It’s that Monday feeling again… Due to “stuff” beyond our control, today’s lessons will be uploaded tomorrow. (in ze morning) Merci.
Admin Message 8 Feb 2010
8 février 2010
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Idiom of the week (no. 27) – Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter
4 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Idioms
Level(s): Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4
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Spice up your French with some idiomatic language…
This week’s idiom: Avoir d’autres chats à fouetter
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Download audio 
(lesson lasts: 3 mins approx.)
Alexa’s weekly analysis of French idiomatic language is included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
10 French Words (no. 26) – La mort d’Olivier Bécaille
4 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Vocabulary
Level(s): Level 1, Level 2
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Are you ready to challenge yourself? It’s time for some Advanced Reading with Alexa!
The objective of this challenging advanced reading exercise is to improve your listening, reading and, most importantly, your pronunciation skills. So try reading aloud as you follow the text. Remember: don’t forget to download the transcript BEFORE you start the exercise, unless of course, you really want to challenge yourself to see how much you can understand just by listening to the audio itself… (Note: 1. the reading passage will not be translated. 2. Beginners and intermediates are more than welcome to try it out—if you dare!)
This week’s reading is called: La mort d’Olivier Bécaille
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 4 mins approx.)
Alexa’s weekly advanced readings for Level 4 (and other brave pupils) are included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
10 French Words (no. 25) – La maison (première partie)
4 février 2010
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Level(s): Level 1, Level 2
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Build your French vocabulary and improve your French pronunciation with Alexa’s weekly set of ten themed words.
This week’s topic: La maison (première partie)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 2 mins approx.)
Alexa’s weekly audio of themed French vocabulary is included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Alexa’s grammatical goulash (no. 20) – Passé composé with être
3 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Grammar
Level(s): Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4
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Is your tummy rumbling? Yes? Well then it’s time to tuck into some of Alexa’s delicious grammatical goulash.
(Yummy.)
If there’s a grammar subject that you’d like to be covered, feel free to send Alexa an email with your requests.
This week’s grammar topic: Passé composé with être
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 22 mins approx.)
Alexa’s grammatical goulash is included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Verb conjugation (no. 12) – Entendre (to hear) – présent, passé composé & futur
3 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Conjugation
Level(s): Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4
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Practise your French pronunciation and verb conjugation with these handy mini-lessons.
This week’s verb: Entendre (to hear) – présent, passé composé & futur
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 11 mins approx.)
Alexa’s mini-lessons on conjugating French verbs are included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Dictation (no. 26, levels 3 & 4) – Le livre
2 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Dictations Levels 3 & 4
Level(s): Level 3, Level 4
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Are your ears primed and your pens ready? It’s dictation time! If you find this one too hard, then try the easier dictation for levels 1 & 2.
Not only will this dictation help with your French spelling, it will also help improve your understanding of grammar and sentence structure. Remember: there is a space provided on the transcript/support sheet for you to complete the dictation but try not to peek at the text. (If it’s too tempting, use another sheet of paper!)
Alexa will read the text once at a normal pace and then she will read each sentence twice, so you have enough time to write them down.
This week’s dictation topic: Le livre
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 7 mins approx.)
Alexa’s weekly French dictations for levels 3 and 4 are included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Dictation (no. 26, levels 1 & 2) – Le livre
2 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Dictations Levels 1 & 2
Level(s): Level 1, Level 2
(What's my level?)
Are you ears primed and your pens ready? It’s dictation time! If you find this one too easy, then try the more difficult dictation for levels 3 & 4.
Not only will this dictation help with your French spelling, it will also help improve your understanding of grammar and sentence structure. Remember: there is a space provided on the transcript/support sheet for you to complete the dictation but try not to peek at the text. (If it’s too tempting, use another sheet of paper!)
Alexa will read the text once at a normal pace and then she will read each sentence twice, so you have enough time to write them down.
This week’s dictation topic: Le livre
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 7 mins approx.)
Alexa’s weekly French dictations for levels 1 and 2 are included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Le sujet de la semaine (no. 24, levels 3 & 4) – Une toile de Pablo Picasso
2 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Le sujet de la semaine levels 3 and 4
Level(s): Level 3, Level 4
(What's my level?)
It’s sujet de la semaine time! (If you find this one too hard, then try the easier one for levels 1 & 2).
Each lesson I’ll be introducing a text based on a French topic. It could be about French films, books, a piece of news, whatever takes my fancy. Firstly, I’ll read the passage out to give you an idea of what the topic is about. Then I’ll ask you 3 questions. When I’m reading the passage for the second time, see if you can find the answers to the questions. But don’t worry if it’s too tricky because I’ll read it a third time before we go through the answers together. That’s part one of the exercise and you can stop here if you wish. However, there is a second part available just for my lovely subscribers as well as the lesson’s accompanying support sheet.
In part two (for subscribers only) we analyse the text together in more detail, and look at different bits of vocabulary, grammar, and things like that…
This week’s subject is: Une toile de Pablo Picasso
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 15 mins approx.)
The full version of Alexa’s sujet de la semaine is included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Le sujet de la semaine (no. 24, levels 1 & 2) – Une toile de Pablo Picasso
2 février 2010
No comments yet » Categories: Le sujet de la semaine levels 1 and 2
Level(s): Level 1, Level 2
(What's my level?)
It’s sujet de la semaine time! (If you find this one too easy, then try the harder one for levels 3 & 4).
Each lesson I’ll be introducing a text based on a French topic. It could be about French films, books, a piece of news, whatever takes my fancy. Firstly, I’ll read the passage out to give you an idea of what the topic is about. Then I’ll ask you 3 questions. When I’m reading the passage for the second time, see if you can find the answers to the questions. But don’t worry if it’s too tricky because I’ll read it a third time before we go through the answers together. That’s part one of the exercise and you can stop here if you wish. However, there is a second part available just for my lovely subscribers as well as the lesson’s accompanying support sheet.
In part two (for subscribers only) we analyse the text together in more detail, and look at different bits of vocabulary, grammar, and things like that…
This week’s subject is: Une toile de Pablo Picasso
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download audio (lesson lasts: 18 mins approx.)
The full version of Alexa’s sujet de la semaine is included in the monthly, six-monthly, and yearly subscriptions.
Note: Sorry about the background noise on this recording.
