Learn the 20% of French vocabulary you need to know to understand 80% of everyday conversations and speak French with confidence!
The French are generally very polite and prefer privacy to emotional outbursts and displays, but they are human beings, after all. And so, there’s a wide range of insults in French. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use them or say them to anyone, but it’s important to recognize French insults, since you’re likely to come …
Imagine that your French friend Marie just picked you up at the airport in Paris and hosted you in her lovely home for 3 days. You are grateful and would like to thank her so you say merci when you leave and give her a box full of delicacies from your hometown. Then you wonder: …
If you spend some time in France or do a lot of reading or listening in French, you’ll notice that the French don’t always answer “oui” when you ask them a question. Instead, they might use the equivalent of “of course”, “yup” or “maybe”, or expressions like “Of course”, “I agree,” and “That’s it precisely.” There’s …
There are some cultural details we take for granted. If you’ve ever celebrated classmates’ birthdays in your French class, or seen a French movie or TV show where there was a birthday (un anniversaire), you might think you’ve got French birthday traditions down pat. Then there may come a day when you’re invited to a …
There are two ways to say “best” in French: meilleur (or meilleure/meilleurs/meilleures, depending on what it’s modifying) and mieux. Despite their common translation, these words are used differently and in some cases can also be translated as “better”. That may not sound like the best news, but fortunately, there’s an easy way to know when to …
Like any language, French has its share of funny words and expressions, from sayings that use vivid or silly imagery to get their point across, to words that just sound humorous. Here are thirty funny French words and expressions that make me chuckle or crack a smile no matter how often I hear them. Thirty …