An vs année, jour vs journée, etc. How to Know Which One to Use?
Who has not been confused over the difference between jour vs journée, soir vs soirée and an vs année? The reasons for using one or the other can be complicated, therefore, I would like to give an easy and straight forward explanation. The idea is to avoid thinking too much about it when speaking to a French person. In a nutshell, you should use the shorter version: jour, soir and an...Read More
French essential key expressions, idioms and verbs
To add to our previous lists of expressions published in our Free eMagazine French Accent Magazine where we provided some “do’s” and “don’ts” of typical mistakes that frequently result from making a direct and literal translation from English to French, we have come up with an additional list. These common errors are what differentiate a French native speaker from a...Read More
La Rochelle: A Charming French Port that Seduces the English
When you walk around La Rochelle on the weekend and during the holidays, you are surprised to hear English spoken everywhere, along the port, in the terraces of the restaurants, in the centre of the old town, at the market. Among the 3 million visitors each year, which makes this city the third most visited after Paris, Anglo-Saxons are the most numerous. Why do they love it so much?...Read More
How to Use the French Accent Marks
How to use French accent marks, on which letters, how they affect pronunciation… This is certainly one the mysteries of the French Language that usually puzzles many students who speak a language in which accents do not exist! And yet, they are very important as they definitely change the pronunciation of the words, and can even change their meaning. We also give a few...Read More
Gender in French – Masculin ou féminin ?
One of the major challenges that drives many of our students crazy is that every noun has a gender in French! It has a to either masculine (masculin) or feminine (féminin). Globally, there is no specific reason for it; the determination of its gender depends very much on its origin, with the suggestion that the word refers to something which is supposed to be more masculine or...Read MoreMeet Jim, A Californian Who Loves France!
This story is derived from the chapters of our e-book titled “Learn French? Of Course You Can”. This article is a 10 minute read. For the complete story visit our online store to download our ebook. We could go on for hours. Jim never tires of speaking about this country that he simply adores, and he loves the French, too, whom he finds...Read More