Bonjour à tous ! Welcome to the French Blabla podcast where you'll find tips to increase your fluency while boosting your way of learning. If you're fed up with boring grammar books or tired of speaking an artificial French, far from how natives speak, then this podcast is for you. This podcast isn't French grammar or French vocabulary only, we will cover a wide range of topics that will help you in your learning journey. What are you waiting for? Join me!
A day in French – 38 – Driving
Today’s adventure is the gripping story of how the postman knocked on my door. Spoiler alert! He gave me a letter. I know, it’s riveting, right? If you want to know what kind of letter I got, you will have to listen a little bit more. In the last episode of "A day in French", we’ve talked about the use of the present tense and strangely the future tense to describe historical events. Today I’d like to review the tense that every French person learns at school but also forgets quite quickly. It’s a tense we absolutely never use. The only time you’ll encounter it is in litterature. All this to say that today’s grammar focus is for B levels and we will review le passé simple. To explain in one sentence, le passé simple is used like le passé composé but in a novel. As for the vocabulary, you will learn every word and phrase you need to complain next time you get fined in France. If it sounds interesting, head over to frenchblabla.org to download the study guide where you’ll find the transcription, the vocabulary and the grammar focus. Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 38 – Driving appeared first on French Blabla.
A day in French – 37 – Hotel
Bonjour à tous ! J’espère que tout va bien pour vous et que vous êtes prêts pour un nouvel épisode. Thanks for tuning in again week after week. I’m thrilled you’re here! Ok, I have to ask you guys… do you have a partner who keeps repeating the same jokes over and over again? I sure have one! When we’re in town, every time we pass by a hotel… not the kind of hotel you’re thinking about, you’ll have to listen to the story to know what kind I’m talking about because hotel is used for many things here! So, every time we pass by, he makes this joke and I wanted to talk about that today. For the vocabulary, be prepared to scratch your head with the French numbers. Little challenge for you! Before you download the study guide, go to the comment section of this episode and write to me the 4 years I mentionned. As for the grammar focus, I wanted to show you a special use of the present and the future tenses. It’s common nowadays to use the present tense when we talk about historical events. Something even stranger is the use of the future tense. You’ll find all these things in the study guide. It contains the transcription, the vocabulary and the grammar focus so head over to frenchblabla.org to download. I’ll be waiting for you in the comment section for my number challenge. Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 37 – Hotel appeared first on French Blabla.
Ep55 – Don’t always say “au revoir”, say this instead!
Coucou à tous, je suis heureuse de vous retrouver pour un nouvel épisode. Today’s topic is a request from one of my students, Leah. We’ve been working together for some time now in my Let’s Talk conversation class. I was surprised when she asked me to cover this. I’m always very glad to receive suggestions because even though I try my best to cover everything you need to speak like a native, I cannot possibly come up with every idea in the world. Leah’s French is good and as such, her request really took me by surprise. She asked me to cover the different ways to say goodbye. You know, this is typical of certain topics we, as French teachers, take for granted, we don’t think twice about them. Something like goodbye, as simple as it seems, deserves an episode because there are numerous ways to express this idea. And you might be surprised, so stay tuned because I have one goodbye you probably don’t know and a bonus hello I’m sure you don’t use at all even though you should. In this Episode The truth behind the word "adieu" This special way to use "à bientôt" A bonus hello that you probably don't know The post Ep55 – Don’t always say “au revoir”, say this instead! appeared first on French Blabla.
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A day in French – 36 – Autumn
Bonjour à tous, bienvenue pour un nouvel épisode. J'espère que tout va bien chez vous. With the season starting, I've decided to share with you all the charm there is to find in the autumn season. Especially, here, in the countryside, the landscape is beautiful. The leaves are turning golden and orange and there's something in the air that just feels like autumn. I know I will start soon eating a lot of pumpkins. Is it the same for you ? How is your autumn where you live ? Stay tuned because it will be a real autumn galore in this episode. As for the grammar focus, it will be for both A levels and B levels. We will review the relative pronouns. You will find the easier ones and the more complicated ones too. Don't forget to download the study guide on frenchblabla.org so that you can practice the vocabulary, the grammar as well as your writing. Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 36 – Autumn appeared first on French Blabla.
A day in French – 35 – Kiss
Bonjour à tous, j’espère que vous allez bien ! Thank you for joining me today for a new episode. One of my colleagues shared a very interesting interview about a peculiar cultural aspect we have. You all know about it. I’m talking about la bise of course! How many foreigners have been completely puzzled by this tradition? I mean, how many kisses should one do? should you start from the right cheek or the left cheek? Should I kiss this man too? Today, we’re not going to talk about the bulletproof way to faire la bise like a native, because frankly, there is none. Speaking about this negative aspect, this will be our grammar focus today. As a consequence if you’re A+ or B1, this episode is for you. I will link on the show notes the video of the historian talking about the roots of la bise, if you’d like to see it. This is what inspired today’s topic. As usual, you can download the transcription, the grammar focus and the vocabulary on frenchblabla.org. Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 35 – Kiss appeared first on French Blabla.
Ep54 – Parce que, parce que… time to shake up the way you speak!
Hey guys, bonjour à tous et bienvenue pour un nouvel épisode de podcast. How is your French going? Now that summer is over and we get back in the daily groove of things with work and school, have you found a place in your busy schedule for your French studies? I hope so and if you haven’t, let’s take advantage of the few minutes we have together to improve your French. Thank you for sharing your precious time with me. I was thinking about my students from my Let’s Talk conversation class. Check it out if you want to practice your French. I noticed that when they speak, a lot of them tend to rely on the same words, the same structures, over and over again. There’s nothing wrong about it, especially when we start learning, but there are other words and other structures that we use a lot in spoken French. However, it’s difficult to know which ones to choose, because when you open a grammar book and you look for certain types of words, you’re overwhelmed with a list of a dozen words… which one to choose? and especially which ones are actually common in daily French? There’s no way to know. Today let me give you two words that you’re not even going to find in books or in class. The post Ep54 – Parce que, parce que… time to shake up the way you speak! appeared first on French Blabla.
A day in French – 34 – Puppet
Bonjour à tous, thank you for taking a few minutes out of your very busy life to listen to my story today. Before we start I’d like to thank Checkmate king two for his very kind review on apple podcast. He was a bit puzzled with the format of the podcast and I can understand. So if you’re new here, welcome to the French Blabla community and welcome to you too Checkmate King two. In today’s episode, we will see all the words we need to talk about the puppet theatre. As for the grammar focus, we will, review a few of the time words. If you’re interested in the transcription, all the vocab and the grammar focus, head over to frenchblabla.org to download the study guide. In this episode Discover a French cultural nugget Learn the vocabulary of the puppet theatre Review time words A challenge for you to shine Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 34 – Puppet appeared first on French Blabla.
Un petit tour de France – 05
Coucou à tous ! Bienvenue pour le dernier épisode d’un petit tour de France. Avec la fin du mois d’août arrive aussi la fin de notre capsule estivale. Today is our last episode and the 5th city we’re going to visit. If you’ve just jumped on the bandwagon, better later than never or in French, mieux vaut tard que jamais, you’re very welcome to participate. Let me introduce you to how this series works. In the 4 previous episodes, we traveled to 4 different French cities and no, sorry to disappoint but Paris isn’t one of them. The game is to guess which town it was using all the clues from the episodes. Now that they’ve all been released, send me an email with your 5 guesses and see if you were correct. As always, you can, of course, download the transcription of today’s episode on frenchblabla.org. The post Un petit tour de France – 05 appeared first on French Blabla.
Ep53 – Don’t say “de rien”, use these words instead!
Bonjour à tous, thanks for tuning in today, I hope you’re ready for a new episode. Last year, yes, a long time ago, I started a small series called “Don’t say this, say that instead”. The goal here was to expand your vocabulary with natural words as well as explaining to you the subtleties of all the possibilities you had. It was pretty popular, at least the statistics and the emails you sent me say so. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go check episode 36 to learn a weird French sound and episode 33 to stop saying yes all the time. In the light of all this, I’ve decided to do a third instalment… there might be a fourth one too, but let’s not put the cart before the horse. As the title suggests, we’re going to learn what to say when somebody says “merci” to you. Because yes, there are numerous ways you can answer. Let’s start, shall we? The post Ep53 – Don’t say “de rien”, use these words instead! appeared first on French Blabla.
Un petit tour de France – 04
Coucou à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last week, you discovered the third city and today, we’ll visit the fourth one. If you’re new here, first welcome and let me introduce you to how this series works. This summer, we’re not gonna do another short story, we’re going to play a game together where we will travel to several French cities. But I’m not going to tell you which town it is. You will need to guess using all the clues from the episode. We will visit 5 places. After all the episodes have been released, send me a message with your 5 guesses and see if you were correct. This is our third city now, could you guess the two first ones? I’m really curious. As always, you can, of course, download the transcription of today’s episode on frenchblabla.org. The post Un petit tour de France – 04 appeared first on French Blabla.
Un petit tour de France – 03
Coucou à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last week, you discovered the second city and today, we’ll visit the third one. If you’re new here, first welcome and let me introduce you to how this series works. This summer, we’re not gonna do another short story, we’re going to play a game together where we will travel to several French cities. But I’m not going to tell you which town it is. You will need to guess using all the clues from the episode. We will visit 5 places. After all the episodes have been released, send me a message with your 5 guesses and see if you were correct. This is our third city now, could you guess the two first ones? I’m really curious. As always, you can, of course, download the transcription of today’s episode on frenchblabla.org. The post Un petit tour de France – 03 appeared first on French Blabla.
A day in French – 33 – Soapbox
Bonjour à tous et bienvenue pour un nouvel épisode. In the last episode, I said that I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the Olympic Games. It still stands true but without them I wouldn’t have discovered this gem. I never knew something like that existed and I had to tell you about it. After this episode, please tell me in the comment section if you knew about this sport. Today there won’t be any grammar focus as the episode is beaming with vocabulary. If you’d like to learn more about your car and what the different parts are called, then stay tuned. We won’t obviously go into deep mecanic vocabulary but if I tell you the word steering wheel and you look at me completely confused, then yes, this is the kind of useful words we will study together. How about the brake? What is it called in French? No clue? Ok! Stay with me. As usual, everything can be found in the study guide, the transcription, the vocabulary and the writing challenge. Go download it on frenchblabla.org Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 33 – Soapbox appeared first on French Blabla.
Un petit Tour de France – 02
Coucou à tous et bienvenue dans notre série spéciale de l’été “un petit tour de France”. Last week, you discovered the first city and today, we’ll visit the second one. If you’re new here, first welcome and let me introduce you to how this series works. This summer, we’re not gonna do another short story, we’re going to play a game together where we will travel to several French cities. But I’m not going to tell you which town it is. You will need to guess using all the clues from the episode. We will visit 5 places. After all the episodes have been released, send me a message with your 5 guesses and see if you were correct. You can, of course, download the transcription of today’s episode on frenchblabla.org. The post Un petit Tour de France – 02 appeared first on French Blabla.
A day in French – 32 – Summer sports
Today, we’re going to talk about a topic that I’m not really enthusiastic about. Then, you’re gonna wonder why do I bother doing a whole episode about it? Simply because it’s a big thing going on and it’s a classic part of the French life in summer. It will be also be a good excuse for new and interesting vocabulary. Speak of the devil or rather of the wolf, as we say in French, we will see the words and phrases related to the Olympic games as well as some connected to le Tour de France. As for the grammar focus, it will be for the B levels today. We will, indeed, review the words to contrast. In French, we call them les marqueurs de concession. Check them out in your grammar book if you’re not sure about them. If you’re interested in the transcription, all the vocab and the grammar focus, head over to frenchblabla.org to download the study guide. Music by Podington Bear The post A day in French – 32 – Summer sports appeared first on French Blabla.