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Coffee Break Languages

“La famille” – Talking about family in French – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 6

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To ask “do you have brothers and sisters?” in French you can say as-tu des frères et soeurs ?, or in a more formal situation, avez-vous des frères et soeurs ? You may also want to ask someone do you have children?. This would be as-tu des enfants ? or more formally avez-vous des enfants ?. In this episode of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît asks this questions to interviewees in the streets of his hometown, Pornic. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to answer this question yourself.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

“La famiglia” – Talking about family in Italian – Coffee Break Italian To Go Episode 6

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To ask “do you have brothers and sisters?” in Italian you can say hai fratelli?, or in a more formal situation, ha fratelli? You may also want to ask someone “do you have children?”. This would be hai figli? or more formally ha figli?. In this episode of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca asks these questions to interviewees in the streets of Milan. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to answer this question yourself.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Italian at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca is in the town of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Meet Catharine, Coffee Break French learner

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Tell us who you are, where you live, your nationality and how long you’ve been learning a language with us.

My name is Catharine, I am Professor of Viola in Ohio, U.S.A. I first heard of Coffee Break French when I was in New York in December (2018) at a reception following a concert my husband was performing in at Carnegie Hall. The next day we started driving back home from New York and we listened to the first few podcasts of season one in our car and were hooked!

My husband had studied French in high school and in college, but I did all I could do to avoid French because I was intimidated by the fact that it doesn’t sound as it looks, so in school I opted for Spanish and German. Everything changed last summer (2018) when my husband and I were teaching/performing at a music festival in Bordeaux, France. Suddenly I found myself performing chamber music with wonderful musicians but I was the only musician in the group who couldn’t speak/understand French. After one rehearsal I was so stressed out that I actually became emotionally upset because I wanted to understand and I had also come to the realisation that I did not want to be one of those people who expected people to cater to me by speaking English….so my husband and I agreed that if we were invited to return to the festival in 2019 we would commit ourselves to studying French.

We received our return invitation to the festival for the 2019 festival soon after returning to the U.S. Once we were home my husband looked into all sorts of options. He started one program but when we learned of Coffee Break French in December we were both thrilled with the approach and I have become addicted. Since my husband has a background in French, my challenge was clear so I finished season one with the podcasts and then purchased the premium package so that I could benefit from the bonus materials. I’ve been so excited about the program that several of my students have also become Coffee Break learners of French and other languages. Since purchasing the bundle in January, I listen to Coffee Break every morning and have completed Seasons 1-3 and started 4, but I am reviewing Seasons 1-3 constantly when I run. Even when running races I don’t notice the distance I’m running when I’m intently listening to episodes of Coffee Break French. Mark makes learning French so approachable and fun that when my husband told me last week about The Coffee Break French Magazine, I bought the premium version immediately along with the Reading Club and En Route avec Coffee Break French. It’s been five months now and I’m beginning to feel confident that this summer in Bordeaux will be even more meaningful as I hope to be able to at least understand more, and I’m excited to try to speak. My husband was a concertmaster for 20 years and at his retirement reception last month I had the opportunity to try a few sentences with their music director (originally from Paris) and was shocked and encouraged that he could actually understand me!

What experience have you had speaking and learning other languages?

My grandmother was fluent in German so I heard it as a child but never enrolled in a German class until my graduate studies. When I enrolled the German professor insisted that I take a placement test because she said I didn’t have an accent and was convinced I had studied it before. In high school and in my undergraduate studies I studied Spanish for a total of 4 years. I’ve travelled to Europe several times, and spent many holidays in Paris over the years (but was one of those people who relied on others to speak English).
I had one experience many years ago when I was in Paris and a colleague asked me to go to the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris to search for some scores that they had for a project. I ended up speaking German to the librarian because I didn’t speak French. I wish I hadn’t been so intimidated by the language in the past, but I am grateful for Coffee Break French because the approach that Mark uses has brought the mental block I had in my mind down and makes the journey of learning a language I very much avoided enjoyable. I don’t go a day without spending time either reviewing or moving forward with new episodes.

What are your favourite memories of learning a language?

My favourite memories are the “ah-haaa!” moments when Mark explains something and I understand it because I see how it relates to the other languages I’ve learned. Another favourite memory is that my students have been motivated by my drive to learn another language at this stage of my life. It is really special that my experience has inspired them and that they are also turning into Coffee Breakers!

Where would your ideal coffee break be, and with whom?

My ideal coffee break would be to speak French fluently with my husband.

What’s the best language-learning tip you have found works for you?

I’m still figuring out what works best for me, but up until now I think it’s a combination of things. As a musician, I think I’m mostly an aural learner, but I find that a multi-modal approach seems to work best for me. I need to reinforce by combining the aural with writing by hand (opposed to typing), reading, and speaking/pronunciation.

Quick-fire Round

• Your favourite language: Now it’s French
• Your favourite word or phrase in the language: J’adore
• Do you have a favourite film, TV show, book or singer in the language? Dix pour cent (TV series)
• Your favourite destination to practise your language: France (Paris/Bordeaux)

Please finish off with a message to your fellow members of the Coffee Break community and the Coffee Break Team.

My sincere thanks to Mark and the Coffee Break team! Your expertise in making language learning fun and approachable has and is making enormous differences in so many ways, it has even influenced the way I think and teach my viola students. I am learning more than the language from you and I appreciate this experience as it has been and continues to be thoroughly enriching daily!

Quand êtes-vous né(e) ? – “When were you born?” – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 5

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To ask “when were you born?” in French you can say quand es-tu né(e) ?, or in a more formal situation, quand êtes-vous né(e) ? In this episode of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît asks this questions to interviewees in the streets of his hometown, Pornic. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to answer this question yourself.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Quand’è il tuo compleanno? / Quand’è il suo compleanno? – Coffee Break Italian To Go Episode 5

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In this episode Francesca’s question is “Quand’è il tuo compleanno?” – “When is your birthday?”. Using the answers you’ll learn to say when your birthday is in Italian. Here are the words and phrases you’ll need:

When is your birthday? – Quand’è il tuo compleanno? (informal)
When is your birthday? – Quand’è il suo compleanno? (formal)
My birthday is … Il mio compleanno è il…

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Italian at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca is in the town of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Christmas songs in different languages: a great way to learn!

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At Coffee Break Languages, we love combining language learning with some festive spirit. What better way to practise your French, Spanish, German, or Italian than by enjoying some classic Christmas songs in different languages? 

These timeless songs help you immerse yourself in the culture of the countries you’re learning about and introduce you to vocabulary and phrases in a fun, memorable way. You may have already listened to our Tune for Tuesday YouTube and Spotify playlists. And now, it’s time for Tune for Tuesday – Festive Edition! 

We’ve compiled a multilingual playlist of songs, sung around the world to celebrate several different festivals and holidays at this time of year to help you practice your language skills while joining in the festivities. 

Why learn with Christmas songs in different languages?   

Holiday music is a fun way to discover language and culture. By listening to Christmas songs in different languages, you can pick up new words, practise pronunciation, and discover cultural references along the way.

What’s great is that these songs are often catchy and repetitive, making them perfect for beginners. And if you’re a more advanced learner, you’ll find that holiday tunes can introduce you to some new phrases, idioms, and expressions.

Plus, singing along can be incredibly helpful as it gives you a chance to practise speaking in a relaxed setting. Don’t worry if your pronunciation isn’t spot on – just having fun with the lyrics will help your fluency. 

Related topic: Music and studying: language learning using your favourite songs!

4 Christmas songs in different languages: Italian, German, French and Spanish 

Unsure of where to start? Check out our list of Christmas songs in different languages and discover some seasonal traditions in four languages!

A Natale puoi

LINKS: Lyrics | English translation

In Italy, Christmas is all about religion, family, and food! The festive season starts on the 8th of December, which, according to the Christian tradition, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. 

On this day, each family decorates their Christmas tree and creates a representation of the Nativity scene, also called presepe. Presepe is a very well-known Italian tradition: everyone recreates the nativity scene with little statuettes, and sometimes it is considered a real art form. 

On Christmas Eve, people have a huge dinner with their relatives: usually, there are more than five courses! Everyone stays up until midnight, and then it’s officially Christmas Day. On the 25th, children find their presents, which Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) brought them overnight and put under the Christmas tree. 

Adults also exchange gifts, and after going to church, people have another long lunch with relatives. The most popular Christmas food is probably pandoro or panettone. They are both sweet breads. The former is covered in icing sugar,  whereas panettone has either raisins or chocolate chips inside. 

Another very famous treat is torrone. Torrone is a nougat confection made of sugar, honey, egg whites and nuts and is usually eaten at the end of a meal. The last day of the Christmas holidays is the 6th of January, the day of the Epiphany. “Good” children get sweets and treats on this day, whereas “naughty” children only get coal! Since the 6th marks the end of Christmas, it is also the day when everyone puts away their Christmas tree and presepe.

Now that you know a little more about the festive season in Italy, have a listen to A Natale puoi, the first song to make it to our list of Christmas songs in different languages – and also a very popular tune in Italy. It is sung by Roberta Bonanno, an Italian singer who started her career after reaching second place on the popular Italian talent show Amici di Maria di Filippi in the 2007-2008 season. 

There are also Italian versions of many of the popular Christmas songs in English, such as Bianca Natale and Oh albero. Can you guess which Christmas songs in English these are referring to? Try looking them up on YouTube if you’d like to listen to them.

Fröhliche Weihnacht überall

LINKS: Lyrics | English translation

The festive season in Germany is primarily characterised by Christmas celebrations, which have become an integral part of German culture and tradition. Germans use this time to get together with their families and be merry together. 

The family reunion is often celebrated with a big Christmas dinner and the opening of presents on Christmas Eve. As a part of these festivities, traditional foods are prepared. One slightly more peculiar dish is now considered an integral part of the table, the Kartoffelsalat (potato salad). 

Originally introduced in connection with the Christian tradition of lent, this potato dish is enjoyed in all kinds of variations around German tables at Christmas. The Christmas dinner is often followed by decorating the Christmas tree and singing together – there is simply no better way of spreading Christmas joy throughout the night. 

If you plan on adding Christmas songs in different languages to your holiday playlist, Germans have written some beautiful ones. The traditional classics include O Tannenbaum, Fröhliche Weihnacht überall, and Oh du fröhliche, to name just a few. However, the Christmas festivities start long before the arrival of Christmas Eve. 

On the 6th of December, Saint Nikolaus arrives and leaves chocolate, nuts and fruit in the winter boots of the children who have been good. From that day on, the wait for Christmas Eve is filled with a range of merry activities, such as visiting a traditional Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) and drinking Glühwein (mulled wine). 

But what would German Christmas time be without its most important tradition: the Weihnachtsbäckerei (Christmas baking)? As a part of this, young and old come together to create the most delicious Christmas treats, such as Lebkuchen, Zimtsterne and Christstollen.

One of the festive songs in our playlist is Fröhliche Weihnacht überall, which, as mentioned above, is a very popular song in Germany at this time of year. This version is sung by German singer, actress and TV presenter Helene Fischer and appears on her 2015 Christmas album, Weihnachten. 

Her music is often associated with the style known as Schlager, a style of popular music from Central and Northern Europe that has similarities with what is often known as country music, and five of her albums have been the best-selling albums of the year in Germany.

Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris

LINKS: Lyrics | English translation

The festive season in Belgium is also generally based on Christian values and begins around the 6th of December, Saint Nicholas Day, when children are left gifts during the night. It continues all the way up to Epiphany, on the 6th of January. 

During that last feast, families gather around a pie which hides a small figurine inside. Whoever bites into the slice with the figurine is the king for the following year and can wear a crown for the evening. This idea is in reference to the three kings in the nativity scene. Christmas markets are open across most cities between these two dates, offering vin chaud (mulled wine) and beignets powdered with sugar. 

The cougnou, a traditional Christmas pastry, is very popular with Belgians. Made with flour, milk, eggs, sugar and either raisins or chocolate chips, cougnous have a distinct oval shape with two rounded bundles on each end. 

This, funnily enough, is an attempt to recreate the shape of baby Jesus wrapped up in the manger. Most Belgians spend Christmas Eve with close family and gifts are exchanged that evening. Santa Claus is not recognised so much in Belgium, as Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated earlier in the month instead. 

The 25th is often spent with more family members, even more food and presents, while New Year’s Eve is almost exclusively a big party. Finally, because Belgium is a monarchy, the King delivers a speech both in French and Dutch, looking back over the year.

Next on our Christmas songs list in different languages is Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris. A Christmas carol that is popular in many French-speaking countries. It is one of the oldest French carols and has been recorded by many different choirs and individual artists, including Claire Pelletier. There are also French versions of many of the popular Christmas songs in English, such as Douce nuit and Mon beau sapin. 

Do you know the English equivalent to these songs? Try looking them up on YouTube to find more festive songs in French. 

Campana sobre campana

LINKS: Lyrics | English translation

In Panama, a Spanish-speaking country in Central America which borders Costa Rica and Colombia, the festive season is generally based on religious traditions. The festivities begin for some families with the lighting of the advent wreath on the first Sunday in December, and for others, it begins on the 8th of December with Mother’s Day, which intentionally coincides with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. 

The 16th of December marks the start of the novenas for many families. The novenas is a typical tradition in Latin American countries, where families gather around the nine days before Christmas to pray and tell the story of Jesus. Other families also do posadas, which are gatherings where people sing Christmas carols.

The main event during this season is Christmas Eve, when families gather together and eat a big dinner with typical festive dishes such as: ham, turkey, potatoes, salad and arroz con guandú, which is rice with a special type of seasonal beans. After eating dinner, people wait patiently until midnight, greeting each other and enjoying fireworks while children open their presents. 

On Christmas morning, eating leftovers from dinner for breakfast is very common! New Year’s Eve follows a similar pattern: families wait for midnight to celebrate the new year with fireworks. Since Panama City’s capital is relatively close to beaches, some people spend New Year’s Eve at their beach houses, where they stay up all night to see the sunrise. The festive season finishes on the 6th of January with la llegada de los reyes magos (the Epiphany). 

On this day, children receive small gifts. The festive season in Panama is focused on spending time with family and loved ones. 

Many of the most popular Spanish Christmas songs are well-known in Spain and throughout Latin America, including Campana sobre campana. You can find the lyrics online by clicking on the link above. We’d recommend reading them as you listen to the song, as there may be a few unfamiliar words relating to the Christmas story.

We hope you’re feeling festive and ready to listen to more Christmas songs in different languages or the language you’re learning. The four songs above are in our Tune for Tuesday – Festive Edition playlist. 

And if you would like to discover more ways of making learning a new language fun, just like listening to music, make sure to check out the blog post we prepared!

 

Quel âge as-tu ? / Quel âge avez-vous? – “How old are you?” – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 4

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In French when you talk about ages you don’t say “I am 21 years old”: instead you say “I have 21 years”. Equally, when you ask the question “how old are you?” or “what age are you”, you actually ask “what age do you have”. Here are the phrases you’ll need:

I’m (21) years old – j’ai (21) ans
How old are you? (informal) – Quel âge as-tu ?
How old are you? (formal) – Quel âge avez-vous?

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Quanti anni hai? / Quanti anni ha? – “How old are you?” – Coffee Break Italian To Go Episode 4

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In Italian when you talk about ages you don’t say “I am 21 years old”: instead you say “I have 21 years”. Equally, when you ask the question “how old are you?” or “what age are you”, you actually ask “how many years do you have”. Here are the phrases you’ll need:

I’m (21) years old – ho (21) anni
How old are you? (informal) – quanti anni hai?
How old are you? (formal) – quanti anni ha?

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Italian at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca is in the town of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Où habites-tu ? / Où habitez-vous ? – “Where do you live?” – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 3

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To say “I live in…” in French you say j’habite à… . In this episode of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît asks the question, où habites-tu ? (informal) or où habitez-vous ? (formal). You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to say where you’re from in French.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Dove abiti? / Dove abita? – “Where do you live?” – Coffee Break Italian To Go Episode 3

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In this episode of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca asks the question, dove abiti (informal) or dove abita (formal). You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to say where you’re from in Italian.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Italian at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca is in the town of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

TFT: Hùg air a’ bhonaid mhòir

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This Saturday 30th November is Saint Andrew’s Day, the official national day of Scotland. That’s why this week we’re bringing you a Tune for Tuesday from Coffee Break Languages’ home country. Hùg air a’ bhonaid mhòir is a song in Scots Gaelic by Julie Fowlis, a folk singer and instrumentalist from the Scottish Outer Hebrides. You may recognise her voice from the soundtrack to the 2012 Disney-Pixar film Brave. Listen out for the off-beat, syncopated rhythms and repetition throughout the song, distinctive of Scottish folk music.

If you’re interested in learning some Gaelic, you can check out our One Minute Gaelic course by clicking here. And let us know what you think of Hùg air a’ bhonaid mhòir in the comments below. What other Scottish artists do you know and like?

To keep discovering songs from around the world, you can follow our Spotify and YouTube playlists, which can be found by scrolling down the page.

 

D’où viens-tu ? / D’où venez-vous ? – “Where are you from?” – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 2

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To ask “how are you?” in French you can say d’où viens-tu ?, or in a more formal situation, d’où venez-vous ?. In this episode of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît asks this question to passers-by in the streets of his hometown, Pornic. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to introduce yourself in French.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode he’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Di dove sei? / Di dov’é? – “Where are you from?” – Coffee Break Italian To Go Episode 2

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In this episode of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Franceca asks the question, di dove sei? (informal) or di dov’è? (formal) to passers-by in the streets of Milan. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to say where you’re from in Italian.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Italian at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca is in the town of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

TFT: Bailando

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¡Hola amigos! We’re sure that many of you will already known the artist of today’s Tune for Tuesday. Today we’re listening to Bailando which was written and recorded by Enrique Iglesias and Cuban artists Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona in 2014. The song topped the charts all over Latin America, in Spain and in many other European countries, but was not so successful in the UK and Ireland. It was also the theme music of the telenovela (soap opera) Reina de corazones (Queen of Hearts). The music video, which you can watch by scrolling down, was filmed in Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic and was the first Spanish-language music video to reach over 1 billion views. Several other versions of the song have since been recorded, including a Spanglish version featuring Jamaican singer, Sean Paul.

If you’re a Coffee Break Spanish listener, you may have already noticed that the song’s title, Bailando, is an example of the present continuous tense, which can be translated into English as ‘dancing’. Why not see if you can find some of the other examples of this tense in the lyrics? If you need some help, you can find the lyrics online by clicking here, or if you’d like to hear the song played more slowly, we recommend watching the YouTube video below and selecting a slower playback speed by clicking on the settings symbol.

We hope you enjoy practising your Spanish comprehension with this song, and remember to check out our full Tune for Tuesday playlist by scrolling down.

 

Comment vas-tu ? / Comment allez-vous ? – “How are you?” – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 1

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To ask “how are you” in French you can say comment vas-tu ? or, more formally comment allez-vous ?. In this episode of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît asks the question to passers-by in the streets of his hometown, Pornic. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to answer this question yourself.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In our first series, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode he’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Come stai? / Come sta? – “How are you?” – Coffee Break Italian To Go Episode 1

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To ask “how are you?” in Italian you can say come stai?, or in a more formal situation, come sta? In this episode of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca asks this question to passers-by in the streets of Milan. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to introduce yourself in Italian.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in Italian at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break Italian To Go, Francesca is in the town of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

TFT: C’est écrit

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Do you already know any songs by Francis Cabrel? The iconic sound of his acoustic guitar in his songs such as Petite Marie, La corrida and Je l’aime à mourir has made them well-loved by many across the French-speaking world, and he is generally considered to have been an extremely influential figure in the development of popular music in France. After winning a competition for French singer-songwriters in 1974, at the age of 21, he released his first album, Les murs de poussière in 1977. His music is usually described as folk, occasionally with blues and country influences. As today’s Tune for Tuesday, we’ve chosen his beautiful 1989 single, C’est écrit.

If you’re a Coffee Break French learner, listen out for the many examples of different verbs in the future tense within the lyrics. We hope they will also help you to remember some irregular future stems: listen out for “Elle te fera changer…” and “Elle voudra que…” and note the irregular stems of faire and vouloir. To help you, we recommend reading the lyrics as you listen to the song another time. You can find them online by clicking here. Or, if you’d like to hear the song played more slowly, we recommend watching the YouTube video below and selecting a slower playback speed by clicking on the settings symbol.

We hope you enjoy listening to C’est écrit and would love to hear what you think of it, or of any other Francis Cabrel songs that you know, in the comments.

Introducing Coffee Break Italian To Go

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Welcome to our new series, Coffee Break Italian To Go! If you’ve been working through the lessons of Season 1 or Season 2 of our podcast or online course, then you’re ready to “take your Italian on the road”, and you can do exactly that with the help of Francesca.

In our first series, Francesca is in the city of Milan, in the north of Italy, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your Italian and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break Italian To Go will be published every week here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the Italian-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break Italian To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break Italian. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Introducing Coffee Break French To Go

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Welcome to our new series, Coffee Break French To Go! If you’ve been working through the lessons of Season 1 or Season 2 of our podcast or online course, then you’re ready to “take your French on the road”, and you can do exactly that with the help of Pierre-Benoît.

In our first series, Pierre-Benoît is in his hometown of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode he’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every week here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy.

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here.

To purchase our full online courses on the Coffee Break Academy, click here.

Coffee Break Language courses are produced by Radio Lingua Ltd, based in Glasgow, Scotland.

TFT: Il cielo in una stanza

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Ciao a tutti! Have you heard of Mina, also known as La tigre di Cremona (the tiger from Cremona)? Her combination of traditional Italian melodies, swing and other styles, as well as her impressive vocal range of three octaves made her an important figure in Italian 1960s and 70s pop music, and between 1958 and 2003, she released an album every single year! This week, we’re listening to her evergreen song Il cielo in una stanza. We think this is a beautiful song, whose slow rhythm will allow you to savour all the words, making it a fantastic learning experience for you.

One of the language points to listen out for in the lyrics is the repeated use of the structure non + verb + più (‘no longer’). See how many examples of this you can find and think about how you would translate them. To help you, you can find the lyrics online by clicking here, or if you’d like to hear the song played more slowly, we recommend watching the YouTube video below and selecting a slower playback speed by clicking on the settings symbol.

Whether you’re learning Italian or another language, we hope you enjoy listening to this song and we’d love to hear what you think of it in the comments. Remember you can find our full Tune for Tuesday playlist on YouTube and Spotify to help you keep practising your language skills while discovering new songs from across the world.

 

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