Posted on by T.H.P.

Becoming Fluent in French in 1 Month in Dijon, France? (Part 1)

View of Dijon - France in late afternoon If you’re looking for a beautiful, small city in France with regional flavor and a depth of culture that can keep you excited for a couple of weeks…if you’re a person who prefers a more leisurely vacation experience…if you've been learning French for a while (we used the free Duolingo and Gamesforlanguage courses) - THEN my wife and I have discovered the town for you!

Choosing a French City

Dijon (see picture above) is on the mainline of the TGV, France’s answer to the problem of fast, comfortable, worry-free travel, and can be reached easily from Paris. We chose it after a bit of casual research and previous visits to France that never amounted to more than two or three days in Paris for the Louvre.

This time around, we wanted to get to know France better. A few months after starting our online French courses, we focused on Burgundy and chose Dijon as our base of operations for launching our experiment in becoming basic, functional French speakers. (While Part 1 describes our experience of "discovering" Dijon, Part 2 focuses on the realities of becoming fluent during a one-month stay.)

There we expected to avoid the hectic pace of Paris (and the expense!) while enjoying life in a thoroughly and uniquely French place. We haven’t been disappointed.

Exploring Dijon

Our first two weeks in the city were full of constant discoveries launched from our base,view of Ducal Palace, Dijon - France a comfortable second-floor apartment in the very quiet Rue Proudhon. We had only a short stroll to the magnificent Ducal Palace (see picture right) to be in the heart of historic Dijon, with streets (for pedestrians only) lined with a potpourri of styles, beautiful 18th century palaces, fine 17th century townhouses, and half-timbered medieval buildings.

The broad streets and plazas teem with people of all ages. We were most impressed at the beginning by the affection between parents and children and by the helpful friendliness of the natives when we asked advice or help. Giving us a simple answer often wasn’t enough and people would walk with us to make certain we reached our goal.

It made us wonder why some of our friends back home had so often complained that the French are rude or unfriendly! What part of France had they visited? Certainly not Burgundy!

Inside Les Halles, Dijon, FranceIf you like to eat, you’ll love les Halles (see picture left), a huge, l9th century steel and glass structure that covers a vast market full of vendors touting everything from cheese to horse meat.

On market days (Tuesday and Friday, though there are some vendors open for business on Thursday as well) the pedestrian areas within a couple of blocks of les Halles are crowded with booths of vendors selling everything from books to clothing, and the crowds pulse with excitement.

More discoveries

The pedestrian sections of the old town are the focal center and heart of the place, both beautiful and full of elegant shops, good cafes, and plenty of opportunity for people-watching.

The broad avenues emanate out from the gorgeous Ducal Palace and the 12th century church, Notre Dame, with its unique, Burgundian version of Gothic and the relief carving of the owl that small crowds of tourist always seem to be rubbing (for good luck).

There are surprises galore in town that challenge and stimulate the patient tourist. Take the Musee de beaux Arts whose collections are divided into epochs (Middle Ages, Renaissance, etc) that are each displayed in a wing of the ducal palace built at that particular time.

Wander across the magnificent half-moon plaza in front of the ducal palace and take the second left down what looks to be an alley – and discover the delightful Magnin Museum, an eclectic jumble of art crowded on the walls on rooms of period furniture left as they were in the family palais by the last two members of the Magnin family.

A National Campaign?

There are so many pleasant encounters in town with locals from Dijon and I must report this one. The battery in my watch ran out and we went to the jewelers to get a replacement. A young lady asked what our nationality was (my accent?) and I said American. She said, "Oh, we love Americans!" This happens to us all the time.

It is so odd, because over the last forty years during our stays in and travels through Europe, the last thing I've encountered is people liking me BECAUSE I'm American - rather in spite of it, if at all. This has been our experience again and again in Germany; in England pleasant condescension if anything. Back many years ago in Paris: rudeness.

I'm beginning to wonder, if the French have had a national campaign to teach them to become more friendly and hospitable? If they have, it has certainly worked and it seems to be genuine, so warm, even kind. It goes far beyond just being polite or even reasonably considerate. But it is certainly a delight to be on the receiving end. 

In my next installment, One Month in Dijon: Fluency Realities and no "Lover" Option (Part 2), I'll report about the realities of becoming fluent in French during our one-month stay.

T.H.P. is a retired Professor of German, who has taught at several US universities. He speaks German fluently, reads French and is working on improving his French speaking skills.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

7 iPad Apps we Like for Watching German and French Movies

ipad Once you have mastered more than the basics of any language, listening to radio or watching movies is a great way to expand your vocabulary, and - maybe as important – keeping you interested in learning.

(Not to overlook: READING is for many learners the earlier, easier step for building vocabulary. It will be the topic of another post.)

Increasingly, we are finding the use of iPad apps to be quite convenient. (All the apps mentioned below are also available on the Play Store for Android devices, and, I assume, with very similar or even identical features.)

Yes, you can connect to many sites on your PC and watch your movies there or connect your laptop to your television, especially if you have newer models with HDMI ports.

We've only recently started to use our iPad/HDMI connector and hooked up our iPad to our large flat screen TV. The experience of watching a movie on a large screen with a much better sound is certainly worth it. But whether you're watching a clip or movie on the iPad or on a bigger screen, here are our current app choices:

German iPad Apps

tagesschau logo tagesschau – (also: www.tagesschau.de), a free app, the German “tagesschau” is a 15-minute news magazine, which airs daily at 8 PM German time. It also has a 10:15 PM edition called “tagesthemen” as well as a “nachtmagazin,” which airs just past midnight.

Note that the shows' titles these days are NOT capitalized, as they should be according to German spelling rules. Maybe this is a nod to being trendy and “cool.”

I remember the “Tagesschau” (which could be translated as “Daily View”) from the early days of German television, when the ARD was the only public channel. (”ARD” stands for “Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” - definitely a mouthful. Anybody interested in the legal structure of this “public-law” institution can consult this wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARD_(broadcaster)#Name.)

As I am wrting this, I can see on the “tagesschau” that the “Rosetta-Mission” landing of a mini-laboratory on a comet has been successful; “Live stream,” “Aktuelle Videos,” and “Tagesschau in 100 Sekunden,” and “Das Wetter” complete the Homepage.

For those interested in German Fußball (soccer), a disappointment: Some legal issues apparently does not allow the “tagesschau” to show any clips of German soccer. Nevertheless, by clicking on the many links, you can find a variety of clips and videos on many national and international topics.

ZDF logoZDF – (also: www.zdf.de ) a free app of the 2nd German channel (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen), which is a German “public-law” institution as well. There is also a news magazine “Heute” which airs in Germany at 7 PM German time.

The extensive Menu on the left side takes some time to get used to. For example, under “Rubriken,” and “Film,” you can find “Der Fernsehfilm der Woche” (TV movie of the week), “Ganze Filme im ZDF” (Entire films in ZDF); or under “Krimis” (crime movies), you'll find many popular German series, such as “Kommissarin Heller,” “Der Krimminalist,” etc. If you want to listen to Bavarian dialect, “Die Rosenheim Cops” is a fun show to watch.

Deutsche Welle Logo DW (also: www.dw.de ) Deutsche Welle,a free app, is another great resource. You can actually modify several settings on the menu icon, top right: Refresh the content; choose among 6 languages: Arabic, English, German, Persian, Russian, and Spanish; and select the channel to be displayed on the main screen: Germany, Europe, Arabia, America, Latinoamérica.

In addition to a number of video clips, there are also many articles to read about the topics of the day. And, if you have trouble reading an article in German, you can get the English version just by switching the language.

TV-Spielfilm logoTV–Spielfilm – (also www.tvspielfilm.de) a free app, lets you choose on the Menu button, top left: “Highlights des Tages” (highlights of the day), “TV-Program,” “Tagestipps,” and “Social Ranking.” We found “Mediathek” to be the most useful, with “Spielfilme, Serien, Reportagen, Unterhaltung, and Kinder” (videos for kids).

While the “Play arrow” in the middle of the video lets us play many of these, there are some that either give you the message “Der Vorgang konnte nicht abgeschlossen werden” (the event couldn't be completed).

Or after seeing “Möchten Sie die Seite in Safari öffnen? (Would you like to open the page in Safari?) and pressing “Ja,” we get the message in Safari: “Inhalte technisch nicht verfügbar” (content not available technically) - all of which have caused us some frustration.

French iPad Apps

ARTE logo ARTE.tv - (also: www.arte.tv ) is a free app and actually a Franco-German TV network that promotes programming in the areas of culture and the arts and a perfect transition to the French apps.

Clicking on the top left menu, you'll open a number of program choices as well as a “setting” wheel at the bottom that lets choose you the language (German or French) plus a number of other settings, including reminders for certain live shows, email alerts, synchronizing with iCloud, etc.

Back to the Homepage, you see the “Accueil” (welcome) and you can scroll down to see the ARTE +7 choices: “Les plus vues,” “Les plus recentes,” and those soon to be deleted “Dernière chance.” Selecting "Programmes" you'll see the program of the day. Those marked in red +7 can then be either watched, either in a short clip or later, with a note (e.g."Plus que 6 jours") indicating how long it will be available.

Back to the Menu, you'll see a number of other options, all of which will certainly lead you to topics and videos that interest you.

France TV logo       
France TV Pro is a free iPad app that lets you watch live TV on many of the French TV channels. It also uses advertisements but has the unusual feature that lets you earn ad viewing points.

After accumulating enough points, you can watch programs ad-free for some time. With each viewing you accumulate 500 points and when you reach 20,000 points (40 views!) you, supposedly, can upgrade to the "Pro" version and now watch for free. (We are not there yet, so I don't know whether this works!)

The Homepage opens up many options: You can watch soaps, news, sports, etc. right there, or click on the Menu button, top left, which gives you many more choices, which include TV VOD, KIDs, Music, Movies, as well as Live Channels, Youtube and more VOD choices.

Clicking on "Movies" you'll find 11 more categories, including, "Top", "New", "Comedy", "Drama", etc. One caution: You may not be able to watch all movies listed due to some access restrictions in the country you are watching.

For example, clicking on "Freelancers" resulted in:  "This video is not available in your country". Also, you'll see some English movies dubbed in French.
Because we mostly watch French movies, I have not explored many of these possibilities. (Of note: there is an on-screen Volume control button, on the bottom left.)

20 minutes- logo 20 minutes (also: www.20minutes.fr) I have enjoyed this app for some time now. (There is another, very similar Swiss app: 20 Minuten (also: www.20min.ch), which is the electronic version of the free “20 Minuten” newspaper that you find everywhere in Switzerland in German, French and Italian language.)

Different from the free German apps, this one uses advertisements, (which you can delete right away by clicking on the x on top).

The Homepage gives you a choice of six(6) categories: “Videos, Live, En images, Sport, Actualité, Entertainment, Météo/Horoscope, PDF/Jeux, and Guide TV.”

While the other sections also make good reading – and you're sure to find something that interests you – I have used mostly the Videos. At the bottom of that section you'll find 12 subheadings with videoclips, starting with “General” and “Le Rewind” and ending with “Entertainment” and “Actus 20minutes.”

I enjoy “Le Rewind” a lot. The young man who presents and comments on sometimes funny, sometimes bizarre events is hilarious. He also speaks rapid French, so may have to practice a bit before you get all his jokes, but you'll certainly have fun with many of the video clips. Regrettably, I just learned that “le Rewind” will only run until the end of the year.

All the apps mentioned below are also available on the Play Store for Android devices, and, I assume, with very similar or even identical features.
And, please let us know YOUR favorite apps to watch French and German movies and videos.

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Reaching the Next Fluency Plateau

Plateau For many, speaking in a foreign language is the goal and reason for learning it. And, the best advice for learning how to speak, is: Just do it!

Speak as often as you can, including reading aloud, repeating and practicing phrases, recording yourself, and obviously finding a native speaker to talk to.

Now, once you've reached a level of fluency where you can hold your own during an hour-long casual conversation in your second language, you may be surprised to find that you've hit a plateau.

Reading

That's what happened to me in French. I had been meeting a friend for a bi-monthly French-language lunch but I wasn't thrilled with my progress in speaking.

So, I started reading the Harry Potter series in French. From meeting to meeting, I did notice that my vocabulary was increasing.

However, after a few months, when I was getting well into the fifth Harry Potter tome, I again noticed that I had hit a learning plateau. I was improving some, but not to my satisfaction.

Writing

Then I decided to do an experiment. I put Harry Potter aside, and started writing as much as I could in French: e-mails to friends, journal bits, posting some on Lang-8.com, and racing through Duolingo.com, which includes translating into French, and writing down dictated sentences.

At my next French lunch chat - which was a few days ago - I clearly felt that I had again broken through a plateau. And this time, it was writing that had gotten me there.

Yesterday, I came across the YouTube video of a talk by Judith Meyer, that she held at the June 2014 Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. She too experienced writing as a useful supplement for improving conversational skills.

So if you've reached a plateau in your second-language conversations, try adding some writing practice - chats, e-mails, journal pieces, etc. - in that language and you may find yourself happily moving to a higher fluency plateau.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Calling a waiter - Herr Ober! Garçon! Cameriere! Camarero!

Street scene with waiter Calling a waiter or waitress to your table can often be done by gestures such as raising your hand or – if you want to pay – by scribbling with one finger into the other hand.

And such gestures are quite international and work in most foreign countries as well. It is useful, however, to also know how to call a waiter or waitress in the local language. We therefore teach these expressions in our four language courses (French, German, Italian, and Spanish).

The German Way

When we started developing our German course, I thought of using the form of address I had heard when growing up in Germany: "Herr Ober" (actually an abbreviation for “Oberkellner” or headwaiter).

However, our native speaker reminded me that you don't use this term any longer - except maybe in very upscale restaurants. I was aware that you no longer call a waitress to your table with "Fräulein".

So we settled on "Entschuldigung!" (Excuse me.), which seems to be used in most of the German speaking countries for calling a waiter or waitress. Then, if you want to pay, you would say, “Bitte zahlen!” or more politely: “Ich möchte bitte zahlen! (I would like to pay, please.) In more upscale restaurants where you do have an “Ober,” you might say “Die Rechnung, bitte!” (The check, please.)

With this German Quick Game you can practice:  "Bitte, ich möchte zahlen!"

The French Way

During a recent visit to Paris, we occasionally heard people asking for the waiter by calling “Garçon.” More often, though, we heard “Monsieur” or “Madame” when someone called a waiter or waitress to the table.

We're told that nowadays you'll hear the term “garçon” more likely from older customers, who may also add it to the usual call for the check: “L'addition, s'il vous plaît.”

You can practice this expression with our French Quick Game.

The Italian Way

In Italy, it is still quite common to call for the waiter simply with “Cameriere!” but we have also heard “Per favore!” (Please), as a way of getting the attention of the server. And, to call the waiter because you want to pay, you would say: “Il conto, per favore” (The check, please). A waitress would be called “cameriera,” but in Italy you'll find more male than female waiters.

You can practice "Il conto, per favore!" with our Italian Quick Game.

The Spanish Way

In Spain, we heard “¡Camarero!” quite often, but as in Italy, people also just use “¡Por favor!” (please) to call the waiter to their table. When you're ready to pay, both of the following do very nicely: “Me gustaría pagar, por favor” (I'd like to pay”) or “La cuenta, por favor” (The check, please). A waitress would be called “camarera,” and, as in Italy, male waiters seem to be in the majority in Spain.

You can practice “Me gustaría pagar, por favor” with our Spanish Quick Game.

We invite any comments and observations regarding regional differences or customs for calling a waiter or waitress in German-, French-, Italian-, and Spanish-speaking countries.

Posted on by Peter Editor

Foreign Language Maintenance & Improvements

Image of a WrenchRecently a post reminded me how important it is to maintain and improve my foreign languages.

Native Language vs. Languages Learned Years Ago

My native language is German, but I've been living in the US for many years. Without reading German newspapers almost daily, I would not stay current with the changes in the German language.

And, while I rarely have to look up any words and I'm not afraid of forgetting my German (I still speak it at home every day), I know that keeping up my French is more of a challenge.

I learned French as a young man when I lived in (French-speaking) Switzerland. I now read it quite regularly online, have conversations, and e-mail with French speaking friends and family members.

But with French, I am more aware of the need to constantly maintain it. If I don't have an opportunity to speak it in a while, I find that it takes me some time to recall vocabulary and to get comfortable again with my pronunciation and sentence structures.

New Language Improvements

Having started to learn Italian and Spanish only a few years ago, I am still working on improving both my proficiency and fluency. I can read both languages quite well now and my fluency is improving.

However, I am very aware of the fact that my vocabulary has to increase. I regularly play our own Italian 1 and Spanish 1 games and have recently started to use Lingohut to help me grow my vocabulary, especially in Spanish.

(I loved to practice with the browser extension Lingua.ly, not only get the translation of words I don't know, but also to practice & recall those words later. However, Lingua.ly had to close its doors and disappeared.) 

We're planning to do a more detailed review of Lingohut later, when we have gained more experience with it. But for now, I'll just enjoy maintaining and improving "old" and "new" languages! Postscript: In March 2017, Ulrike did a review of Lingohut Portuguese.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Bilingual in Fribourg, Switzerland

View of Fribourg (Updated February 2, 2017)
During our recent stay in Fribourg, Switzerland, we were again amazed by the mixture of languages we heard spoken in this small Swiss town of about 40,000.

Upper Town And Lower Town

Fribourg, (in German, called “Freiburg im Uechtland” to distinguish it from its German Black Forest cousin “Freiburg im Breisgau“) is the capital of the Canton Fribourg and located on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland. (see above picture of upper and lower town)

In the past, the language lines were drawn rather clearly: In the lower town, people spoke mostly a Swiss German dialect, in the upper town mostly French.

And while German was the prevailing language until around 1800, French gradually became more influential. By the year 2000 nearly 64% spoke French, only 21% German as their first language (Italian was third with about 4%).

An Impression: More Bilingual German Than French Speakers

In restaurants, cafes, and shops, etc. you hear a mixture of French, Swiss German, “Schriftdeutsch” (see also our previous blog post: Language Lessons in Gstaad), and other languages.

Swiss German children start to learn “Schriftdeutsch” in first grade, and French a couple of years later. That's about the same time that French children learn “Schriftdeutsch” as a second language. (We also understand that in many schools English is taught already in fourth grade.)

From discussions with acquaintances, friends, and relatives in Fribourg, we've gained the impression that there are more German speakers who are fluent in French, than French speakers who are also fluent in German.

TFribourg Saturday street markethis is due to the fact that French speakers are now the majority in Fribourg, or whether learning French as a third language (after “Schriftdeutsch) is “easier” for Swiss German speakers, or whether Swiss Germans feel a more personal or economic need to be bilingual than their French speaking compatriots, we just don't know.

A visit of the local market provided a (not representative) sample, as most of the Swiss German speaking farmers did easily switch to French, while the French speaking bakers and butchers had more difficulty in speaking German (see picture above). 

Language still a divisive issue

While the casual observer may be pleasantly surprised by the the city's apparent bilingualism, language in Fribourg - as in other Swiss cities and towns that are located on a language and cultural fault line - is often still a divisive issue.

Not much has changed since swissinfo.ch covered this issue in in 2004, citing both Biel (where French speakers are the minority of the population, with 28 %) and Fribourg as examples. Family connections, social status, school locations, etc. all influence parents' decisions which language path their children should pursue.

It certainly seems that in a small country like Switzerland (about 8 million inhabitants) being bilingual, or at least fluent, in two of the major languages, German and French, should have great professional and personal benefits.

Postscript

Video Pharrell Williams HappyJust as we were leaving Fribourg, the local Newspaper, La Liberté, reported that local film makers had adapted Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" from the movie "Despicable Me 2" to Fribourg, similar to what other Swiss cities have done. You can watch the YouTube video which shows many images of Fribourg.

 

 

 

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Learning French with a song: Si tu n'existais pas...

Joe DassinYou may have heard this French song: Et si tu n'existais pas before and always wondered what the lyrics really meant. Here is your chance to learn them and brush up on your French negations and conditionals!

For anyone who likes music, songs are a versatile and surprisingly effective tool for language learning. Songs support your language learning in many ways. They help you to:

• build your vocabulary and provide context for words and phrases
• improve pronunciation
• boost your memory
• internalize grammar structures
• distinguish word boundaries (see also our blog post Gibberish or language learning)

Si tu n'existais pas (If you didn't exist)

This 1976 song by the American born, French singer-songwriter Joe Dassin has become hugely popular and is one of my favorites. Dassin (1938 - 1980) was a talented polyglot and recorded songs in Spanish, Russian, German, Greek, Italian, as well as in French and English (many of which you can find on YouTube).

Below are the French lyrics, and you can find another English translation here.

The Lyrics of "Si tu n'existais pas"

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais.
Pour traîner dans un monde sans toi,
Sans espoir et sans regrets.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour,
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
Naître les couleurs du jour.
Et qui n'en revient pas.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Dis-moi pour qui j'existerais.
Des passantes endormies dans mes bras
Que je n'aimerais jamais.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Je ne serais qu'un point de plus
Dans ce monde qui vient et qui va,
Je me sentirais perdu,
J'aurais besoin de toi.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Dis-moi comment j'existerais.
Je pourrais faire semblant d'être moi,
Mais je ne serais pas vrai.

Et si tu n'existais pas,
Je crois que je l'aurais trouvé,
Le secret de la vie, le pourquoi,
Simplement pour te créer
Et pour te regarder.

French Nouns in the Song

In Dassin's song there are 14 nouns, here listed in the form they appear:

• un monde (a world)
• sans espoir (without hope)
• sans regrets (without regret)
• l'amour (love)
• un peintre (a painter)
• ses doigts (his fingers)
• les couleurs (the colors)
• du jour (of the day)
• des passantes (passers-by)
• mes bras (my arms)
• un point (a point, dot)
• le secret (the secret)
• de la vie (of life)
• le pourquoi (the why)

Negative Structures

It's well worth internalizing the various forms of French negation, three of which appear in the song:

• Si tu n'existais pas (ne ... pas - not)
• Que je n'aimerais jamais. (ne ... jamais - never)
• Je ne serais qu'un point de plus. (ne ... que - only)

The Conditional "if-then" Structure

This structure is the backbone of the song. Of the 20 different verbs, 8 are used in the conditional tense. Memorizing the lyrics and singing them is a great way to internalize one of the common "if-then" (conditional) structures:

The "if-clause" (which comes up 6 times) is in the imperfect tense:

• si tu n'existais pas - if you didn't exist

The "then-claus" is in the conditional tense:

• dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais (*exister) - tell me why would I exist
• j'essaierais d'inventer l'amour (*essayer) - I would try to invent love
• je ne serais qu'un point de plus (*être) - I would only be one more dot
• je me sentirais perdu (*se sentir) - I would feel lost
• j'aurais besoin de toi (*avoir besoin) - I would need you
• je pourrais faire semblant d'être moi (*pouvoir) - I could pretend to be me
• je crois que je l'aurais trouvé (*trouver) - I think I would have found it

Just imagine, when you are memorizing the lyrics and singing along, you're practicing the language. How much fun is that!

And why stop here? Edith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" (see our previous post) is another great French song to add to your language learning repertoire. 

I recently came across Sidney's post Learning through song made easy, which suggests four steps to improve both your listening and speaking (maybe even singing!) skills. It's fun AND effective and it not only works for Italian, but for French and other languages as well!

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Quick French: "Du café? Oui, j'en veux bien."

The French pronoun "en" may be short, but it's not to be ignored! It's a very common and useful word, and worth the effort to get to know better.

In a recent Facebook post, we listed the following uses:
Meaning "from there" / "from it":
- Tu as été à Londres?  Oui, j'en arrive. - You've been to London?  Yes, I just came from there.

Meaning "about it" / "of it":
- Il parle beaucoup de son voyage.  Il en parle beaucoup. - He speaks a lot about his trip. He speaks a lot about it.

Meaning "some" / "any":
- Je viens de faire du café.  Tu en veux? - I just made coffee. Do you want some?

With expressions of quantity:
- Est-ce que tu as vu beaucoup de films de Truffaut?  Oui, j'en ai vu beaucoup. - Have you seen a lot of Truffaut's films? Yes, I've seen a lot of them.

For a more thorough look at the pronoun "en" go to: How to use that awesome French pronoun EN by Stanley Aléong

Our Quick French: "On y va" introduces you briefly to "y." Check that one out, too and you'll know two of the most common words of the French language!

Posted on by Peter Editor

"Non, je ne regrette rien" - Learning French With a Song...

Edith Piaf sings" "Non, je ne regrette rien..." Our June 2013 entry about the Spanish song "La Paloma" has been one of our most read blogs for several months now.

Here is the part of our November 2012 blog again, which had suggested Edith Piaf's famous "Non, je ne regrette rien" as a wonderful song to learn and practice French with.

Listening to foreign songs is an excellent way to memorize key phrases and expressions – and having fun doing it. Find a song you like and binge listen. Sometimes, you may even start humming and repeating the refrains without exactly knowing the meaning.

In an earlier blog post - 6 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language - we had suggested listening to songs as tip #4, as listening to music and songs can also fuel your enthusiasm for learning a new language. Lifehacker also has several posts about music and lyrics training for learning a foreign language.

Non, je ne regrette rien

Many may remember Edith Piaf's famous song: “Non, je ne regrette rien.” You can hear her on this YouTube clip. English translations of the song, (even if they are not always correct) are easy to find, e.g. here. It's no mystery why many people make listening to foreign songs part of their language learning practice.

Why songs Works So Well

Many songs have a refrain. The repetition of the refrain, especially with an “ear-worm” melody, anchors key words in your memory.

Easy grammar. Key constructions become obvious and you can remember them readily. For example, the phrase “je ne regrette rien” makes it easy to see how negations are constructed in French: ne...rien or ne...pas, or to pick up on the ni...ni (neither-nor) construction.

Idiomatic phrases. From song lyrics such as “je n'ai plus besoin d'eux” (I don't need them anymore), you can derive related key phrases such as “j'ai besoin” or “je n'ai pas besoin.”

New vocabulary. And, you may learn some new vocabulary that your typical language course may lack, e.g. “balayé” (swept, “broomed” away), “chagrins” (sorrows), “je me fous” (I don't care).

Exaggerated sounds. Moreover, songs exaggerate and stress the sounds of some words and thus make them easier to understand and imitate.

Pronunciation. Also pay particular attention how Edith Piaf pronounces the "r". The French "r" is not an easy sound for foreigners and has to be practiced!

While Edith Piaf's "Non je regrette rien" may be particularly memorable and instructional, there are many other French songs and lyrics you can find on the Internet. For example Joe Dassin's song "Si tu n'existais pas..." is another favorite of ours for learning French with a song and the topic of this post.

Posted on by Peter Rettig

Quick French: ”On y va!”, “Allons-y!”

On y va t-shirts The use of the single letter "y" and its combination with forms of the verb "aller" "rester" etc. is confusing to many French beginners. However, it's really not that difficult.

(The picture on the left shows the cover of “On y va!”, a French lesson book used by Swiss high school students in the 80s and 90s.)

Recently, we listed a number of phrases with “y” in a Facebook post.
"y" = here, there; about it, on it (referring to something that was mentioned). Some of these come up as part of our French 1 travel-story course.

Adverb "y" - here, there

• "J'y suis, j'y reste." - Here I am (and) here I'm staying.
• "Marseille? Oui, je vais y aller." - Marseille? Yes, I'm going there.
• "Le pont d'Avignon ? On ne peut plus y danser." - Avignon Bridge? You can't dance on it/there any more.
• "La Tour Eiffel ? Est-ce que tu y es déjà monté ?" - The Eiffel Tower? Did you already go up on it/there?
• "Allez-y !" - Go!; Go on!; Go ahead! (Lit: Go there!)
• "On y va." - Let's go (Lit: We are going there.)

Pronoun "y" - about it /that, on it /that

• "Trois jours à Paris! Penses-y !" - Three days in Paris! Think about it!
• "Il faut y penser. - We have to think about that.
• "J'y compte." - I'm counting on it.
• "Je n'y crois pas." - I don't believe it.
• "Je m'y attendais." - I was expecting that.
• "J'y tiens." - It matters to me. (Lit: I'm holding to it.)

The Expression "il y a" - there is, are; it's

"Il y a du monde.- There are a lot of people. /It's busy.
"Il y avait du monde. - There were a lot of people. /It was busy.

"Il y a du soleil." - It's sunny.
"Il y avait du soleil." - It was sunny.

"Il y a erreur." - There's a mistake.
"Il y avait erreur." - There was a mistake.

The Expression "il y a" - ago

"Il y a plus de deux ans." - More than two years ago.
"Il y a mille cinq cents ans." - Fifteen hundred years ago.
"Il y a quelques années." - A few years ago.
"Il y a longtemps." - Long ago. / Ages ago.
"Il y a quelque temps." - A while ago.
"Il y a peu." - Not long ago.

Moreover, you can combine various forms of the verb “aller” (to go) and “y” (there) to create commands that are commonly used in daily life.

An excellent explanation of the French adverbial pronoun "y" and its uses can be found on Lawless French and on Speak French Fluently – How to use Vas-y, Allez-y And Allons-y by Stanley Aléong

Let us know any comments or questions you have and - keep on learning as playfully as you can. Language learning should be first and foremost enjoyable, a quest of discovery, not a chore.

Do you want to know what "On ne peut plus y danser, mais on peut encore l’admirer." mean in French? Just click HERE.

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