Stop 👏 saying 👏 languages 👏 and accents 👏 are ugly 👏 or awful 👏

it’s really a pity no one cares about foreign languages irl because I am a fountain of fun and interesting facts about linguistics and grammar and etymology but my peasant friends could not be any less interested

Ukedager

Mandag - Monday

Tirsdag - Tuesday

Onsdag - Wednesday

Torsdag - Thursday

Fredag - Friday

Lørdag - Saturday

Søndag - Sunday

en dag - day

i morgen - tomorrow

i dag - today

i går - yesterday

en uke - week

en helg - weekend

nå - now

Picture : stillstudies

Watching my toddler figure out how to language is fascinating. Yesterday we were stumped when he kept insisting there was a “Lego winner” behind his bookshelf - it turned out to be a little Lego trophy cup. Not knowing the word for “trophy”, he’d extrapolated a word for “thing you can win”. And then, just now, he held up his empty milk container and said, “Mummy? It’s not rubbish. It’s allowed to be a bottle.” - meaning, effectively, “I want this. Don’t throw it away.” But to an adult ear, there’s something quite lovely about “it’s allowed to be a bottle,” as if we’re acknowledging that the object is entitled to keep its title even in the absence of the original function.

Dark times all around but there are still people out there who love you

Do not hurt yourself, do not hurt others, get help, talk to someone, anyone. Humanity has survived before and we can do it now if we all just support each other. My country and my people let me down and endangered my life but there’s nothing I or anyone else can do about that so let’s try to spread the love that is so clearly lacking.

I previously made a post about Russian Podcasts and German Podcasts. Here is one for French since I started the language.  Many you can find on  iTunes, on Android using Pocket Casts, or on their own websites/RSS feed. There are several more podcasts in French, but these should be enough for now.

Language Learning

Coffee Break French

FrenchPod101

French Your Way

Je French

Learn French with Alexa

Mot du Jour

One Minute French

Real Deal French

Spotify- Learn French

Survival French Phrases

Listening For Beginners-Intermediates

Cultivate Your French: Intermediate-Advanced.

Daily French Pod: Beginner-Advanced. Transcripts can be bought.

Easy French Poetry: Beginner-Int. Includes transcripts.

Français Authentique: Intermediate-Advanced. Includes transcripts.

French Podcasts: A2-B1. Includes transcripts.

Journal en français facile: Intermediate. Includes transcripts.

Learn French by Podcast: Beginner to Advanced. Includes transcripts and grammar lessons.

Native French Speech Podcast: Int.-Advanced. Transcripts can be bought.

News in Slow French: Beginner to Intermediate. Includes transcripts.

One Thing in a French Day: A2-B2. Includes transcripts.

The French Podcast: Beginner to Intermediate. Transcripts can be bought.

French Only

AnthroStory: Anthropology.

AppLoad: Gadgets and technology.

Bienvenue à Valnuit: French version of Welcome to Nightvale

La Conversation scientifique: Science.

Grosses Têtes: News & culture.

L’histoire du soir: Medieval literature.

LSD, La série documentaire: Culture & news.

Les Nouveaux chemins de la connaissance: Philosophy.

Les Pressés de l’Expression: Language and linguistics.

Parler Cuisine: Food and cooking.

Podcasts d'Europe: Culture, economics, politics.

Podcast Science: Science.

Poésie et ainsi de suite: Poetry

Positron: Music, film, TV.

Le RDV Jeux: Gaming.

Les Regardeurs: Art.

Rendez-Vous Avec X: History

Le rendez-vous Tech: Technology.

Le Salon noir: History.

Franceculture: Several podcasts can be found here and sorted by theme.

Franceinter: Website that hosts several more podcasts.

Francemusique: Website that has more podcasts.

German café vocabulary

for @callmejake13 :)

das Café (Pl: Cafés) - café der Teller (Pl: Teller) - plate die Tasse (Pl: Tassen) - cup, mug die Untertasse (Pl: Untertassen) - saucer der Löffel (Pl: Löffel) - spoon die Speisekarte (Pl: Speisekarten) - menu

das Frühstück - breakfast der Kuchen (Pl: Kuchen) - cake die Torte (Pl: Torten) - cake (mostly consists of cream) der Muffin (Pl: Muffins) - muffin das Hörnchen / das Croissant - croissant der Keks (Pl: Kekse) - cookie, biscuit das Brot - bread der Zucker - sugar die Milch - milk die Sahne - cream das Spiegelei - fried egg das Rührei - scrambled eggs

der Kaffee (Pl: Kaffees) - coffee

der Cappuccino - cappuccino

der Espresso - espresso

der Latte macchiato - latte macchiato

der Eiskaffee - iced coffee

koffeinfreier Kaffee - decaffeinated coffee

der Teebeutel - tea bag der Tee (Pl: Tees) - tea

schwarzer Tee - black tea

grüner Tee - green tea

Früchtetee - fruit tea

Kräutertee - herbal tea

Pfefferminztee - mint tea

Rooibostee - rooibos tea

Eistee - iced tea

der Kakao - cocoa der Milchshake (Pl: Milchshakes) - milkshake der Saft (Pl: Säfte) - juice

essen - to eat trinken - to drink bestellen - to order bezahlen - to pay

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

french vocab from the first half of my year abroad

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! 

Vocabulaire français - des verbes

remorquer - to tow, lug

râler - to grumble, complain, gasp

ébranler - to shake, rattle, weaken

sonder - to sound, plumb, probe, survey

germer - to germinate, sprout, grow

étreindre - to embrace, clasp, clutch, choke

remuer - to move, touch, stir

étouffer - to suffocate, stifle, smother

bêler - to bleat, whine

gémir - to moan, whine

s’égarer - to get lose, lose one’s way, digress

ficeler - to tie up, bind

frotter - to rub, scrape, scrub

délier - to untie, undo, unknot

énerver - to annoy, irritate

effarer - to alarm, frighten

crisper - to tense, contract

haleter - to pant

balbutier - to stammer, stutter

bégayer - to stammer, stutter

harceler - to harass, pester

accabler - to impose, overwork, overburden

épier - to observe, spy on

délayer - to mix, water, dilute

éventrer - to disembowel, gut

étreindre - to embrace, clasp, clutch, grasp

sévir - to hit, strike

Words taken from: Le Horla (Maupassant)

Isn’t it just plain hilarious when you read something in a foreign language and understand it then realise that you don’t even learn that language but you can decode the meaning based on your knowledge of other languages?