Last week, I bought a book for my 5 year old son called ‘Martine monte à cheval‘. I thought it would be an excellent book to increase my son’s French vocabulary.

It reminded me of the question I am often asked as a French teacher:

what book should I read to improve my French?

It’s true that as adults, I’m sure we would prefer books for adults. However, there are plenty of kids books (and the collection of Martine is a classic from my youth) that could increase your French vocabulary and your overall level of French.

Some French vocabulary

If I take this book I’ve just mentioned as an example, you will find a nice little story that includes most of the terms that are link to horses. I’m just noted a few of them from the book. Do you know these words?
- le cheval
- la jument
- le poulain
- la selle
- les étriers
- la sangle
- l’écurie
- le manège
- le fer à cheval
- l’équitation
- le gallop
and many more.

Why learning French with kids books?

There are many advantages to use kids books to learn French:
1. It’s usually a short story, so it’s easier to follow and to learn from
2. It’s aimed at kids, so the sentences are short and simple but brings good vocabulary
3. It’s usually in the present tense
4. You can (and should) read them many times to make sure you remember most of the vocabulary
5. You always find good expressions to use in every day situations

So, if you ever wonder what books you should read as a complement to your French conversation lessons, whether you have a beginner or an intermediate level, check out the kids sections of your French book shop!

Check out this video about a party in Chonas for the Beaujolais nouveau.

It seems that the guys who spoke have lost their French because of the alcohol. Will you find the French mistake one of the speakers makes?

As we traditionally say, à consommer avec modération!

Transcript

To help you find the mistake, here is the transcript of the video:

- Alors il est comment cette année?
- Bien, bien bon. Il a le goût du fruit rouge
- Du fruit rouge?
- Oui, du fruit rouge
- Bon, on veut vous souhaiter une bonne année. Il y a eu du monde ce soir?
- Oui, bien, bien, bien, bien. Les gens sont venus plus tôt que d’habitude, mais l’animation c’est bien. Tout va bien. J’espère que tout le monde est content. Il ne fait pas trop froid. Les grattons, les saucisses, tout est bon!
- Le Beaujolais, il est … d’année en année il est de meilleure … de plus en plus bon, forcément, et surtout à Chonas, parce qu’apparemment, dès qu’il franchit la limite de la commune, il est moins bon. Tout le monde le dit!
- Il y a eu du monde ce soir?
- Oui, énormément de monde sur le coup des six heures et demi, sept heures, c’est par vagues comme ça. Il ya des vagues de beaujolais!

If you are considering taking the DELF B1 exam, it means that you already have a reasonable level that allows you to be ‘independent’. This means that you are able to interact with others in French, have a conversation, give your opinions, etc.

DELF B1 exam

Four skills are measured through four kinds of exercises:
- listening comprehension: the recordings are at a slightly lower pace than regular French conversations,
- reading comprehension: you need to be able to understand different kinds of documents
- a writing assignment: it is usually an essay or a letter to write on a specific issue
- an oral test: you need to know how to talk about yourself, then interact with others, and eventually present your viewpoint in French.

How to prepare DELF B1?

Like any exam, the DELF B1 should be prepared using sample exams as well as exercises to progressively help you to reach your target. At Live-French.net, we usually use a specific book that has given outstanding results with our students. Count on 2 months if you need to focus on one part of the exam, and around 6 months if you want to seriously prepare the DELF B1 and succeed!

If you’re not sure what exam would be the best for you, check out our article about the DELF exam preparation

Reaching an advanced level in French can be a challenge. However, I have had the pleasure to teach people around the world who after only one or two years of French definitely had an advanced level of French.

How to take your French to the advanced level?

Grammar is crucial!
Invest time learning French grammar. Start learning conjugation, the differences between the tenses, prepositions. Once you have a good basis in grammar, it is easier to move on to more complex sentence structures.

Increasing your vocabulary
Learn French vocabulary according to a context. Some words are more used in a particular area than others. Learn synonyms, antonyms. There are usually several ways of saying the same things, but at a different level.

Reading in French
Classic French literature might still be difficult, even for an advanced student. They should start with 20th or 21st century authors, read French newspapers or magazines.

Traveling to France and/or speaking with native-French people
Learning a language is mainly used to communicate. Spending time in France and speaking with locals are probably the most effective way to learn French idioms and get more familiar with the language.

Take some French lessons to help you
Even if you spend time in France or another French speaking country, make sure to take French lessons to reinforce what you’ve learned and to progress more quickly.

What to do once you’ve reached the advanced level?

Practice is the key. A lot of my students complain that they used to speak French perfectly and that now it’s very difficult for them to have a conversation in French. Don’t let this happen to you if you have reached the advanced level. Practice at least once a week with a friend, a teacher, watch French programs on TV or on the Internet, regularly read news in French.

Some of you might even want to prepare for a French exam like the DALF C1 or C2. This have several advantages. First, it will structure your learning around the different requirements of the exam. Then, you will get a recognized diploma to prove your level to employers or universities. Eventually, it will motivate you do go even further with your French.

Preparing the DELF exam is usually recommended for people who want or need to prove their level of French. Before you register for the test, here are a few questions to ask yourself.

Which DELF exam to prepare?

You need to know your level of French before you register for the exam. There are 4 levels for the DELF (from A1 to B2) and 2 levels for the DALF. Some universities or institutions require to have a minimum level, for example B1 in French. In this case, you could either prepare the DELF B1 or the DELF B2.
When I have a student who doesn’t know which French exam to prepare, I usually test him/her on a few sample tests to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in the 4 areas that are tested: listening comprehension, written comprehension, reading comprehension and speaking abilities. It then gets obvious which test is the most adapted.

When should I take the DELF exam?

Preparing for a DELF exam is a serious matter. I personally like using a book whose method focuses on progressively acquiring the tools you need to succeed in your exam. A minimum of 3 months, and most probably around 6 months, should be spent to make sure to pass the exam. So, when you register for your exam, make sure to give you enough time to seriously prepare the DELF exam.

Ways to succeed with the DELF exam?

First of all, as we said earlier, make sure to register for the appropriate exam. There’s nothing more frustrating than applying for a test that is either too hard or too easy for you. You need to keep your motivation up and study regularly.
With some of my students, after working on a sample exam, we define a strategy of work: for example, we can concentrate on the speaking part and the rest is done through homework, or thoroughly work on each and every part either simultaneously or one after the other.
The first lesson is therefore key to determine the need in order to pass the DELF exam without any problem.

The Internet is full of resources that can help you learn French online, the matter is how to do it effectively.

Identify your needs

First, learning French online depends highly on:
- your level: you won’t use the same resources if you’re a beginner or if you have an advanced level. For advanced levels, watch French TV programs on YouTube or other video websites, read the leading French newspapers, immerse yourself in the French culture. For beginners, look for simple dialogs to work on.
- your motivation: why do you want to learn French, is it for work, for traveling, just for pleasure? If it’s for work, look for articles that talk about your industry
- your ability to study by yourself: you can use the free resources of French from different grammar website or take an online French tutor to guide you.

Find the right resources and stick to them!

It’s not worth spending a lot of time looking for resources on the Internet. There are so many, you could easily waste a few hours just doing that! Therefore, find resources that correspond to you and try to use them until you understand everything. You can also check out our resources page to get a variety of relevant resources to learn French online.

Improving your French accent and adopting a good French pronunciation is one of your challenges when you start learning French. We’ll see here a few methods to improve your French accent no matter what your level is.

Identify your problems with the French pronunciation

Depending on your mother tongue, some consonants might be difficult for you to pronounce. Example: je, ballon, haricot, route, vélo
For most of you, the French diphthongs are difficult to pronounce the right way, for example try to differentiate ON and AN, maison, grand.

Practice your French accent

Two aspects are involved when you want to improve your French pronunciation. The first one is to listen to French (preferrably from a French tutor or a French radio/TV program). Then, you need to repeat the words correctly.

Expand your scope

Once you’ve done that, you need to make sure to apply the rules you’ve learned about French pronunciation and apply it to full sentences. Don’t forget the liaisons, use the right intonation. In general, the last syllable of a rhythmic group is pronounced at a higher pitch than the rest of the sentence. Thing about punctuation, pause when it’s necessary, use your voice to show it’s a question, etc.

In any case, watching French TV, immersing yourself in France for a few months, and taking French conversation lessons are probably the best ways to improve your French pronunciation. Listen and talk as much as you can! That’s the fastest way to change your habits with your French pronunciation.

When you learn a language like French, one of your goals is probably to be able to follow a conversation in French. This means to be able not only to understand what people tell you but also to answer them in a clear and relatively fast way.

Most of my students take French conversation lessons because they have difficulties in that field.

Different exercises can be done to improve French conversation skills:

First exercise: prepare a topic about every day life

A lot of conversations are small talks that are easy to prepare. Some of the most common questions are:
- how was your weekend?(Comment s’est passé ton week-end ?)
- the weather (le temps qu’il fait)
- what are your plans for … (Quels sont tes projets pour…/ Que penses-tu faire …)
- talk about your family (parler de sa famille)
- etc.
All these topics are recurring questions when you meet someone, so they are informally rehearsed during the lessons. For lower levels, it’s usually good to prepare the answers beforehand and to write them down. Slowly slowly students get more comfortable and are able to answer without looking at their notes.

Second exercise: pick a text as a basis of a French conversation

- first we read and try to understand a text in French about a certain topic
- then we learn some helpful vocabulary for this topic
- eventually, I ask the student’s opinion on the matter, bring some more vocabulary, correct his mistakes.
We usually share interesting opinions, but above all we learn how to have a conversation in French about the topic and work on both sides of the problem: understand and speak or react.

Third exercise: listen to a video

The Internet allows us to get access to a lot of resources online. Therefore, it’s easy to find a 1-2min video to watch (once or a few times if need be) to improve your listening comprehension. Then, find a friend or a French teacher to talk about it.

Obviously, the most important if you want to improve your French conversation skills is to practice. You can talk in front of your mirror if you want, otherwise you can rehearse with a friend (a French friend is even better), but the best solution will always be to have a French tutor who can spend time with you to concentrate on your mistakes in order to help you.

At this time of the year, you are probably checking how to make the most of your holidays in France.
We have gathered here 5 tips before your travel to France.

1. Speaking
As you know, French people always appreciate when you make the effort to speak a bit of French.
What about taking some French conversation lessons before your trip to help you brush up your French? It is recommended to choose an online French tutor to learn with before your trip. Via Skype or by phone, a dedicated French tutor is probably the most convenient and economical solution.

2. Eating
France is famous for its cuisine, cheeses and wines. Check the Michelin guide so that you don’t miss out on the best French restaurants. For some, you will need to book a while in advance, be careful!

3. Traveling
France is beautiful country. You might want to travel by train (TGV), or to rent a car if you prefer to go to small villages that are not easily accessible by train. Check your map to see what is the best option for you.

4. Cultural sites
There’s no lack of museums in France. They are definitely part of the landscape. If you’re in Paris for just a few days, you might not want to spend a full day to visit the Louvre (even though you would probably find it worthwhile), but you can find some smaller ones, although not as famous but still with magnificent collections of art.

5. The Province
As nice as Paris and the other major cities are the charm and history of the country areas with their castles, small villages, picturesque landscapes and old world sensibilities is still the heart of the country and not to be missed.

As you may know, France had some elections last weekend. It’s a great opportunity to learn some new French vocabulary around the topic of the elections.

French elections

French elections are of different nature. You have:
- les élections présidentielles where people need to choose the President
- les éléctions régionales where you vote for your regional council
- les élections municipales where you vote for your city council
- and many more.
The people who vote are called the électeurs. They vote for un parti de gauche ou de droite.
In France, you need to be at least 18 years old to vote (verb:voter). In the last elections, le taux d’abstention was very high.

Elections in your country

The système électoral in your country might be very different to the one in France. Can you think of any difference? For example:
- Who can vote in your country?
- How do you elect your President?
- Do you have many levels of councils like in France?

Discuss all this and many more topics through online French conversation lessons with one of our teachers at Live-French.net.