Author: DavidTolman

Conversational Spanish: saying, “It was getting late”

I liked the expression in the 3rd line: se nos hacia bastante tarde. Quite a few expressions relating to time in this one. I hope you enjoy it!


Subscribers – get the whole interview here: Maria, productora de televisión

Catching “il y a une” in conversational French

This week, I’d like you to listen until you can hear the il y a une circled in yellow.
Listen 5, 10, or 20 times, but make sure you imprint that sound pattern in your brain so that you never miss it during a conversation.

Good luck!

Subscribers – get the whole interview here: African Art’s influence on 20th century painting and sculpture

First days driving a bus in Marseilles

Make sure you can hear all of the words; pay special attention to the ones in yellow.

  • Vous avez commencé is quick because it’s a common series of words: no need for a native speaker to articulate when speaking to another native speaker. And, at the same time, you can’t mistake it for anything else. Try to learn this one not as individual words but as a single sound pattern.
  • le permis and aux arrêts may be hard to catch because they don’t sound at all like we English speakers expect them to sound. Try to forget about what you want to hear and listen for the sounds the speaker makes.
  • quand on: notice that it sounds like “canton.”
  • déjà (5th line, 2nd word): notice how we translated it as “for starters.” If you already know that it can be used this way, you won’t get stopped wondering what the speaker means when you hear it in a conversation.

Subscribers – get the whole interview here: Catherine Roux : conductrice de métro à Marseilles

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David Tolman
FluentListener.com

Ear training for French learners

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Best regards, David
david.tolman@fluentlistener.com

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