In this week's episode we're looking at the first part of Katie’s latest text in which she updates us on what’s she’s been getting up to in Nice. In this episode we’ll be looking at a variety of grammatical topics including the relative pronouns ce que and ce qui , and we’ll also consider some examples of the future perfect tense. The second part of Katie’s text will be analysed in the next lesson. Please note that lesson 27 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 327 of Coffee Break French. ...
Aug 21, 2011•16 min•Season 3Ep. 27
We return to Alf’s story this week on Coffee Break French and his wife, Jennifer, has finally arrived in France. Alf has been preparing for her arrival, both with the house renovations and he’s even learned to cook! As usual there are plenty of useful expressions and interesting grammar points in this week’s lesson. In addition, following many requests from our members, the extended version of this week’s lesson features an introduction to a new tense, the Past Historic, which is a narrative ten...
Jul 10, 2011•14 min•Season 3Ep. 26
This week on Coffee Break French Veronica is feeling a bit down in the dumps: elle a le bourdon ce soir ! She has been doing some thinking about her future and the fact that she is accro au travail – addicted to her work. This episode provides lots of examples of interesting grammar and vocabulary in use, and you’ll learn about question formation, reported speech and lots more! Please note that lesson 25 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 325 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered th...
Jul 02, 2011•15 min•Season 3Ep. 25
This week we’re offering a special treat for our free subscribers: the extended version of our lessons is normally only available to subscribers, but this week we’re giving this extended version away free to our non-members to let you know what you’re missing! The extended version features the same basic content as the free lesson, but there are over 15 minutes of extra explanations, examples and tests to help you understand more of the language covered. This season of Coffee Break French featur...
Jun 18, 2011•33 min•Season 3Ep. 24
In this week’s lesson we’ll continue with Alf’s text from last week. There are some fantastic examples of preceding direct objects in this week’s show, and you’ll have the opportunity to practise ne … rien and ne … que . Please note that lesson 24 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 324 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 a total of 40 lessons, all of...
Jun 18, 2011•16 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Today's episode is the first of two lessons which focus on Alf’s latest text which has lots of interesting language points to discuss. Alf has been attending cookery lessons in Nice and he reports back on this in this week’s episode. Language points include lots more preceding direct object examples and the intriguing use of que l’on instead of qu’on ! Please note that lesson 23 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 323 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season a...
Jun 10, 2011•14 min•Season 3Ep. 23
In this week's episode of Coffee Break French we hear about Veronica’s exciting weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix. We’ll be hearing about the party she attended at the house of one of her clients. We will be hearing more examples of the subjunctive along with a couple of interesting preceding direct objects! Please note that lesson 22 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 322 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for ...
Jun 01, 2011•19 min•Season 3Ep. 22
In this week's lesson we’ll be hearing from Alf, one of our three students learning French in Nice. Alf will be telling us about a chance meeting he had with his neighbour and his new interest in the game of pétanque , French boules. Please note that lesson 21 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 321 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 a total of 40 le...
May 23, 2011•17 min•Season 3Ep. 21
This week we’re testing you on what you’ve learned in the first twenty episodes of season 3. We’re providing you with a series of sentences in English to translate into French, and you’ll be encouraged to think of the grammatical constructions and vocabulary which have been covered in the texts of Veronica, Alf and Katie. You’ll have 20 seconds to work out each translation and then Mark will talk through the translation and talk about the language contained in the example. Please note that lesso...
Apr 25, 2011•19 min•Season 3Ep. 20
We rejoin Veronica this week in our series of episodes coming from our featured learners in the south of France. “Veronica” has been getting to know one of her clients and, as we’ll be finding out this week, she has been invited to a party at this client’s house. In terms of the language covered in this episode, you’ll hear further examples of the subjunctive, and we’ll also be discussing the concept of transitive and intransitive verbs. Please note that lesson 19 of Season 3 was originally know...
Apr 17, 2011•20 min•Season 3Ep. 19
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 further examples of direct and indirect object pronouns, more examples of the subjunctive, and lots m...
Apr 09, 2011•19 min•Season 3Ep. 18
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 lesson 17 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 317 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered th...
Mar 28, 2011•18 min•Season 3Ep. 17
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 cover situations involving opinions and emotions. This episode will help you to get to grips with th...
Mar 06, 2011•18 min•Season 3Ep. 16
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 things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break French features a total of 40 lessons, ...
Feb 26, 2011•18 min•Season 3Ep. 15
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 Coffee Break French features a total of 40 lessons, all of which will be included in the podcast feed. Ju...
Feb 15, 2011•18 min•Season 3Ep. 14
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 lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break French features a t...
Feb 12, 2011•20 min•Season 3Ep. 13
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 listeners. This season of Coffee Break French features a total of 40 lessons, all of which will be in...
Jan 25, 2011•17 min•Season 3Ep. 12
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 Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simpl...
Jan 20, 2011•19 min•Season 3Ep. 11
… 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 a total of 40 lessons, all of which will be included in the podcast feed. Just stay subscribed to th...
Dec 31, 2010•19 min•Season 3Ep. 10
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 season of Coffee Break French features a total of 40 lessons, all of which will be included in the po...
Dec 23, 2010•18 min•Season 3Ep. 9
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 more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break French features a total of 40 lessons, all o...
Dec 09, 2010•17 min•Season 3Ep. 8
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 originally known as lesson 307 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season a...
Dec 04, 2010•15 min•Season 3Ep. 7
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 renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This ...
Nov 23, 2010•16 min•Season 3Ep. 6
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 305 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make thi...
Nov 16, 2010•14 min•Season 3Ep. 5
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 season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break French ...
Nov 10, 2010•14 min•Season 3Ep. 4
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 each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break...
Nov 02, 2010•18 min•Season 3Ep. 3
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 have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listener...
Oct 26, 2010•16 min•Season 3Ep. 2
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 on a couple of language points in each lesson to help listeners understand the content. Please note...
Oct 18, 2010•15 min•Season 3Ep. 1
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 three new characters who all happen to be learning French in a language school in Nice on the Côte d’A...
Oct 12, 2010•3 min•Season 3Ep. 1
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 lesson 80 of Coffee Break French. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to mak...
May 11, 2010•20 min•Season 2Ep. 40
