Beginner Lessons

A listener recently asked us: "Which lesson deals with 'Ça va?'!… Though it's a simple expression, it's an essential one. As it’s been a while since we’ve had a beginner lesson, let's visit some of the basics in this short lesson. We’ll see how to ask how someone is, we’ll learn a little about the weather, and we'll see examples of 'tout' and 'toute'. Let's get going.

Our food is almost prepared. But we want to ask when exactly it will be ready and when we should sit at the table. Let's see how to do that in this lesson. We'll meet the expressions 'Je meurs de faim!' and 'passer à table'.

We'll deal with a common scenario in this lesson: we've lost our keys. We'll learn how to say we can't find them and where to look for them. We'll also meet the expression 'jeter un coup d'oeil'. Let's get started.

We sometimes find ourselves in a position where we need to borrow money from someone. In this lesson - lesson 37 - let's find out how to do just that. We'll meet the verbs "prêter", "rembourser" and "embêter", as well as other useful expressions. Let's get started.

Some people choose to pay their mobile phone bills by monthly standing order. Many others, however, simply choose a pay-as-you-go option, buying credit whenever necessary. In this lesson, let's see what vocabulary we'll need in order to purchase that phone credit.

We often pass comment on fragrances – food, perfume, flowers, nature, and so on. Let's see, in this short lesson, which expressions will allow us to do that. We'll meet the verbs "sentir" and "mettre", in particular. We'll also see how to say that something smells quite strong.

Amélie has a new colleague at work. Let's see what his responsibilities are and discover a little about his linguistic capabilities. We'll meet the verbs "s'occuper de" and "apprendre" as well as the expression "avoir l'air de".

Let's listen to Xavier tell us a little about his home town in this lesson. We'll work with a number of useful expressions which could be used in a wide variety of situations. We'll discover the verb 'appartenir à', the expression 'à la rigueur', as well as the prepositions 'loin de' and 'près de'.

In this lesson, we'll discover how to say "It's been a while!" or "It's been a long time!" We'll also find out how to ask what someone's been up to recently, and how to say that we've been working very hard...

In this lesson, we're talking about someone's new hairstyle. We'll discover some "technical" terms in relation to hairstyling, we'll look at two different uses for "chez", and we'll see how to say we're "bored by" or "fed up with" something. Allons-y!