As I ponder the exciting prospect of traveling to France in the upcoming school holidays, I momentarily freak out about my lack of a knowledge of the French Language. I reassure myself that I am a successful learner, and I can download loads of free podcasts over the next couple of months to help me enjoy the experience. So of course, I can find loads of free podcasts on French available, including: French for Beginners; Coffee Break French Podcast; French Survival Phrases; Learn French with Daily Podcasts; One Thing in French Per Day and many more…
But yesterday I found something that I think will be even more useful, particularly when I need to know how to say a particular phrase, like “Can you tell me where the bathroom is?” (Lets face it, who really cares about basic greetings and counting, when you really need to pee!) It’s called Talking French Phrasebook, which is one of the applications available in the new “Apps Store” (in iTunes). Again its completely free to download and I put it on my iPod Touch (you can put it on your iPhone as well, if you have been lucky enough to get one). The phrase book is easy to navigate, because the essential phrases have been categorised from essentials (which includes basic greetings), to socializing (aka pick-up lines).
French Phrasebook Directory
So to ask where the toilet is in French, the phrase is: Y a-t-il des toilettes pres d’ici? Need to hear how that sounds? No problem, you can hear how it is said through your earphones. This is a wonderful resource for LOTE teachers, and there are a growing number of phrasebooks for different languages being added all the time. There are also a growing number of applications for other subject areas as well.
In fact, I now think that I really only need to learn one phrase in French before I leave: “Oh, you don’t understand English, would you mind putting this ear phone in?”
Written by Callie Whelan.Melbourne Beyond Chalk Facilitator
