Coffee Break French

It’s time for another episode of Coffee Break French and for Sylvie to reply to her mother’s latest email. The key phrases discussed by Pierre-Benoît and Mark in this episode include le monde est petit, avoir la tête à quelque chose and a further example of the subjunctive in use. Rich with idiomatic expressions, tricky grammar points and interesting vocabulary, we’re sure you’ll enjoy this latest...

In this latest episode of Coffee Break French, Monique is writing to her daughter Sylvie. As usual she uses some interesting expressions and tricky grammatical constructions and idiomatic expressions, including plenty of subjunctives and the expressions  soi-disant, marquer un jour d’une pierre blanche and avoir pour projet de faire quelque chose . As usual, Mark and Pierr...

It’s time for another lesson of Coffee Break French and this week it’s the turn of Matthieu to reply to Gabrielle. The expressions discussed by Mark and Pierre-Benoît this week include je m’en doute , using the subjunctive after jusqu’à ce que , and ramasser quelqu’un à la petite cuillère . As usual Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the idiomatic expressions and grammar points, an...

In this episode of Coffee Break French, Gabrielle is writing to Matthieu. There are some great expressions in this lesson’s text, including a few idiomatic ways of saying how long you’ve been doing something, how to talk about working hard – or “like a dog”, and we even manage to include some Disney references and a bit of Edith Piaf! As usual Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the idio...

It’s time for a new episode of Coffee Break French. This week Sylvie is responding to her mother’s latest email as they’re both looking forward to spending a family weekend in Épinal. As usual Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the idiomatic expressions and grammar points contained in the text, including the expressions se dépêcher de faire quelque chose, se faire des idées , and the ve...

In this episode of Coffee Break French Season 4, we consider Monique’s latest email as she looks forward to Sylvie’s visit this coming weekend. Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the idiomatic expressions and grammar points contained in the text, including the expression  tous les quatre matins, ce n’est pas la porte à côté, l’essentiel c’est que + subjunctive  and l...

It’s time for a new episode of Coffee Break French and in this episode we join Matthieu who is replying to Gabrielle’s email. As usual, Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the expressions and grammar points contained in his text including how to talk about “remembering” things in French using se rappeller and se souvenir de qc , and an interesting use of the expression pour que . Please...

We’re back with another episode of Coffee Break French and this week we’re joining Gabrielle who’s writing her regular email to Matthieu. Mark and Pierre-Benoît discuss the expressions and grammar points contained in her text including verbs which require particular prepositions, such as se dépêcher de faire qc, promettre de faire qc , and lots more. Please note that lesson 15 of Season 4 was orig...

In this week’s edition of Coffee Break French, Mark and Pierre-Benoît discuss Sylvie’s latest email and cover a number of interest points of vocabulary and grammar including the expression tant que tu y es , the verb s’emballer , and the concept of jours de RTT . Please note that lesson 14 of Season 4 was originally known as lesson 414 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each...

It’s time for a new episode of Coffee Break French and this week we’re joining Monique who is replying to Sylvie’s latest email. Mark and Pierre-Benoît discuss a number of tricky grammar points and interesting areas of vocabulary, providing lots of examples along the way. Please note that lesson 13 of Season 4 was originally known as lesson 413 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lesson...

In this week's episode of Coffee Break French, Matthieu recounts his version of events on the platform of the RER. As usual there are lots of interesting expressions and tricky grammar points, and Mark and Pierre-Benoît will be discussing the language used in the text to help you understand and improve your French. Through examples and explanations, Mark and Pierre-Benoît will help you to understa...

We’re back with a new episode of Coffee Break French and this time we’re joining Gabrielle who is writing to her friend Matthieu. Mark and Pierre-Benoît discuss the language used in the text including the word dont , the phrase profiter de quelque chose pour faire autre chose and the past historic tense. Through examples and explanations, Mark and Pierre-Benoît will help you to understand the Fren...

We turn again to Sylvie in this episode and listen to her email in which she responds to her mother’s email. As usual Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the language contained in the email. After presenting Sylvie’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses the four language points he has chosen from the text. Through examples...

It’s time once again to turn to Monique and listen to her email to her daughter Sylvie. As usual Mark and Pierre-Benoît are on hand to discuss the language contained in the email. After presenting Monique’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses the four language points he has chosen from the text. Through examples and explanations, M...

In this episode it’s Matthieu’s turn to write his email in reply to Gabrielle’s last message. Pierre-Benoît and Mark discuss four expressions contained in the text including tenir le coup and ce n’est pas donné . After presenting Matthieu’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses the four language points he has chosen from the text. Th...

In this episode of Coffee Break French we join Gabrielle as she writes her regular email to Matthieu. Pierre-Benoît and Mark discuss four expressions contained in the text including se balader and envier quelqu’un . After presenting Sylvie’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses the four language points he has chosen from the text. T...

In this episode we join Sylvie as she replies to Monique’s email from the last episode. Pierre-Benoît and Mark discuss four expressions contained in the text including ne pas en croire ses yeux and qu’est-ce que tu as fait de beau ? After presenting Sylvie’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses the four language points he has chosen...

We turn our attention once more to Monique, Sylvie’s mother, whose email to her daughter provides a further opportunity for learners to familiarise themselves with a whole range of idiomatic phrases and interesting grammar points. The lesson is presented by Mark and Pierre-Benoît in a mix of French and English. After presenting Monique’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of...

In this episode we meet Matthieu, Gabrielle’s friend. He starts this email by apologising to Gabrielle for his behaviour. Find out more about what has been going on by listening to the episode! The lesson is presented by Mark and Pierre-Benoît in a mix of French and English. After presenting Matthieu’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît dis...

In this lesson of our series we meet Gabrielle and listen to her email to her friend Matthieu. The lesson is presented by Mark and Pierre-Benoît in a mix of French and English. After presenting Gabrielle’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the text, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses four interesting language points brought up in the text. Through examples and explanations,...

In this lesson our new series, we’ll be listening to Sylvie’s reply to Monique’s email from last week. The lesson is presented by Mark and Pierre-Benoît in a mix of French and English. After presenting Sylvie’s email, Mark gives a summary of the main narrative points of the email, and then Pierre-Benoît discusses four interesting language points brought up in the text. Through examples and explana...

In this first episode of our new series, we’ll be listening to Monique’s first email to her daughter Sylvie. As we heard in the season preview, Sylvie has recently moved to Paris and, like any mother, Monique is worrying about her daughter, but is equally excited for her as she begins this new adventure. The lesson is presented by Mark and Pierre-Benoît in a mix of French and English. After presen...

Welcome to this brand new season of Coffee Break French, and in this opening introductory episode, Mark and Pierre-Benoît talk about what you can expect in this season. They introduce two of the featured characters in the series, Sylvie and Matthieu, both of whom have recently moved to Paris for work. Like all lessons in season 4, this introductory episode is presented in a combination of French a...

Join Mark and Pierre-Benoît in this first introduction to Season 4. The new season begins on 21st October 2013 with a short introductory episode in which you’ll meet two of the characters of our story, and lesson one will be published on 28th October 2013. Full details of the premium version of the course will be announced with the introductory episode. Here’s a special bonus for all Coffee Break...

This is the final lesson of this season and we’re looking at the irregular verb aller meaning “to go”. Aller is a very common verb and in addition to being used in its normal sense, it is also used as part of the simple future tense, as in “I am going to visit my aunt” and other such sentences. There’s also something you need to take on board with aller when conjugating it in the perfect tense. Al...