French Etc

Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC. (www.frenchetc.org)

This unit is called “Pique-nique français”, which translates as “French Picnic”. Fabienne and Henri are getting ready to go for a picnic with a group of friends. They are deciding who is going to bring what sort of food. The culture capsules describe French picnics and also has two easy recipes. The grammar points go through the different meanings of the word “d’abord” and all its uses.

FRENCH ETC. uses lots of colloquial expressions in French that you can use later. The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member.

FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood over there.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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une deudeuche rouge

Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)

Today’s unit is called Pépins de Caisse. Un pépin is a seed, and une caisse is a crate, often a wooden crate. So, Pépins de Caisse could easily be translated as crate seeds. Yet, you know the French love to reroute the language, and in vernacular French un pépin is a glitch, a trouble, a pickle, and une caisse is a car, wheels: ma caisse, my wheels.
FRENCH ETC. uses lots of colloquial expressions in French that you can use later.
The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member.
FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood by them.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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un vide-grenier en Ardèche

Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)
This unit  is called “Antiquités”, which translates as  “Antiques”. But wait! Don’t tune out if you are not into antiques. The material presented is broad enough to address other points of interest.
One of Paris’ attractions is the marché aux puces. Today, we will visit the flea market, buy two items and of course, we will bargain for them. The culture capsule presents collecting antiques “the French way” and the grammar point visits 6 verbs in the present tense.
The characters use lots of colloquial expressions in French that you can use later.

The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member.
FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood by the French.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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macarons de la pâtisserie

Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)

Today Fabienne really really wants to eat a cream pastry, and not a Danish. She and Henri stop at a tea room. They both use lots of colloquial expressions in French that you can use later.

The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member.
In the worksheet, learn about these funny pastries called Nun’s farts, religieuses and Paris-Brest. You probably learned that AVOIR meant TO HAVE. Well, see when AVOIR means TO BE. Also brush up on negative sentences – how to say not anymore, neither…nor.

FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood over there.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

Related: un parisien

religieuse au chocolat

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Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)

Today, we are going to travel through the Loire Valley with this unit called “Visite au château”, which translates as  “Visit to the Castle”.  We will learn about a beautiful castle, the one that inspired famous cartoonist of Tintin character. Learn all about it in the culture capsule which lists different castles you can visit, along with your wine tour in the valley. The grammar point explains the Agreement of past participles with EN and ON.
The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member.
FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood by them over there.

Related: agreement with ON and EN

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)
In this unit called “En randonnée”, Fabienne is going hiking. She also uses all these expressions such as “I owe you one”, “I hear you”, “I can’t wait”, “you bug me.” The Culture capsules go over famous French hiking trails, including the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela, the most wonderful way to get acquainted with the beauty of French nature. The grammar point explains the three ways to ask a question, re-prefixes in verbs, and points out some weird plurals in French.
Everything is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member.

FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood by them over there.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)

Summer time here. I just took out my petanque boules. Fabienne too is playing pétanque. Pétanque is a boule game similar to Bocce ball that French families play in their garden in the summer time. But don’t tune out if you’re not into pétanque because she uses a lot of idiomatic expressions in French that you can use later.
The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member. Also in the worksheet, a whole explanation about playing pétanque, The grammar goes over collective numbers “about ten” and ordinal numbers such as “the third” – and when not to use ordinal numbers – and when to put an accent over little words like du, la and ou. Oooo

FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand the French and be understood by over there.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)

Fabienne is going to a bistro today. She’s vegetarian and allergic to certain foods, but don’t worry, she’ll manage. She uses colloquial expressions in French that you can also use in other contexts.
The translation and material are in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member. The culture capsules give you French restaurants tips and reviews the different types of restaurants you can expect to find in France. There’s also a link to a quick guide to French wines. The grammar topics today are the Future tense, when to say moi and toi instead of je and tu; and last, if you thought yes is oui, rethink and learn when to say si instead of oui.

FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you today’s French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand and be understood by the French.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)
Today, Fabienne is going to an apéro géant, a humongous cocktail party. She speaks Verlan – which I call wordsback slang. Search Verlan slang in the window on frenchetc.org. A lot of French young people speak Verlan French these days. And because Verlan is a language to itself, Fabienne also tells us about the apéro in normal everyday French. How convenient is that? So today, you’ll hear two versions of the apéro géant in French.
She uses lots of current expressions that you can also use in French. The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member. In this worksheet, you’ll find out how to register for an apéro géant and how to conjugate verbs ending in IR and OIR in the present tense. And there are lots of rule.
FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you the latest contemporary French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away to understand and be understood by the French.
Visit www.frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

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Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC.  (www.frenchetc.org)
Today, Fabienne is at Roland Garros, the French Open. Her tennis chouchou is Tsonga and she’s reading an article about his becoming famous at the Australian Open in 2008 in Ouest-France, her regional paper.
She uses lots of colloquial expressions about tennis and about general vocabulary that you can also use in France. The translation and everything else is in the worksheet you can get on the Web site, as usual when you are a member. Also in the worksheet: the origin of the tennis game, an explanation on countries and their gender, nationalities and geographic prepositions (how to say je vais en France, aux USA). And last, a link to a very funny tennis lesson by Monsieur Hulot, one French classic movie not to miss.
FRENCH ETC.’s podcasts teach you the latest contemporary French, the way it’s spoken on the streets of Paris, with authentic useful expressions you can use right away so that you can understand and be understood by the French.

Visit us at frenchetc.org
anne@frenchetc.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download