Mel & Books

Colloquial Phrases English ↔ French (an infographic I found on pinterest)

(It’s important to point out that in many cases, these have more equivalents in English than I show here, but since sometimes there are a lot of them, I just wrote the general ones to give a good idea of the meaning)

Mais (but): est la conjonction la plus utilisée.

Alors que, tandis que (while/as/whereas) + indicatif.

À l’inverse de, contrairement á (unlike, contrary to).

Même si (even if/although) + indicatif.

Bien que, quoique (although/despite) + subjonctif.

Cependant, néanmoins, pourtant, toutefois, en revanche (however/but/nevertheless/nonetheless/though). 

Par contre, en revanche (in contrast). *

Malgré, en dépit de, au mépris de (despite/regardless of) + indicatif.

Quand même (still/anyway): in informal situations and specially when speaking, it tends to replace connectors or reinforce them. For example: il n’aime pas la musique classique, pourtant il est quand même allé au concert (he doesn’t like classic music, yet he still went to the concert).

l’actualité - current events

crise économique - economic crisis

paix - peace

la guerre - war

cessez-le-feu - ceasefire

attentat - attack

territoire - territory

ressortissants - citizens, nationals

la mort - death

espoir - hope, prospect

étrangères - foreign

interdiction - ban, prohibition

resultat, issue - outcome

répercussions - implications, effects

meurtrier - deadly

témoignages - testimonies

décéder - to pass away

viser - to target

blesser - to injure, wound

combattre - to combat, fight

mourir de - to die of

faire le deuil - to grive, mourn

négocier - to negotiate

terminer - to complete, end, fihish

compromettre - to compromise, jeopardize

Studying for my french test tomorrow on this vocab… let me know if I left something off that you want to know how to say(:

les jours de la semaine - the days of the week

lundi - Monday mardi - Tuesday mercredi - Wednesday jeudi - Thursday vendredi - Friday samedi - Saturday dimanche - Sunday

les mois - the months

janvier - January février - February mars - March avril  - April mai - May juin - June juillet - July août - August septembre - September octobre - October novembre - November décembre - December

les saisons - the seasons

le printemps - Spring l'été - Summer l'automne - Autumn l'hiver - Winter

les nombres - the numbers (1-10)

un - one deux - two trois - three quatre - four cinq - five six - six sept - seven huit - eight neuf - nine dix - ten

les couleurs - the colours 

rouge - red jaune - yellow bleu (m), bleue (f) - blue noir (m), noire (f) - black blanc (m), blanche (f) - white vert (m), verte (f) - green gris (m), grise (f) - grey marron - brown rose - pink

The colour (adjective) comes after the noun! English: the red car French: la voiture rouge

Le soleil est jaune. - The sun is yellow. La nuit est noire. - The night is black. La mer est bleue. - The sea is blue.

les interrogatifs - the question words

qui - who quoi - what pourquoi - why quand - when où - where comment - how combien - how much/many quel(le) - which/what

les expressions de base - basic phrases

Rayon (nm.) - aisle, department

Tête de gondole (nf.) - aisle-end display

Étagère (nf.) - shelf

Caddie (nm.) - cart

Panier (nm.) - basket

Faire les courses (fixed exp.) - to do the groceries

Frigo vitrine (nm.) -  Refrigerated display case

Épicerie (nf.) - grocery store

Commerce (nm.) - store, trade

Supermarché, hypermarché (nm.) - supermarket

Ticket de caisse (nm.) - receipt

Code-barres (nm.) - bar code

Lecteur optique (nm.) - scanner

Caissier, caissière (nm./f.) - cash register

Rendre la monnaie (fixed exp.) - to give change

Tapis roulant (nm.) - conveyor belt

Caisse (nf.) - cashier

Espèces (nfp.) - cash

Produits alimentaires (nmp.) - food products

Produits d’entretien (fixed exp.) - household/cleaning products

Crémerie (nf.) - dairy section

Électroménager (nm.) - electrical goods

Produits surgelés (fixed exp.) - frozen products

Conserves (nfp.) - canned/tinned food

cher journal - dear diary

- you can talk about how your day was - this is a great opportunity to apply your knowledge of past tenses. 

How to say that you had a good day -

j’ai passé une très bonne journée

j’ai passé une excellente journée

j’ai passé une belle journée

j’ai eu une merveilleuse journée

j’ai passé une journée fantastique

How to say that you had a bad day -

Je n’ai pas eu une bonne journée

j’ai eu une journée affreuse - a really bad day

j’ai eu une mauvaise journée

j’ai passé une journée difficile 

How to say that you had a busy day - 

j’ai eu une journée des plus occupés

j’ai eu une journée chargée

la journée d’aujourd’hui s’est avérée fort occupée

How to say that you had a quiet/relaxing day - 

j’ai eu une journée tranquille

j’ai passé une journée tranquille

j’ai profité d’une journée de détente

Talking about time -

hier - yesterday

hier soir - last night

hier matin - yesterday morning

hier après-midi - yesterday afternoon

demain - tomorrow

demain matin - tomorrow morning

demain après-midi - tomorrow afternoon

demain soir - tomorrow evening

le lendemain - the next day

cette semaine - this week

la semaine dernière - last week

la semaine prochaine - next week

ce mois-ci - this month

le mois dernier - last month

le mois prochain - next month

cette année - this year

l’année dernière - last year

l’année prochaine - next year

when talking about a coming day e.g. next saturday = samedi prochain/le samedi suivant

To add a dash of drama -

et mon cul, c’est du poulet ? - yeah right!

faire du cinéma - to be a drama queen

j’ai du mal à croire que - I can’t believe that

jai vraiment foiré sur ce coup là - I really stuffed up!

je n’arrive pas à y croire ! - I can’t believe it

je n’en crois pas mes yeux - I can’t believe my eyes

je n’en reviens pas ! - I can’t believe it!

mon cul ! - my arse! (when you don’t believe someone, say if they’ve been lying to you)

Grammar

Conjugating

Cactus2000

Deutsch Wörterbuch (iPhone app): users can look up conjugations offline.

- der die das App: test yourself

- Foreign Service Institute German Basic Course and this

Comprehension

Listening

podcasts & music

Ohrenbär (rbb): children’s stories (no text)

Antenna Düsseldorf

Bayern Radio rbb (Berlin)

Tape Tv

DASDING.de

KISS FM

SRF Swiss

ORF Austria

Klub Konkret (SWR eins plus): Podcasts in Talk show formats.

Sanft & Sorgfältig (Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg Radio eins): Podcasts on a wide variety of topics. The hosts speak really fast!

Mission Berlin: Mystery adventure game

Slow German

www.zeit.de/index 

www.sueddeutsche.de/

www.faz.net/ 

www.krone.at/ 

www.wirtschaftsblatt.at/ -Financial 

www.20min.ch/ 

videos

Euromaxx (no English subs): Living and Culture, Cuisine

Yabla - Good news! There are English and German subs for this.

Vuko aka MeisterLehnsherr

Reading

Zeit Magazin: There are articles interesting enough to expose you to more German. There are no translations. You might want to consult the dictionary as you go along.

dw.de: This is Deutsch Welle webpage for Learning German. It is very informative and it has podcasts suitable for different levels. dw.de podcasts include: Wort der Woche, Alltagsdeutsch, Dialektatlas, Spachbar.

Goethe Institut Podcasts: Grüße aus Deutschland, Deutsch Baukasten, Wanderwörter

Deutsch Perfekt: the monthly language magazine for all learning German

Vocabulary

Germanwordsandmore

Kids’ Games: For vocabulary

A German Phrase a day Program

99 says

German Realia: real life German in form of photos

Course Sites

Learn German Online

German Language Guide

Basic German

Deutsch Lernen

Testing

Test your german

Dictionary

Pons.com

Linguee - iPhone app. It can be used even if you’re offline (no need internet)

Ebooks

Head over to “So you want to learn a language” and scroll down to the German section.

These sites are collected by numerous blogs, they made posts sharing their favorite sites and after I reblog them I will add them to this list or other lists for other languages.

It’s almost impossible to learn a language just to take a trip, but there are some key phrases that will help you out while in Italy that are easy enough to learn (or take with you for reference).  Here’s a short list, but there are obviously many more! What was the most useful phrase or words during YOUR trip to Italy? 

OR: some (actually helpful) stuff my first semester of college has taught me.

disclaimer: this is from the point of view of a community college student. my experiences may be different from other students, but overall I think this list could be very helpful to anyone going to a college, university, high school, or for any students just hoping to kick procrastination in the ass. I’ll probably be uploading updated versions/parts of this in the future, but here’s some stuff based on my experience so far.

do. work. every. day. even if it’s just a little bit of work. don’t procrastinate.

 college isn’t like high school; oftentimes, professors won’t expect homework from you every single day of class. usually, you’ll have due dates of when large sections of assignments or papers are due. make the most of your time. do not wait until the night before to get 6 sections of homework done by 11:59.

in reality, you should be doing homework and studying for every single class. but remember that you need to put more time into the classes that are toughest for you. For example, math is my weakest subject so I usually put more homework time into doing my Stats homework.

if you don’t want to do it, or have been procrastinating on doing it, it should be the thing you’re getting done first!!

books are hella expensive everywhere. if you can’t find any free versions of your textbooks online, try to buy your textbooks used. I buy all of my textbooks used, with the exception of one book which I’ve rented. Personally, I recommend buying your books bc it’s a great study strategy to actually own the books for your classes and be able to write and highlight inside of them… but this is a personal preference.

doing homework on your bed makes you lazy. work at a desk, library, coffee shop, outside; anywhere that will make you sit down and focus.

let your phone run out of battery and leave. it. alone.

if u don’t have a planner/agenda/calendar already then there is nothing more I can help u with pal ur on ur own

make a study playlist bc you’ll need it at some point. find music that helps you study the best! for example, I strictly can only study to soft music or just instrumentals, but I know some people who study really well to rap and hip-hop. find what works for you! remember this should relax you, not distract you.

hydrate. I keep a water bottle right on my desk when I study so when I look up I’m reminded to take a sip. being hydrated is important!!! not only will this make your body and skin happy but it’ll also make your brain work a little harder and focus more!

I know things can get tough and busy but pls pls eat and sleep well I’m begging u

follow-up to the last point: let yourself go pee as many times as you need to. it’s ok. it doesn’t count as your break. you’re not wasting time from doing work. do us all a favor and go to the bathroom already.

follow-follow-up: know the difference between taking a break and giving up.

learn how to say no to temptations like hanging out with your friends or distracting yourself in the depths of Youtube and Netflix. you have work to do and you know it!!! don’t make yourself feel bad by suffering. if you want good grades, your education (next to your mental/physical health) should be your first priority.

reward yourself for working hard. this could be a night out with friends, a candy bar, boba, whatever floats your boat.

I know it’s a drug but I don’t care what anyone says: if I need to drink coffee then I’m drinking that damn cup of coffee.

the voice in your head

Let’s face it: you are NOT measured by your promises, resolutions, ideas or intentions - and you’ll NEVER be. 

Only actions, results and made decisions last. 

Take a look at your resume - what do you see? 

Ask a close friend what your personal brand is all about.

Listen closely to your boss during your next review.

Check your bank account and ask yourself why it says what it does.

Think about your greatest success and your most painful defeat.

…

All actions, no talk.

I do not want to express that you are nothing but numbers, facts, and figures. But if you like it or not it is a matter of fact: 

What you DO ist the only thing that will ever matter. 

Therefore: ACTION. 

Travel, work, fight, take over, leave, ask, step and speak up… don’t just think and talk about it. Do something. 

Your m

Du schaffst das! ~ You can do it!

Ich bin stolz auf dich. ~ I’m proud of you.

Mach weiter so. ~ Keep up the good work.

Gib nicht auf! ~ Don’t give up!

Glaube an dich selbst. ~ Belive in yourself.

Ich glaube an dich. ~ I believe in you.

Es ist nie zu spät. ~ It’s never too late.

Gut gemacht! ~ Well done!

Es wird alles gut werden. ~ Everything is going to be alright.

Niederlagen machen dich stärker. ~ Defeats make you stronger.

Aus Fehlern lernt man. ~ You learn from mistakes.

Lass dich nicht entmutigen. ~ Don’t get discouraged.

Jeder Tag ist eine zweite Chance. ~ Everyday is a second chance.

Du kannst nicht negativ denken und Positives erwarten. ~ You can’t think negatively and expect positives.