Listening Practice

Scribe – Dictées

French dictées
Dictées, or dictation exercises, are excellent for working on your French listening comprehension as well as spelling, vocabulary, and grammar all at the same time. Scribe is a very sophisticated program that provides real-time feedback as you listen and type.

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Grammar Lessons

Verb Misconjugation

French verb misconjugationIn verb tables, the subject is conveniently placed right in front of the verb, which makes figuring out the correct conjugation very straightforward. But it doesn't take long to discover that other words sometimes come between them and sometimes lead to misconjugation.

   

Literature

Delphine

Delphine, by Mme de Staël
Read the first few paragraphs of Madame de Staël's epistolary novel Delphine.

   

Expressions

Peut-être

Peut-être
Maybe you should take a few minutes to learn about the essential French expression peut-être.

Grammar Lessons

Y – Adverbial Pronoun

Y - French adverbial pronounThe adverbial pronoun y can replace a place or the object of the preposition à. Y is most commonly equivalent to "there" or "here," but may also be translated by a preposition plus "it."

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Pronunciation Guides

IPA – Vowels

French IPA - vowel soundsFrench has 19 different vowel sounds and therefore 19 IPA symbols for vowels, divided into three categories: normal vowels, nasal vowels, and semi-vowels.

   

   

Reading Practice

Bastille de Grenoble

Isère à Grenoble
Le fort de la Bastille, un ancien fort militaire construit sur le mont Rachais du massif de la Chartreuse, est l'un des premiers sites touristiques de l'Isère. Les courageux peuvent y monter en voiture ou même à pied, mais à peu près la moitié des quelque 600 000 visiteurs par an y arrivent par le téléphérique.

   

Listening Practice

Mai 68

Mai 68French videoMay 1968 was a turning point in French history. Learn how students and workers revolutionalized France in this video.

   

Grammar Lessons

Compound Noun Plurals

French compound nounsFrench compound nouns are made up of two or more words, often connected by hyphens. Making them plural can be a little tricky, but there are two rules that generally apply.

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Expressions

À poil

À poil
You don't have to be in your birthday suit to learn about the familiar French expression à poil.

   

Pronunciation Guides

H muet

French h muetThe French H muet is not just silent, but essentially non-existent: words that begin with H muet act as if they begin with a vowel.

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