Coffee Break French

Salut les amis ! Comment se passe votre lundi (How is your Monday going?) Ça va, vous tenez le coup ? The expression ‘tenir le coup’ (literally holding the blow, the hit) refers to what we use in English as ‘holding up’ or ‘holding out’.
It can either be used as question: - ‘Tu tiens le coup avec tes examens ?’ (Are you holding up all right with your exams?)... Or as a statement: - Je ne tiendrai jamais le coup sans café ! (I will never get through this without coffee!) Et vous, comment tenez-vous le coup les lundis matin ?
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Tous à la ville de Québec ! Le carnaval de Québec est un évènement qui se déroule (unfolds) en février, du début (beginning) du mois (month) le 7, à la moitié (half), le 16. This winter festival takes places each year, night and day, with an array of attractions such as parades with the famous ‘Bonhomme Carnaval” mascot, outdoor sports events, public banquets, and ice sculpture contests. Si vous êtes, par hasard (by chance) dans la région, allez y faire un tour ! C’est l’occasion parfaite de goûter un verre de ‘Caribou’, une boisson chaude (hot beverage) avec du vin chaud, du sirop d’érable (maple syrup) et un petit coup de whisky !

Salut ! 👋 We've reached the final episode of this series of Coffee Break French To Go! 🇫🇷 We hope that you've enjoyed the series and that you've found it's helped your listening comprehension in French. In this final episode, Pierre-Benoît is asking passers-by in his hometown what they do in their free time or, in French, 'que faites-vous pendant votre temps libre ?' 🤔 As always, we love to read your replies, so watch the video for some inspiration and then leave a comment below in French with your answer! Click here to watch: https://rlng.co/2UL0kqp

Salut à tous! Entraînons-nous (let’s practice) un petit peu à utiliser le terme “en train de”, qui est utilisé un peu comme le “present continuous” en anglais. In English, we tend to say “I am eating” rather than “I eat”. But is it perfectly correct to say “je mange” in French. However, if you want to emphasize the fact that you are in the process of eating right now , you would say “Je suis en train de manger” (literally I am in train of eating). -Il était en train de parler... quand je lui donnais des consignes. (He was talking while I was giving him instructions) -Je peux te demander un service, ou bien tu es en train de travailler? (Could I ask you a favor, or are you in the middle of working on something?)
Et vous, dites-nous ce que vous êtes en train de faire! Let us know what you're doing at the moment in the comments!
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Bonjour et bon lundi à tous !
On va apprendre une expression qui sert à (serves to) être poli (be polite) et amical (friendly). Quand quelqu’un vous dit merci, il est normal de dire “de rien” (you’re welcome', 'it’s nothing', or literally 'of nothing') But, sometimes, you’ll hear another way to say 'you’re welcome', and that is “il n’y a pas de quoi”. This one is a little tricky to translate, as it literally means 'there is nothing of what'. It's perhaps better translated as ...'it’s nothing for me' or, 'there’s nothing to thank me for'. This very humble expression, in spoken language can also sound like this : 'Y a pas de quoi!' or even 'Pas de quoi!'
Example: -Merci encore pour ton aide (thanks again for your help) -Y a pas de quoi, mon ami! (No problem, my friend!)
Had you heard of this expression before? Let us know in the comments.
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Connaissez-vous les profiterolles ? Mmmh, these delicious pastries (known as cream puffs or choux à la crème) are always a hit when it comes to sweet French delicacies. Recognizable for their round plump shape (hence the word ‘chou’, for cabbage), they are stuffed with whipped cream (crème fouettée) or sometimes even ice cream (glace). Depending on the chef’s creation, they can be garnished with chocolate sauce or powdered sugar.
Their strange name originated in the 16th cent...ury, when the staff working away in wealthy homes were given “un petit profit” as a “récompense” (reward). This extra pay came in the form of little balls of bread, which were a great (and luxurious) addition to soups. Since then, the name stuck and became common to describe the 19th century invention of these “chouquettes farcies (stuffed) à la crème pâtissiere”. Alors, vous avez faim? Leave a comment in French below!
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The Coffee Break Catch-Up Live, February 2020

Bonjour à tous et à toutes ! 🇫🇷😊 Are you ready for another episode of our new video series, Coffee Break French To Go? We've just released another episode on our YouTube channel, and this week's question is 'quel est votre sport préféré ?' or 'what is your favourite sport?'. Do you know how to answer this question in French? If you need a reminder, click below to hear the answers of several native French speakers, and don't forget to leave a comment below in French answering the question 'quel est votre sport préféré ?'. Click here to watch: https://rlng.co/2UzculY

Last week we talked about ways to use the comparative forms with adjectives (more, less, as much as: plus, moins, aussi que). For this week, let’s have a look at the superlative forms with adjectives:
- Sébastien est le plus grand de la classe. (Sébastien is the tallest of the class) - Olivia est la plus petite dans la maison. (Olivia is the smallest in the house) For the feminine superlative, you use ‘la plus + adjective in feminine form’. The masculine is ‘le plus + adjecti...ve in masculine form’. - Romain est le moins artistique des frères. (Romain is the least artistic of the brothers) Le moins (masculine) and la moins (feminine) are the superlatives for ‘the least’
Finally, for ‘the best’, we say ‘le meilleur’ (masc) or ‘la meilleure’ (feminine) - Léa est la meilleure joueuse de l’équipe. (Léa is the best player on the team)
Can you leave a comment in French below using these adjective to compare things?
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Bonjour et bon début de semaine ! Voyons l’expression un petit peu humoristique ‘pour tes beaux yeux’ (for your pretty eyes). Elle est employée (used) pour exprimer (express) le fait qu’on fait pas quelque chose juste pour faire plaisir (just for someone’s pleasure). Let’s contextualise this a little better:
- Tu penses bien qu’elle n’a pas fait tout ça pour tes beaux yeux. (You know very well she didn’t do all this just to please you) - Je n’ai pas travaillé 20 heures sur c...e projet pour les beaux yeux du professeur, c’est aussi l’occasion d’un apprentissage important pour moi. (I didn’t work 20 hours on this project for the teacher’s pleasure. This is also an great learning opportunity for me.)
Depending on who you are talking about, you can say ‘pour tes beaux yeux’ (tu/you), ‘pour ses beaux yeux’ (elle/il), ‘pour vos beaux yeux’ (vous) or ‘pour leurs beaux yeux’ (ils).
So go on, give an example of putting someone back in their place!
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We rarely make any kind of public statement here at Coffee Break Languages, but today we’d just like to say that our lives have been and always will be better for being part of something bigger. Looking outwards and learning from other cultures is integral to everything we believe in. Our team is made up of many people from many different countries, and every one of us knows the benefits of travelling in, living in and being welcomed by other countries. We are a European company and we will remain a European company. 🇪🇺♥️

Place à la musique! Lara Fabian est une chanteuse Belgo-Canadienne. Elle est née à Bruxelles d’un père belge et d’une mère sicilienne. Depuis (since) 1996 elle a aussi (also) la nationalité Canadienne. Lara Fabian sings in many languages, which helped her gain international fame. She left to Quebec at the age of 20, where her success grew faster than back home. Famous for her high pitch and somber tone, she interprets many of the francophone world’s favourite songs, such as ‘Je t’aime’, and ‘Je suis malade’. Here is a classic duo with the late Belgian singer Maurane : Tu es mon autre, "You are my other". Make sure to look up the lyrics to enjoy the poetic range of this song.

It's time for another episode of our brand-new video series, Coffee Break French To Go! 🇫🇷 In this week's episode, Pierre-Benoît is in his hometown of Pornic, talking all about languages and asking passers-by the question 'quelles langues parlez-vous ?' or 'which languages do you speak?'. Click the link below to watch the full episode, and leave a comment on this post telling us which languages you speak in French! https://rlng.co/31fEFrP

Hi, bonjour ! Regardons (let’s look) quelques manières (ways) d’utiliser des formes comparatives en français. • Anne est plus drôle que Bernard. - Anne is funnier than Bernard. The ‘plus – adjective - que’ in the sentence tells us that y is more than x.
• Flore est moins sportive que Lucie. - Flore is less fit, less of an athlete than Lucie.... Here, ‘moins – adj - que’ indicates that y is less than x.
Finally, to express equality when comparing things or people with adjectives, we us ‘aussi- adj- que’: • Ton dessin est aussi beau que la peinture. - Your drawing is as beautiful as the painting.
Your turn! Show us how well you can compare with adjectives and the comparative sentence structure.
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Salut. On va parler d’une expression sympathique, utilisée (used) pour exprimer un coup de foudre literally ‘lightning strike’, but means ‘love at first sight’.
When someone has been particularly mesmerized by another person, French people will say that they have been "hit in the eye". • Monique a tapé dans l’oeil de Laurent ! - Monique has hit Laurent in the eye!
... The expression has its roots in 17th century, where donner dans la vue, "giving in the view," meant to really leave a strong impression - on a man in particular -, to almost blind someone (éblouir).
Nowadays, we can say that an object is tape-à-l’oeil, "eye-hitting" when it is particularly extravagant or attractive. This can also be pejorative when it comes to over-the-top cars or clothing.
À vous! Essayez de former une phrase avec une forme de cette expression…
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🇫🇷 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Join Pierre-Benoît and Mark for a special video today at 4pm UK / 11am EST. It’s Burns’ Day today and were teaching Pierre-Benoît to speak Scots and sharing our favourite Scots words in honour of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns!

Bonjour! Looking for a nice accompaniment to an ‘apéro’?Apéro’ – short for ‘apéritif’ is a very common word for drinks and light snacks before a meal.
Some artisanal breadsticks dipped in a ‘tapenade d’olives noires’ is a perfect combination to accompany a glass of wine and good conversation. The tapenade originated in Marseille in the 19th century but has existed in other forms during the Roman times. Now an iconic Provençal recipe, the tapenade is made of either green or bl...ack olives crushed in a mortar with olive oil, l'huile d’olive, capers, câpres and garlic, ail. The word comes from the regional word for capers, tapenas.
À table!
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Bonjour tout le monde ! 👋🇫🇷 It's time for another episode of Coffee Break French To Go! Today's question is 'what do you do for a living?'. Do you know how to talk about your job in French? 🤔 Watch the video below for some inspiration from native speakers in the streets of Pornic, France, and then write a comment in French with your answer! ✏️ Qu'est-ce que vous faites comme travail ? Let us know! Click here to watch the full video: https://rlng.co/2RkgSDm