Trip to France Coming Up? Two Ways to Brush Up Those French
Language Skills
Many travelers to France indicate that they would like to brush
up on their French language skills before their trip. Make no
mistake, learning a foreign language well enough to communicate
reasonably well is very difficult. However, if you studied
French in high school or college you might be able to put some
of that long-ago effort to good use. Being able to communicate,
even with only a few words at your disposal, can make a trip
much more fun, and it will perhaps help you figure out where you
made that wrong turn before becoming lost!
Here are two ways to brush up your French skills:
1. For a number of months I've subscribed to a great little free
service called French Word A Day.
This is a daily email from Kristin Espinasse, an American
originally from Phoenix who married a Frenchman and now lives
with her family in Provence. Although the implication is that
you will receive one word per day, Kristin provides a good bit
more. The theme for each email is in fact one word, but there
are also variations on the word, phrases using the word and
variations, and a daily proverb which contains the word as well.
A recent addition is an audio link to hear the word pronounced
properly. Furthermore, Kristin writes an essay she calls "A Day
in a French Life" and uses numerous other French words woven
into her English text. She summarizes these words at the bottom
of the article, which makes an easy reference for additional
words. Thus there is an opportunity to learn or relearn a number
of words each day. Each email has a link to her web site with a
daily photo of France. In addition, on the web site are listed
the last ten words and their accompanying phrases, proverbs,
etc. as described above, so one can look over quite a few words
right away, even if your trip is coming up soon.
This is certainly an excellent review process for French
vocabulary. Oftentimes I will see a word or phrase I recognize
but cannot quite pin down the translation exactly. For example,
a recent word was "le lendemain" (the next day). Included was a
phrase I've heard before numerous times, "du jour au lendemain".
I always thought this meant "from one day to the next", which is
a literal translation. However, it really means "suddenly", sort
of like jumping from one day into the next. It's helpful to pick
up nuances like that, and I am sure I'll remember this the next
time I hear it in a French conversation. In order to help
retention, it is useful to print out the daily entry and keep a
file to review from time to time. It's only by seeing words
numerous times that they can become part of your vocabulary. By
the way, Kristin has compiled her essays into 3 books which she
sells on line, and those proceeds help defray the costs of Word
a Day so that it remains a free service. Of course buying the
books gives you access to many words at once, so that is another
excellent option for improving or reviewing your French
vocabulary. To subscribe or purchase books, you can follow the
link above.
2. For those with a little more time and motivation another
excellent tool is a French language course on CD called a l