Personal study notebook
Help Me Learn French
A focused cockpit for consolidating real French lessons: corrections, grammar, vocabulary, verbs and active recall at B1/B2.
Lessons
Recent lessons
Friendship and social codes
A conversation lesson on how friendships form, how social groups work and how to describe affinity naturally.
The subjunctive in real opinions
A consolidation lesson on the present subjunctive after necessity, doubt, emotion, judgement and concession.
Réseaux sociaux, connecteurs logiques et argumentation
The lesson began with conversation about a ski trip to Grenoble and general life/work updates, then moved into revision of logical connectors for cause, purpose and consequence. The main discussion was based on a video about a proposed French law banning social media accounts for under-15s. The lesson practised comprehension, political/civic vocabulary, and expressing an opinion for or against the law.
Lookup
Quick verbs
Preparation
Open teacher tasks
Read the friendship article and answer comprehension questions
not-startedUse the conversation-amitie pack: answer the written comprehension questions before the lesson.
Read the friendship vocabulary sheet and underline unknown expressions
in-progressRead the vocabulary sheet in the friendship pack and mark expressions you want to reuse orally.
Listen to Mathilde's anecdote and answer comprehension questions
not-startedListen once for gist, then again with the worksheet questions. Note useful idiomatic expressions.
Write 150 words about a memorable experience
not-startedUse passé composé, imparfait, logical connectors and at least three pronominal verbs.
Watch the assigned YouTube video before the lesson
not-startedWatch the assigned video, write down three arguments and note any unfamiliar civic or political vocabulary.
Materials
Next lesson materials
Before lesson
Linked topic dossiers
Vocabulary
Recent vocabulary
sympathiser
to get talking / to hit it off
nouer une amitié
to form a friendship
avoir des atomes crochus
to click with someone / to have chemistry
s'entendre avec
to get on with
se ressembler
to be alike / to resemble each other
un camarade
a schoolmate / classmate
In lesson
Grammar to keep handy
The Present Subjunctive
Use the subjunctive after expressions like il faut que, je doute que, je suis content que, il est possible que, bien que, avant que and pour que.
Subjunctive Triggers
Doubt, emotion, necessity and judgement often trigger the subjunctive after que.
Il faut vs Devoir
Il faut is impersonal necessity; devoir attaches obligation to a subject.
Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns
Direct object pronouns answer whom/what; indirect ones often replace à + person.
Gotchas
Common traps
Sympathiser does not usually mean 'to sympathise'
Use sympathiser for friendly contact; use compatir or éprouver de la sympathie for sympathy.
Actuellement does not mean 'actually'
For actually, use en fait, en réalité or au fond depending on nuance.
Éventuellement is not simply 'eventually'
Use finalement for eventually in many contexts.
Assister à means 'to attend'
Use aider for helping someone; assister à for attending a class, meeting or event.
Active recall
Suggested revision cards
vocabulary
What does "sympathiser" mean, and how would you use it?
vocabulary
What does "nouer une amitié" mean, and how would you use it?
vocabulary
What does "avoir des atomes crochus" mean, and how would you use it?
vocabulary
What does "s'entendre avec" mean, and how would you use it?
vocabulary
What does "se ressembler" mean, and how would you use it?
vocabulary
What does "un camarade" mean, and how would you use it?