Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

How to Learn French by Reading my Blog

Moulin-rouge-paris
Photos and text by: Corey Amaro

French lessons. I should have taken a few of those before I came to France. Unfortunately, I learned to speak French on the streets. The words you can pick up on the street can be very…. um…. flavorful to say the least. Mostly, I learned how to speak French at the brocante. Later it improved when I was ill… being ill in a foreign country can encourage one to learn the language quickly.
Though my French has taken me a few years to grasp, my accent has remained strong and steady. It is something that just sticks around.

I thought I would lend you some important French phrases so when you come to France you will have more in your pocket than I did:

When by the Moulin Rouge you can say:

Voulez-vous danser avec mois ce soir, ou maintenant?

French-school-girls


Je voudrais acheter un manteau rose.

Artist-enter

Le magasin est-il ouvert ?

Mona-lisa-flowers

Les roses sont rouges, les violettes sont bleues….

and these aren't roses!

 
Souvenir-eiffel-tower

Je voudrais acheter la
Tour Eiffel.

Rug-beater


Qu'est-ce que c'est, and
pourquoi est-ce ici?

Jam-jar

Je n'aime que les fruits secs dans le chocolat.

Red-radish

Vous aimez les radish?

What French expressions would you like to know?

Comments

37 responses to “How to Learn French by Reading my Blog”

  1. Laura

    I love to wake up laughing! This post was too funny…thanks for a smile to start my day!
    🙂

    Reply
  2. Jojo

    Up until last year I was studying like crazy to learn French and walked away with a lovely accent and plenty new words but so sad…I can’t make sentences!!
    Oh well, keep posting French phrases and I’ll keep reading. (Why is it that reading is so much easier?)

    Reply
  3. Chris Wittmann

    I had 2 years of French in high school and don’t remember any of it! My mother spoke German, and I never learned that either, not interested. Now I wish I knew at least one foreign language, I love French and Italian best. I think being amongst the populace in France would be the best way to learn. I came home from England with an English accent after only 4 years, and lots of English expressions which I still to this day use. How would I say to someone, “you bring out the best in me” in French?

    Reply
  4. Linda G.

    Oh those little French girls walking hand in hand….and sporting sweet little coats and fancy stockings! They are just what I requested, Corey…thank you! Years ago, when traveling in England, I caught a glimpse of a chubby little two year old with curly blonde hair, wearing a blue and white striped dress and red patent leather shoes. She was trudging up a hilly street, holding her Mom’s hand. I can’t tell you how cute she was. I tried to catch up with them to take a photo, but they disappeared into the crowd. All these years later, I can still see her. Thanks for reviving that sweet memory…she would now be 20 years old!

    Reply
  5. Karinka Calhoun

    On having lunch in Provence one of our waiters brought us this gloriously beautiful dessert which I couldn’t stop staring at. He said in French: First you eat with your eyes! I loved that expression but have forgotten how to properly say it. Could ask one of the cute waiters in Paris or better yet, cute French husband?

    Reply
  6. Rebecca

    oh, now Corey…we all know the BEST way to learn French…wink wink nod nod…

    Reply
  7. Jeanette Mc. from Everton Terrace

    “No, that costs too much”. It’s the only phrase I learned in Polish before I went to the Flea Markets in Poland.

    Reply
  8. shelley@whiteshed.blogspot.com

    ‘Will you dance with me, right now?’….either my french is worse than I thought or you’re amusing yourself with this bunch of gullible bloggers. (?)

    Reply
  9. Jeanne

    Oooooh la la♥

    Reply
  10. Jean(ne) Pierre in MN

    I was a French major and could write an explication de texte, no problem. I learned everyday conversation by listening to my French husband, and thankfully, he spoke properly and avoided most swearing and bad words. Practice makes perfect (almost), and his mother was never critical(!).

    Reply
  11. Lizbeth

    That white item looks like un swatter de les flies, mais, it could be une beater petite pour les carpets bien petite.

    Reply
  12. Chris Wittmann

    Oh, forgot to mention I think that’s a rug beater not a fly swatter… 🙂
    Chris

    Reply
  13. Lizbeth

    Cette object blanc…pour discipline les enfants terrible?

    Reply
  14. Ana Maria

    I took classes many years ago, and of course have forgotten a lot of it, however, my accent is still pretty good. Every time I’ve visited France everyone, from taxi drivers to shop keepers, hear me say a few words, and they rush into conversations with me …. that’s when the fun begins!
    By the way, I must be very lucky because I have never met impolite French people! My experiences have all been positive. As long as one demonstrates good manners and an effort to communicate (learning a few basic phrases is vital), everyone is eager to help.

    Reply
  15. Kathie B.

    If that’s a fly swatter, I’d sure hate to see how big the flies must be!
    Learning a language out in the classroom, while helpful, is nothing like learning it in the public arena where it’s the main language. At least that’s been my experience in the Azores with Portuguese. Whenever I need to take a cab there, I always make it a point to turn it into an impromptu Portuguese lesson as well (and tip extra for the service)!

    Reply
  16. Marilyn

    Sometimes I can figure out the words, but it is the pronunciation that throws me off. I am sure the French just laugh at the harsh way we Americans pronounce their language. I get a French word a day on my computer and try to guess at how it is pronounced, but then when I listen I can’t believe how off I am.

    Reply
  17. Kathie B.

    That second sentence should start, “Learning a language in the classroom…”
    Ah, the perils of rewriting…

    Reply
  18. Lorrie

    Je voudrais visiter le brocante avec toi. On peut parler français et rire beaucoup.
    I’m slogging my way through a French degree right now (procrastinating by reading blogs instead of doing my work). I love the French courses – it’s the other courses I have to take that make it seem so much work.

    Reply
  19. anne

    Thank you Corey, I learn quite a bit by reading, but also learn a lot when over in Paris with my friends, 🙂

    Reply
  20. Colette

    ha! this post was aimed at me! right now i’m lugging my little Collins French Dictionary-express edition everywhere around with me..trying to memorize as many everyday words before we leave for FRance in two weeks time…(hope we don’t get boicotted by the volcanic ash…)
    wishful thinking- on the french language under the knee that is!!

    Reply
  21. Kristin Wight

    ok so my French is spotty at best… I know the basics, merci, bonjoir, bonsoir, oui, and vous es ici,
    My husband learned French in school and only remembered the phrase (sorry about the spelling- I am spelling it phonetically)
    Ferme la fenetra – close the window I think…
    now this one I picked up while backpacking around france in 93
    Ne touche pas= don’t touch me! (thanks to a waiter who rubbed up against us all night)
    Now this one my mother-in-law taught me and thought I was saying it right- je me parle pas frances. Ok, I was saying this repeatedly to the supermarket check out girl who was yelling at me with the cheese in her hand. She got so frustrated since all I could say is my name is not french, she left her till and went to the cheese aisle to get a bar code. oooopsie
    sans gas- water without gas bubbles
    oh and numbers 1-9
    Everything else is a collection of nouns… coka, baugette, chocolat, croissant, buerre, cafe, profolaftic, fromage et jambon, quiche, ouf, nuetella, pomplemouse, nix and that about sums it up I think! LOL

    Reply
  22. Julie Ann Evins

    Those two little girls Corey ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ! Jx

    Reply
  23. patmackey

    D’accord. Je pense que le Chocolat est delicieux avec les framboises ou les oranges ou le gateau blanc ou la glace vanille mais je n’aime pas les fruits seches dans mon chocolat…..bleccccchhhhh (that is an English expression for bleccccchhhhh)
    The little girls are so charming. Why are these images so evocative for us? Maybe it is because we see ourselves of long ago walking away from our today self? And the innocence of days which have walked away.
    The photos are magic and so are your words and ideas. It is a wonderful way for me to wake up in the morning; to your blog and my coffee. It opens my eyes to what is in front of me instead of allowing the day to pass me by as if it is ‘same old same old’ which it actually never is. It is always new. And that is what I have learned here.
    Thank you.

    Reply
  24. mindi

    Which way to the Brocante?

    Reply
  25. rochambeau

    I bet French husband adores your accent!
    Great post Corey,
    So glad we met here in blogland!
    You are a special one.
    xox
    Constance

    Reply
  26. wendy

    We recently visited Paris, I wish I found your blog before going, it would have helped me. I fell in love with Paris and everything about Paris.

    Reply
  27. cynthia Wolff @Beatenheart

    Would you take less?

    Reply
  28. jend’isère

    Quel Parfum? …vital for use when requesting magic bottled potions, ice cream and macarons.

    Reply
  29. Michelle

    I’m pretty proud that I (think at least) understood all that! Thank you four years of high school french!
    I really would love to become fluent though! I know a guy who went on a mission for my church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) for two years in the south of France and he got fluent! Probably because they have to talk to people all day haha.
    I love these little tests of french! Please post more!

    Reply
  30. Essay Papers

    Hi,
    You have made me remember the old days of my childhood. The two French little girls have made your article complete. I wish I could go back to my childhood days. Learning French is as exciting as trying a new recipe.
    Essay Papers

    Reply
  31. Alexandra

    Beautiful pics today. I picked up most of it, but got lost on a few — it has been a while since high school French (lol).

    Reply
  32. Danna

    It is a rug beater. And they work beautifully, I might add. Just get someone else to hold the rug so you can shield your face with the other hand…soo much dust!!!!

    Reply
  33. Sandra

    PLEASE do re-publish that delicious story pf yours … you know the one where you mixed up sel and selles !!

    Reply
  34. Juliette

    Whaw! My favorite picture of the Moulin Rouge!!!
    Thank you so much!
    Love

    Reply
  35. Donna B

    I was in the South of France recently, in some little town north of Marseille (a “regular” town, not an ancient one) and had food left over from my lunch. While I know the French don’t “do” doggie bags, I asked for one anyway. I asked in English how to say “doggie bag” after considering several alternatives in my weak and extremely rusty Quebequois French (learned in a French-Canadian-American Catholic grade school in New England), because I realized that “sac de chein” might be, um, shall we say, a part of a boy dog that is removed to keep them from being randy.
    They told me it was “doggie bag” but pronounced it “doh-Gee bag”…. Is there a French term for a doggie bag?
    By the way, is it me, or are meals in France getting larger? I had more than one occasion when I had far too much food.

    Reply
  36. paris4u

    Time has proven that learning a language at an early age is far better than when you are at a later age when the tongue just seem to have a mind of its own. As an expat, i’ve learned to adapt to both languages but definitely English remains to be my mother tongue of choice. And that is also the reason why i’ve been keeping my community site for expats and organize get together meetups. And I’d love to see you one of these days. We have a weekly get together at Pub Saint Germain, 17, Rue de l’Ancienne- Comédie, 75006 Paris every Sunday, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

    Reply
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