Last week, CILFA students participated in a colloquial language activity. After a brief introduction by their teacher, they headed out into the city in pairs to ask French people questions!

As always, the discussions were enriching and sometimes surprising! During this educational activity in Annecy, each group met with between 4 and 8 people. At the end of the activity, all the students gathered at a café for a friendly get-together. Of course, they continued to practice French as a Foreign Language with their teacher by talking about the French people they had met around town. They told us that everyone had been very friendly and that they’d wanted to share some colloquial expressions or slang with them.

“A girl, a guy, a kid, a thing, money, or a car”—does that ring a bell? If I say “a woman, a man, a child, a thing, money, or a car,” does that make more sense?!

Colloquial language is widely used among friends and within families, but also in most French movies, which is why it’s important to know it—and why not give it a try! It’ll surprise your French friends!

In the French classes at CILFA, teachers cover a few lessons on colloquial language. At our school’s resource center, you can borrow many books that discuss colloquial language or slang. There are also books that explore the French people’s favorite expressions, as well as bilingual books that compare colloquial language in English, for example.

In addition, the resource center has several DVDs of movies that come with vocabulary sheets for students: “formal language, informal language, and vulgar language.” This way, you can improve your skills while having fun!

To learn more about colloquial language, you can visit this page: https://www.lepointdufle.net/p/niveauxdelangue.htm

Other educational activities at CILFA: https://www.tezdev.cilfa.fr/activites-pedagogiques/

A photo recap of last Wednesday’s activity: