Tips & tricks on how to maximise your studying

Idioms – back with a vengeance

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  “Ta gueule!” – your mouth. Meaning Shut up!   This week here are a few colourful French idioms to keep in mind! 1. J’ai l’estomac dans les talons – ‘I have my stomach in my heels’ Meaning – I’m starving 2. Je n’ai plus de jambes – ‘I don’t have any more legs’ Meaning […] Read more

Christmas French Vocabulary

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It’s that time of the year when most of us are getting ready for Christmas! Planning days to visit family and friends; decorating the tree; watching and listening to Christmas movies and songs; counting down the days with an advent calendar; shopping for presents and making your own list for santa. Christmas is celebrated around […] Read more

Les Fables de Jean de La Fontaine

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“Slow and steady wins the race” from “The Hare and the Tortoise” The words of wisdom from fables that were written over 2 millennia ago have permeated into common everyday expressions. Ever heard of “quality, not quantity”? It derives from the fable “The Lioness and the Vixen”; “Honesty is the best policy” from “Mercury and […] Read more

Le Glossaire Gastronomique Part I

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Cooking has had an exciting revival in recent years thanks to Instagram, cafe culture, cooking programmes and celebrity chefs. The first cookbook to be printed was a collection of Roman recipes, called ‘Apicius’, which was compiled circa 900 AD. The first television celebrity chef was Julia Child, who aired on American television in 1963 with her […] Read more

Possessives

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  This week we don’t have the most fun of topics but necessary if you are learning French, as possessive adjectives and pronouns are used every day! So let’s jump in…   Possessive Adjectives are used before a noun and indicates its possession. They are: Mon/ma/mes – my (masculine singular/feminine singular/plural) Ton/ta/tes – your singular informal […] Read more

Adverbs – Doucement mais sûrement

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What is an adverb? An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a verb, adjective or another adverb. French adverbs never change their form, the only exception to this rule is tout (all). For example, tout seul meaning all alone, will change depending on the subject pronoun – il est tout seul; elle est […] Read more

Challenge of the month: Vocabulary Flash Cards

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  This month, make a word a day challenge with flash cards! Its a great way of grouping vocab into catergories eg.. Parts of the body… Each day add a new word or phrase to a card and try to memorise. This is a great way to build up your vocabulary! You will slowly collect […] Read more