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How to say you in French?
French Online Courses, Learning New Language

How to say you in French?

There are two forms of “you” in French: “tu” and “vous”.

If modern English doesn’t have that difference anymore, it used to. Shakespeare uses “you” and “thou”.

tu = you

vous = thou

There are two rules regarding the usage of “tu” and “vous” in French.

1.Old English used “you” to refer to one person (singular) and “though” to refer to several people (plural). The same logic applies to French. Exemple: Pierre, tu regardes la télé ?– Pierre, are you watching TV? Exemple: Marie et Sophie, vous avez vu le nouveau James Bond ? Mary and Sophie, did you see the new James Bond?

2.The second rule refers to a certain number of social codes. – the use of “tu”: informality between friends an adult talking to a child – the use of “vous” formality to acknowledge hierarchy (an employee talking to his boss and vice versa) you can refer to someone by his or her first name and still you the “vous” form; however this is rather old-fashioned. Général Charles de Gaulle would use “vous” and her first name to talk to his wife.

 

If uncertain about “tutoyer” or “vouvoyer” someone, go with the latter.

Happy Learning Tips from your teacher

Have a great week!

Amelie

Your French Teacher

L’imparfait , French Grammar
French Grammar, French Online Courses

How do you form the imparfait in French?

The imperfect tense is a past tense, but in which cases is it used and how often do French people use it?

Join us in our French Grammar tour at French Lessons Australia and master the past in 5 minutes!

 

When to use it?

The imperfect tense is a past tense used to talk about descriptions. It definitely has a talent to describe things. Example: Henry was a tall, brilliant, and smart man -> Henry était un homme grand, brillant et intelligent.

In English, the Imperfect can also be represented by the Past Continuous. That to say to talk about a situation that was happening when another event interrupted it. For instance: She was playing on her computer when… -> Elle jouait sur son ordinateur quand

The Imperfect generally expresses a situation that happened in the past for an indefinite period of time, without any link with today. Eg. Michael was unhappy with his grades when he was at school -> Michael était mécontent de ses points quand il était a l’école.

Finally, the Imperfect can be used to express a past habit or something you were used to do. Eg. When I was young, I used to work in a office -> Quand j’étais jeune, je travaillais dans un bureau.

How to use it?

The Imperfect tense is easy to learn!

All conjugations except for the verb ‘être’ are formed in the same way!

You know how to conjugate verbs at the present form. So all you need to do to conjugate at the imperfect form is to take the first person of plural (-nous-) at the present form, to drop the “ons” at the end, and to replace it by the correct Imperfect ending.

Example: the verb “chanter” (to sing). The first person of plural in Present is “Nous chantons”. Drop the “ons”. Which gives “chant-” and add the correct ending which are shown below. The Imperfect form will therefore be: je chantais, tu chantais, il chantait, nous chantions, vous chantiez, ils chantaient.

Je -ais

Tu -ais

Il/Elle -ait

Nous -ions

Vous -iez

Ils/Elles -aient

Examples:

  • We used to like -> Nous aimions
  • I danced a lot when I was young -> Je dansais beaucoup quand j’étais jeune.

The only exception is the verb ‘être’ that will be conjugated like this: j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient.

Seems a bit vague? Want to have more precise information about the use of tenses? Or just more information on French in general? Easy! Contact us at info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au

All you want to know about the famous French fashion?
French Culture

All you want to know about the famous French fashion?

French Clothes

Hi everybody!

As you might know, France (and above all, Paris) is the Fashion’s capital! Strolling on the Champs Elysees, and (window?) shopping at a Dior store are part of the Parisian way of life.

Today, we are therefore focusing on the French clothes!

Vocabulary

A basic work outfit is constituted by:

A shirt: une chemise

Pants: un pantalon

A skirt: une jupe

A pair of shoes: des chaussures

Underwear: des sous-vetements

Yet, if this a sunny week-end day, you will perhaps wear a t-shirt (-> un t-shirt), a pair of shorts (-> un short) and a pair of sneakers (-> des baskets). As you see, many words in French are inspired from English.

If you go visiting Paris, you might be wearing an umbrella (-> un parapluie), a raincoat (-> un impermeable), a pullover (-> un pull) and a pair of boots (-> des bottes). The famous leather jacket (-> la veste en cuir) is also a must in Paris, as well as premium materials such as silk (-> la soie), satin (-> le satin), wool (-> la laine) or cashmere (-> le cachemire).

red-umbrella-paris

On the opposite, if you prefer to spend some summer time in the south of France, you might prefer more light clothes such as a dress (-> une robe) or swimwear (-> un maillot de bain).

Now, what about accessories (-> accessoires)?

A belt: une ceinture

Jewellery: des bijoux (eg. a necklace: un collier, a bracelet: un bracelet, earrings: des boucles d’oreille)

A bag: un sac

High heels: des hauts talons

A watch: une montre

History and famous brands

France is known for its famous haute couture!

Along with New York City, London and Milan, Paris is considered as a leading fashion capital. Chanel, Dior, Louboutin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Hermes, Givenchy, Vuitton, or Yves Saint-Laurent are renown brands that made the reputation of the country in the fashion sector!

The French reputation in the fashion field started under Louis XIV, a true fashion lover, in the 17th century. Immense wigs of curled hair has become a trend for all the royal men of that time thanks to the king. The Rococo style did not please peasants who had to pay taxes to support this extravagant and expensive trend among the nobility. In fact, the Marie Antoinette’s taste for the rococo fashion to the detriment of the population, probably accelerated her execution by guillotine by the people.

Today’s reality is (hopefully) more bright for everybody! French haute couture is pretty expensive but, today, many women can afford at least an accessory piece from their favourite brand. Other French fashion brands also flourish and are known for their cheap but trendy clothes.

That’s it for today! I hope you liked this article about clothes and fashion, and we are waiting at French Lessons Australia to hear from you 🙂 contact us at info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au !

The verb faire and its expressions
French Online Courses, French Vocabulary

Faire conjugaison verb of this important french verb

The verb faire, is one of the most used verbs in the French language.

You can translate it in English by “to do” or “to make”, but there are also countless expressions using it with a different meaning. Let’s jump on the French Lessons Brisbane train and learn how to understand this word better…

 

To do/to make

While in English, people make a distinction between two types of actions using either “to make” or “to do”, French people make it perhaps more simple and only use one verb: Faire.

For instance, to say that your friend makes you smile, you will say ‘mon ami me fait sourire’. Besides, if you want to say that you do your homework every weekend, then you’ll say ‘je fais mes devoirs tous les week-ends’.

In a general way, everytime you want to translate the verbs to do or to make, you can use the verb faire.

Expressions using ”faire”

French people really like this verb and tend to use it quite a lot. It

would be too long (and possibly too boring) to list here all the expressions using ”faire” so French Lessons Australia  will only provide you here with the most useful ones:

Talking about the weather: whether it is cold or warm outside, French will say ‘Il fait froid’ (it is cold) or ‘Il fait chaud’ (it is warm). If the weather is nice, you can say ‘Il fait bon’ (it is good), and if the weather is bad you can say ‘Il fait mauvais’ (it is bad).

Talking about the chores: various expressions about chores or sport also use the verb ”faire”. Doing the dishes will be translated by ‘faire la vaisselle’. Doing housework will be ‘faire le menage’. Cooking could be translated by ‘cuisiner’ or ”faire la cuisine’ (to do the kitchen, literally). Going out to buy food will be ‘faire les courses’. If you do a sport, you can always use the verb ”faire” as well: ‘faire du sport’. In this way, swimming can either be translated by ‘nager’ or ‘faire de la natation’. Doing some fitness will be ‘faire du fitness’. Doing bicycle will be ‘faire du velo’, etc…

Some random expressions: when you ask someone to pay attention, you will say ”fais attention” to this person. If you hurt yourself, we use the expression ‘se faire mal’, so in this case you will say ‘je me suis fait mal’. Then, you can also express the fact of becoming very rich: ‘faire fortune’. To explain that something doesn’t matter, you can just say ”ca ne fait rien”. And if you trust someone, you can tell him ‘je te fais confiance’.>

How to conjugate the verb ”faire”

Unfortunately, the verb ”faire”, as most of the very used verbs in French, is an irregular verb. That means that you will need to know its conjugation by heart, but don’t worry it’s pretty easy!

Unfortunately, the verb ”faire”, as most of the very used verbs in French, is an irregular verb.

That means that you will need to know its conjugation by heart, but don’t worry it’s pretty easy!

Je fais = I do, make

Tu fais = You do, make

Il/Elle fait = She does, makes

Nous faisons = We do, make

Vous faites = You do, make

Ils/Elles font = They do, make

This post has been provided by French Lessons Australia, don’t hesitate to contact us via email at info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au

Discover charming Sarlat like a local
French Online Courses

Time to discover Sarlat in France

Traveling is the most enriching experience that unravels a world of wonders and beauty!

Every corner of the world is full of magnificent natural beauty, rich culture and local tales and flavors that make them unique and significant.

France is a country that has so much to offer to every traveller! History, nature, food, wine, crafts and arts and innumerable exotic discoveries are waiting to be explored!

Sarlat, or Sarlat-la-Caneda

It’s  a small but significant commune in south western France. It’s a medieval town that has been left unchanged and offers the ‘old world charm’ that many travellers desire. Walking through this commune is a mystical walk down 14th century France in all its preserved and flourishing ways.

The old town displays restored stone buildings and the quaint streets offer a peek into what was!

This preserved medieval town has become a ‘must visit’ place for the wonderful opportunities and sights it has in store. Let’s take a look at some of the ‘must do’ and ‘must see’ in Sarlat.

  • There are several small villages within Sarlat; each unique and beautiful. The market at Cenac Village, the view across the Dordogne from Domme Village, the castle and riverside peace at La RoqueGageac, the church and market at Perigeaux, the ancient castle and serenity of Bourdeilles, the village built by monks- Brantome, and the quaint St. Jeam de Cole. A visit to each and every village will leave you spellbound!
  • Place des Oies, a former Goose market, is now home to the best Foie Gras, a French speciality. Bronze geese at the square add to the charm!
  • Cathedral Saint Sacerdos is a marvel! It was built in the 12th century and has been reworked upon since then. The varying architectural styles give it a spectacular look.
  • Jardin public du Plantier, formerly the flower garden of the Bishop, today it is a public garden that offers peace and relaxation amongst beautiful nature.

These are just a handful of the numerous jewels you can discover in Sarlat!

A major problem most travellers face is a language barrier. French Lessons Australia helps you get over that hurdle with specially designed online French lessons that can make you an expert at French in no time! Learn French and discover the local essence of Sarlat.

Our online French lessons will help you make your visit to Sarlat more meaningful and memorable! Don’t hesitate and contact us at info@french-lessons-australia.com

The ‘conditionnel’ is the English equivalent of the conditional tense. Yet, they are not built the same way and that’s why French Lessons Sydney offers you this extra lesson!
French Online Courses

Can You Speak Conditional? No More Secret After This Article

The ‘conditionnel’ is the English equivalent of the conditional tense. Yet, they are not built the same way and that’s why French Lessons Sydney offers you this extra lesson! 

Can you speak conditionally? No more secret after this article!

<< Me, if I was very very rich. I would give away my money until I am only very rich. Very rich is enough for me.>>

Formation of French conditional

Whereas in English, the conditional is a compound verb (would + the infinitive), in French it is a one-verb form. To determine the tense of the verb, we should therefore look at its ending.

For the -ir and -er groups of verbs, we only need to add the right ending at the end of the infinitive.

For the -re group, the last ‘e’ is removed and replaced by the correct ending.

Look at this table:

The endings are the same as the ones from the imparfait. However they are not added to the radical of the verb, but to its infinitive (or explained on the table above, to the stem of the future which is really the verb infinitive).

What about verbs with spelling changes and irregular stems?

In fact, if you already know the future tense, you just have to use the irregular stems from the future and add to them the ending provided by the conditional.

Eg. the verb ”vouloir” (to want)

  • Je voudrais
  • Tuvoudrais
  • Il voudrait
  • Nous voudrions
  • Vousvoudriez
  • Ilsvoudraient

Use of the Conditionnel

As in English, the conditional describes an action that would happen in certain circumstances.

Eg. I would eat French food more often, if there was a French restaurant nearby. ->Je mangerais de la nourriturefrancaise plus souvent, s’il y avaitun restaurant francaispres de chez moi.

Do you want to know more about French grammar, or more about what we do at French Lessons Brisbane? Don’t hesitate anymore longer and contact us at info@frenchlessonssydney.net.au !

Learning Something New Makes You a More Happier Person
Learning New Language

Learning Something New Makes You a More Happier Person

Do you know a secret that happiness and Learning are connected? But how deeply?

How learning and happiness are connected?? How Learning Something New Makes You a More Happier Person?

 

That’s the fact that you will become a more happier person once you start learning something new. Blissful people are healthier, learn faster, more successful and even live longer than those who are unhappy. So, Learning French, the most popular language in the world, is not a bad idea.

Happy People’s Behaviour

Happy people are less egocentric, less aggressive, less offensive to others and less prone to illness. Happiness is just as important for a long life as a healthy diet and lifestyle. And hence, that’s a simple reason that they  have high grasping power and learn faster. One of the most persistent myths is that money makes you happy. Money does not equal to happiness.

Knowledge & Happiness Interconnected

In fact, there are many ways in which you can increase your likelihood of happiness. You only have to know what to do. And what not to do. So there is, indeed, a link between happiness and knowledge. Education & knowledge might not necessarily make you richer but a habit of learning always something new does make you better off personality.

A research found that the higher people’s level of general education the more satisfied they were with their daily life and the more worthwhile they felt”. Highly educated people get better jobs that pay more money & enjoyment. They practice healthier lifestyles and have less tension.

Learning Leads to Happiness

In a context of happiness, learning is an extent of commitment & engagement with tasks that provide knowledge and fulfillment. For people who are intensely absorbed in a task, hours pass like minutes. They may be tired by the task but emerge energized and blissful. Everybody should find the work to do that light up their life.

Summary

Whether it’s acquiring a new language or talent, optimistic & delighted personality are built upon patterns of lifelong learning. Cheerful folks are physically and emotionally healthier, more flourishing at learning and work. They are comparatively more creative, more admired, more friendly, less likely to be immoral.

Delighted folks are better in every respect. Happiness reflects your satisfaction level. When you are learning something of your interest, you are satisfied with your learning & yourself and that’s why learning makes you full of joy and gives you genuine happiness.

Best French Restaurants in Australia for Weekend Celebration
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Best French Restaurants in Australia for Weekend Celebration

French Food has its own unique savour that’s why French populace enjoys having French food. French restaurants was more romantic than an Italian meal.

France is a homeland of cooking and food lovers with a lot of interesting facts of the culture of French Food.

“World’s top 50 restaurants” awards of 2015, which was held in London, five are from France, that’s really remarkable and worth celebrating. As per the research, the French masses consume enough cheese to provide 25 kg of cheese per person, making them the largest cheese consumers in the world. In addition the French produce over 300 different kinds of cheese.

There are numerous restaurants operational in France with over 5,000 restaurants in Paris alone. French Food has always been at the height of worldly sophistication. In this blog we discuss about the most famous and successful restaurant in France.

1. Montrachet Paddington Brisbane

Montrachet Bar Comptoir-Restaurant is owned and run by Shannon Kellam and Clare Wallace. Originally created and owned by Thierry and Carol Galichet, Montrachet changed hands in early 2015. Montrachet offers a delight to the palate through a seasonal French menu, and extensive French wine list.

Located: Paddington QLD 40641montrachetpaddingtion-brisbane

Visit:https://montrachet.com.au/

2. Lutece in Brisbane

Lutèce Bistro & Wine Bar in Bardon is the latest French cuisine venture for renowned Brisbane Chef Romain Bapst.Offering traditional French fare, the Lutèce Bistro & Wine Bar menu has a modern twist with an Alsatian spirit, thanks to Mr Bapst’s rich Strasbourgeois heritage.

The restaurant is also the only venue in Brisbane that serves the exquisite pressed duck – a rare French delicacy dating back to the 19th century.Romain Bapst is perhaps best known in Brisbane dining circles for his 13 year tenure at Eagle Street institution II Centro, and later two years at Drift Milton and Brookwater.

Located: Bardon  Q 4065

2lutece-in-brisbane

Visit:http://lutece.com.au/

3. Chez Olivier Le Bistro 

The iconic French restaurant in Melbourne. Located in the heart of Greville Street Village, Prahran, Chez Olivier is the most authentic French bistro Melbourne has to offer.Transport yourself to Paris whilst you indulge your senses with elegant and innovative French cuisine, enjoy our seasonal daily specials, and savour an international selection of wines and aperitifs from our extensive cellar.

Whether it’s a casual lunch or a romantic dinner in Melbourne – or even a sumptuous banquet in your own Private Dining Room – Chez Olivier is the place for classic French dining.

Location : Melbourne

3chez

Visit:http://www.chezolivier.com.au

4. Ananas Bar & Brasserie

A corner of Paris in the heart of Sydney. Nestled away in the heart of Circular Quay is Café Ananas – our touch of Paris and award-winning French restaurant.Glamorous and flirtatious, Café Ananas brings shimmering Parisian glamour to Circular Quay.

Ananas is Sydney’s luxurious French restaurant – where bubbles are enjoyed at the bar after work, you can kick up your heels with some cocktails and authentic French meals are indulged in the Brasserie.

Located : Sydney.

4anansa

Source:www.ananas.com.au

5. Mirazur (11th worldwide)

Mirazur, perched on a hillside by the French-Italian border in Menton, is run by Argentine-born chef Mauro Colagreco. It is 11th in World ranking for delicious food and superfast services.

     Located:  Southeastern France, east of Nice

5mirazur

Visit: http://www.mirazur.fr/en

 6. L’Arpège 

Hot on the heels of Mirazur is L’Arpège at number 12 in the world ranking. Head chef Alain Passard turned heads several years ago upon announcing that he was turning his focus to vegetables from his biodynamic farm near Paris. Located: Paris

6-larpege

5 Reasons learning new Languages can boost your growth amazingly
French Grammar, Learning Tools

5 Reasons learning new Languages can boost your growth amazingly

Why You Should be Learning new Languages, especially French??

Several types of researchers claiming that French, German, Spanish, Polish and Mandarin are the best languages to learn for better career growth.  

Those who speak more than one language have a greater chance to boost their career prospects and get success in business. There are so many reasons for learning a new language. Though the core of the desire to learn a new dialect is to be able to communicate, this is no more crucial than when it comes to business and careers.

In fact, adding at least one other language to your skill set and its fluency to speak can expect an additional 20 to 30 percent pay increase. Having the desired job and a satisfactory career are two very different things. A career indicates that there’s the opportunity for progression, the chance to do always new things and take on additional responsibilities. A career could have you travel the world seeking out new ventures, or even have you moving to work in a new country

The younger generation speaks more additional languages than any other age group, but due to lack of time and time flexibility they would be deterred from learning another language in the future. Alot of professional are more likely to relocate abroad for searching new opportunities and work.  In this blog we will

In this blog we will be speaking about the effect of learning new languages can the play major role  in business and career prospects.

1. Crack the Interview of International Companies

Additional language fluency can give you a noteworthy benefit over other applicants, particularly if the company has international dealings or clients. Day after day, more companies are spreading out across the world. You will likely to find more opportunities to get hired, if you can speak other languages and work with the international organization. Once you’ve found such  new job opportunity, it’s also more likely that you will be hired for your ability to speak a foreign language and more than one language.  As per the studies,  there are more than 60% of companies who want to do business in other countries

  2. Higher remuneration:

There are a lot of benefits of being bilingual and one of the most important is you can earning more money. Candidates that speak more than one language will be offered higher monthly packages compared to the others. There are many people seeking full-time positions who simply can’t get it because of lack of ability to speak more than one language. Even if they have offered full-time job, but still they compromise with fewer wages. Knowing a foreign language can add  15% and 20% to your wage.  For higher positions, it will be extra 10% or more as a bonus.

  3. Opens up for more awesome job opportunities

If you can speak another country’s language, you open up new doors for yourself  and get the chance to  explore new opportunities across the world. Hence, learning new languages have added advantage that gives you an opportunity to explore your dreams  in other countries as well.

We make out that learning new languages would surely be beneficial in everyone’s  professional journey, but what languages are most practical and valuable to learn?French is a language that opens up the world and  the second most widely learned foreign language after English.  Even a basic knowledge of French can make the job much easier, stress-free, more enjoyable and allow you to discuss with people who likes to communicate in French.

French is one of the official (and working) languages of the United Nations (including UNESCO), the European Union, the International Olympic Committee, NATO, OECD, and the International Red Cross.  French is the international language of the theater, the visual arts, dance, architecture, haute cuisine, and fashion industry.

 

  4.Gain confidence:

There any countless professions that particularly favor those with additional language abilities, other than direct translation roles. Knowing a language other than the mother tongue raise your confidence level enormously. Aptitude for learning a new language of speaking  confidently both at home and abroad, making you a better candidate to countenance the globalization feature  of international companies.

 

  5. Outstanding multi-tasking skill sets 

Significantly knowing any new language doesn’t only mean that you can speak it as well. The process of learning an additional language involves the insides of  another culture and tradition. Learning a foreign language builds an understanding of their culture and its people, and helps employees to better interact with others. As per the research, it proves that if you have a capability to learn more than one language, it develops  your multi-tasking skills at the same time.

 

Summary:

The majority of people who can speak a second language, speak French.  So What Exactly Will You Learn?  Well, it doesn’t have to be complicated to communicate with French speakers.  If you’re worried you’ll be stuck at a bus stop or embarrassed at a cafe when you forget what to say. That will be OK. It will be much easier to learn than you think.

If you’re all curious about the world beyond your own day-to-day routine, speaking French (or any other language besides your native tongue) can upgrade your life by increasing opportunities for career, living, travel, friendship, adventure, and love. The more languages you speak, the bigger your world becomes.

For people who want to learn the French language, but don’t have enough time to commit to traditional methods, “Online French Courses” are a good alternative – where  you practice listening and speaking in the car, from your home PC in your free time or learning online.

Online learning has made immense progress in the past several years and has become a viable alternative to more traditional forms of instruction. It’s becoming the norm for people with very little time or money to spare who still want to make progress with their learning.


French Lessons Australia have all your French learning needs covered from beginner, intermediate and advanced conversation classes to Business French classes for adults, travellers and corporate sector.

https://frenchlessonsaustralia.com.au|  0415 799 620  |  info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au

 

French Grammar, French Vocabulary

4 easy fundamental prepositions to indicate great locations

Prepositions are used in both French and English, but according to the context of the sentence, they don’t always have the same meaning or translation.

French Lessons Australia is here to help you out with a specific kind of propositions: the ones that indicate location or direction to or from a place.

 

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a sentence.

Today, we will see the most useful ones in French!

 

à

 

Note that this preposition is always used before the name of a city or a person. When it is a country, the rule change as you will see later in this post.

You perhaps also have noticed that the à becomes ”au” in some cases. When the following noun is masculine (and is not the name of a place like Paris), à becomes au. Eg. I do the shopping at the supermarket =>Je fais les courses ausupermarche.  To indicate a time or a direction, à is also used. Examples:

  • Our meeting is at 3pm -> Notre reunion est à 3h de l’apres-midi.
  • It is the first on the right ->C’est la premiere à 

 

de

 

Here, de becomes d’ when a word starting with a vowel follows the preposition. Eg. My boyfriend comes from Australia -> Mon petit amivientd’Australie.

The form ”du” is also possible. It is in fact the contraction of ”de le” (from the) that cannot be said in French. When the place of origin is not a geographical name (eg le bureau, le jardin, le magasin) but is masculine, you will use du. If this is not geographical name but it is feminine, you will say de la. Eg. I come from the bakery -> Je pars de laboulangerie.

De can also be translated by about when it is used with verb ”parler” (to talk). Eg. What are you talking about? ->De quoi parles-tu?

 

 

dans/en

 

When you talk about a country, you can either use the preposition en or au, depending if the country is feminine or masculine. Eg. (1) I am in France -> Je suisen France (feminine name). (2) She is in Canada -> Elle estau Canada. (masculine name)

 

chez

 

That’s it for today, I hope this post was helpful and we hope to hear from you soon at info@frenchlessons-Autralia.com.au

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