How To Get The Most Out Of Duolingo

DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP

I dunno if you ever heard of this couple before but they are legendary for French langblrs and any student studying French. 

Now who are they? 

Well, it’s more like what are they. DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP is a popular acronym and mnemonic to help students remember the verbs that use être for passé composé instead of avoir.

Ex:

      J’ai reçu mes cadeaux .

      I received my presents. 

However for Vandertramp verbs, être is their player.

Ex:

      Je suis sorti mon lycée. 

      I left my highschool. 

Which verbs are Vandertramp verbs?

D - devenir ( to become ) 

R - revenir ( to come back ) 

&

M - monter ( to go up)

R - rentrer ( to return ) 

S - sortir ( to leave )

V - venir ( to come )

A - aller ( to go )

N - naître ( to be born )

D - descendre ( to descend / to go down )

E - entrer ( to enter )

R - retourner ( to return )

T - tomber ( to fall )

R - rester ( to remain )

A - arriver ( to arrive )

M - mourir ( to die )

P - partir ( to leave / to part )

When using these verbs in passé composé, remember that these verbs are être ( to be ) exempted from using avoir in this tense. I really hope this helps you guys in your language journey, trust me, this mnemonic saved me in many paragraphs and papers I had to submit in my French classes. Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to add onto this !

Hoping for better days,

Kopi <3

French idiom "briser la glace"

Meaning : to break the ice.

Example :Je n'aime pas cette situation tendue entre Simon et toi. À mon avis, c'est à toi de briser la glace.

👉Fais un exemple avec l'expression briser la glace".

⬇️Don't forget to Download your 🎁free ebook and start learning French with the 196 words and phrases every beginner should know ! Here

À bientôt,

Chanty

here’s my brainstorming process for writing essays! the example questions i used are pretty straightforward but i use this for more abstract essay questions as well.

Resources masterpost

Being exposed to French:

Websites, social media

IG accounts with lots of stories

Online courses about French

Online courses in French

French subreddits

Fanfictions

Buzzfeed

Improving your:

Pronunciation

Speaking

Stutter

Things to listen:

Music

Podcasts

Radio stations

TED talks

Things to read:

Graphic novels/comics

News

Ebooks + quizzes (by me)

Short stories

Vikidia - kids Wikipedia

Things to watch:

Cartoons

Kids shows

The Simpsons the movie

True crime

TV programs - sci-fi shows, travelling, etc.

Youtubers

Extra:

Antidote 10 + BonPatron - Grammarly equivalents

Conjugation by le Nouvel Obs

Deepl - very good at translating sentences/expressions

Forbo - natives pronouncing things

Lexicity - about Ancien/Moyen Français

Lingolden - Chrome extension that teaches vocabulary

Linguo.tv (french videos + subtitles)

Reverso - very good alternative to Google translation

Talking about your level in French

Here’s a set of sentences you can use to talk about your level in French or any other language! These are as natural as can be without being confusing to non-natives, but to be fair, most French speakers would drop the négation (”ne”) except in a formal setting. You can change most of these sentences to fit your own situation too, so they’re very useful!

Je parle (français) couramment.

I speak (French) fluently.

Je ne parle pas français couramment.

I don’t speak French fluently.

J’apprends (le français) depuis deux ans.

I’ve been learning (French) for two years.

Je suis bilingue.

I’m bilingual.

Je suis niveau B1.

I’m at a B1 level.

J’écris mieux que je parle.

I write better than I speak.

Je suis meilleur(e)/plus fort(e) à l’écrit qu’à l’oral.

I’m better at written French than I am at spoken French./My written French is better than my spoken French. (we just say “écrit” and “oral” for written and spoken language, no need to clarify with “français écrit”, “langue orale” or whatever)

J’ai du mal à parler naturellement.

I have trouble speaking naturally.

Mon point faible, c’est la conjugaison.

My weak point is conjugation.

Le plus dur pour moi, c’est l’orthographe.

The hardest for me is spelling.

J’arrive à comprendre la plupart de ce qu’on me dit.

I can understand most of what people say to me.

Je peux lire un article de journal sans problème.

I can read a newspaper article without any problem.

J’arrive à regarder une série sans sous-titres.

I can watch a show without subtitles.

Mon français n’est pas encore très naturel.

My French isn’t very natural yet.

J’ai du mal avec l’accent.

I’m having trouble with the accent.

J’ai un fort accent (anglais, espagnol, japonais…).

I have a strong (English, Spanish, Japanese…) accent.

Je peux avoir/suivre une conversation en français facilement.

I can have/follow a conversation in French easily.

J’essaie de m’entraîner tous les jours.

I try to practice every day.

The reality about spoken french

We don’t use the negation ne. We say Je sais pas (I don’t know) or On a pas à le faire (we don’t have to do it),

Speaking of which, we prefer using on rather than the pompous nous : On est arrivé-es (we’ve arrived), On y va? (shall we go)

Speaking of which, our questions are often affirmative sentences ending with a question mark (i.e. : a high-pitched tone) : Tu viens? (are you coming), T’en veux un-e? (do you want one).

Speaking of which, we chew words. When followed by words starting with a consonant, personal pronouns can lose their final letter : J’te l’dis! rather than Je te le dis (I’m telling you).

Speaking of which, we’re lazy : Je can be Che (chais pas), Il can be Y (r’garde, y’a un chat!) and grunt : many euh (uh), ah, bah (hum), ben (well), hein (tf?) and rhooo/rhaaa (ffs). We often start sentences with but : Mais tu saoules! (you’re annoying) to express displeasure.

Speaking of which, on top of dropping négations, we drop pronouns : You’re being a pain in my ass should be Tu me fais chier but can be Tu fais chier - maybe to make it universal or dramatic.

Speaking of which, we thrive on sarcasm and irony. To someone who’s babbling, we’ll answer It makes my leg look good.

Speaking of which, we repeat (personal) pronouns at the beginning or end of sentences. We’re likely to ask Qu’est-ce qu’il en dit, lui? and answer Moi, je veux bien (tonic pronouns, careful!).

Speaking of which, we like to use the conditional mode to indicate a wish or hypothesis : lots of Si j’avais su, j’aurais dit oui (had i known, i’d have said yes), J’aimerais bien pouvoir- (I wish I could-), etc.

Speaking of which, we add useless words : Bien (j’irais bien), Petit (un petit peu), Très (très vrai), Trop (je ne sais pas trop), ça (C’est quoi, ça?)…

Speaking of which, let’s stop before you all get disgusted and unfollow me. Remember this is spoken, private french and doesn’t apply to formal situations!

Basic conversation

Hellos :

Bonjour (good day), bonsoir (good evening, from 5/6 pm) (formal)

Salut, coucou (childish), hola, hey (informal)

Hello (without pronouncing the h-) (mostly informal)

Yo, wesh (ironical, ‘ghetto’ slang) (very informal)

Allô (on the phone - neutral)

Introduction :

Je suis ravi-e de vous rencontrer (nice to meet you - formal)

Enchanté-e (charmed - formal)

Je m’appelle X (’I’m called X’)

Je suis la fille de Y (I am Y’s daughter)

J’ai vingt-six ans (’I have 26 years’)

Je vis à paris, en france (I live in paris, france)

Je travaille dans la publicité (I work in advertisement)

J’ai les cheveux bruns et les yeux verts (I have brown hair and green eyes)

Je mesure un mètre soixante-dix pour cinquante kilos (I’m 5′7/110 lbs)

J’ai deux frères mais pas de soeur (I have two brothers but no sister)

Questions :

Comment allez-vous/vas-tu ? (how are you?)

Comment vous appelez-vous/t’appelles-tu? (what’s your name?)

Quel âge avez-vous/as-tu ? (how old are you?)

Où vivez-vous/vis-tu? (where do you live?)

Est-ce que tu as un-e copain/copine? (do you have a so? - informal)

Quel-le(s) est/sont ton/ta/tes/votre(s) x préféré-e(s)/favori-te(s)?

Que faites-vous/fais-tu dans la vie? (what do you do for a living?)

Combien mesurez-vous/mesures-tu? (how tall are you?)

Comment va votre/ta famille? (how’s the family?)

Thanks :

Merci (thank you - neutral)

Merci beaucoup (thank you very much - neutral)

C’est très gentil (that’s very nice - neutral)

C’est très généreux de votre/ta part (it’s very generous of you - formal)

Un grand merci pour votre/ton aide (many thanks for your help - neutral)

Vous n’auriez/tu n’aurais pas dû (you shouldn’t have - neutral)

Mille mercis (a thousand thanks - very formal)

Cimer (verlan - very informal)

You’re welcome :

De rien (informal)

Ce n’est rien (formal)

Pas de problème/soucis (informal)

Avec plaisir (formal)

Je t’ / vous en prie (neutral)

Il n’y a pas de quoi (neutral)

Sorrys :

Je suis désolé-e (after a mistake, i’m sorry - neutral)

Pardon (sorry, after a mistake or in a crowd - neutral)

Excusez-moi (in a crowd, neutral)

Veuillez m’excuser (to excuse yourself, very formal)

Je suis (vraiment) navré-e (after a big mistake, very formal)

Je regrette (i wish that didn’t happen/i didn’t - neutral)

Goodbyes :

Au revoir (goodbye - neutral) 

À bientôt (see you soon - neutral)

À tout de suite (see you in a bit - neutral)

À demain/mardi (see you tomorrow/on Tuesday - neutral)

À la semaine prochaine (see you next week - neutral)

À tout à l’heure (see you later today - neutral)

Bonne journée/soirée/nuit (good day, evening, night - neutral)

Ravi-e de vous avoir connu-e(s)/rencontré-e(s) (glad we met - formal)

french winter vocabulary

l’hiver - the winter

décembre - december

janvier - january

février - februray

la neige - the snow

la boule de neige - the snowball

le flocon de neige - the snowflake

la glace - the ice

le froid - the cold

la manteau d’hiver - the winterjacket

les gants - the gloves 

l’écharpe - the scarf

le chandail - sweater

le manteau - the coat

la luge - the sled

faire de la luge - to go sledding

faire du ski - to go skiing

faire du patin - to go iceskating

renifler - to sniffle

le rhume - the cold (sickness)

le chocolat chaud - the hot chocolate 

le thé - the tea

le café - the coffee

la tasse - the cup

la cheminée - the fireplace

les fêtes - the winterbreak

la couette - the duvet

les oreillers - the pillows

un matin sombre - a dark morning

phrases

il neige ! - it’s snowing!

j’ai froid - i’m cold

j’ai un rhume - i have a cold

tu veux (voulez-vous) [faire de la luge]? - do you want [to go sledding]?

je voudrais [une tasse de chocolat chaud], s’il vous plaît - i would like [a cup of hot chocolate], please

[changeable] (formal) ! please correct me if i’m wrong !

Keep reading

{26/08/2017} Revising french still, I found the doodle in the first picture particularly helpful, so i thought i would share it with you! ✨

Chrome extensions I actually use as a mentally ill university student

Making websites easier to digest:

Dark Reader - Changes any webpage to dark mode.

Mercury Reader - Simplifies the layout of any webpage to eliminate distractions and irritating formatting.

Podcastle AI - Turns any article into a podcast. This is a lifesaver for being able to process what I’m reading, to be honest.

Spelling/grammar:

LanguageTool - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who regularly type in more than one language.

Grammarly - Spelling and grammar check for those of us who only type in English. Can be used with LanguageTool installed, which is what I do.

Google Dictionary - Define any word on the webpage with a double-click.

Google Translate - Translate an entire webpage or even just a short segment.

Misc:

AdGuard Adblocker - After trying quite a few adblocker options, this is the one I find the best.

The Great Suspender - Automatically suspend inactive tabs to help with performance. <- as an edit, I don’t believe this is available anymore

Honey - Try coupon codes automatically to save money on online purchases.

Built-in Chrome tab grouping - Group your tabs to keep organized and minimize distracting clutter.