A Quick Lesson in French Vocab
I want to keep track of all the new French words and phrases I’ve learned. It helps to write them down, so I’ve decided to make a list. I knew some before but I’d forgotten them, and some I was not using in the correct context, etc. If you are trying to learn a foreign language, moving to a country that speaks it is invaluably important. You simply cannot learn it all in a classroom setting. You need to be 100% immersed and dedicated.
Franchement/En fait: Literally translates to ‘frankly’ and ‘in fact’ but are used differently here than would be used in English. These are commonly used at the beginning of a lot of sentences here, so if you don’t know what it is and you’re stuck trying to figure it out you’ve missed the entire rest of the sentence, it can be a mess. It’s sort of used the way we use “well” or “actually” in English.
Doucement: Slowly! But it can also mean “gently” or “smoothly” so you would use lentement if you’re asking someone to speak slower.
Dépêche-toi: Hurry up!
Assieds-toi: Sit down. (I had to honestly look up how this was spelled. As I improve orally, my French spelling and grammar is depleting like crazy..)
N’Importe quoi: I hate this one, because it means like 30 different things. It literally translates to “no matter what,” but actually translates more to ‘anything’ or ‘everything’ or ‘nonsense’ or ‘whatever.’ I’ve had a French person tell me that you wouldn’t use it as ’whatever’ unless you’re close with the person you’re speaking to, so I’ve been pretty timid to use this phrase in general.
Tout droit: This one is hilarious, because it means “straight ahead” but sounds (to a non-native French speaker) exactly like droite, which means right. You can imagine how many right-turns I made when I first got here. I spent the first few weeks constantly heading in the wrong direction.
Proche/Loin: Close/Far. My favorite sentence when I got here was “Est-ce qu’il y a un Starbucks proche d’ici?’ or ‘Ou est le plus proche metro?’ (Is there a Starbucks close to here? Where is the closest metro?)
Qu’est-ce qui se passe?: What’s happening? (Qui + Se sort if get mushed together, so it sounds more like ‘Qu’est qees passe?)
Sur place/Emporter: Dine in/Carry out
C’est gentil: Literally translates to “That’s nice,” but again, it’s not used the way we use it in English. If a stranger drops a scarf on the bus and you pick it up for them, they’re likely to say “Merci, c’est gentil!” Which threw me off at first. The English equivalent would be “That’s nice of you.”
Mes/Tes potes: My/Your friends/buddies. I don’t know if Amis is more common or if they’re equal, but potes is used.
Special shout out to my students, yes; 6 to 9 year olds who love helping me learn without any judgment or laughter whatsoever. They are the greatest.
