Coffee Break French

We knew you’d be desperate to find out how Katie got on at the Cannes Film Festival with Jérôme, so we’re sticking with Katie’s diary entries this week. In this episode you’ll hear a full account of her evening in Cannes with Jérôme and his parents, and you’ll also hear how things have developed between Katie and Jérôme… In terms of the language covered in this episode, we’ll be taking a look at f...

We’re returning to Katie’s texts this week and we’ll be hearing her exciting news about her forthcoming visit to the Cannes Film Festival, thanks to Jérôme’s mother. In this episode we’ll be covering more examples of vouloir que with the subjunctive, and we’ll also hear an example of préférer que which follows a similar pattern. There’s even a conditional perfect thrown in too! Please note that le...

This week we’re consolidating what we’ve learned so far about the subjunctive in French. We’ll categorise the examples we’ve heard so far in the texts of Alf, Katie and Veronica, and Mark will walk you through some further examples including pour que , pourvu que, bien que , and many more. We’ll learn about situations when you use the subjunctive which relate to demands and wishes, and we’ll also...

This week's lesson focuses on Alf’s diary entry for this week in which he talks a little more about his former career as a teacher. He also shares with us a decision that he has taken which he will return to in future lessons. Please note that lesson 15 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 315 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make thing...

It's time to return to Veronica’s diary entries in today's lesson. We’ll be hearing about her recent visit to Italy, and she’ll also be telling us a bit more about her work. Please note that lesson 14 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 314 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffe...

In this lesson we rejoin Katie and hear her latest news. She’s working in the café and this week discovers that she has in fact met M. Gérard’s son before! Katie will also be talking about what she would like to do in the future in terms of work. Please note that lesson 13 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 313 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lesson...

We’re with Veronica this week and she’ll be telling us about her daily routine and a little more about her work. We’ll also hear about her plans for checking out a property in Menton and a trip to Italy. Please note that lesson 12 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 312 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our l...

Today we have another episode from Alf’s diary as he learns French in Nice. In this episode Alf talks about his family and about his daily routine. He also admits to being a bit embarrassed about his daily routine when he hears what the other learners have to do. His life is a bit more relaxing, to say the least! Please note that lesson 11 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 311 of Coffee B...

… the episode in which we introduce the subjunctive! We’re returning to Katie’s texts this week and we’ll be hearing more about her search for a job. Please note that lesson 10 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 310 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break French features...

This week we’re returning to Veronica’s texts and we’ll be finding out a bit more about why Veronica decided to learn French. Veronica also tells us a bit more about her daughter Jessica. Please note that lesson 09 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 309 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This s...

In this week’s lesson we’re continuing with Katie’s second text. We’ll be taking a closer look at direct object pronouns and some further examples of the future tense as Katie talks about her plans for the coming weekend. Please note that lesson 08 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 308 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things mor...

This episode is the first of two episodes which are based on Katie’s second text. In this first part we’ll be hearing about an unfortunate event which Katie experienced while she was shopping in Nice. Language points covered include the expressi on se rendre compte in the perfect tense, whether descendre is an être or avoir verb, and many other points. Please note that lesson 07 of Season 3 was or...

In this episode our course, we’re taking a break from our weekly texts from Alf, Katie and Veronica. Last week Alf mentioned that his teacher had been teaching the students about the future tense. We thought it would be useful to go through all aspects of the future tense in this lesson. Please note that lesson 06 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 306 of Coffee Break French. We have renum...

This week's Coffee Break French episode features Alf once again. We’ll be finding out about his plans for the coming weekend, and this gives us an opportunity to review the future tense of both regular and irregular verbs. In the free version of the podcast we’ll be looking at some of the language points covered in Alf’s text. Please note that lesson 05 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 3...

In the fourth episode of Coffee Break French Season 3 we meet Australian entrepreneur Veronica who, like Katie and Alf, is studying French in Nice. In the free version of the podcast we’ll be looking at some of the language points covered in Veronica’s text. Please note that lesson 04 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 304 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each seas...

It’s time for our third episode of Coffee Break French Season 3 and this week we’re getting to know Alf a bit more. In the free version of the podcast we’ll be concentrating on adjective agreements and looking at some of the words and expressions used in Alf’s text. Please note that lesson 03 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 303 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of e...

Our second episode of Coffee Break French Season 3 provides further details on Katie who has been writing her diary about her experience studying French in Nice. In this episode we’ll be looking at more language points which come up in Katie’s diary including direct and indirect object pronouns. Please note that lesson 02 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 302 of Coffee Break French. We ha...

Welcome to the first lesson of Coffee Break French Season 3! In this episode listeners will meet American student Katie, Australian entrepreneur Veronica, and Alf who is a retired teacher from England. Our three characters are studying French at a language school in Nice, and in each episode you’ll hear an extract from their diaries, recounting their adventures on the French Riviera. We’ll pick up...

Oui, c’est vrai! Nous sommes de retour! Coffee Break French is returning for a third season starting next Monday, 18th October. Season 3 will consist of 40 lessons and will give you the opportunity to develop your knowledge of the French language further, increasing your range of expression and building your confidence in a variety of grammatical constructions. In this season we’ll be featuring th...

We’ve arrived at the final episode in our series of Coffee Break French. In lesson 40, we reach the end of the meal in which our friends Christina, David, Sophie and Jean-Jaques have been getting to know each other. As usual, we cover a range of topics and constructions in this conversation and everything is explained in the lesson. Please note that lesson 40 of Season 2 was originally known as le...

After an enjoyable meal our two couples are about to enjoy a coffee and un petit digeo . The conversation continues between David, Christina, Sophie and Jean-Jacques in this penultimate episode of the series. Expressions covered include ça te dirait de faire quelque chose, aussitôt que , and further examples of the future and conditional tenses. Please note that lesson 39 of Season 2 was originall...

In the 38th episode of the course, we continue our radio play featuring David and Christina, who are having dinner with their new friends Sophie and Jean-Jacques. This lesson introduces the pluperfect tense and also looks at a few examples of avoir expressions, including avoir l’habitude , avoir besoin de quelque chose and avoir de la chance . Please note that lesson 38 of Season 2 was originally...

In this lesson our radio play continues and Sophie, Jean-Jacques, David and Christina are talking about what they will be doing in the coming days. We’ll therefore be taking a look at the future tense. Please note that lesson 37 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 77 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our list...

In this lesson of Coffee Break French, our radio play continues. Sometimes it’s difficult to know when to use tu and when to use vous when speaking to people in French. In this lesson, Jean-Jacques suggests that he and David should tutoyer each other – ie. use the tu form. This lesson includes some useful tips on dealing with tu and vous . We also take a close look at the conditional tense. P...

Our radio play continues in this week's lesson as David and Christina get to know Jean-Jacques and Sophie a bit more. They talk about their children and pets, and about the food they’re going to order. The conversation includes some examples of the conditional tense, the comparative, and the use of the word en . Please note that lesson 35 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 75 of Coffee Bre...