Les Nationalités

Cats and kittens,

Here's a link to a Google doc file I created. You'll find:

Entire classic books written or translated to French (divided by country/continent + by genre in the French section)

The first chapter FR/EN of very famous novels

Quizzes (made by yours truly)

Have fun!

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Lexicity

Let me introduce you to a great, great website: Lexicity. It contains resources regarding dead languages (Mayan, Sumerian, Old Norse, to only quote a few). And it, of course, has an Old French section.

Have fun, my pretties!

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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

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What to do during lockdown

(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!

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a masterpost on being productive

how to be productive after school

how to have a productive year

how to be as productive as Hermione Granger

how to study for longer

how to increase productivity and get stuff done

how to stay focused, motivated and on track

planning apps

what to do when you’re super distracted

top 10 productivity tips

productivity hack ft google cal

easy organisation tips that increase productivity

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Un coup de

Un coup d’arrêt: end (official)

Un coup de balai: a sweep (donner+)

Un coup de barre: sudden fatigue (2PM type)(avoir+)

Un coup de bol/pot: a lucky strike

Un coup de cafard: fit of blues (avoir+)

Un coup de chaleur: heat exhaustion

Un coup de chance: stroke of luck

Un coup de chiffon: light dusting

Un coup de coeur: infatuation

Un coup de crayon: a pencil line

Un coup d’essai: a first attempt

Un coup d’état: a coup

Un coup d’envoi: a kick-off

Un coup de feu: a gunshot (tirer+)

Un coup de fil/téléphone: a phone call (passer+)

Un coup de foudre: love at first sight

Un coup de frein: sharp braking (donner+)

Un coup de génie: a stroke of genius

Un coup de grâce: coup de grâce

Un coup de gueule: a rant (passer+)

Un coup de main: (giving) a hand (donner+)

Un coup de maître: a master stroke

Un coup de mou: a sluggish period

Un coup d’oeil: a glance (jeter+)

Un coup de pied: a kick (donner+)

Un coup de pinceau: a brush stroke

Un coup de poing: a punch

Un coup de soleil: a sunburn (attraper/prendre+)

Un coup d’un soir: a one-night stand

Un coup de tête: a head-butt

Un coup de théâtre: a dramatic turn of event

Un coup de tonnerre: a clap of thunder

Un coup de vent: a gust of wind

Un coup de vieux: feeling old (ex: when your nephew doesn’t know what a floppy disk is)(prendre+)

Un coup du lapin: whiplash

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Number-based expressions

À deux pas d'ici - Nearby

À nous deux - En garde

À quatre pattes - On all fours

À six pieds sous terre - Buried

À un de ces quatre - See you soon (casual)

Attendre cent-sept ans - Waiting forever

Aux quatre coins du monde - All over the world

Avoir deux mains gauches - Being very clumsy

Avoir deux mots à dire à qqun - Having someone to scold

Avoir du mal à joindre les deux bouts - Struggling to earn enough

Avoir la boule à zéro - Being bald/shaved

Avoir le cul entre deux chaises - Not knowing what to do (casual)

Avoir le moral à zéro - Being depressed

Avoir les deux pieds sur terre - Being realistic

Avoir un cheveu sur la langue - Having a lisp

Avoir un poil dans la main - Being lazy

Avoir zéro défaut - Being flawless

Blague à deux balles, f - Crappy joke

Brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts - Spending too much

Ça fait deux - It's incompatible (Moi et les maths, ça fait deux)

C'est reparti comme en quatorze - Here we go again

C'était moins une - It was almost too late

Chercher à midi à quatorze heures - Complicating things

Cinquième roue du carosse, f - Third wheel

Comme pas deux - Better than anyone (casual)

Compter deux par deux - Skip count by twos

Couper la poire en deux - Finding a compromise

Couper les cheveux en quatre - Being very/too meticulous

De deux choses l'une - Here are the options

De mes deux - useless (Voiture de mes deux!)

De première nécessité - Absolutely essential

De seconde main - Secondhand

Deux fois, ça va, trois fois, bonjour les dégâts - It will be a mess

Deux-pièces, m - Two-roomed flat, Bikini

Deux-roues, m - Two-wheeled vehicle

Deux-temps, m - Two-stroke

Dire à qqun ses quatre vérités - Telling smn a few home truths

Dire qqc cent fois - Repeating oneself

Dormir sur ses deux oreilles - Being at peace with oneself

Durer trois plombes - Taking a long time (casual)

En deux coups de cuillère à pot - Very quickly

En deux temps trois mouvements - very quickly

En huit - Of next week (Jeudi en huit)

En quinze - In two weeks

En un mot comme en mille - In a nutshell

Entre les deux mon coeur balance - I don't know what to pick

État second, m - Trance (after medication, drug, illness)

Être à deux doigts de - Being very close to

Être au septième ciel - Being very happy

Être haut-e comme trois pommes - Being little (for a child)

Être plié-e en deux - Laughing very hard

Être tiré-e à quatre épingles - Being very well dressed

Être uni-es comme les doigts de la main - Being very good friends

Faire deux poids deux mesures - Having double standards

Faire d'une pierre deux coups - Killing two birds with one stone

Faire les cent pas - Pacing

Faire les quatre cents coups - Being up to mischief

Faire les trois-huit - Having an eight hour shift

Freiner des quatre fers - Digging in heels

Grand huit, m - Rollercoaster

Jamais deux sans trois - All things come in threes

Je te le donne en mille - You'll never guess

Le mot de cinq lettres - Shit (Merde)

Les deux font la paire - They are two of a kind

Les deux mon capitaine - Both options are reasonable

Les quatre fers en l'air - Flat on the back

Manger comme quatre - Eating a lot

Ménage à trois - Love triangle

Merci mille fois - Thank you so much

Mille-feuilles, m - Cream slice

Mille-pattes, m - Centipede

Mouton à cinq pattes, m - Something exceptional

Ne faire ni une ni deux - Deciding without hesitating

Ne faire qu'un (avec) - Being one with

Ne pas avoir un radis/rond - Being broke (casual)

Ne pas gagner des mille et des cent - Not earning much

Ne pas se le faire dire deux fois - Not having to be told twice

Ne pas y aller par quatre chemins - Going straight to the point

Ne rien savoir faire de ses dix doigts - Being lazy, uncapable

Neuf fois sur dix - Nine times out of ten

Nombre premier, m - Prime number

Paris ne s'est pas fait en un jour - Rome wasn't built in a day

Prendre son courage à deux mains - Plucking up courage

Quatre à quatre - Very quickly

Quatre-heures, m - Snack

Quatre-quarts, m - Pound cake

Recevoir cinq sur cinq - Understanding stg perfectly

Remettre les compteurs à zéro - Starting over

Repartir à zéro - Starting over

Semaine des quatre jeudi, f - The month of Sundays

Se mettre en quatre (pour qqun) - Doing a lot to give a favour

Se mettre sur son trente-et-un - Dressing up to the nines

S'en moquer comme de l'an quarante - Not caring (casual)

Se parler entre quatre z'yeux - Talking face to face

Se ressembler comme deux gouttes d'eau - Looking identical

Se saigner aux quatre veines - Depriving oneself

Tomber sur un os - Hitting a snag

Tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche (avant de parler) - Thinking before speaking

Tous les trente-six du mois - Once in a blue moon

Treize à la douzaine - In large quantities

Trente-trois tours, m - Long-playing record

Troisième âge, m - Senior citizens

Un à la fois - One at a time

Un-e de perdu-e, dix de retrouvé-es - Plenty more fish in the sea

Un homme averti en vaut deux - Forewarned is forearmed

Un jour ou l'autre - Some day

Vingt dieux - Holy crap (casual/old)

Vingt-quatre heures sur vingt-quatre - 24/7

Voir trente-six chandelles - Seeing stars

Y regarder à deux fois - Thinking before making a decision

*Qqun/Quelqu'un - Someone; Qqch/Quelque chose - Something

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French Children’s Books

An anon asked me for french beginners books, which I’m assuming meant children’s books. If not, just let me know what you did mean, nonny.

1. Le Petit Nicolas- these are adorable short stories that are about a little french boy in the 60s. I’ve read a few, and they were all pretty simple to read, plus the pictures were cute.

2. Le Petit Prince- this is a story about the little prince and those that he meets. Though it’s super famous, I actually haven’t read it yet because it’s said to be pretty hard for a “children’s” book.

3. Max and Lili- this is a series about Max and Lili, 2 siblings. It talks about everyday life and seems really cute.

4. Madeleine- stories about a little girl and her 12 classmates.

5. Mr. Leon’s Paris/ Le Paris de Leon- a book about the adventures of a taxi driver in Paris.

There are also some great sites where you can find children’s books:

1. The French Experiment- a site with a few famous stories like the 3 little pigs and goldilocks and the 3 bears translated into french. This site is great because it has the English translation along with the french.

2. Children’s Books Forever- they have a ton of children’s books. There are a lot of languages other than french too.

3. Jeunesse- this site has stories for ages 0 to 12, and it separates it’s stories by time it should take to read them (less than 5 mins to over 20 mins). The stories are all pretty cute and fun to read.

I hope this list was helpful, nonny! Good luck with your reading!

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Diary Writing in French

cher journal - dear diary

- you can talk about how your day was - this is a great opportunity to apply your knowledge of past tenses. 

How to say that you had a good day -

j’ai passé une très bonne journée

j’ai passé une excellente journée

j’ai passé une belle journée

j’ai eu une merveilleuse journée

j’ai passé une journée fantastique

How to say that you had a bad day -

Je n’ai pas eu une bonne journée

j’ai eu une journée affreuse - a really bad day

j’ai eu une mauvaise journée

j’ai passé une journée difficile 

How to say that you had a busy day - 

j’ai eu une journée des plus occupés

j’ai eu une journée chargée

la journée d’aujourd’hui s’est avérée fort occupée

How to say that you had a quiet/relaxing day - 

j’ai eu une journée tranquille

j’ai passé une journée tranquille

j’ai profité d’une journée de détente

Talking about time -

hier - yesterday

hier soir - last night

hier matin - yesterday morning

hier après-midi - yesterday afternoon

demain - tomorrow

demain matin - tomorrow morning

demain après-midi - tomorrow afternoon

demain soir - tomorrow evening

le lendemain - the next day

cette semaine - this week

la semaine dernière - last week

la semaine prochaine - next week

ce mois-ci - this month

le mois dernier - last month

le mois prochain - next month

cette année - this year

l’année dernière - last year

l’année prochaine - next year

when talking about a coming day e.g. next saturday = samedi prochain/le samedi suivant

To add a dash of drama -

et mon cul, c’est du poulet ? - yeah right!

faire du cinéma - to be a drama queen

j’ai du mal à croire que - I can’t believe that

jai vraiment foiré sur ce coup là - I really stuffed up!

je n’arrive pas à y croire ! - I can’t believe it

je n’en crois pas mes yeux - I can’t believe my eyes

je n’en reviens pas ! - I can’t believe it!

mon cul ! - my arse! (when you don’t believe someone, say if they’ve been lying to you)

Let me know if there is anything that you think I should add or if there are any corrections:)

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So, I’m an Anki user and I’m completely aware of how intimidating Anki can be upon first glance. Here are some Anki add-ons that can help make the experience a better one. Feel free to suggest your favorites as well!

Pokemanki: For each basic deck you have, this add-on gives you a Pokémon egg, and it grows stronger as you review. I am a huge Pokémon fan, so this is a necessary add-on in my opinion.

Migaku Vacation: This add-on lets you take sick days and vacations from your Anki reviews, to not make the process so overwhelming if you miss a day.

Anki IPA: Haven’t personally used this one yet, but as a linguist it’ll be super helpful for French. It transcribes your cards into IPA instantly! Only a handful of languages are supported, so check it out. 

Pull from Duolingo: This will take words you’ve learned so far in your Duolingo course and make them into cards! Definitely great for those beginning stages of a language when you aren’t sure how to make your Anki deck.

Puppy Reinforcement: Nice puppies tell you you’re doing a good job :)

Anki Simulator: This one lets you simulate your progress. I like looking at shiny graphs, so if you do too then this is for you.

Migaku Spanish: This add-on features audio recordings, color coding for grammatical gender, and a dictionary. It’s also available for French and Portuguese and - I think - German, if I’m not mistaken.

Beeline: It adds gradients to text to make it easier to read. Helpful for long blocks of text!

Beautify Anki: Are you tired of the boring grey background of Anki? This is one of your options. It’s an attempt to make the interface a lot more friendly-looking.

Randomize Fonts: I literally had ZERO idea why you would use this one for fun, but one of the reviews pointed out it’s good for identifying words in different contexts, and if you are learning a language that uses a script that isn’t what your native language is written in, this could definitely be cool!

Anki Accountability 2: Allows you to generate a report to send to someone about your consistency with your reviews. Could be useful among a competitive group of friends, or for language teachers who would like to implement use of Anki in the classroom!

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