Le blog de Pascal

Tatsuo lives in Tokyo where he works for a public organization. He’s passionate about the French language and culture, and plans to get even more involved when he retires in a year’s time, in 2026!!!! He shares with us the keys to his learning and the immersion stay that changed everything on his way to passing his exam. “After 3 unsuccessful attempts, I finally passed the level 1 bis exam on the scale for learning French in Japan, called Diplôme d’Aptitude Pratique au Français (DAPF).… Read more: 仏検準１級に合格！ How I finally passed my French exam!

Annette came from Nigeria on a language immersion trip to improve her French. “On Saturday afternoon, we went to Nantes and when we got there, we discovered the Memorial for the Abolition of Slavery. I was very moved to discover how people, men, women, children, in short human beings, were treated, in both senses of the word: mistreatment and the slave trade. I knew the story, but I wasn’t aware of what the victims had gone through. At the Memorial, I really felt the pain… Read more: The Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes: pure emotion.

Some useful phrases for going to the dentist: La conversation chez le dentiste : Would you like to find out more or enjoy an effective immersive experience to learn French? I’m at your disposal. A few colourful expressions : 1. Avoir une dent contre quelqu’un. This colloquial expression means “to bear a grudge against someone”, “to hold a grudge against someone”. 2. Parler entre ses dents. This expression is used to refer to a person who murmurs, who doesn’t articulate, who doesn’t speak loudly enough… Read more: Today, we’re going to explore a world we’d all like to live without: the dentist… And yet he’s indispensable, even if the mere sound of the roulette wheel would scare many away, including me…

Or why it is absolutely necessary to put things into perspective and to play it down in order to get out of it… A few weeks ago, it was “Ke Bi” who asked us: “Do you have an explanation for the pronunciation of the letter x ( s ) in dix-sept and ( z ) in dix-neuf?  “ A picture is worth a thousand words and we will let Arnaud Hoedt and Jérôme Piron, linguists by training, answer this question in a hilarious way.  A… Read more: What if it was the spelling’s fault after all?

I would love to know how you learned to spell the words in French… It’s a very difficult spelling that contains many exceptions…How do you manage to have all these words in your head? Here is my answer:  Since a large proportion of native French speakers have significant difficulties with written French, your goal of excellence is commendable but virtually unattainable for three reasons::  1- difficulties and exceptions have been consciously generated over the centuries by the dominant class to classify and sort learners by… Read more: The question of the day is from Amer Grine, from the group: French, reading and writing…

When he talks, he talks, he talks and I can’t get a word in edgewise… It is sometimes a very embarrassing situation for learners to have worked hard beforehand to be able to participate in a conversation and to find themselves in an exchange where a native French speaker monopolizes the floor without leaving any room for the interlocutor who is making the effort to speak in French. It is even worse when our learners understand 90% of the information that is transmitted and there… Read more: The art of conversation, a shared responsibility…