French Penpals Online - Any good?

Salut :)

Sorry for not posting for a while, I've been so caught up with work, college and planning my holiday!


 This post is more of a request more than anything... I have had a few penpals over the years but I haven't really found it to be much use language wise...I don't know, maybe this is just with my experience.

So, has anyone had a good penpal experience? What sites would you recommend?

À tous!

French phrases you NEED to know when visiting France

Salut :)

When I went to France this year, my french was really not that great, I had no confidence in saying much to anyone due to me not practicing before I went! I would suggest that you practice your spoken french before you go, and learn the basics! So, I have composed a list below of some of the basic phrases you will need if you visit France.

To get you going you can say the two greeting below.

Bonjour - Good morning and hello - Literally Good day

Bonsoir - Good evening

They may then start to have a conversation with you (happened to me) and instead of staring blank at them (also like I did) you can say the below

Je ne comprends pas - I don’t understand.

You could also ask them if they speak English but I would go for this option last

Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? - Do you speak English?

or

Parlez-vous anglais? Do you speak English?

A lot of french people do in fact speak excellent English, but I always think it's better to at least try and speak french. You wouldn't expect french people to come here and expect you to speak french at them, so it's courtesy to do the same in my opinion! :)

 So, after saying your first greeting, you can combine it with asking them how they are.

Comment ça va? or just  ça va? - How are you?

Followed by

ça va bien, merci, or simply bien merci. - I'm fine, thanks

Other phrases you may need to get by:

Je suis désolé - I am sorry

I remember having to use this at the supermarket at the self-checkout, when I had placed the bag in the wrong place which really angered the staff member working in that area. I had no idea what she said but after saying "je suis désolé" she did seem to calm down a little! So this is useful to say even if you don't understand fully, just to be polite.

To finish off, when you are leaving you can use the below:

Au revoir - Good bye

Bonne nuit - Good night

Bonne journee - Have a good day

The best way to learn french, is to keep practicing. I usually go over in my head what I'm going to say first. They definitely appreciate it more, plus why wouldn't you want to have a go??

I hope this helps!

Have you had any experiences learning a foreign language or visiting a country? What helped you the most?

Our french snacks from a supermarket (supermarché) for our long drive home. These phrases surely came in use then!

À tous!

How to learn french for free - Coffee break french podcast!

Salut! :)

I have just started the massive task of learning french again, I used to speak relatively good french a few years ago (well my written and reading level were better due to lack of confidence). So I am trying to get back to that level and beyond as I hate not being able to speak french or understand it as I used to.

So, I am trying a few things out, and if need be will get french tuition. Whilst looking around on the net, I've seen A LOT of different products all claiming to be able to teach me french. One that I have found to be quite good is a podcast series called coffee break french.

Coffee break french podcasts are free to download from itunes, which is descibe by themselves as the below.

"Coffee Break French will help you learn French in a relaxing and encouraging way. Mark is an experienced teacher of French and you can join his cohost Anna who is learning alongside the listeners. Use Coffee Break French to learn French in the gym, in the car, or sitting at your favourite coffee shop with your favourite coffee!"

 I think it's actually quite accurate, and I tend to listen to it whilst I'm driving or when I'm having a brew using my iPhone - which I think was their actual idea hence the name coffee break french. I love the fact you can actually hear the pronunciations, rather than just reading a book.

Anyway, it's definiteley worth a try, it's free! Also, if you don't have itunes, you can access the podcasts here.


If anyone has a go of this, let me know! Bonne chance.


À tous!