French They Never Taught You : Tips for Teachers and Advanced Students

The purpose of this work, like that of second-language teachers, is to inspire students to seek what is unique in each language and to reflect on the relationship and interplay between them. Few English language speakers are going to acquire native fluency in French. Some do manage that incredible feat, but most people learning French, want to get somewhat closer to that elusive native-speaker status. This little book takes you a few steps further along that life-long journey. In the section on grammar, we propose a new and better way to tell the use of the passé simple or passé composé and the imparfait. There really are differences in causal conjunctions (parce que/car/comme/puisque). The agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs (Elle s'est coupée au doigt) is explained clearly.

Part One: GRAMMAR Chr(45) Prepositions; Adverbial Phrases; Pronouns; Verbs; Conjuctions; Adjectives; Articles; Adverbs. Part Two: VOCABULARY -- Test; Entre en accord or Entre d'accord?; Relatives; Holiday, Vacation; Décider; Pouvoir and puissance (power) Conclusion; To suggest; To visit; Se servir de; Scarcely, Hardly; Could,, Would; Oui or Si?; D'avance/ A l'avance; Mener/ Porter; Sans doute and Other False Friends; S'assurer que; Food... for Thought; Tranche; Each/ Every; Encore and Toujours; When Is a Rue not a Street?; Espoir/ Esperance; Numbers, Figures and Digits; There Are Words... and There Are Words: Mots/ Paroles; So; Diminutives; Bouchées, fournées, Soirées...Chaque jour et Chaque année: Reflections on a Suffix; An Employee Isn't un employée.