You have been studying French for quite some time now...and you are doing such a fabulous job! However, if you are seated at the fancy French restaurant you have always wanted to try, the waiter hands you a menu - completely in French - and quite confusing! The French alphabet is pretty peculiar and a bit different from the English writing system. It includes some unfamiliar markings you may not recognize: 1) Diacritics, or accent marks that help denote the characteric French pronunciation and intonation of words. They include: The acute accent (l'accent aigu)         ‹´› The grave accent (l'accent grave)       ‹`› The cedilla (la cédille)                        ‹¸› The circumflex (l'accent circonflexe)     ‹ˆ› The... Show more

Every month, we are giving away great FrenchPod101.com prizes to 4 lucky listeners. Sign up to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or FrenchPod101.com to be eligible to win. Increase your chances of winning by following us on all four sites! Here are February's winners: Facebook: Loshini Gerard Youtube: Anaiise Twitter: simplyolivia FrenchPod101: hywelwyn See your name here? Email us at contactus@FrenchPod101.com to claim your prize. Check back next month for March`s winners!

You are learning French, but aside from grammar and vocabulary, you feel challenged by the pronunciation. What is the key to making all those uniquely French sounds? There are different categories of French sounds, and these the most unique ones to the language, and therefore, challenging. They are the following: Voyelles orales ("oral vowels") Voyelles antérieures ("front vowels") You produce them by placing your tongue to the front of your mouth, as in the English word "feet" and "stylo" (pen) in French. Voyelles centrales ("central vowels")Place the tongue in the middle of your mouth, as in "pure" and "lune"(moon) in French. Voyelles postérieures ("back vowels")  Place your tongue in the back of your mouth, as in... Show more

It is widely known that France has a beautiful culture and language, but did you know the historical reason why French is a 'Romance Language' is a result of wars and invasion? French language primarily descends from Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, and thus belongs to the 'Romance' Language Group. The Romans were a strong empire that once invaded the actual French territory, which was known as La Gaule; where numerous tribes speaking le Gaulois ('Gaulish') composed of Celtic dialects inhabited La Gaule. Some traces of Gaulish influence are still present in the French spoken today; for example, these traces include the Gauls' ancient and unique way of counting people by twenty. (In modern French, we still have quatre-vingt... Show more

Just as an engine helps a car move, mastering basic grammar helps you express yourself and communicate your ideas clearly. The more you know about the engine parts, the more you can improve your engine's capacity. Similarly, the more you know grammar, the better your French will be! French grammar has the reputation of being boring and complicated, but it's not so terrible. The main difficulties are the word genders and the conjugation system (shared by all Romance languages). It is just a matter of remembering some basic rules that will reduce your chances of making the most common French grammar mistakes. The most common one is gender. In French, all nouns have a gender, either masculine or feminine. A basic rule for nouns and... Show more

Every month, we are giving away great FrenchPod101.com prizes to 4 lucky listeners. Sign up to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or FrenchPod101.com to be eligible to win. Increase your chances of winning by following us on all four sites! Here are January's winners: Facebook: John Drummond Youtube: Moca113 Twitter: groundupmedia FrenchPod101: valerie_ See your name here? Email us at contactus@FrenchPod101.com to claim your prize. Check back next month for February's winners!

Every month, we are giving away great FrenchPod101.com prizes to 4 lucky listeners. Sign up to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or FrenchPod101.com to be eligible to win. Increase your chances of winning by following us on all four sites! Here are December's winners: Facebook: Courtney Williams Youtube: freeman6799 Twitter: cozicoz FrenchPod101: tgrant See your name here? Email us at contactus@FrenchPod101.com to claim your prize. Check back next month for January's winners!

Every month, we are giving away great FrenchPod101.com prizes to 4 lucky listeners. Sign up to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or FrenchPod101.com to be eligible to win. Increase your chances of winning by following us on all four sites! Here are November's winners: Facebook: Vicki Truitt Youtube: SeniorUser Twitter: vickitruitt FrenchPod101: mopsley See your name here? Email us at contactus@FrenchPod101.com to claim your prize. Check back next month for December's winners!

1. Get serious about French with The Ultimate Getting Started French Package - Limited Time Offer! Stop by FrenchPod101.com/ULTIMATE to find out more. 2. Happy Thanksgiving! We want to say "Thank you" for listening to FrenchPod101.com! Use coupon code THANKS09 by November 26th and save 26% off any basic or premium subscription today! Click here to redeem this incredible, limitied time offer today! 3. Best Lessons and Blog Entries for November!  - Find out what’s popular this month! The blog has some great content for you to see. Welcome to the FrenchPod101.com newsletter. These periodic newsletters will deliver  to  you  all  the  exciting developments that are going on at FrenchPod101.com.  With  each  issue,  you ... Show more

Introduction Awesome new upgrade available for the iPhone/iPod Touch application - WordPower French and now available for Android (the Google phone). Social Networking Monthly Giveaways! - Every month, FrenchPod101.com will give away one 3-month Premium Subscription, one 3-month Basic Subscription, and two of our phenomenal iPhone applications. Become a subscriber to FrenchPod101's YouTube account, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, or have a free lifetime account at FrenchPod101 to be eligible to win! Best Lessons and Blog Entries for October! - Find out what’s popular this month! The blog has some great content for you to see. Welcome to the FrenchPod101.com newsletter. These periodic newsletters... Show more