Tá mé ag (taw may egg): I am… Níl mé ag (neel may egg): I am not…
- ithe (like “i” in the word “in” -ha): eating - ól (“hole” without the h): drinking - féachaint (faykent): watching - léamh (layuv): reading - staidéar (stad-air): studying - foghlaim (fowl-um): learning - lorg (lurg): looking/searching for - caitheamh (ka-hiv): wearing - caint (ka-int): talking - damhsa (da-u-sa): dancing - gáire (gaw-ira): laughing - caoineadh (queen-ah): crying - siúl (shool): walking
(and work on your French):
Work on your pronunciation
Read some classics
Read some fanfiction
Listen to podcasts
Listen to TED Talks
Listen to music
Listen to the radio
Watch french movies (detailed, by period and type)
Watch dubbed/subtitled movies: The Simpson, Cesar and Cleopatra, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Red Shoes, La Vérité
Watch cartoons
Watch youtubers
Watch let’s plays: 1 2 3 4 5
Work on some MOOCs
Learn about black holes, Pompei, giant animals, gladiators, the Dreyfus affair, Charles Manson, ants, Leonardo da Vinci, Rome, smelly cheeses, Mozart, the Bermuda triangle, meditation…
Follow french subreddits
Search our social media
Visit the Louvre online
Check my practice tag
And make sure your priorities are in order!
can you please make a list of really popular french songs? like, the type of songs that if you play them at a party in france almost everybody knows all the words and can dance to them.
Hi, this has been taking root in my asks for a while and I’m sorry but this is a hard question; people born in Nice in the 60s and in Trappes in the 90s will have extremely different references. And the dancing criteria makes it worse.
What people are likely to know, regardless of social context: the most famous songs of Piaf (La vie en rose, Mon manège à moi, maybe Milord), Aznavour (La bohème, Hier encore, Emmenez-moi), Brel (La chanson des vieux amants, Ne me quitte pas, Quand on a que l’amour), Gainsbourg (La javanaise, Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais, Le poinçonneur des lilas), Brassens (La mauvaise réputation, Les copains d’abord, Gare au gorille), etc.
Stuff a bit less old (to not say younger, as I’m talking 80s): Michel Berger (Le paradis blanc, La groupie du pianiste), Indochine (L’aventurier, J’ai demandé à la lune, Trois nuits par semaine), France Gall (Ella Elle l’a, Il jouait du piano debout, Poupée de cire), Daniel Balavoine (Le chanteur, L’aziza, Mon fils ma bataille), Joe Dassin (Et si tu n’existais pas, A toi, Pour un flirt avec toi), etc.
Then: Jean-Jacques Goldman (Je te donne, Là-bas, Quand la musique est bonne, Au bout de mes rêves), Mylène Farmer (Désenchantée, Libertine, Sans contrefaçon), Garou (Seul, Sous le vent, Belle), Céline Dion (Pour que tu m’aimes encore, On ne change pas, S’il suffisait d’aimer), Florent Pagny (Savoir aimer, Ma liberté de penser, Là où je t’emmènerai), etc.
2000s: BB brunes’ Dis-moi, Kyo’s Dernière danse, L5′s Toutes les femmes de ta vie, Larusso’s Tu m’oublieras, Matt Pokora’s Elle me contrôle, Renan Luce’s La lettre, Superbus’ Lola, Tragédie’s Hey ho, Diam’s La boulette, Fatal Bazooka’s Mauvaise foi nocturne, Rose’s La liste, etc.
2010s: Sexion d’assaut’s Avant qu’elle parte and Désolé, Colonel Reyel’s Celui and Aurélie, Mika’s Elle me dit, Stromaé’s Alors on danse and Papaoutai, Kendji Girac’s Andalouse and Bella, Louane’s Jour un and Avenir, etc.
Currently are huge: Aya Nakamura’s Jolie nana, Hatik’s Angela, Bosh’s Djomb, Vitaa and Slimane’s Versus, Jul’s La machine, Maes’ Les derniers salopards, Gambi’s La vie est belle.
Now-
I was born in 1992. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve never heard of because I’m not that interested in current stuff - I’ve never listened to Jul, for example. Had you asked your question to a 14-year-old, they would probably mention him very quickly. What I can say is that people my age would destroy everything up to the 2000s at a karaoke session, and then start having issues; whereas my younger sibling, eight years younger than me, would have the exact opposite problem. Why? Because I heard the very old stuff on the radio, before the Internet even happened; nowadays, people don’t listen to the radio anymore, they go on Youtube or Spotify, so they don’t experience that stuff.
So I’m afraid there’s not really *one* answer to that question, except maybe if you want to focus on lame stuff DJs play at parties when people are starting to be bored, like Les démons de minuit ou Partenaire particulier. Those will get everybody on their feet. But that’s probably not what you’re looking for!
Hope this still helps! x
In the likely event that this might be helpful to students around the world - so we know that most scholarly articles have to be paid for to access.
I’m not sure if you know this life hack, but the website Sci-Hub unlocks most of them, you just paste the link to the article and chances are it’ll be available to download.
I just figured I’d share this, because I know it’s such a pain when you find a promising article and it’s not free. If this helps a single person then my work here is done.
Rayon (nm.) - aisle, department
Tête de gondole (nf.) - aisle-end display
Étagère (nf.) - shelf
Caddie (nm.) - cart
Panier (nm.) - basket
Faire les courses (fixed exp.) - to do the groceries
Frigo vitrine (nm.) - Refrigerated display case
Épicerie (nf.) - grocery store
Commerce (nm.) - store, trade
Supermarché, hypermarché (nm.) - supermarket
Ticket de caisse (nm.) - receipt
Code-barres (nm.) - bar code
Lecteur optique (nm.) - scanner
Caissier, caissière (nm./f.) - cash register
Rendre la monnaie (fixed exp.) - to give change
Tapis roulant (nm.) - conveyor belt
Caisse (nf.) - cashier
Espèces (nfp.) - cash
Produits alimentaires (nmp.) - food products
Produits d’entretien (fixed exp.) - household/cleaning products
Crémerie (nf.) - dairy section
Électroménager (nm.) - electrical goods
Produits surgelés (fixed exp.) - frozen products
Conserves (nfp.) - canned/tinned food
Plat préparé (nm.) - ready-made dishes
Aries / Bélier 🐏
La ferveur- fervor
Le zéle- zeal
Revenons au nos moutons- let’s get back on topic (lit. Lets come back to our sheep)
Taurus / Taureau 🐮
le bien-être- well being
terre à terre- down to earth
Y a pas le feu au lac- there’s no rush (lit. There’s no fire in the lake)
Gemini / Gémeaux 👯
convaincre- to convince
drôle- funny
tête de linotte- scatterbrained, bird brained
Cancer 🦀
La tendresse- tenderness
sombre- gloomy
Avoir une dent contre (qn)- to hold a grudge against someone (lit to have a tooth against someone)
Leo / Lion 🦁
dramatique- dramatic
la volonté- will
Mettre le main au feu- to be sure of something (lit to set one’s hand on fire)
Virgo / Vierge 👩🏻
sous-estimer- to underestimate
serviable- wiling to help
chercher la petite bête- to nitpick, to find fault (lit to look for the little beast)
Libra / Balance ⚖️
Compromettre- to compromise
la justice- justice
Tourne la langue sept fois (dans la bouche)- think before you speak (lit. Turn your tongue seven times (in your mouth))
Scorpio / Scorpion 🦂
la passion - passion
la pulsion- impulse
tenter le diable- to tempt fate
Sagittarius/Sagittaire 🏹
Au hasard- by chance, at random
la joie de vivre- joy of living
mettre la puce à l’oreille- to get someone thinking about something, to tip off, to warn (lit. To put a flea in the ear)
Capricorn/Capricorne 🐐
le but- goal
la ténacité- tenacity
mettre la main à la pâte- to buckle down, to work hard (lit. To start kneading dough)
Aquarius / Verseau 🍶
excentrique- eccentric
la coopération- cooperation
Cousu de fil blanc- unpredictable (lit. Stiched with white string)
Pisces / Poissons 🐠🐠
Idéaliste- idealistic
sensible- sensitive
comme un cheveu dans la soupe- turning up at a bad time, an awkward moment (lit like a hair in soup)
- take an ebook in your target language that you wanna read - convert epub to txt - copy txt into unique wordlist maker (http://caerphoto.com/uwc/) - remove words in the list you already know - maybe focus on keeping the high frequency new words - make this list into flashcard deck badda bing badda boom
I did this with my Turkish copy of Animal Farm and pulled 212 new words for my Quizlet deck
“キッズボンボン for Children” channel
All of the videos on this list have Japanese subtitles. It is mostly in ひらがな and the words are separated. This and the fact that these videos are aimed for children, makes them great for beginners.
PEACH BOY - MOMOTARO (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
KINTARO (Japanese) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
USHIWAKAMARU (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
SHINING PRINCESS (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE TONGUELESS SPARROW (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE DANCING KETTLE (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE STORY OF THE MONKEY AND THE CRAB (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
CLACK CLACK MOUNTAIN (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
OLD MAN WITH THE LUMP (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
OLD MAN FLOWER (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE YOUNG MONK IKKYU (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE GRATEFUL CRANE (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
URASHIMA TARO (JAPANESE) / うらしまたろう - 浦島太郎(日本語版)Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE SNOW WOMAN (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE ROLLING RICE BALL (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy
INCH BOY (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE CHILD GODS (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
THE STORY OF THE ZODIAC (JAPANESE) Japanese classical stories | fairy tale
All of these videos have an English version on this channel. Search for them or click on this playlist. You can use both versions to study what’s being said.
SNOW WHITE (JAPANESE) fairytale | Folktales | bedtime stories
THUMBLINA (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
PETER PAN (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
A DOG OF FLANDERS (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
PINOCCHIO (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
PUSS IN BOOTS (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
ALADDIN AND THE MAGIC LAMP (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN LITTLE GOATS (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
CINDERELLA (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
THE LITTLE MATCH SELLER | Folktales | bedtime stories
HE MERMAID PRINCESS | Folktales | bedtime stories
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD | Folktales | bedtime stories
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
THE ADVENTURE OF TOM SAWYER (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime
THE WIZARD OF OZ (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
THE UGLY DUCKLING (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (JAPANESE) | Folktales | bedtime stories
All of these videos have an English version on this channel. Search for them or click on this playlist. You can use both versions to study what’s being said.
A
Au grand jamais - never
Aucun-e(s) - none : Je n’en ai vu aucun / I have seen none of them
Aucunement (rare) - by no means
D
Dégun (southern slang) - no one
E
En aucun cas - under no circumstance
En aucune façon - under no circumstance
En aucune manière - under no circumstance
En rien - under no circumstance
G
Goutte - nothing (old, rare) : On n’y voit goutte ici / We can’t see anything
Guère - almost not/nothing (old, rare) : Ce n’est guère plus rapide que le train / This isn’t any faster than the train
J
Jamais - never : Plus jamais ça! / Never again!
Jamais au grand jamais - never ever (dramatic)
Jamais de la vie - never ever
K
Keud (slang), short que ‘que dalle’ (slang for Nothing)
Keutchi (slang)
N
N’ - ne + vowel : Je ne t’aime pas / I don’t love you
Nada - nothing at all : - Did you hear about that? - Nada!
Nan (slang) - nah
Ne - not : Je ne sais pas / I don’t know
Ni - neither/nor : Je n’ai vu ni le chien ni le chat depuis que je suis arrivée / I haven’t seen neither the cat nor the dog since I got here
Niet - nope! (often angry)
Non - no
Non plus - (n)either : Je ne sais pas non plus / I don’t know either
Non plus que
Nul-le - none : Nos jeunes filles à nous sont tellement accomplies, que nulle des filles d’Ève ne peut lutter avec elles ! — (Modeste Mignon, Honoré de Balzac, 1844)
Nulle part - nowhere : Je ne le vois nulle part / I can’t see him anywhere
Nullement - not in any way
O
Ô/oh grand jamais : never ever (dramatic)
P
Pas - not : Je ne sais pas / I don’t know
Pas autrement - not any other way : C’est comme ça et pas autrement
Pas encore - not yet
Pas forcément - not necessarily
Pas plus que
Pas un-e - not one : - Did they offer their help? - Pas un!
Pas un chat - not one cat : Il n’y a pas un chat / There’s no one here
Personne - nobody : Il n’y a personne ici / There’s no one here
Plus : no more - Je ne t’aime plus / I don’t love you anymore
Point - not : Je ne sais point / I don’t know (rare, old)
Q
Que dalle (slang) - nothing : - Did you know about that? - Que dalle!
Que nenni - no (old) : - Are they here yet? - Que nenni!
Que tchi (slang) - nothing
Queude (slang, short for Que dalle) - nothing
R
Rien - nothing : Je ne vois rien / I don’t see anything
To stay: Je vais rester à la maison avec toi aujourd’hui - I am going to stay home with you today
To remain for a while: Ton coup de soleil va rester quelques jours - Your sunburn will remain for a few days
What is left: Il va rester assez pour demain - We are going to have enough left for tomorrow
One still has to: Il me reste à dire au revoir - I still have to say goodbye (i.e. and then I’ll be completely done)
Nevertheless: Il reste qu’ils vont partir plus tôt que prévu - Nevertheless, they are going to leave earlier than planned