Pronouncing Letters
Sometimes you may find yourself having to spell things out where you can't just write them down. For example, over the 'phone!
Here are some things to help:-
An interactive web page to help you in spelling-out words in French.
You can click on letters to hear them spoken in French. Choice of m/f voice.
This does not work on ancient (!) devices!A native female French speaker saying the letters of the alphabet
A native male French speaker saying the letters of the alphabet and a corresponding French word
Grammar and Punctuation
Être as an auxiliary verb - A single page summary, perfect tense
Some exceptional cases are also noted where avoir is used instead
French punctuation - some observations in a PDF file from a real publication
Vocabulary
The word coup - some uses of this versatile word taken from our French class.
Includes some potentially interesting examplesShortened words The French have a habit of shortening words in conversation;
here are some examples I've come across in real life! Work in progress! (text file)Initialisms, Abbreviations, and Acronyms - these can often differ quite a lot.
Borrowed words - "borrowed" from English - work in progress! (text file)
Tu or Vous? - the amusing but accurate flow-chart from a US journal.
Accents and Symbols
Using Accents as Clues - my notesThe History of French Accents - book excerpt
Symbols and Punctuation Marks - a list
Food & Drink-related
Mogettes - a quick recipe for a haricot bean dish from the VendéeDrink recipes - French or France-related
Photos of a portable pot still, l'alambic which travels from village to village
This distils whatever is the local home-made tipple, in this case cider, to produce the regional eau-de-vie, "water of life", the Gaelic of which gives us our word "whisky".
A page showing some interesting (?) idiomatic expressions in the two languages
This is an ongoing endeavour where expressions will be added as they are discovered, and I have added a link to a page listing French proverbs
A Glossary of Computer-related Terms
Another Glossary of Computer-related Terms
Some Calendar Files
Contact