This Is The (extremely Generic And Basic) Essay Framework That I Use For Most Of My Papers! Keep In Mind

STUDYING in French

WHAT PEOPLE REALLY DO WHEN THEY STUDY

procrastiner - to procrastinate

TO STUDY

étudier - to study

bosser à fond - to work (hard)

bosser comme un fou/un malade - to work like mad

bosser dur - to buckle down

faire des recherches (sur) - to research/do research (on)

la lecture générale - background reading

travailler - to work

se mettre au travail - to get to work/buckle down

s’y mettre (sérieusement) - to buckle down

IN THE EXAM

avoir un trou (de mémoire) - to draw a blank

se creuser le cerveau/les cervelles/le ciboulot - to rack your brains

deviner - to guess

réussir haut la main - to breeze through (the exam)

TO PASS

réussir - to pass (an exam)

y aller au talent - when you pass a test without having studied e.g. j’y vais au talent

***NOTE: passer un examen ONLY means to do an exam, not to ‘pass it’

TO FAIL

échouer à (un examen) - to fail an exam

ne pas avoir son examen - to fail an exam

rater ses études - to fail your exams

ACADEMIC SUCCESS/FAILURE/ACHIEVEMENTS

être en échec scolaire - to underperform at school/be a dropout

rater ses études - to fail your course

Teen French expressions

For if you want to make hip young friends.

Disclaimer: French people complain a lot. A lot. Don’t be surprised if 90% of these expressions are complaining.

Non mais oh - say this if someone does something mildly annoying and you want to express your shock and distaste.

Tu me fais chier - (alt. tu me fais chier, là.) literally ‘you make me shit’. means you’re pissing me off.

Carrément - translates to ‘squarely’. Means ‘literally’. If someone tells you something surprising or annoying, you can answer simply “ah carrément.” see: tu me fais carrément chier.

J’hallucine / je rêve - are you annoyed by something? say these.

C’est pas possible - a classic. anything bad happens - c’est pas possible. There is no cheese left? It’s not possible. I’m hallucinating. This is a burden on me that solely I can bear I cannot believe this is happening.

Ça commence à me gaver - I’m starting to get real sick of this. see: Ça commence carrément a me gaver là, putain.

T’es relou - verlan slang for ‘lourd’ meaning someone’s heavy, personality-wise. They’re tedious.

Ça me saoûle / ça me gonfle - similar to gaver, means something’s pissing you off, you’re sick of it.

Grave - totally.

C’est clair - totally/that’s clear. Like ‘claro’ in spanish. “Justine elle est trop relou” “C’est clair. Elle me fait chier.”

J’en ai marre - I’m sick of this.

J’en ai ras le bol - I’m sick of this.

J’en ai ras le cul - I’m sick of this (vulgar).

(J’en ai) Rien à battre - I don’t give a damn.

(J’en ai) Rien à foutre - I don’t give a fuck.

C’est bon, là. -  That’s enough.

Perso, euh, - “Personally,” generally used at the start of a complaining sentence, to express how personal the matter is to you. Perso, euh, c’est bon là. J’en ai ras le cul.

Rôh là - general expression of distaste. Le longer the rôh, the more annoyed you are. Rôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôôh, c’est quoi ce bordel.

C’est quoi ce bordel ? - translates to “what’s this brothel”, means “what’s this shit?!”

C’est de la merde - It’s shit.

C’est une blague ? - Is this a joke?

Idem - ditto

J’ai la dal - I’m hungry

Ça caille - It’s freezing

Ouf - two meanings 1. phew or 2. verlan for “fou”, meaning crazy (as a noun or adjective). “Kévin, c’est un ouf! Il fait du vélo sans casque!” “Ouais carrément, c’était un truc de ouf!”

Kévin - there’s a running joke that all the young delinquents seem to be called Kévin.

Crever - slang for “to die”. Va crever, connard!

Connard/Connasse - c*nt, but a lot less vulgar in french peoples eyes

And finally,

T’es con. No English translation can express the power behind the words “t’es con”. While it may sort of translate to “you’re a c*nt/idiot”, it expresses something much deeper. You really are a god damn fool.

10 books for beginners in French

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!

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

i was struggling with the agreement of prepositions, so i made these reference sheets with the help of my french teacher! Let me know if there’s anything I need to correct, grammatically or visually!

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!

Wiccan Vocabulary in French - Vocabulaire wiccane en français

La Wicca - wicca

Le Chamanisme – Shamanism

Le Néo-paganisme - Neo-paganism

La Mythologie – mythology

gréco-romaine – Greco-Roman

slave – Slavic

celtique – Celtic

nordique- Norse

Un culte à mystères – mystery cult

Un wiccan – a Wiccan

Une sorcière / un sorcier – a witch

Un coven- Coven

La pratique solitaire (de la Wicca) – solitary practice (of Wicca)

Les dieux païens – Pagan Gods

La Grande Déesse – The Mother Goddess

Le Dieu Cornu – The Horned God

La Charge de la Déesse - The Charge of the Goddess

Le Panthéon - Pantheon

Le credo wiccan – The Wiccan Rede

Fais ce qu'il te plaît tant que cela ne nuit à personne -  An it harm none, do what ye will.

La règledu triple retour – The threefold law

☸️La réincarnation - Reincarnation

Les éléments – The elements

🔥Le feu - Fire

🌊L’eau (f.) - Water

🌍La terre - Earth

🌬L’air (m.) - Air

👻L’esprit (m.) - Spirit

📓Le Livre des Ombres – Book of Shadows

⭐️Un pentagrame (droit/inversé) -  Pentagram (upright/ inverted)

Un Pentacle - Pentacle

Une baguette magique - wand

Le rituel - ritual

Le cercle magique - magic circle

🎉Les fêtes (fpl.) wiccanes – Wiccan festivals

🔄La roue de l’année -  The wheel of the year

Le Sabbat – Sabbat

things i wish i could tell my freshman self: a list of miscellaneous college tips from a graduating college senior

1. having a huge set of highlighters are overrated. it’s better to just go over your readings with a good pen and annotate/underline as you read because that means you engage, ask questions, and take in information better. 2. always. pack. your own. lunch. pack. your own. coffee. this will save you so much money.  3. when in doubt, sleep. sleeping is better than studying. if you don’t know tomorrow’s coverage, it’s better to go that test well-rested and a little confused than sleepy AND confused. just sleep. 4. putting too much pressure on yourself is unhealthy. overwork is often romanticized as “a good work ethic” or “being productive”, but honestly, you’re abusing your body. it’s better to reframe pressure or negative motivation (”you MUST get high grades” “it feels good when i stay up all night because it means i’m studying like hermione/rory/etc etc”) into something positive and healthy: “i’ll finish these readings before 12 so i can get some sleep!” “it’s my dream to _______, so i’ll do my best!” 5. make friends with someone in every class you have, so you can ask about missed work. if you can, make friends with the professor to show that you care. 6. there’s more to college than academics. honors and high grades aren’t everything. don’t be afraid to go out and have fun!

Expressing Your Opinion IN FRENCH - update with indications of subjunctive use

Expressing thoughts…

Je pense que + indicative – I think that

Je ne pense pas que + subjonctif - I don’t think that

Je crois que + indicatif – I think that

Je ne crois pas que + subjonctif - I don’t think that

À mon avis – in my opinion

D’après moi – in my view

J’ai l’impression que + indicatif (in the negative [je n’ai pas l’impression que] it uses the subjunctive) – I have the feeling that

Il me semble que + indicatif (in the negative it uses the subjunctive) – it seems to me that

Je suis d’avis que + indicatif (mostly) – I’m of the opinion that

Je trouve que + indicatif (in the negative it uses the subjunctive) – I find that

Personnellement – personally

Pour ma part – for my part

Pour moi – for me

Supporting an opinion

On dit que + indicatif (in the negative it uses the subjunctive) – they say that

J’ai entendu dire que + indicatif – I heard that

J’ai entendu parler de + nom – I heard about

Par exemple – for example

Staying neutral

Cela dépend de + indicatif (unless que is used) – that depends on

C'est une question de point de vue – It all depends on your point of view.

Il est / C'est difficile de – It’s hard to

Il m'est impossible de donner un avis (définitif) sur – I can’t express a (definite) opinion on

Je n'ai jamais vraiment réfléchi à – I have never really thought about

Je n'ai pas d'opinion bien précise à / arrêtée sur – I don’t have strong feelings about

Je ne me le suis jamais demandé – I’ve never wondered about it

J’ignore tout de – I don’t know anything about

I think I got a lot of these from a particular website, maybe about.com, I can’t remember because I got it from a sheet I made for a student a while ago.

-If there are any questions or corrections lemme know:)