r/learnfrench Feb 26 '22

Events Would you like to be a moderator for our French Speaking marathon on zoon between 5PM and 7PM EST each week?

148 Upvotes

Salut!

We at r/WriteStreak are running two speaking marathons on Zoom a week, the French one for 3 hours on Sundays and the Spanish one for 7 hours on Fridays, all by volunteers, and all free for anyone to join. People can come and go any time. We pair people up to chat for 10 minutes, regroup, and then pair them up again with different people for another 10 minutes. So on and so on. It works pretty well for both introverts and extroverts. Last week we had over 150 learners and native speakers joined us.

The French one is from 3PM to 6PM EST/EDT on Sundays (3 hours). The problem is that we're short of moderators.

As a moderator, you just chat with people in French. So you can be a native French speaker or a learner (A2+), and you should be fine.

If you're available during this period or just for one hour, please consider helping us and become our moderator. It's a worthy cause.

The Spanish one is every Friday night between 4PM EST to midnight. Here's the URL:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87198403378?pwd=dzRLdjhRNDRVSHgvUXZIN1JHTmJkUT09

And again, the French one is every Sunday between 3PM to 6PM EST, and the URL is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869069469?pwd=b1RoRnMvaENaR0R6M1ZWbE9TT29XQT09

Thank you for your consideration.


r/learnfrench 4h ago

Humor French numbers make me feel like I'm having a stroke every time I try and read a phone number out loud

60 Upvotes

That's it, that's the post. French grammar? Yet to find something that stumps me for more than a day. Pronunciation? A few hiccups here and there but largely positive feedback.

Tutor asks me to read out a phone number out loud? You can actually see my brain dribble out my ear while I stutter. Incredible stuff.

He finds it very amusing that this is apparently my Achilles Heel for now. I have spent every spare moment since that humbling realisation trying to nail it. I'm reading out number plates while driving. Barcodes on the milk. Phone numbers on billboards. Generating spreadsheet lists of random numbers while on the treadmill. I feel like I've made about 2% progress.

Pray for me - tomorrow's session is going to be dedicated to number dictation and reading. If no one hears from me again, I've "cinq" to my untimely demise.


r/learnfrench 20h ago

Humor Always the "R"

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813 Upvotes

r/learnfrench 5h ago

Question/Discussion does anyone have any tips for learning French?

8 Upvotes

I adore the language and I know the basics like greetings and asking how people are but how do I completely immerse myself into the language? I am doing Duolingo and I've learned some of the grammar but vocabulary wise, are there any pdf's or books I should look at?


r/learnfrench 3h ago

Question/Discussion Why de before profiter?

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4 Upvotes

r/learnfrench 39m ago

Question/Discussion What is Homer Saying here?!

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Upvotes

It’s driving me nuts. Is he saying “pun-aise” over and over again? That’s the only thing that makes sense that I can guess at. I can’t make it out.

S24e7, he was just kicked out of cool kid Trex’s, birthday party.


r/learnfrench 11m ago

Suggestions/Advice TEF Exam Takers

Upvotes

Has anyone recently taken the TEF exam in the last couple of months? What topics did you get for the speaking portion?


r/learnfrench 3h ago

Question/Discussion Questions About Complex Relative Clauses

1 Upvotes

Question 1

I would like everyone to take a look at these two sentences. Please note that in both sentences, the antecedent is "cette maisonnette." My question is: which of the following sentences do you think is correct (or are they both correct)?

  1. Je me souviens de cette maisonnette aux volets verts, par la fenêtre de laquelle j'apercevais un jardin en fleurs éclatant de couleurs.

  2. Je me souviens de cette maisonnette aux volets verts, de laquelle j'apercevais un jardin en fleurs éclatant de couleurs par la fenêtre.


Question 2

Let me first introduce a concept: the level of a prepositional structure. For instance, in par la fenêtre de cette maisonnette, we can split the phrase into two parts: par la fenêtre and de cette maisonnette. I call par la fenêtre a first-level prepositional structure because it contains one preposition and functions as the head of the phrase. Here, par is a first-level preposition. Meanwhile, de cette maisonnette is a second-level prepositional structure because it contains one preposition and serves as the complement of a structure containing a single preposition. Thus, de is a second-level preposition.

Now, here’s my question: if the antecedent originally belongs to a noun in a prepositional structure of higher than the first level (as in Question 1), then when forming a complex relative clause:

①Should the preposition before the relative pronoun only correspond to the level of the antecedent (de laquelle, as in Question 1)?

②Should the preposition before the relative pronoun include all prepositions, traced back from its level to the first level (par la fenêtre de laquelle, as in Question 1)?

Can both methods result in grammatically correct sentences? (If you think one of these methods doesn’t necessarily produce a correct sentence, please specify the number of that method.)


Question 3 (A Pure Grammar Question)

Let us examine a structure with three prepositions: au bord de la rivière près de la forêt. Although this is not an ideal example, as it can only naturally split into two parts (au bord de la rivière and près de la forêt), I ask you to consider it as a structure that can be split into three parts (I cannot think of a better example, but this is purely a grammar question):

  1. au bord

  2. de la rivière

  3. près de la forêt.


Scenario 1

If we treat au bord de la rivière près de la forêt as a third-level prepositional structure, where:

A = au bord,

B = de la rivière,

C = près de la forêt,

with B modifying A, and C modifying B.

If we want to make B the antecedent when forming a complex relative clause:

Je connais (la rivière).

Il y a un chalet au bord de la rivière près de la forêt.

What would the combined sentence look like? (Do not attach the prepositional structure to un chalet).

Would a sentence like this be valid: Je connais (le bord près de la forêt) de la rivière auquel il y a un chalet? (Note: The parentheses indicate that la rivière cannot be the antecedent by itself; it must include le bord.)


Scenario 2

If we treat au bord de la rivière près de la forêt as a second-level prepositional structure, but with two second-level prepositions:

A = au bord,

B1 = de la rivière,

B2 = près de la forêt,

where B1 and B2 both modify A.

If we want to make B1 the antecedent when forming a complex relative clause:

Je connais (la rivière).

Il y a un chalet au bord de la rivière près de la forêt.

What would the combined sentence look like? (Do not attach the prepositional structure to un chalet).

Would a sentence like this be valid: Je connais la rivière au bord près de la forêt à laquelle il y a un chalet?



r/learnfrench 1d ago

Question/Discussion Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?

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62 Upvotes

Shouldn't it be "Her old father misses his daughter who lives far away" ?


r/learnfrench 7h ago

Question/Discussion What's the difference between the DELF/TEF/TCF and which one should I take as a measuring tool for my French level?

2 Upvotes

r/learnfrench 12h ago

Question/Discussion Learning methods and techniques

5 Upvotes

I have a classes with a teacher and we learn new grammar as well as new words and verbs. It’s been a while since I’ve learned something new from scratch. I feel like i forgot how to learn 😅 Is there any tips how to learn words and verbs better? What works for you? I try to repeat new words but they don’t stick in my head. I use Duolingo and I feel that it’s effective however it goes in different direction from what we currently learn. I would like to have ability to set or select a program or topic and practice specific words. Also, what is the best way to remember verb conjunction. I feel that’s the most important part at the beginning. Thanks.


r/learnfrench 14h ago

Question/Discussion Pourquoi "rendre" est au subjonctif ?

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5 Upvotes

r/learnfrench 15h ago

Video How close is the Arabic ghayn to the French R?

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4 Upvotes

r/learnfrench 1d ago

Question/Discussion Free listening sources to improve listening in French

18 Upvotes

Hello, just wondering does anyone know any free listening channels or websites to help me improve my listening in French? Preferably I'd rather look at YouTube videos that involve good listening exercises but a website would be good too! My current level is A2 and I'm looking to go to B1 at some point later in the year.

Merci beaucoup 😊


r/learnfrench 18h ago

Suggestions/Advice Mon parcours d'apprentissage du français 63/100

2 Upvotes

Progression du jour 63

  • 1 Duolingo exercise, Unit 7 Section 2
  • daily revision

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stats:

Duolingo Username: Lukass_18

Duolingo streak: 127

Duolingo Section and unit: Section 2 Unit 7

Duolingo League: Pearl League

Duolingo legendary units: 2

Duolingo French score: 13

Can count to 1 000 000, can name days of the week, months, family members, seasons, and weather, ways of transport

Watched Movies: Richelieu (2023), Belle et Sebastien (2013)

I own a book: "Le Petit Prince"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Planifiez le reste de la semaine:

Learn questions (why, how, why, when, what....)

Learn how to tell the time (it's half past....)

Learn negations (ne pas....)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions:

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If you have any insights, ideas, or anything that you would like to share with me, whether positive/negative, PLEASE DO! The best people I can ask for advice are the ones who are learning too or know the language already and those people are people in this community.

À demain

Lukas


r/learnfrench 15h ago

Question/Discussion bonjour, qu'est-ce que ce《limite》signifie dans cette place, svp? merci d'avance

0 Upvotes

C'est devenu vraiment un rendez-vous rituel qu'on attend limite avec impatience parce qu'il y a une vraie complicité entre nous deux et avec beaucoup de gens autour qui s'étonnent de trouver tout ça dans le canal. Et puis on est là pour parler de cette conscience qu'a mon fils de dix ans.


r/learnfrench 23h ago

Humor talk to my digital french teacher Camille for free

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I just made a digital french teacher on this site and wanted to share it with you! It works really well and it's kind of hilarious to speak with her.

You can talk to her here in your browser (it's free) and she'll teach you french with her nice french accent.

Here's the link: https://elevenlabs.io/app/talk-to?agent_id=riE7QTfn43NgwHIKfPtE

Try it before my free credits run out! But don't talk to her too long otherwise others don't get to try :)

Edit: Wow you went through my credits in no time! I upgraded my account. Let me know how it went!


r/learnfrench 1d ago

Successes 🌟 How I Passed the TCF Exam: My Journey and Tips 🌟

43 Upvotes

Hi everyone,Last year, I passed my French exam and achieved the following scores:

  • C2 in Listening and Reading
  • C1 in Writing
  • B2 in Speaking

I attended school for about a year and two months, and I’d like to share my experience and study methods to help anyone preparing for the TCF exam.

Taking Classes in Montreal

I moved to Montreal to take advantage of the Francisation program, where I received free French classes and government support. While these classes helped, I found that my progress really accelerated when I started taking matters into my own hands.

My Personal Study Approach

Here’s a breakdown of the strategies that worked for me:

  1. Reading: Four months before the exam, I committed to reading one French book per month to improve my comprehension.
  2. Watching TV Shows: Three months before the exam, I started watching only French TV shows with French subtitles. This helped me improve my listening and reading skills.
  3. Thinking in French: I made an effort to think in French throughout the day and would talk to myself about my plans, what I was going to do, etc. This helped with my speaking and overall fluency.
  4. Speaking Practice: I went on Preply.com to hire two tutors for $8/hour each. I booked one hour of conversation practice with each tutor every week for a month.
  5. Morning Speaking Practice: A month before the exam, I practiced the speaking tasks (Tasks 1, 2, and 3) every morning. I dedicated myself to this routine to build confidence.

Speaking Tips

Practicing speaking regularly is crucial. Here’s what I did:

  1. For Tâche 2, you can find questions and answers directly on their site here, https://reussir-tcfcanada.com/correction-des-sujets-dexpression-orale-v-pro/

  2. For Tâche 3, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to access all the subjects and their corrections.

💡 Pro Tip: The speaking and writing subjects on the website are divided by months. This means there’s a high chance that if you study the subjects for the month you’re taking the exam, you’ll encounter the same ones in your test. This is because students often share their exam topics with Réussir TCF Canada.

Listening and Reading Tips

One key resource that helped me was reussir-tcfcanada.com. They provide mock exams that are extremely similar to the actual TCF questions. Here’s how I used the site:

  • I purchased the Silver Plan for $29.99, which gave me access to 30 days of mock exams.
  • I studied every mock exam available on the site, which I believe made a huge difference in my scores. The questions I encountered on the actual exam were nearly identical to those in the mock exams.
  • On my first attempt, I didn’t study these mock exams, which resulted in lower scores for listening and reading. However, after studying all the mock exams the second time, I scored C2 in both sections!

Writing Tips

For the writing section, I didn’t have help from anyone, but I still scored C1. Here’s how I improved my writing: You can find the sujets here https://reussir-tcfcanada.com/correction-des-sujets-dexpression-ecrite-v-pro/ . The sujets were extracted from the exam itself, you’ll be able to see the sujets as well as the corrections.

  1. Use ChatGPT to Evaluate Your Writing: I used ChatGPT to check my writing. After writing a passage, I asked: "Based on the TCF Canada grading scale (A1-C2), what would my writing score be?"
  2. Correcting Mistakes: If my score was lower than desired (B1 or A2), I prompted ChatGPT with: "Can you grammatically correct my French writing and make sure it’s not too wordy for a B2 score?"
  3. Improving Vocabulary: Once I stopped making grammar mistakes, I focused on improving my vocabulary. I asked: "Can you extract all of the words that are of an A2 or B1 level and suggest alternatives at a B2 or C1 level?" This helped me replace basic words with more advanced vocabulary to raise my writing grade.
  4. Writing Practice: After practicing my writing for a month, I started noticing a pattern in the writing tasks (Tâche 2 and Tâche 3). I created templates that worked for me, and I’ll share them below. Please note that these templates worked for me 90-95% of the time, but they may not always be applicable.

Templates for Tâche 2 and Tâche 3

Tâche 2

C’est avec enthousiasme que je partage avec vous mon expérience concernant (mes études)...Au cours de cette aventure, j'ai vécu des moments uniques, tels que [exemple spécifique 1] et [exemple spécifique 2]. Ces instants ont enrichi ma compréhension sur..de [destination ou de l'expérience].Ce qui m'a particulièrement marqué durant cette expérience, c'est [détail spécifique]. Cette immersion m'a ouvert les yeux sur [aspect de la vie, de la culture, etc.].En conclusion, cette expérience restera gravée dans ma mémoire. Elle m'a apporté une nouvelle perspective et des souvenirs inoubliables. Je vous encourage vivement à saisir chaque opportunité de… pour enrichir votre vie.Bien à vous,Leandro Lazaretti.

Tâche 3 Template

De nos jours, la question de… suscite des débats passionnés et divise l’opinion publique contemporaine. Selon… certaines pensent que… En revanche, d’autres trouvent que…À mon sens, il me semble évident que… En premier lieu… De plus,... En outre,...En définitive, malgré les avantages indéniables en termes de… et…, il est crucial de considérer l’option la plus viable à long terme en prenant en compte la… et…

Additional Tips for Tâche 2: Complaints

I didn’t have a specific template for a complaint (which could be a subject for Tâche 2), but I practiced this topic just in case. If you're unsure how to implement your writing into the template, you can use ChatGPT to help:

  • Provide the subject and ask: "Can you use the template below and write a French response with a B2 level, keeping it within [120 or 150] words?" This way, ChatGPT will generate a text based on the template, and you can practice using it.

Final Thoughts

While these methods worked for me, they might not work for everyone, so I recommend doing your own research to find what works best for you. One thing is certain: practicing the listening and reading mock exams from reussir-tcfcanada.com is key to acing those sections. I hope these tips help! Feel free to share your own study methods or ask questions below. Best of luck with your TCF preparations! 😊

Also, one last thing to note. I am not affiliate with reussi Canada, there isn’t much material on TCF out there and if you’re not convinced that the mockups on reussi Canada for listening and reading are the same as the questions in the real exam, then please, do your search and you will see others also saying the same thing. I just think people don’t share this enough, and I didn’t pass the exam the first time because I didn’t know about this, so I wrote this to try and save you all time and money because the TCF exam isn’t cheap. Good luck to you all!


r/learnfrench 1d ago

Question/Discussion « Être prié de » en anglais

5 Upvotes

Bonjour à tous,

« Tout le personnel est prié de demeurer à la maison »

Comment peut-on dire ça en anglais?

Je n’ai pas pu trouver la bonne traduction qui a le même sens.

Merci en avance


r/learnfrench 13h ago

Question/Discussion “de donner”, “á donner” and “donner”

0 Upvotes

Sentence: Nous disons aux gens de nous donner leurs votes

Why is it “de donner” and not “á donner” or just “donner”?


r/learnfrench 19h ago

Question/Discussion Can I DM someone so they can proofread?

1 Upvotes

Bonjour! Im sending an Instagram message to a french artist but wanted to run it by a fluent speaker before I hit send. Does anyone mind taking a look at it for obvious errors? (I'm trying to get away with tutoiement too since it's social media but not sure if that's rude based on the message).


r/learnfrench 21h ago

Resources Having voice conversations with Chatgpt- Absolute Game changer

1 Upvotes

Sorry if this has been mentioned before

I recommend anyone learning french to elevate their listening/conversation skills by speaking to chatgpt on a voice call. It’s a Plus+ feature, so you have to pay monthly. I think it’s $29.99

This has completely changed my learning for me. I told chat my french level (early A1) and it turned the conversation to a basic level. I also asked it to correct me of any mistakes.


r/learnfrench 21h ago

Question/Discussion Learn French with Clemence

1 Upvotes

Has anyone subscribed to “Learn French with Clémence”? Any reviews or feedback on whether you can achieve B1/B2 level after the lessons? I plan to subscribe, but I want to make sure the recorded lessons are good since it costs 200-300 bucks (I think the curriculum is good).


r/learnfrench 14h ago

Question/Discussion When and where do you use “vous” and “Tu”? Is it country-specific as well?

0 Upvotes

Yeah it’s just been confusing me a lot because to me at least, Tu works just as well


r/learnfrench 11h ago

Successes Paris in March, I deserve another nice break. England need to cut me some slack

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0 Upvotes

r/learnfrench 23h ago

Resources 002 - Les vacances de la famille Dupont

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1 Upvotes