Listening Practice

TV for Listening Practice

French TV
Watching TV is a great way to practice listening to French while learning about French culture. Here's how to access French TV from anywhere in the world, along with links to some popular series.

   

Vocabulary Lists

Clothing

French clothing
Learn the French words for clothing so that you can dress yourself in French. Click any underlined word or phrase to hear it pronounced.

   

Expressions

Comprendre Expressions

French expressions with arriver
The French verb comprendre, which means "to understand" as well as "to comprise," is found in many idiomatic expressions, including to believe, to misunderstand, and to not be able to take a joke. Learn these and dozens of other French expressions featuring comprendre.

Expressions

Je ne sais quoi

Je ne sais quoi
There's a certain je ne sais quoi about the French expression je ne sais quoi, don't you think? Read this lesson to find out what it is!

   

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Travel and Culture

Synonyms for French

Synonyms for French
French journalists try to avoid using the same words over and over, and nowhere is this more obvious than when describing something as "French." Français is of course the standard term, but there are several synonyms used to describe government, culture, sports teams, etc.

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Grammar Lessons

An/jour/matin/soir vs 
année/journée/matinée/soirée

An vs année, jour vs journée
French has two words for each of the following: year, day, morning, and evening, and they cause no end of difficulties for non-native speakers. Why is it that English can get away with one word for each of these temporal markers when French needs two? The answer lies in how you look at them.

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