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5 tips before you travel to France

June 20th, 2011 | Posted by admin in Traveling - (Comments Off)

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.

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French Vocabulary around Elections

March 22nd, 2010 | Posted by admin in Grammar and Vocabulary - (Comments Off)

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.

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Learning French = learning the French culture

March 12th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Resources - (Comments Off)

One of my students pointed out to me that learning French is useful only if it helps you learn the French culture. I completely agree with that. When you learn to speak French, you not only learn ways to say things in French, you also get to learn cultural references that will help you to communicate with French people.

Learning about the French culture

When you mention French culture, the first words that come to mind are:
- French cuisine and gastronomy
- French wine
- French cheese
- French literature
- French singers
- French museums
- etc.

With this student, we have decided to focus on French literature and study a play from Molière, le bourgeois gentilhomme. It’s very interesting to see how the French language changed over the century. We also learned some expressions that we use today based on this play like:

Comme Monsieur Jourdain qui faisait de la prose sans le savoir

Learning French online to learn the French culture

The advantages of learning French online is that you get to study French with native-French teachers who have a tremendous knowledge and taste for the French culture before you manage to organize your next visit to France! Register now to French lessons online.

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What do you think about it?

March 1st, 2010 | Posted by admin in Resources - (1 Comments)

Check out our new animation here:

Please leave your comments and tell us what you think about it!

Traveling to Lyon, France

February 24th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Traveling - (0 Comments)

Are you thinking about traveling to Lyon for your next trip to France? No, well think again. Lyon is a beautiful city and has a lot to offer.

Why traveling to Lyon?

On top on being my home town (!), Lyon is one of France’s major cities.
Known as the French capital of gastronomy, Lyon also has historic sites from the Roman period, the Renaissance, a beautiful architecture from 17th century and more modern buildings (don’t miss the Opéra National de Lyon renovated by Jean Nouvel in 1993).

What museums to visit in Lyon?

Here are the top 3 museums you should visit if you spend a few days in Lyon:
- the musée des beaux-arts de Lyon, fine arts museum housed in a former convent of the 17th century, including the Baroque chapelle Saint-Pierre,
- the musée Lumière named after the Lumière brothers who invented cinema in Lyon in 1895,
- the musée des Tissus et des Arts Décoratifs, decorative arts museum.

Business in Lyon

Lyon is the headquarters of many companies in the pharmaceutical industry, high tech industry, media, etc.
If you’re in Lyon for business, make sure to save a day or two to visit the city!

Prepare your trip to Lyon with Live-French.net

Live-French.net offers private French lessons tutored over Skype by native-French teachers. There are courses available for all levels: French for beginners, French conversation, etc.
Register to a French trial lesson at a low price.

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Google advertises Parisian love

February 10th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Resources - (0 Comments)

Check out this ad from Google. This could have been our ad for Live-French.net! Just amazing. Press play and enjoy.

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DELF A1 Exam

February 2nd, 2010 | Posted by admin in Exams - (0 Comments)

A good way to motivate yourself when you learn French is to set yourself some objectives. If you’re a beginner in French, your target could be to take the DELF A1 exam.

What is DELF A1 Exam?

This exam follow the curriculum from the European Framework based on 6 levels. A1 is the first level.
The exam consists in 4 pars:
- listening: you need to answer questions based on a record that presents every day life situations
- reading: four or five written documents are presented to you and you need to answer questions
- writing: filling a form and writing simple sentences
- speaking: guided conversation, exchanging information and role-play.
The total duration of the exam is 1hour and 20 minutes.

How to prepare for the DELF A1 Exam?

At Live-French.net, we’ve developed a specific course to get ready for the DELF A1 exam. In 20 units, this course provides all the basic vocabulary and grammar points that you need to know to pass this French exam.
You can download the first two units of this course for free: Get my French for beginners course

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How to speak French fluently

January 25th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Improve your level - (0 Comments)

Speaking French fluently is the dream of many students who learn French and who already have a decent level. One option to really become fluent in French is to spend a certain amount of time in France or another French speaking country. 6 months is probably the minimum if you really want to feel the difference. Interacting in French all the time is probably the best way to speak French more fluently.

Speaking French fluently without leaving the country?

It’s not always possible to devote 6 months or more overseas just for the purpose of speaking French fluently.
That’s why at Live-French.net, we developed the idea of taking French conversation lessons with native-French teachers by telephone or by Skype who would focus on the vocabulary and topics that are good for you. It’s flexible, personalized and fun!

French newspapers

January 18th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Resources - (0 Comments)

We can divide the French newspapers into 3 main categories:
- national daily newspapers: the most recognized papers are Le Monde, Le Figaro and L’Equipe (providing the sport news)
- daily papers that are region based: Le Parisien, Ouest-France, Le Progrès de Lyon, etc.
- free newspapers: different papers have been given for free in the metro for example

How can I use French newspapers to learn French?

I highly recommend my students to regularly read French newspapers in order to learn new vocabulary on current issues. Nowadays, the Internet makes it easier for everyone to access theses resources. Pick a short article on a subject that you already know or that interests you. You can use this method with your teacher during your French lessons with Live-French.net.

Bonne lecture!

Conjugation of French verbs

January 15th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Grammar and Vocabulary - (0 Comments)

One of the most difficult topic students finds when they learn French is how to conjugate French verbs.

Groups of verbs in French

First of all, let try to separate the problems. French verbs can be split into 3 groups:
- the first group: verbs that end with -er in the infinitive. They follow the pattern of parler for example. They are regular!
- the second group: verbs that end with -ir in the infinitive. They follow the pattern of finir for example. They are also regular!
-the third group: verbs that are not part of the first group or the second group, they follow very different patterns. As you may understand, they are irregular verbs!

Resources to learn how to conjugate French verbs

I usually recommend this website -http://www.leconjugueur.com/ –  to learn and review third group verbs. (You should be able to conjugate first group and second group verbs without any problem.)

Whatever your level, French conjugation is a difficult topic. Make sure you know by heart the most common ones.

Good luck!

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