STANDARD GRADE TOPICS

·  Name, age, domicile, nationality, numbers

·  Members of family, friends, physical and character description, problems and relationships

·  Parts of the body, illnessess/ accidents

·  School subjects, time, education system

·  Leisure, sports, healthy eating, drugs, TV, film

·  Food, drinks

·  Simple directions

·  Buildings, tourist information, helping the environment

·  Simple transactions, jobs/ work and study, work experience, future employment

·  Countries/ place, travel information, travl plans

·  Weather, future and past holidays

Learning vocabulary

Once you have got to grips with the fundamentals of a language (pronunciation, orthography and basic grammar), you can concentrate on learning vocabulary. This is probably the most important and time-consuming part of learning a language. Below are a few techniques to help you with this task.

Associate the familiar with the unfamiliar

Try to find word or phrases in your L1 which sound like and if possible have a similar meaning to words in your L2. Build mental images or draw pictures based on the connections. For example, the French for yellow is jaune, so link it with jaundice, a disease that turns your skin yellow. This is an enjoyable method because many of the associations you think up will be silly, absurd or bizarre.

Genders

To remember genders try picturing a French speaking region, divide it into two and place masculine nouns on one side and feminine words on the other.

Testing and revision

To ensure the words stick in your memory, test yourself on them at regular intervals. If you learn some new words in the morning for example, check that you can still remember them later that day, the next day, a week later and a month later. If you find some words hard to recall, try thinking up different associations for them. You may need to try several different associations before you find one that works.

Learn related words & phrases

When learning the word for hand, for example, try to learn related words, such as parts of the hand; actions of the hand; other parts of the body, and things you might wear on your hands. Also try to learn words with the same root and phrases which include the word hand.

As you learn more words you will start to spot connections between words. The more words you learn the easier you will find it to guess the meanings of new words.

Learn words in context

Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and doesn't help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you're more likely to recognise them when you encounter them or need to use them again.

When learning food words, for example, think about when you'd be most likely to use them, i.e. when cooking, eating, shopping, etc, and learn other words related to those situations. Then try constructing sentences using the new words. Good dictionaries contain examples of usage which you can use as models for your own sentences.

Practice reading as much as possible

A great way to build up you vocabulary is to have a go at reading books, magazines, newspapers or comics written in your L2. Ideally look for reading material covering topics you find interesting. When reading, try to guess the meanings of any words you don't know and then check them in a dictionary to see if your guesses were correct. You don't have to look up every unfamiliar word as long as you can get the gist of the text.

Links

About. Com – basic vocabulary has loads of listening practice and very useful vocabulary

French Language

Vocabulary Training Exercises, in English, French, German and Spanish
http://www.vokabel.com

WordChamp - learn vocabulary in French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Includes a variety of drills and thousands of recordings of native speakers, as well as a website decoder to read foreign websites - without translation!
http://www.wordchamp.com

Mentalcode -a collection of language resources with grammar and vocabulary references and interactive exercises
http://www.mentalcode.com

Interlex - a free Windows application that helps you learn vocabulary in a foreign language
http://www.vocab.co.uk

Verbulix - vocabulary and conjugation trainers for English, German and Spanish
http://www.vocabulix.com

ALBIS, a vocabulary learning system for many languages
http://albis.vetsin.com

The Town language mnemonic - a way of memorising vocabulary
http://www.mindtools.com/forlangu.html

VTrain - The Ultimate Vocabulary Trainer
http://www.vtrain.net

Vocabulary training program
http://www.happysquirrel.com

STANDARD GRADE TOPICS

·  Name, age, domicile, nationality, numbers

Geographical Terms

le nord / the north
le nord-est / the north-east
l'est / the east
le sud / the south
l'ouest / the west
au bord de (la mer) / by (the sea)
la côte / coast
la mer / sea
la montagne / mountain
le fleuve / river
le port / port
situé(e) / situated
la banlieue / suburb
la campagne / countryside
le centre / centre
en ville / in town
chez (+name) / at the house of
le quartier / local area
la region / region
le village / village
la ville / town

Houses & Homes

un appartement / a flat
un bâtiment / a building
une chambre / a room, bedroom
un gîte / self catering house
un immeuble / block of flats
une maison / a house
meublé / furnished
un studio / bedsit
vide / empty
au deuxième étage / on 2nd floor
au premier étage / on 1st floor
au rez de chaussée / on ground floor
au sous-sol / in basement

In the Home

l'ascenseur / lift
le balcon / balcony
le chauffage central / heating
la cave / basement
la cuisine / kitchen
la douche / shower
l'escalier / stairs
la fenêtre / window
le garage / garage
le jardin / garden
le meuble / furniture
la pièce / room
la porte / door
les rideaux / curtains
la salle à manger / dining room
la salle de bains / bathroom
la toilette / toilet
la salle de séjour / living room
le salon / lounge
la terrasse / patio
le toit / roof
le WC / toilet
la serviette / towel
le verre / glass
la tasse / cup

Nationality

canadien/ienne / Canadian
écossais / Scottish
espagnol / Spanish
français / French
gallois / Welsh
grec/greque / Greek
hollandais / Dutch
irlandais / Irish
italien/ne / Italian
portugais / Portuguese
suisse / Swiss
britannique / British
allemand / German
américain / American
anglais / English
belge / Belgian

Numbers

0zéro

1un

2deux

3trois

4quatre

5cinq

6six

7sept

8huit

9neuf

10dix

11onze

12douze

13treize

14quatorze

15quinze

16seize

17dix-sept

18dix-huit

19  dix-neuf

For the French numbers 20 through 59, counting is just like in English: the tens word (vingt, trente, quarante, etc.) followed by the ones word (un, deux, trois). The only difference is that for 21, 31, etc., the word et (and) is introduced between the tens word and one: vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un, etc.

20vingt

21vingt et un

22vingt-deux

23vingt-trois

30trente

31trente et un

32trente-deux

40quarante

41quarante et un

50cinquante

51cinquante et un

The French numbers 60 to 69 follow the same rules as 20 to 59.

60soixante

61soixante et un

62soixante-deux

63soixante-trois

64soixante-quatre

65soixante-cinq

66soixante-six

67soixante-sept

68soixante-huit

69soixante-neuf

But then when 70 rolls around, instead of a new "tens" word, soixante is kept and the "ones" word continues counting from 10:

70soixante-dix

71soixante et onze

72soixante-douze

73soixante-treize

74soixante-quatorze

75soixante-quinze

76soixante-seize

77soixante-dix-sept

78soixante-dix-huit

79soixante-dix-neuf

So 70, soixante-dix in French, is literally "sixty-ten." 71 is soixante et onze (sixty and eleven), 72 is soixante-douze (sixty-twelve), and so on, up to 79.

There is no word for "eighty" in standard French,* instead 80 is quatre-vingts, literally four-twenties (think "four-score").81 is quatre-vingt-un (four-twenty-one), 82 is quatre-vingt-deux (four-twenty-two), and so on, all the way up to 89.

80quatre-vingts

81quatre-vingt-un

82quatre-vingt-deux

83quatre-vingt-trois

84quatre-vingt-quatre

85quatre-vingt-cinq

86quatre-vingt-six

87quatre-vingt-sept

88quatre-vingt-huit

89quatre-vingt-neuf

There's no word for ninety either, so you continue using quatre-vingt and adding from ten. 90 is quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenty-ten), 91 is quatre-vingt-onze (four-twenty-eleven), etc.

90quatre-vingt-dix

91quatre-vingt-onze

92quatre-vingt-douze

93quatre-vingt-treize

94quatre-vingt-quatorze

95quatre-vingt-quinze

96quatre-vingt-seize

97quatre-vingt-dix-sept

98quatre-vingt-dix-huit

99quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

·  Members of family, friends, physical and character description, colours, clothing, problems and relationships

Family & Friends

la vie familale / family life
ami/amie / friend
le beau-frere / brother-in-law
le beau-père / father-in law, stepfather
la belle-mère / mother-in-law, stepmother
la belle-soeur / sister-in-law, stepsister
célibataire / single, unmarried
copain/copine / boy/girl friend
correspondant/e / penpal
cousin/e / cousin
le demi-frère / half-brother
la demi-soeur / half-sister
divorcé / divorced
l'enfant / child
enfant unique / only child
une famille nombreuse / big family
la femme / woman/wife
la fille / girl/daughter
le fils / son
le frère / brother
le garçon / boy
la grand-mère / grandmother
le grand-parent / grandparent
le grand-père / grandfather
l'homme / man
jeune / young
madame / Mrs/madam
mademoiselle / Miss
maman / mum
le mari / husband
marié / married
membre de la famille / family member
la mère / mother
monsieur / Mr/sir
mort / dead
la mort / death
le neveau / nephew
la nièce / niece
l'oncle / uncle
papa / dad
les parents / parents
le père / father

Emotions and Traits

agréable / pleasant
aimable / kind
amusant / amusing
bavard / chatty
casse-pieds / pain in the neck
drôle / funny
équilibré / well balanced
faible / weak
fatigant / tiring
fatigué / tired
fort / strong
gentil/le / kind
heureux/euse / happy
idiot / stupid/silly
impatient / impatient
impoli / impolite, rude
intelligent / intelligent
jaloux/ouse / jealous
malade / ill
malheureux/euse / unhappy
méchant / naughty
optimiste / optimistic
parasseux / lazy
patient / patient
pauvre / poor
la personalité / character, personality
pessimiste / pessimistic
plein de vie / full of life
poli / polite
riche / rich
sain / healthy
sévere / strict
strict / strict
sportif/ive / sporty
sympa / nice
timide / shy
travailleur/euse / hardworking
avoir l'air / to seem, look
sembler / to seem

Descriptions of people

bouclé / curly
court / short
grand / big, tall
gros / big, fat
large / wide, broad
long/longue / long
mince / slim
moyen/enne / average, medium
petit / small
les cheveux / hair
les yeux / eyes
le visage / face
une barbe / beard
une moustache / moustache
des lunettes / glasses
beau/belle / good-looking, beautiful
joli / pretty
de quelle couleur? / what colour?
blanc/blanche / white
bleu / blue
blond / blond
brun / brown
clair / light
foncé / dark
gris / grey
jaune / yellow
marron / brown
noir / black
orange / orange
rose / pink
rouge / red
roux/rousse / red (hair)
vert / green
violet(te) / purple

Clothing

un anorak / anorak
des baskets / trainers
un blouson / jacket
une casquette / baseball cap
un chapeau / hat
une chemise / shirt
une cravate / tie
des gants / gloves
un imper(méable) / raincoat
un jean / jeans
un jogging / tracksuit
une jupe / skirt
un manteau / coat
un mouchoir / hanky
un pantalon / trousers
un pull / jumper
un pyjama / pyjamas
une robe / dress
un sac à main / bag
un short / shorts
un sweart-shirt / sweatshirt
un T-shirt / tee-shirt
une veste / jacket
un vêtement / item of clothing
en coton / cotton
en cuir / leather
en laine / wool
rayé / striped
le look / image/fashion

·  Parts of the body, drugs, illnessess/ accidents

Health, illness and medicine

l'ambulance / ambulance
au secours ! / help !
avoir mal + body part / to have hurt ____
blessé / injured
se casser / to break
les comprimés / tablets
la crème / cream
couper / to cut
le docteur / doctor
être enrhumé / to have a cold
la fièvre / fever
grave / serious
la grippe / flu
heurter / to bump into, hit
l'incendie / fire
une maladie / illness
avoir mal au coeur / to feel sick
un médicament / medicine
une ordonnance / prescription
une pastille / lozenge
le pharmacien / pharmacist
se reposer / to rest
le rhume / cold
sain / healthy
la santé / health
le sirop / syrup/medicine
vomir / to be sick

Parts of the body

la bouche / mouth
le bras / arm
le corps / body
le cou / neck
la dent / tooth
le doigt / finger
le dos / back
l'épaule / shoulder
l'estomac / stomach
le genou / knee
la gorge / throat
la jambe / leg
la main / hand
le nez / nose
l'oeil/les yeux / eye(s)
l'oreille / ear
le pied / foot
la tête / head
le ventre / stomach

Smoking, alcohol and drugs

l'alcool / alcohol
le cancer / cancer
une cigarette / cigarette
la drogue / drugs
une habitude / habit
s'habituer / to get used to
l'image / image
la fumée / smoke
fumer / to smoke
le tabac / tobacco

·  School subjects, time, education system, calendar

At School

un atalier / workshop
apprendre / to learn
la bibliothèque / library
le bureau / office/study
la cantine / canteen
une classe / class,year
un centre sportif / sports centre
le collège / 11-14 school
la cour / yard, playground
un cours / lesson
un/une demi-pensionnaire / semi-boarder
le directeur / headteacher
les devoirs / homework
l'enseignement / teaching
en troisième / in year 10
un élève / pupil
une épreuve / test
étudier / to study
un examen / exam
passer un examen / to take an exam
le gymnase / gym
le laboratoire / laboratory
une leçon / lesson
le lycée / 15+ school
une note / a mark
le/la prof(esseur) / teacher
la salle de classe / classroom
la journée scolaire / school day
le trimestre / term

At School

l'allemand / German
l'anglais / English
la biologie / biology
un cahier / exercise book
la chimie / chemistry
un crayon / pencil
le dessin / art
l'éducation physique (EPS) / PE
l'éducation réligieuse / RE
l'emploi du temps / timetable
l'espagnol / Spanish
le français / French
la géo(graphie) / geography
une gomme / eraser
l'histoire / history
l'histoire géo / humanities
l'informatique / IT
l'instruction civique / Civic Education
un livre / textbook
les maths / maths
une matière / subject
la pause-déjeuner / lunch-time
la physique / physics
la récré(ation) / break-time
une règle / ruler
les sciences / science
un stylo / pen
la technologie / DT
les travaux manuels/EMT / DT

Telling Time in French - L'Heure