350 wordsearches now downloadable for free

The 350 French wordsearches may now be downloaded for free, in exchange for a Twitter/Facebook mention.

French Vocab Games app: please don't forget to leave feedback!

This is just a quick plea: for those who have already installed the French Vocab Games app on their iPhone or iPad, please don't forget to leave any relevant feedback (via the feedback button on the app's front screen, or indeed via the App Store feedback system if you prefer).

More details of planned updates will be announced shortly, but in the near future are likely to include more topics and audio.

Update to 'basic French words' page of French phrases section

I have made a small amendment has been made to the Basic French words page of the French phrases section of the web site after receiving some feedback that not all of the audio was working.

Indeed, not all of the vocab sections on this page had the audio enabled and I have now made the relevant change. I have taken advantage to order the words a little more intuitively.

As with the French phrases pages generally, the pronunciations are produced by an (albeit realistic) text-to-speech system. Such systems are primarily designed to read whole paragraphs of text and one or two of the pronunciations could ideally be tweaked a little more. So I will also be looking at the possibility of recording these words and phrases with a French speaker, as has already been done with the 200 or so pronunciations included in the site's French dictionary.

Flash cards printer

I'm making a few updates to the French vocabulary flash cards pages. If anybody has any suggestions for new topics, then feel free to let me know!

New French Vocab Games app on sale

The new French Vocab Games app for iPhone/iPad finally goes on sale in app stores today. For more details, I encourage you to check out the App store description as well as the brief announcement that I put up on the French Language Forum a short while ago.

The app is designed for students who are beginners through to around GCSE level (i.e. the first few years of a typical school French course). The vocabulary, divided into around 20 topics, is chosen to coincide with UK GCSE syllabuses, but with some adaptations to suit US learners. For a list of some of the topics, please see the App store description above.

As I'm planning regular updates for the app, I am eager to hear people's feedback. For that reason, as well as the usual App store facility to review the app, the program contains a "feedback" button where you can leave your comments/suggestions.

Imminent retirement of French mobile games

Once upon a time, when the likes of the iPhone was not even a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye, I wrote some extremely primitive French vocabulary games for Java-enabled phones. Although they had a small vocabulary update and bug fix in 2005, they were basically written around 1999 and well, to put it bluntly... it shows.

So, these games will shortly be retired in the wake of a new French vocabulary games application for iPhone to be launched on the site in the next week or two. If you are still using an old-school Java-enabled (Java Microedition) phone, now is your last your chance to grab a copy of the Java phone games before their imminent retirement.

The first version of the iPhone app, simply entitled "French Vocab Games", is currently pending review. When available, it will be announced on this blog and on the main French Linguistics web site.

If you have not already done so, you can also subscribe to my Twitter feed @BitterCoffey where updates about this app and other news relating to the site will be announced.

Context-sensitive phrases enabled in the automatic trandslator

Those who have been using the automatic French translator may recall that some time ago, the translator included a "context-sensitive" feature offering a set of common phrases alongside the translation. For example, if you were asking the translator for what appeared to be the translation of a business letter, a list of common letter openings and closures would be included.

This feature had to be disabled a few months ago when a change was made to the translation system. However, it has now been re-enabled.

Any feedback and suggestions on this feature or any parts of the site are always welcome.

New topic: French marketing terms

Those using French for business may be interested in a page of French marketing terms added to the French vocabulary and phrases section of the web site.

Other sections that may be of interest:

• French business glossary
• Names of French business types
• How to write a business letter in French

New vocab topic: tax and finance in French

A new French vocabulary topic added to the French Linguistics site looks at French finance terms. At present, the terms specifically cover tax and investment. Suggestions for additional terms are also welcome.

Review: DK Visual French-English Bilingual Dictionary

A visual dictionary is an excellent way to learn or browse vocabulary by topic rather than alphabetically. The concept of a visual or pictorial dictionaries is nothing new: they've been around for a long time in technical spheres, for example.

The DK Visual French-English Bilingual dictionary, recently reviewed on the French Linguistics web site, strikes an excellent balance between range of vocabulary and avoiding too much detail or complication that could be daunting for intermediate learners. Rather than concentrating on technical topics, the dictionary covers many everyday topics such as travel, restaurants, the home, parts of the body etc, but with just that little more detail and ease of organisation compared to basic vocabulary books. As mentioned at the end of the review, modern technology means you can take the guesswork out of deciding if this dictionary is right for you. Use Amazon's the Look Inside option, and then click the Surprise Me! button to flick to a random page. Keep flicking to browse different topics and see if the dictionary looks right for you.

Interestingly, various other traditional dictionaries are also now available with this Look Inside option.

350 new French wordsearches

Whether you're a wordsearch addict quarantined in your home during a swine flu outbreak, or a teacher looking for an end-of-term activity, you may be interested in the new set of 350 French wordsearches now available from the French Linguistics site. A small charge is made for the download, but the wordsearches cover more topics, come in more sizes, and include answers.

The sample of free wordsearches and crosswords is still also available, and in any case, you're advised to try these to make sure that the wordsearches will suit your needs if you decide to go for the whole set of 350.

Teachers may be interested to know that the 5 USD download fee also include permission to print out and/or photocopy any of the wordsearches as many times as you require for distributing to teachers/students at your establishment (or to any of your private students if you're a private French tutor). Similarly, if you're a student, you may give printouts of the wordsearches to any of your classmates/coursemates.

The wordsearches are downloadable in PDF format. You'll need a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader (downloadable free of charge for most platforms). Strictly speaking, you need a reader than can read PDF format 1.2 or later. On mainstream platforms, that means practically any PDF reader in the world. If you're using a more "exotic" platform such as a ZX Spectrum / Commodore Amiga etc, please check!

GCSE French: Hints and Tips

If you're about to take your GCSEs (or just learning for next year), you might be interested in the following resources available on the French Linguistics web site.

• Firstly, some hints and tips for the French GCSE speaking test: we look at some very common words/phrases that will crop up, strategies for when you don't know a word, and how to avoid one or two grammatical difficulties (notably avoiding complications with asking questions) when speaking French;
• You sould also check out the page of essential GCSE vocab: this isn't all the vocab you need to get good marks at GCSE, but it's some of the vocab that comes up time and time again. Once you've got to grips with this vocab, if you have time, then try and learn some of the vocab from the basic French words and phrases section of the web site;
• Use the on-line French wordsearch and crossword games to reinforce your vocabulary;
• Consider printing some French flashcards (using the site's free flashcard tool) to help you learn.

New French vocab and grammar content

The following new pages have been added to the site:

• a basic introduction to French adjectives, which shows the basic rules for forming regular French adjectives, and includes an on-line exercise; it also includes an exercise on a basic class of "semi-regular" adjectives ending in -n, which double the -n in the feminine (italien -> italienne)
  
• in the basic French vocabulary section, a list of musical instruments in French, with some accompanying notes about how to say things such as I play the piano.

New worksheets: crosswords

In the French Worksheet PDF section of the web site, some new French crossword PDFs have been added. These crosswords are designed as a vocabulary aid to learners of French, and so are actually English-style crosswords. The words in the crossword are items of French vocabulary, but the clues are the English translations of those words. Each PDF file contains a variety of crosswords on a given theme (generally, different sizes of crossword, with 4 different crosswords at each size).

Feedback on these crosswords and indeed any of the French worksheets/exercises available available on the site is always welcome.

French dictionary update

The latest update to the French dictionary contains various new words and terms that have proven topical in recent news reports.

Review: 6000+ Essential French Words

6000+ Essential French Words (Living Language) is the latest addition to the French book reviews section of the web site. As explained in the review, the book offers an excellent range of detailed, up-to-date vocabulary, particularly for intermediate and advanced students.