nothing passive about this; if you misspell a word, you are required to re-type the correct answer.  

Type ’till you get it right!

Lingvist picks up learning where you left off and you can see your daily progress on the dashboard. You can also sort the words you’ve learnt by “last practiced” and “times practiced”.

The learning experience is adaptive and fully personalized.

Lingvist is free (yes, free!) while in public beta but things may change in the future. If I were you I would jump at the chance to use it without spending any money.

Psst! I’ve found out that they’ve also developed an app available for iOS and Android but I still have to try it out!

Your progress on Lingvist

Is it possible to learn a language in 200 hours? That’s what it promises Lingvist. Tempted to try it out? Check our review here for an inside peak!
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This workbook was designed for beginners but despite the word “débutant” displayed on the cover it assumes some knowledge of the language. As a matter of fact, it is completely written in French – grammar explanations included – so if you use no other book or dictionary, you may find yourself a bit lost at times.

You can still be a beginner and use it, but I believe it works better as a refresher for upper-beginners or intermediate French learners. If you have studied French in the past and are looking for a quick and efficient reminder of things once known, you certainly won’t be disappointed.

I was already able to understand French when I started using this workbook, so I was actually glad that there was no English at all. I enjoyed being fully immersed in the language while reading grammar points, rules and related exercises.

“Niveau Débutant” is divided into 60 chapters and eight sections. It takes you right from the basics – introducing yourself, telling the time, describing common situations – to the use of verb tenses (including le present, futur, passe compose, imparfait).

Brushing up on my previous knowledge with this workbook turned out to be a great idea since it’s packed with exercises (440 in total). Keep in mind that the grammar explanations are pretty concise, even if very clearly laid out, hence it’s best to use it to supplement your studies, not in isolation.

Preview of the workbook

Strong Points

What I love about the “Niveau Débutant” workbook is that you can work through it sequentially or skim through pages and use it as a reference manual.

In addition, I applaud the choice of including an audio CD. The accompanying audio contains 38 exercises that you can load onto your iPod and listen to whenever you want and wherever you are.
The Downside

It should be noted that you’ll need to buy the answer book separately which is quite a bummer but it is necessary if you are going down the path of self-study.

Further Studying

Grammaire progressive du français is a series composed of three volumes. The one I’ve just reviewed, Niveau Débutant, is the most basic one. Once you’ve made some progress in French, you may be interested in advanced textbooks like Niveau Intermediaire and Niveau Advanced.

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Here are two excellent French-language songs that will help you tackle some of the trickier aspects of French grammar.

Photo via dianaros2015 / Wikipedia

Cracking Conditionals with Diane Tell: Si J’étais un Homme

The grammar point: Second conditional = Si + imperfect + conditional

Especially for English speakers, memorizing the conjugations involved in the several different conditional tenses can be a struggle. Luckily, French-Canadian singer Diane Tell is there to help us. Her 1981 hit “Si j’étais un homme” (“If I Were a Boy”) earned her international recognition, and to date, it is her most popular song. In it, she talks about what she would do if she woke up and found herself transformed into a man. Specifically, she says:

Ah ! si j’etais un homme / Oh! If I were a boy

Je serais romantique… / I would be romantic

Thus, we encounter an instance of the second conditional, which is used to describe impossible or hypothetical situations (like waking up as the opposite gender). In French, it’s formed by using the imperfect first-person tense of “être” — ètais — to indicate that the situation described is not real. Then, in the subsequent clause, the conditional form of “être” — serais — expresses the same meaning that “would” does in English. The song is filled to the brim with more examples of the second conditional — have a listen below.

Memorizing the Future Tense with Celine Dion: Je Chanterai

The grammar point: Future tense = main verb + future ending (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont)

In English, the future tense is relatively easy to express: you simply use the modal will and the base form of the verb. In French, however, the future tense comes with an entire set of conjugations, which differ by person and number. French-English bilingual Celine Dion, however, is not fazed by the future tense, and uses it with aplomb in her popular song “Je Chanterai” (“I Will Sing”). In it, she proudly proclaims:

Quand l’amour aura d’autres goûts que la passion, le désir / When love has tastes other than passion, desire

Je chanterai, je chanterai / I will sing, I will sing

Et je t’aimerai, je t’aimerai / and I will love you, I will love you

Indeed, the song has plenty of examples of the future tense in action. Celine Dion is singing about her own emotions, and therefore she uses the first-person conjugations. But make sure that you also know the rest of the conjugations, listed below:

First person singular: Je chanterai

Second person singular: Tu chanteras

Third person singular: Il/elle/on chantera

First person plural: Nous chanterons

Second person plural: Vous jouerez

Third person plural: Ils/Elles/on joueront

These two songs are great examples of great French-language tunes from which you can extract both musical and grammatical value. Given that French is a language whose grammar is as rich as its musical culture, you can find important grammar points in almost all French music — have a look at other French-language songs for learners, and listen to your heart’s content.
Add them to your iPod when you’re taking the metro on your way to work, when you’re riding your bicylcette down a streetlamp-lined Parisian road, or when you’re simply at home with a bottle of champagne, dreaming about France.
And don’t forget to sing along — that way, you’ll get in some valuable speaking practice, too!

Paul writes on behalf of Language Trainers, a language tutoring service offering French classes in Montreal, as well as other language classes all over the world. You can check out their free French level tests and other language-learning resources on their website. You can visit their Facebook page or contact paul@languagetrainers.com with any questions.

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You may think that going to the country where the language you’re learning is spoken is the ultimate solution. Well, that’s not entirely true. Sometimes things just don’t go like you expected. Ask Jimmy Monaghan, who is happy to share his thoughts with you. He’s going to talk about his experience of learning French in France.

Over to you Jimmy!

– – –

French; that crazy, cool, moody language that you hear spoken by people wearing black clothes in movies and TV really just sounds like a baffling murmur of random oohhhs and uuuhhhs, doesn’t it? I had to learn the thing in school. My enthusiasm for the language at the time was a little lacklustre. ‘French? When am I ever going to need that?’ I would think. Of course I was an ignorant teenager at the time.

Fast forward seven years later and I end up getting a job in France, just my luck. The job was an eight month contract working with an English Language Theatre Company, so no French skills were required, thank God. I told myself I would learn the language anyway. Surely if I was living there it would be easy right? Wrong.

I did manage to learn un petit peu, but I became nowhere near as fluent as a once much more optimistic me had hoped. Why was that? Surely eight months is enough time pick up a language that constantly surrounds you. Am I just a little slow? Perhaps, but I thought it would be a good idea to list out some of the main reason why I think I was unsuccessful at learning French while living in France.

Here we go:

1.  I was surrounded by English speaking people

Despite living in L’hexagone, my job with an English language theatre company meant that I was working with and communicating primarily with other English speakers or English learners. I’m no social scientist or linguist, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t the most effective way of learning French.

2. Once you know how to survive, you can become stuck.

Buying things in the supermarket in France didn’t differ drastically from how it was at home. I collected my items, went to the cash register, said hello and thank you to the cashier and then went home to eat all of the biscuits I had just bought for the week in one sitting. There was very little interaction. Even if I got lost or wanted to find something, I didn’t need to ask somebody because I had my blasted smartphone to tell me everything, damn technology.

3. People like practicing their English

The sad fact that haunts every native English speaker who is trying to learn another language is that people want to use you for practice. As soon as I would open my mouth to a French person and try to engage with them in their language, they noticed my accent and immediately started speaking in English. Of course, not a lot of people in France speak English, but younger generations are becoming more interested in learning it because of listening to One Direction or following Kim Kardashian on Twitter or doing whatever it is kids do these days.

4. If you don’t have a foundation, you can’t build.

It’s all very well and good being able to say simple things like “My name is Jimmy, I am from Ireland and my favourite colour is blue.” but if you can’t take a conversation any further than simply making statements about yourself then people are going to think that you are very self centred.

5. French is hard.

Being a Romantic language, French is pretty different to English. Despite sharing a lot of common words, the grammatical structure is practically alien, and as a big part of French is the accent, most of what was coming out of my gob was met with confused gestures. Bad for the confidence, good for getting out of sticky situations like unpaid bus tickets.

6. With all due respect, the French can be a little rude.

I like France and the French people. Sure they have a reputation for being arrogant, but I think that their arrogance quite suits them. In my humble opinion, however, they do have that reputation for a reason. More so than any other nation I’ve encountered, they have no problem laughing at you for any mistake that you make in their beloved language. To them even the smallest of grammatical errors, such as assigning the wrong gender to something, is enough to cause some rather rude responses. I know I am a little over sensitive, but it’s enough to make you think ‘I don’t want to speak your silly language anyway.’ and give up.

Note: Apologies for this generalisation about a large group of people. Let it be known that I have met French people who were more than happy to listen to me murder their language.

What I would do differently if I lived there again.

I realise that the points made above all sound like I’m trying to make excuses for my poor language learning skills, but to be honest, thanks to the Internet, I have learned a lot more French AFTER living in France than I did when I was actually living there. If I were to live there again however there are some things I would do differently.

1. Don’t hang out with any English speakers, at all costs. In fact, avoid them like the plague.

2. Find and interact with French people that have no level of English whatsoever. ‘Excuse me sir, do you speak English? No? Perfect!’

3. Pretend to be from a non-English speaking country, so that using English isn’t an option. This could backfire though. If for example you pretended to be from Lithuania, and pretended that you only spoke Lithuanian, chances are the other person will have to speak in French. But you never know, they might actually know Lithuanian for some reason, which would lead to a pretty awkward situation.

About the author: Jimmy Monaghan is an EFL teacher from Ireland who is currently based in Malta where he is working for the Elanguest English Language School (www.elanguest.com).

The post Why I didn’t learn French in France appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.

I still can’t believe I’m actually here. Seriously. I’m in love with this city. There’s no so much chaos as in Rome and the people I’ve met so far are really lovely and kind.

Do I need to mention the sea? It is très, très beau and that’s why I call it mon paradis bleu.

I always feel so calm and relaxed when I go to the beach. I feel like I’m breathing again.

Rome is a metropolitan city and the pace is always so fast that I had forgotten what it feels like to properly relax and enjoy every single moment of the day.

[caption id="attachment_716" align="aligncenter" width="600"] I’m not staying at the Hotel Gounod but it’s such a nice building. I love it![/caption]

Je parle Franglais!

Oui.

I’m mixing up languages! As you can see from this article, I’m speaking a mix of English and French here! Plus, I’m struggling to pronounce some French words.

Par exemple, I’ve asked for a chain (chaîne) instead of a chair (chaise) in a shop! Whoops!

I’m running out of time!

Unfortunately, I have no time to do anything blog related. I am so so so sorry for the messages I have yet to check. Forgive me, s’il vous plaît.

I’ve received so many encouraging words and I will reply to each and everyone of you as soon as possible. Bear with me.

I’ve also decided to postpone the deadline of the FlashSticks giveaway. You have time until September 30th to send me an email with your entry at runawaydaydreamer91(at)gmail.com. Read more!

Et vous?

How are you spending your summer? Are you learning a new language? Awakening an old one? Travelling abroad? Dis–moi!

 À bientôt!

Italiano

Ancora non riesco a credere di essere davvero qui. Sul serio. Sono innamorata di questa città. Non c’è così tanto caos come a Roma e le persone che ho incontrato finora sono davvero disponibili e gentili.

C’è bisogno che io menzioni il mare? Il mare è très, très beau ed è per questo che io lo chiamo mon paradis bleu.

Mi sento sempre così calma e rilassata quando vado in spiaggia. È come se riprendessi a respirare.

Roma è una metropoli e il ritmo della città è così veloce che avevo dimenticato cosa significasse rilassarsi davvero e godersi ogni singolo momento della giornata.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Non alloggio presso l’Hotel Gounod ma questo edificio è così bello. Lo amo![/caption]

Je parle Franglais!

Oui.

Sto mischiando le lingue! Come si nota da questo articolo, qui parlo un mix di inglese e francese. Inoltre, riscontro molte difficoltà nel pronunciare correttamente le parole francesi.

Par exemple, in un negozio ho richiesto una catena (chaîne) invece di una sedia (chaise). Ops!

Sono a corto di tempo!

Sfortunatamente, non riesco a trovare il tempo di occuparmi di qualsiasi cosa che riguardi il blog. Mi dispiace tantissimo non aver ancora risposto ai messaggi ricevuti. Perdonami, s’il vous plaît.

Ho ricevuto un sacco di messaggi incoraggianti e risponderò ad ognuno di voi il prima possibile. Chiedo solo un po’ di pazienza.

Ho anche deciso di rimandare la scadenza del giveaway per vincere i FlashSticks . Hai tempo fino al 30 settembre per mandarmi un’email con il tuo elaborato all’indirizzo runawaydaydreamer91(at)gmail.com. Leggi qui!

Et vous?

Come stai trascorrendo l’estate? Stai imparando una nuova lingua? Rispolverando una che già conosci? Sei in viaggio all’estero? Dis–moi!

À bientôt!

The post Je suis en France! appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.

Tomorrow I’ll be leaving for Nice.

Yes, it’s France the top-secret destination I’ll be visiting this month for the very first time.  Gustavo was the only one who guessed it, but I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave a comment: Natalie, Melissa, Frank, Lindsay and Isabella. I really appreciate it.

I do know why you guys were thinking about the United States or England. I show my love for English speaking countries at every given opportunity. However, I couldn’t plan a trip to the States in such a short period of time so I picked France, since I’m currently learning la langue de l’amour and I’ve always wanted to visit la Cote D’Azur. (Cute rhyme, uh?  )

I’m lucky enough to spend 21 days or so in the country.

So, the question is, how much French can I learn in 3 weeks?

Let’s get things straight: I’m not starting from scratch. I’ve already a basic knowledge of French.
I have a plan, though. I want to become fluent and I want to reach a B2 level by the end of this year. This means that I need to leave France with a good command of the language. Will I be able to accomplish this task?

We’ll see…

Stay tuned on the blog and on my social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Google+) if you don’t want to miss any update.

Plus, don’t forget to join the giveaway! I bet you like getting free stuff, don’t you?

The post How much French can you learn in 3 weeks? appeared first on Learn a new language while having fun and exploring the world | Runaway Daydreamer.