I’m going to avoid using the term French 2.0, but you get the picture; this post is about learning French with the tools that have emerged in the last decade, and comparing them to their 80s/90s equivalents.

1. Social media – Facebook, Twitter et al.

Getting the buzz-word out of the way first, social media does in fact offer a great way to connect with fellow learners and teachers. Speak directly to French people on Twitter by just posting @theirusername, or read their messages to see what kind of things they talk about. If you don’t understand, you can always come back here and ask me, or tweet me @lukespear

80s/90s equivalent: The penpal

2. Online streaming television

Point your web-browser at TF1, TV5 or France 24 and you’ll have access to hundreds of live and recorded TV shows in French. Use the on-screen images to help you get the gist of the story and listen out for new words. Just like with music, see if you can guess their spelling and look them in an online dictionary – the dictionary will offer you the closest alternative.

80s/90s equivalent: Hotel TV on holiday in France

3. Online radio

Listen to French online (Radio Nova for funky music, FranceInter for talk or Rires et Chansons for terrible comedy) from the comfort of your own home. The latest wifi radios allow you to access French stations without a computer. Leave it on in the background to soak it in over time, or pay close attention and try to write out a few lines of what’s being said.

80s/90s equivalent: French holiday taxi stereo for 10 minutes

4. Youtube French songs and lyrics

With a combination of Youtube and French lyrics websites, you can soon enjoy a whole new world of songs, figuring out their meanings as you go. Try searching for “chanson”, “tubes français”, “musqiue française” and when you find them, Google the song name and the word “paroles” to find the lyrics!

80s/90s equivalent: French songbooks that feature Frère Jacques and Joyeux Anniversaire…

5. Flashcard apps and websites

Anki is one of a few options for intelligent flashcards, using spaced repetition to optimise your memorisation of words, sentences and grammar!  Using your computer, laptop or smartphone you can now structure your learning to incorporate the latest research into memory techniques. Here’s the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anki

80s/90s equivalent: Paper flashcards that were used just before a test… and never again!

6. Online Skype tutor

Using the marvels of modern communication technologies, it is now possible to have a telephone/video conversation for free around the world. Searching Skype for French tutors is a breeze and will allow you to get started with a real person immediately. My own Skype username is lukejspear – feel free to add me.

80s/90s equivalent: Home tutor at great expense and inconvenience

7. DVD subtitles in movies

Many European versions of movies on DVD come with French subtitles, or French audio tracks. Find out how to switch these on and immerse yourself in the French language. Watch French DVDs with French subtitles to see what is being said, watch English DVDs with French subtitles to see how some things translate – there are many options here. Buying French films is a breeze. Here’s one classic recommendation: Jules et Jim, or for more modern urban action La Haine.

80s/90s equivalent: VHS cassettes (often cleverly written in French as K7 (kah-sept)) with hardcoded subtitles in only one language

Strikes in France... again. The public work force vote with their feet.

Grèves : trains, métros et bus perturbés

Strikes: trains, metros and buses affected [troubled]

Des perturbations affectent jeudi matin la circulation des trains et avions, mais peu les métros et bus parisiens.

On Thursday morning, transport-trouble will affect train and plane traffic, but less so for Parisian metro and buses.

Les syndicats appellent jeudi 23 septembre à une nouvelle journée de mobilisation contre la réforme des retraites. Continue Reading

Listed here are 10 good reasons to learn French. Let me know what you think in the comments below, and if anyone can guess what all the French phrases mean, I’ll give you a prize!

1. Live happier, be richer
(le cerveau français vaut deux anglais)

OK, this applies to any language – but studies consistently show those with a second (or more) language live happier lives and make more money in work. A 2004 Michel Thomas report said that lifetime earnings increase by as much as £145,000 on average, while having greater success at dating as they were considered “more intelligent” and “sexier”.

2. You’re in good company
(vous n’êtes pas seule !)

The French government is teaching the language to over 750,000 people through its network of cultural institutions throughout the world. They are added to the 200 million people who speak French on 5 continents. Enough said. Continue Reading

La France serait la cible d’une menace terroriste accrue depuis jeudi dernier, révèle RTL ce lundi matin en se basant sur des sources proches du ministère de l’Intérieur. Une menace qui viserait les transports.

France is [would be] the target of a growing terrorist threat since last Thursday, revealed RTL this Monday morning, based on sources near to the Minister of the Interior. A threat that would target transport.

Que s’est-il passé jeudi dernier sur le sol français ? Brice Hortefeux a fait état de son inquiétude affirmant que la menace terroriste n’avait jamais été aussi forte dans le pays. Le ministre de l’Intérieur s’est même déplacé à l’aéroport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, en compagnie du ministre de l’Immigration, Eric Besson, puis à la Tour Eiffel, où une fausse alerte à la bombe a motivé une évacuation du monument. Continue Reading

« La réalité est que vivre aujourd’hui dans nos quartiers, c’est avoir plus de chances de vivre des situations d’abandon économique, de fragilisation psychologique, de discrimination à l’embauche et d’humiliations policières régulières »

(2002, Hamé, aka Mohamed Bourokba from La Rumeur)

(The reality is that living in our ghettos today increases chances of experiencing situations of economic abandon, psychological fragility, employment discrimination and regular police humiliation)

Following an eight-year-long trial, Hamé has finally had charges dropped on the grounds of freedom of expression. In 2002, he wrote a text decrying the French police’s brutality and expressed his concern over the allegedly heavy-handed  ”Sarkozyist” policies. Continue Reading

As much as I despise the use of the el-oh-el acronym, which seems to act as punctuation in some conversations I have with certain people, it is very much a part of everyday internet/mobile vocabulary. The French, being French, have unsurprisingly come up with their own alternative for this (highlight here: painfully ubiquitous throwaway pseudo-punctuation ) cheeky little word, and some other equivalents too… Continue Reading

Hi Luke,

Can I just check some French with you?

ne t’en fais pas – Does it mean “don’t worry”?

I noticed the similarity to: ça (ne) fait rien – it doesn’t matter, in the use of the verb faire

All the best,
James Continue Reading

Just a quick, rough translation of an “article” from a French law to give you a taste of what legal French looks and reads like.

Code du travail
Labour/labor/work code

L1221-8 :
Le candidat à un emploi est expressément informé, préalablement à leur mise en oeuvre, des méthodes et techniques d’aide au recrutement utilisées à son égard.
The candidate for a job is expressly informed, prior to its implementation, of recruitment assistance methods and techniques used with respect to the candidate. Continue Reading

Something I’ve noticed throughout my language learning journey has been that there is a general difference in how clearly I understand speakers of foreign languages, be it in French, Swedish or even English.

When straining to listen to pick up every word a foreign language speaker is saying, so as not to misunderstand, I can’t help but notice that it is much easier to clearly hear a female voice than it is a male one. In addition, I’ve also found that the older a male voice gets, the harder it becomes to understand. Continue Reading

This French blague is awful, but fortunately even the worst joke can help you to remember a word or two.

- Chef, chef ! Il y a eu un vol cette nuit au supermarché ! On a volé 2000 cartouches de cigarettes et 1500 laitues !
- Bien, et vous avez des soupçons ?
- Ben ouais, on recherche un lapin qui tousse ! Continue Reading