Transcript
Hello everyone.
Welcome to this video. If you're here, it's because you want to learn French or improve your French. I think you'll really enjoy this video, especially if you're new to French and need some reassurance.
In this video, I'm going to give you a test to show you how easy French really is. You may not know it, but between English and French, there are over 20,000 words that are very similar.
20,000 words that are practically the same, you heard me right. I know that when you first start learning a new language, it can be a little scary. You can quickly feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of things to learn. Whether it's grammar, conjugation or vocabulary, it can seem like a lot.
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Yet there are many similarities between French and other languages, especially between French and English. There are many more similarities than you might think. If your language is English, or if you speak English, you've got a lot more French skills than you think, and I'm going to prove it to you right now.
We will do a test together.
So let me explain, it's a very simple game. I'm going to give you ten sentences, ten French sentences, and each time I'll give you a few seconds to guess what they mean. You'll see, even if you're a beginner, I'm sure that almost all of you will score ten out of ten. So bravo!
To do this test, I used this book, I'll tell you about it later. Kill the French. Let's start the little test right away.
Sentence One. This restaurant accepts credit cards. I'll give you a few seconds to understand what that means. I'll show you the English translation. You see, there are a lot of similar words. Normally, you should have understood it.
Second sentence. I'm inviting my parents and cousins to dinner. Again, you see, it's very close to English. I'm sure by now you've got two for two.
Third sentence. The journalist is interviewing the President of the Republic. The English translation appears.
I plant carrots, tomatoes and salads. In English.
Olivia loves chocolate desserts. You see, in English, it's very similar. The verb "to adore" also exists in English. I'm just going to take a little break from this test to tell you about this book. It's called Kill the French. In this book, you'll find stories written with a lot of transparent words, i.e. words that are similar or very close between English and French.
Thanks to these transparent words, you'll learn a lot of French vocabulary. It's much easier to learn and remember vocabulary words when you learn them in context than if you study lists and vocabulary lists, where you might remember the words at the time, but then forget them. I'll show you how that works. So, obviously, it's stories from everyday life or stories about current events.
Because the aim of this book is to teach you over 500 words found in everyday French vocabulary. So, for example, here's story number fourteen. My yoga teacher is extraordinary.
When you read the story, you see, there are really similar words between French and English that allow you to understand and learn other more complicated words.
In the video description, I'll link to this book so you can easily find it on Amazon. I'll also link to a PDF of over 1,000 words that are similar in French and English. The author of this book wanted to offer the entire Hellofrench community this gift.
Let's resume our test right away, the break is over.
Sixth sentence. My assistant photocopies the contract. You see, in English, it's almost the same thing.
Joseph imagines a future without conflict and pollution. I'll give you a few seconds to think about it. Here is the English translation. I'm sure you were very close.
Next sentence to understand. Paul admires the creativity of this artist.
I dance tango with my teacher.
And the last sentence of this test. I visit the Berlin Zoo and Opera House.
And that's it, this test is over. Tell me in the comments how many out of ten you got.
I hope you've enjoyed this video, and that you've seen that French isn't so complicated.
I've included a link to the book "Kill The French" in the description, and as promised, I've also included a PDF where you can find 1000 words that are transparent between English and French.
See you soon for a new video.