Counting in French

Counting in French

Counting in French is something that must become second nature to any French language learner. Think about it... from telling someone your phone number to telling time or hearing how much something costs, we use numbers on a daily basis; numbers are essential not only to the beginning French learner but to learners at every level beyond that. It's hard to go a day without hearing or saying a number. In addition, counting in French can be the difference between looking good in French or not. This article will go over EVERYTHING, essentially how to count to infinity (if you ever really wanted to).

Provided below is the number, the French spelling, and the French pronunciation. After the presentation of all the words, there are some exercises provided to test your knowledge! If you need help with the pronunciation, head on over to www.wordreference.com and simply type in the number. Word Reference offers an audio file right next to the bold word at the top. You can also look on Youtube for videos of French people pronouncing the numbers. You want to start off pronouncing things correctly from the beginning, otherwise it's harder to fix your mistakes later down the line.

Counting in French:
1 Un (uhn)
2 Deux (deuh)
3 Trois (twa)
4 Quatre (kat[r])
5 Cinq (sank)
6 Six (sees)
7 Sept (set)
8 Huit (wheat)
9 Neuf (nuhf)
10 Dix (deece)

11 Onze (onze)
12 Douze (doo-ze)
13 Treize (trez)
14 Quatorze (ka-torz)
15 Quinze (kanz)
16 Seize (sez)
17 Dix-sept (dees set)
18 Dix-huit (dees wheat)
19 Dix-neuf (dees nuhf)

Bonjour Tristesse [Extrait] - Françoise Sagan

Un extrait du roman Bonjour Tristesse par Françoise Sagan, page 15 à 18.

« Anne Larson », dit mon père, et il se tourna vers moi.

     Je le regardai, trop étonnée pour réagir. 

« Je lui ai dit de venir si elle était trop fatiguée par ses collections et elle... elle arrive. »

   
     Je n'y aurais jamais pensé. Anne Larsen était une ancienne amie de ma pauvre mère et n'avait que très peu de rapports avec mon père. Néanmoins à ma sortie de pension, deux ans plus tôt, mon père, très embarrassé de moi, m'avait envoyée à elle. En une semaine, elle m'avait habillée avec goût et appris à vivre. J'en avais conçu pour elle une admiration passionnée qu'elle avait habilement détournée sur un jeune homme de son entourage. Je lui devais donc mes première élégances et mes premières amours et lui en avais beaucoup de reconnaissance. A quarante-deux ans, c'était une femme très séduisante, très recherchée, avec un beau visage orgueilleux et las, indifférent. Celle indifférence était la seule chose qu'on pût lui reprocher. Elle était aimable et lointaine. Tout en elle reflétait une volonté constante, une tranquillité de cœur qui intimidait. Bien que divorcée et libre, on ne lui connaissait pas d'amant. D'ailleurs, nous n'avions pas les mêmes relations : elle fréquentait des gens fins, intelligents, dscrets, et nous des gens bruyants, assoiffés, auxquels mon père et moi, pour notre parti, pris d'amusements, de futilités, comme elle méprisait tout excès. Seuls nous réunissaient des dîners d'affaires - elle s'occupait de couture et mon père de publicité, le souvenir de ma mère et mes efforts, car, si elle m'intimidait, je l'admirais beaucoup. Enfin cette arrivé subite apparaissait comme un contretemps si l'on pensait à la présence d'Elsa et aux idées d'Anne sur l'éducation.

How To Become Fluent in French Fast

Parle en français? Fous-moi le camp.

I designed an 8-step French Fluency program which will allow you to be fluent in French FAST. Apparently, that's how people wish to learn languages, quickly, while fun! Fluency has multiple definitions, however I found that most people simply want to be efficient in conversations and some want the ability to read & write. If this is you, keep reading. Before we start, let me just say that becoming fluent in any language is no easy feat, it will require a lot of work on your part if you want to do it quickly. So how do I become fluent in French fast? Let's get started.

Just a note, the steps aren't necessarily in chronological order and there may be steps which you can do and others which you cannot.

Step One: The Correct Mindset
I promise that all the other steps are way more informative, but this step is extremely crucial. Why do you want to learn French? Is it because you have family or French origins? Is it because you're going to visit France soon? Is it because it'll help your professional or personal endeavors? Is it because you want to read the original French text of Les Misérables or Madame Bovary? Whatever the reason, you need to take it, write it down, and place it somewhere you'll notice often. This will be your motivation during those days you don't feel like practicing... it's all psychological. Without the will power or dedication, you won't be any closer to French fluency. Especially if you're learning French by yourself... god bless you. I just started learning Italian on my own and my motivation is speaking to my girlfriend and my upcoming trip to Italy.

Step Two: Immersion or French Language Courses
This method is so obvious, I kind of didn't want to include it to the list. If you don't know what immersion is, click on the following link where I beautifully describe it in another article: Immersion in France. Essentially Immersion is moving yourself to a francophone area for some period of time. Immersion will have you speaking French so fast you won't believe it, however you must avoid other English speakers as if  they have the plague (including the French people who want to practice their English with you)!

Because Immersion is not practical for many people; language courses are the 2nd best way to learn French. Courses provided through your high school, local college, accredited university, or French Universities  all are effective ways towards fluency. Honestly, 6-months of "intensive" French courses will have you getting started effectively and quickly.