Richard Good Launching into À la recherche du temps perdu is a unique experience. It’s not so much the length (though at 1.5 million words and 2400 pages it is the longest novel ever published), but the baggage that comes with it. I still remember how small I felt when a fellow student at University […]
Les perles d’un collier
The rhythm of spoken French resembles a string of pearls or the beads of a rosary, wrote the phonetician Pierre Delattre: L’égalité syllabique a fait comparer le rythme du français aux perles d’un collier, au grain d’un chapelet, aux battements du coeur. Bien qu’il soit un peu saccadé, ce rythme n’est ni dur (les syllabes […]
Passer le cap de la quarantaine
It’s sometimes the words that are closest to our own language that are the hardest to adopt.
Joseph Conrad, Henry Kissinger, Spanish cows
Joseph Conrad is known as one of the finest ever writers of the English language. He was the author of classic novels such as Under Western Eyes and Heart of Darkness (which was adapted by Francis Ford Coppola into the 1979 movie Apocalypse Now.
A free and easy way to type French accents without changing your keyboard
You can set up any computer to type with French accents, no matter what keyboard you have. It takes just a couple of minutes using the instructions below. This method works with Chrome browser, you’ll find other solutions below. 1. Download and install Google Chrome 2. Create a Chrome account and sign in with it. […]
Ne confondez pas la Chambre des représentants avec la chambre d’amis
Articles don’t always behave the same way in English and French. Because we don’t have the same distinction, getting it right is not something that comes spontaneously. Here’s the explanation.
Des tire-bouchons noirs, des abat-jour orange
When we start out learning French, we’re usually taught making nouns and adjectives plural involves adding an -s, or an -x to words that end in -eau or -eu. This is broadly speaking true. But only broadly speaking. Take a look at the following examples: les aides-comptables efficaces les abat-jour orange les tire-bouchons noirs les […]
Build your own French thesaurus with these apps
Keeping a decent vocabulary list is key to making progress in a foreign language. It’s the marker in the sand that ensures knowledge sticks. Only you can do it: a good list needs to be composed of words or phrases that you find helpful, interesting or difficult – and only you can know which ones […]
Expanding your range in French
Here’s a technique for learning how to express yourself as a native might do.
Soyez les bienvenus à Singapour-sur-Tamise
By Richard Good For a new era, a new vocabulary. As Britain prepares for its Brexit election, a new chapter in the often awkward relationship between Britain and France begins. If you’re English and travel to France, you’ll find Brexit is a frequent topic of conversation, so brushing up your vocab is good preparation. Le […]