vraiment - truly
abominablement - abominably
absolument - absolutely
actuellement - currently
admirablement - admirably
attentivement - carefully
aucunement - not at all
autrement - otherwise, differently
assurément - certainly
carrément - totally
certainement - certainly
complètement - completely
crûment - crudely
diversement - variously
doucement - gently
entièrement - entirely
éperdument - desperately
exactement - exactly
excessivement - excessively
frugalement - frugally
gaiement - happily
gentiment - kindly
indûment - wrongly
lentement - slowly
longuement - extensively
malheureusement - unfortunately
médiocrement - poorly
naïvement - naively
naturellement - naturally
parfaitement - perfectly
péniblement - painfully
poliment - politely
précisément - precisely
prétendument - allegedly
progressivement - gradually
quasiment - almost
rapidement - quickly
réellement - actually
résolument - resolutely
sensiblement - substantially
solennellement - solemnly
tellement - so much
tranquillement - peacefully
uniformément - uniformly
vainement - vainly
stop 👏 saying 👏 languages 👏 and accents 👏 are ugly 👏 or awful 👏
i understand that some languages/dialects/accents may be difficult for you personally to understand because you speak differently, or they may contain sounds that you don’t like, but please don’t use value judgements like “lazy,” “bad,” or “ugly,” even jokingly
negative attitudes towards language both originate from and contribute to marginalization
dark duolingo show me the forbidden bonus skills
Ok so I found the Moana soundtrack in French on Spotify!! My favorite song is definitely Le Bleu Lumière, which is the French version of How Far I’ll Go. I’m in love with the soundtrack to begin with and the French version is absolutely wonderful as well. The link is here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1Jn4zy5USPYCC3KyTNUujX Let me know if you listen to it and if you love it as much as I do!
I’m home for Christmas now, which means I’m back on Scottish soil with decent internet. It’s giving me a chance to reflect on my French and how much it has improved just in three months of living in France. So I thought I’d share some of the things that I learned from living in the Charente-Maritime:
ah, bah, oui (expression) this seems to be the equivalent of ‘yeah but no’ when people have a false-start on a sentence. usually, i heard this in disagreements in my classroom when students were wanting to correct another student but couldn’t get the words out fast enough. i think it’s a hilarious thing to say and i’ve been trying to incorporate it into my way of speaking.
en fait (expression) this literally means ‘in fact’ or ‘actually’, which i think can come off a little rude in english but is actually a common expression in french. french people i have encountered use ‘en fait’ to start sentences, to provide more information, to correct, basically just all the time!
franchement (adverb) in english, i’m a big fan of using ‘tbh’ or ‘to be honest’, and this is the best french equivalent to that. it sounds so very french when it’s said and can mean ‘frankly’, ‘honestly’, ‘indisputably’ or ‘without hesitation’, depending on the context.
rater (verb) i picked up this new verb when i was telling a class about how i failed my driving test. i knew that ‘rater’ can mean ‘to miss’, as in ‘i missed the train’, but one student turned to another and said that ‘elle a raté’ and it was explained to me that ‘rater’ can also mean ‘to fail’, or in my case ‘to mess up’ something.
se tromper (verb) this verb means ‘to be mistaken’, and i definitely found myself saying ‘je me suis trompée’ a lot while I was just new to the country!
une chocolatine (noun) I was living on the south-west coast of France in the Charente-Maritime region which means that I picked up some new and different ways of saying things. I was quickly informed by my students in the most sincere and serious way possible that the famous ‘pain au chocolat’ pastry does not exist in the Charente-Maritime and I was to ask for ‘une chocolatine’ at the local boulangerie instead. I now use both nouns interchangeably!
NOUNS der Advent - Advent der Adventskalender - advent calendar das Apfelmus - apple sauce das Band (Bänder) - ribbon das Christkind - Christ child die Cranberrysoße - cranberry sauce die Dekoration (Dekorationen) - decoration der/das Kamin (Kamine) - fireplace der/das Knallbonbon (Knallbonbons) - cracker der Eierlikör - eggnog das Eis - ice/ice cream der Engel - angel die Ente (Enten) - duck die Gans (Gänse) - goose das Gebäck - baked goods das Geschenk (Geschenke) - present/gift das Geschenkpapier (Geschenkpapiere) - wrapping paper/gift paper die Glocke (Glocken) - bell das Glöckchen - little bell der Glühwein - mulled wine der Handschuh (Handschuhe) - glove der Heilige Abend - Christmas Eve die heiße Schokolade - hot chocolate die Kastanie (Kastanien) - chestnut der Keks (Kekse) - cookie/biscuit die Kerze (Kerzen) - candle die Kirche (Kirchen) - church der Kranz (Kränze) - wreath das Lametta - tinsel der Lebkuchen - gingerbread das Lebkuchenherz (Lebkuchenherzen) - gingerbread heart das Lebkuchenhäuschen - gingerbread house das Lebkuchenmännchen - gingerbread man die Lichterkette (Lichterketten) - string of fairy lights die Mandel (Mandeln) - almond das/der Marzipan - marzipan der Mince Pie (Mince Pies) - mince pie der Mistelzweig (Mistelzweige) - piece of mistletoe die Mütze (Mützen) - beanie der Nordpol - North Pole die Nuss (Nüsse) - nut der Nussknacker - nutcracker die Pfeffernuss (Pfeffernüsse) - small round gingerbread biscuit das Plätzchen - cookie/biscuit das Popcorn - popcorn das Rentier (Rentiere) - reindeer der Schinken - ham der Schlitten - sled/sledge/sleigh der Schlittschuh (Schlittschuhe) - ice skate der Schmuck - decoration [uncountable] der Schnee - snow der Schneeball (Schneebälle) - snowball die Schneeflocke (Schneeflocken) - snowflake der Schneemann (Schneemänner) - snowman die Schokolade (Schokolade) - chocolate der Schornstein (Schornsteine) - chimney das Schweinefleisch - pork das Spielzeug (Spielzeuge) - toy die Stechpalme (Stechpalme) - holly der Stern (Sterne) - star der Stiefel - boot der Stollen - bread made with dried fruit and dusted with powdered sugar die Süßigkeit (Süßigkeiten) - candy/sweet/lolly der Tannenbaum (Tannenbäume) - fir tree/Christmas tree der Tannenzapfen - pine cone der Truthahn (Truthähne) - turkey der Weihnachtsbaum (Weihnachtsbäume) - Christmas tree die Weihnachtskarte (Weihnachtskarten) - Christmas card der Weihnachtskuchen - Christmas cake die Weihnachtskugel (Weihnachtskugeln) - Christmas bauble das Weihnachtslied - Christmas carol der Weihnachtsmann (Weihnachtsmänner) - Santa/Father Christmas der Weihnachtsmarkt (Weihnachtsmärkte) - Christmas market der Weihnachtspudding - Christmas pudding die Weihnachtssocke (Weihnachtssocken) - Christmas sock der Weihnachtsstern (Weihnachtssterne) - poinsettia der Weihnachtsstrumpf (Weihnachtsstrümpfe) - Christmas stocking die Weihnachtszeit - Christmas time die Winterbeere (Winterbeeren) - holly berry der Wunsch (Wünsche) - wish der Wunschzettel - wish list der Zimt - cinnamon der Zimtstern (Zimtsterne) - star shaped cinnamon biscuit with white icing die Zuckerstange (Zuckerstangen) - candy cane VERBS auspacken - to open/to unwrap backen - to bake basteln - to make/to do arts and crafts braten - to roast dekorieren - to decorate einen Brief an den Weihnachtsmann schreiben - to write a letter to Santa einen Schneemann bauen - to make a snowman einpacken - to wrap up eislaufen - to ice skate etwas an jemanden verschenken - to give something to someone etwas mit der Post senden - to send something in the mail etwas zu Weihnachten bekommen - to get something for Christmas feiern - to celebrate jemandem etwas schenken - to give something to someone Kerzen anzünden - to light candles schmücken - to decorate/to adorn schneien - to snow sich (+dat) etwas zu Weihnachten wünschen - to wish for something for Christmas verpacken - to wrap up Zeit mit seiner Familie verbringen - to spend time with one’s family zusammenkommen - to meet/to get together
ADJECTIVES bezaubernd - enchanting geröstet - roasted glitzernd - twinkling/sparkling glänzend - shining golden - gold/golden magisch - magical mit Schokolade gefüllt - chocolate filled silbern - silver vorweihnachtlich - pre-Christmas weihnachtlich - Christmassy winterlich - wintery zauberhaft - enchanting/delightful
Step 1: Read the word. Step 2: Wrong.