Hello! I've just started learning French and I'd like to try reading something. A whole novel sounds quite intimidating, so do you know of any short stories with simple language?
Hello,
My mind goes to :
Les lettres de mon moulin by Alphonse Daudet
Trois contes by Gustave Flaubert
Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès by Maurice Leblanc (ha!)
Les diaboliques by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (pretty)
Le sommeil de la raison by Gabrielle Wittkop
Contes de l’Absurde + Histoires perfides by Pierre Boulle (emo)
Je voudrais que quelqu’un m’attende quelque part by Anna Gavalda
Les filles du Feu by Gérard de Nerval (v pretty)
Le mur by Jean-Paul Sartre (classic)
La Fontaine aux Fées by Chantal Robillard
L’Exil et Le Royaume + L’Étranger by Albert Camus (classic)
Solitude de la Pitié by jean Giono
Des Filles bien élevées by Anne Wiazemski
La Rêveuse d’Ostende by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
La Chapelle Sextine by Hervé Le Tellier (naughty)
Le Ratichon Baigneur by Boris Vian
Poussières d’anges by Ann Scott
Contes cruels by Octave Mirbeau (weirdo)
L’arbre des Possibles by Bernard Werber
Mordre au travers by Virginie Despentes (feminist, weird)
Clair de Lune + L’Inutile Beauté + Boule de Suif + Le Horla (has a slight Dorian Gray vibe, classic) by Guy de Maupassant
Les Plaisirs et les Jours by Marcel Proust,
L’Heptaméron by Marguerite de Navarre,
Cantatrix sopranica by George Pérec,
Deux et deux font cinq by Alphone Allais
Religere + Déchirures by Sir Cédric (goth)
Gloire à nos Illustres Pionniers by Romain Gary
Les Vrilles de la Ligne by Colette (badass lady)
Nouvelles sous Extasy by Frédéric Beigbeder (v weird/edgy)
La Botte Secrète by Éric Boisset
And that’s probably enough. Hope this helps! x
Tell me if anything is wrong!
La sorcellerie - The witchcraft
Les éléments - The elements (M)
La terre - The earth
L’eau - The water (F)
L’air - The air (M)
Le feu - The fire
L’esprit - The spirit (M)
La baguette magique - The wand
L’épée - The sword (F)
La tasse - The cup
Le pentacle - The pentacle
La lune - The moon
Le soleil - The sun
Le cercle - The circle
Le sel - The salt
La bougie - The candle
La pierre - The stone
Le cristal - The crystal
La plume - The feather
Le grimoire - The grimoire
Le sortilège - The spell
La prière - The prayer
La malédiction - The curse
L’autel - The altar (M)
Le sanctuaire - The shrine
La magie - The magick
La nature - The nature
Le culte - The coven/cult
Le panthéon - The pantheon
La sorcière - The witch
Ancien/ne - Ancient
Magique - Magical
Pur - Pure
Blanc/he - White
Noir/e - Black
Gris/e - Grey
Spirituel/le - Spiritual
Religieux/se - Religious
Naturel/le - Natural
Mystique - Mystical
Prier - To pray
Maudire - To curse
Danser - To dance
Chanter - To sing
Guérir - To heal
Croire - To believe
Invoquer - To invoke
Ensorceler - To enchant/spellbind
Écrire - To write
Consacrer - To devote
donner - to give 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
je donne [I give]
tu donnes [you give]
il/elle/on donne [he/she/it/ gives]
nous donnons [we give]
vous donnez [you give]
ils/elle donnent [they give]
prendre - to take 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
je prends [I take]
tu prends [you take]
il/elle/on prend [he/she/it takes]
nous prenons [we take]
vous prenez [you take]
ils/elles prennent [they take]
recevoir - to get 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️
je reçois [I get]
tu reçois [you get]
il/elle/on reçoit [he/she/it gets]
nous recevons [we get]
vous recevez [you get]
ils/elles reçoivent [they get]
i finally managed to get my favourite asmr/ambience/soundscape videos into a neat list. i use these while i study, and they also help me get to sleep. since i cannot do anything without some sort of background noise on, they are a lifesaver for me; they’re also great for daydreaming purposes. if you have any that you like, please share!
Victorian London
Baker Street 221B
Hogwarts Express
Library
Victorian Office
Cottage Kitchen
Library Room with Fireplace
Potion Shop
Hobbit Hole
Autumn Village
Shell Cottage
Seaside Art Room
Italian Cafe
French Cafe
Autumn Coffee Shop with Jazz
Enchanted Forest (with music)
Forest (without music)
Spaceship Library
Pirate Ship
are there any beginner japanese or french langblrs out there :|
hi friends! this list is basically a mash of literature/writing-related words…?
【 books/writing forms 】
l’anthologie (f) | anthology
le brouillon (m) | draft
le dictionnaire des synonymes (m) | thesaurus
épistolaire | epistolary
l’épopée (f) | epic
la nouvelle (f) | short-story
la pièce de théâtre (f) | play
la poésie (f) | poetry
la prose (f) | prose
la rédaction (f) | essay
le roman (m) | novel
【 literary devices 】
l’allégorie (f) | allegory
l’allitération (f) | alliteration
l’anaphore (f) | anaphora
la comparaison (f) | simile
l’hyperbate (f) | hyperbaton
l’imagerie (f) | imagery
la litote (f) | litotes/meiosis
la métaphore (f) | metaphor
l’oxymore (m) | oxymoron
la rime (f) | rhyme
【 people in the writing process 】
le/la dramaturge | playwright
l’écrivain (m) | author
l’éditeur/éditrice | publisher
l’égérie (f) | muse/creative inspiration
le rédacteur en chef/ la rédactrice en chef | editor (of a newspaper)
le réviseur/la réviseure | editor
【 punctuation 】
l’apostrophe (f) | apostrophe
les deux-points (m) | colon
les guillemets (m) | quotation marks (« »)
la parenthèse (f) | parenthesis/bracket
le point d’exclamation (m) | exclamation mark
le point d’interrogation (m) | question mark
le point (final) (m) | full stop
le point-virgule (m) | semi-colon
les points de suspension (m) | ellipsis
la ponctuation (f) | punctuation
le tiret (m) | dash
le trait d’union (m) | hyphen
la virgule (f) | comma
【 words 】
la consonne (f) | consonant
l’espace (f) | space
la lettre (f) | letter (of the alphabet)
le mot (m) | word
le paragraphe (m) | paragraph
la phrase (f) | sentence
la syllabe (f) | syllable
la voyelle (f) | vowel
【 extra 】
la bibliothèque (f) | library
la librairie (f) | bookstore
la littérature (f) | literature
la grammaire (f) | grammar
l’orthographe (f) | spelling
le stylo plume (m) | fountain pen
la tranche (f) | spine (of a book)
Here’s a set of sentences you can use to talk about your level in French or any other language! These are as natural as can be without being confusing to non-natives, but to be fair, most French speakers would drop the négation (”ne”) except in a formal setting. You can change most of these sentences to fit your own situation too, so they’re very useful!
Je parle (français) couramment.
I speak (French) fluently.
Je ne parle pas français couramment.
I don’t speak French fluently.
J’apprends (le français) depuis deux ans.
I’ve been learning (French) for two years.
Je suis bilingue.
I’m bilingual.
Je suis niveau B1.
I’m at a B1 level.
J’écris mieux que je parle.
I write better than I speak.
Je suis meilleur(e)/plus fort(e) à l’écrit qu’à l’oral.
I’m better at written French than I am at spoken French./My written French is better than my spoken French. (we just say “écrit” and “oral” for written and spoken language, no need to clarify with “français écrit”, “langue orale” or whatever)
J’ai du mal à parler naturellement.
I have trouble speaking naturally.
Mon point faible, c’est la conjugaison.
My weak point is conjugation.
Le plus dur pour moi, c’est l’orthographe.
The hardest for me is spelling.
J’arrive à comprendre la plupart de ce qu’on me dit.
I can understand most of what people say to me.
Je peux lire un article de journal sans problème.
I can read a newspaper article without any problem.
J’arrive à regarder une série sans sous-titres.
I can watch a show without subtitles.
Mon français n’est pas encore très naturel.
My French isn’t very natural yet.
J’ai du mal avec l’accent.
I’m having trouble with the accent.
J’ai un fort accent (anglais, espagnol, japonais…).
I have a strong (English, Spanish, Japanese…) accent.
Je peux avoir/suivre une conversation en français facilement.
I can have/follow a conversation in French easily.
J’essaie de m’entraîner tous les jours.
I try to practice every day.
A
Au grand jamais - never
Aucun-e(s) - none : Je n’en ai vu aucun / I have seen none of them
Aucunement (rare) - by no means
D
Dégun (southern slang) - no one
E
En aucun cas - under no circumstance
En aucune façon - under no circumstance
En aucune manière - under no circumstance
En rien - under no circumstance
G
Goutte - nothing (old, rare) : On n’y voit goutte ici / We can’t see anything
Guère - almost not/nothing (old, rare) : Ce n’est guère plus rapide que le train / This isn’t any faster than the train
J
Jamais - never : Plus jamais ça! / Never again!
Jamais au grand jamais - never ever (dramatic)
Jamais de la vie - never ever
K
Keud (slang), short que ‘que dalle’ (slang for Nothing)
Keutchi (slang)
N
N’ - ne + vowel : Je ne t’aime pas / I don’t love you
Nada - nothing at all : - Did you hear about that? - Nada!
Nan (slang) - nah
Ne - not : Je ne sais pas / I don’t know
Ni - neither/nor : Je n’ai vu ni le chien ni le chat depuis que je suis arrivée / I haven’t seen neither the cat nor the dog since I got here
Niet - nope! (often angry)
Non - no
Non plus - (n)either : Je ne sais pas non plus / I don’t know either
Non plus que
Nul-le - none : Nos jeunes filles à nous sont tellement accomplies, que nulle des filles d’Ève ne peut lutter avec elles ! — (Modeste Mignon, Honoré de Balzac, 1844)
Nulle part - nowhere : Je ne le vois nulle part / I can’t see him anywhere
Nullement - not in any way
O
Ô/oh grand jamais : never ever (dramatic)
P
Pas - not : Je ne sais pas / I don’t know
Pas autrement - not any other way : C’est comme ça et pas autrement
Pas encore - not yet
Pas forcément - not necessarily
Pas plus que
Pas un-e - not one : - Did they offer their help? - Pas un!
Pas un chat - not one cat : Il n’y a pas un chat / There’s no one here
Personne - nobody : Il n’y a personne ici / There’s no one here
Plus : no more - Je ne t’aime plus / I don’t love you anymore
Point - not : Je ne sais point / I don’t know (rare, old)
Q
Que dalle (slang) - nothing : - Did you know about that? - Que dalle!
Que nenni - no (old) : - Are they here yet? - Que nenni!
Que tchi (slang) - nothing
Queude (slang, short for Que dalle) - nothing
R
Rien - nothing : Je ne vois rien / I don’t see anything
do u have any advice for ppl who want to study linguistics and languages but couldnt afford to study it at school?? thanks if you answer this, have a great day
yeah! you can easily download textbooks online and study from them AND I do have a dropbox full of linguistics textbooks!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qm7x5dz8fu4bdlp/AADshTfRGZG5JZALkDV6wFlwa?dl=0
it includes phonetics/phonology, sociolinguistics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, morphology, and etymology.
I also have another dropbox folder full of language textbooks:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tdm26h60ccl9pe1/AABg0B3mOGaWLG9Kfyuvut6wa?dl=0
As of November 6: Includes 83 textbooks including Arabic, ASL, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovene, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Welsh :)
Both as a resource for other people and a reminder to myself of habits to pick back up as I’m going into a Ph.D. program this fall.
This can all help cheat the executive function and focus challenges that trip up ADHD people in school and at work.
Here’s the short list of tips. They’re all explained and elaborated on after the cut!
Manage energy, not time
Treat motivation like inertia
Diversify productivity time
Use baby stimuli while studying
Learn the brain’s quirks
Maintain yourself and your environment
Keep tasks small
Exploit impulsivity
Don’t memorize, use
Keep reading
So, I’m an Anki user and I’m completely aware of how intimidating Anki can be upon first glance. Here are some Anki add-ons that can help make the experience a better one. Feel free to suggest your favorites as well!
Pokemanki: For each basic deck you have, this add-on gives you a Pokémon egg, and it grows stronger as you review. I am a huge Pokémon fan, so this is a necessary add-on in my opinion.
Migaku Vacation: This add-on lets you take sick days and vacations from your Anki reviews, to not make the process so overwhelming if you miss a day.
Anki IPA: Haven’t personally used this one yet, but as a linguist it’ll be super helpful for French. It transcribes your cards into IPA instantly! Only a handful of languages are supported, so check it out.
Pull from Duolingo: This will take words you’ve learned so far in your Duolingo course and make them into cards! Definitely great for those beginning stages of a language when you aren’t sure how to make your Anki deck.
Puppy Reinforcement: Nice puppies tell you you’re doing a good job :)
Anki Simulator: This one lets you simulate your progress. I like looking at shiny graphs, so if you do too then this is for you.
Migaku Spanish: This add-on features audio recordings, color coding for grammatical gender, and a dictionary. It’s also available for French and Portuguese and - I think - German, if I’m not mistaken.
Beeline: It adds gradients to text to make it easier to read. Helpful for long blocks of text!
Beautify Anki: Are you tired of the boring grey background of Anki? This is one of your options. It’s an attempt to make the interface a lot more friendly-looking.
Randomize Fonts: I literally had ZERO idea why you would use this one for fun, but one of the reviews pointed out it’s good for identifying words in different contexts, and if you are learning a language that uses a script that isn’t what your native language is written in, this could definitely be cool!
Anki Accountability 2: Allows you to generate a report to send to someone about your consistency with your reviews. Could be useful among a competitive group of friends, or for language teachers who would like to implement use of Anki in the classroom!