Learn French by Podcast

Brian, one of our listeners in Canada, asked that we would do a lesson on the difficulties one experiences nowadays travelling. In particular, the security issues at airports, whether people of colour encounter longer delays, and so on. That’s the topic of this lesson. We’ll begin with a role-play. We'll study the verbs 'engendrer' and 'occasionner', as well as the expressions 'être perçu comme' and 'être expérimenté'. Allons-y!

One of our listeners asked for a lesson which would help when buying clothes. In this Beginner lesson – lesson 114 – that will be the topic conversation. We'll discover how to ask for a garment one size larger or smaller, how to ask if we may try something on, how to say something suits or not, and more. Let’s start with a role-play between a shop assistant and a customer. Allons-y!

The Tour de France is the world’s premier cycling race. It traces a route – ‘la Grande Boucle’ – through France and certain stages – des ‘étapes’ – are sometimes organised in neighbouring countries. In this Advanced lesson, lesson 113, let’s discuss a sports event that captivates cycling enthusiasts everywhere during the month of July each year.

One of our listeners in the U.S. asked if we would create a lesson focusing on larger numbers, for example those found in dates, and so on. That’s the subject of this lesson, lesson 112. We’ll start with a role-play where Sylvie tells us about the region in which she lives.

In this lesson, lesson 111, we discuss the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters. An event which dominated current affairs in Europe recently. This very complicated document, aimed at facilitating the functioning of the EU, will not come into force - at least not for now. So then, what next for Europe ?

The real race to the White House has begun, after a gruelling campaign for the Democrats. For now Hillary Clinton is out of the picture, leaving Barack Obama and John McCain to slug it out. In this lesson, lesson 110, let’s discover some vocabulary which will help us discuss what’s been happening in recent weeks. We’ll start with a role-play between Émilien and Léa...

In this lesson, lesson 109, our conversation centres on oil and, more significantly, the spiralling price of oil. Let's discover some of the vocabulary we'll need in order to talk about prices that are going through the roof, investors, yield, alternative sources of energy, speculating, and more.

In this Beginner lesson, lesson 108, we talk about possessive adjectives, that is, words like ‘my’, ‘your’ and ‘his’ in English. We'll discover that, like regular adjectives, possessive adjectives also must agree in number and gender with the nouns they qualify. Let's go ahead and see how they work.

Kaleema, one of our listeners in the U.S. asked if we would talk a little about tennis and Roland Garros. That’s the topic for today’s lesson. We’re coming to the end of the 2008 tournament : let’s see what vocabulary and expressions would be useful to discuss what's been happening.

The subject we will deal with in this lesson was suggested to us by Maureen, one of our listeners in Australia. This year, Maureen will forsake city life for a holiday in the countryside, in the Dordogne, to be precise. Let's discover this magnificent 'département' which is one of the most visited in France after Paris and the Île de France.