A Bit of French with A&C Podcast Ep.8: Vive les Fromages Français !

Here’s some useful vocabulary featured in this podcast for you to learn and/or review:

• le fromage de chèvre = goat cheese
• une bûche = a log
• cendré(e) = ashen / ashy / ash-covered (cheese)
• la croûte du fromage = cheese rind
• un fromage frais = cream cheese
• étaler [quelque chose] sur [quelque chose] = to spread [something] on [something]
• un goût acidulé = a tangy taste
• des bouts de noix = walnut pieces
• par contre = however
• sans arrêt = constantly / nonstop / all the time
• dégoûter [quelqu’un] = to put [someone] off / to disgust [someone]
• un fromage coulant = runny cheese
• être fait (fromage) = to be mature
• une pâte pressée = pressed (curd) cheeses
• odorant(e) = smelly / fragrant
• piquer les narines = to sting the nostrils
• ma foi = well! [lit. my faith]
• une larve = larva
• un asticot = maggot
• la délation = denunciation / tattling
• ne pas se faire attendre (exp.) = to come back immediately [lit. not to make oneself waited for]
• vite fait = real quick
• pour sûr = for sure
• une tranche en biseau = a wedge-shaped slice
• un fromage à pâte persillée, un fromage bleu = blue-veined cheese 
• couper en éventail = to cut in a fan-like pattern
• le persillage = veining / marbling
• la moisissure = mold
• appeler un chat un chat (exp.) = to call a spade a spade [lit: to call a cat a cat]
• alléchant(e) = appetising / mouth-watering

Proper Nouns:

• la Sologne (French natural region in Centre-Val de Loire)
• la Savoie (French Alps region)
• la Corse (Corsica)

French Cheeses:

• Le Crottin de Chavignol (Small disk of goat cheese from the Loire Valley)
• Le Chavroux (French brand of goat cheese products)
• Le Camembert (Round soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow milk cheese from Normandy)
• Le Comté (Hard cheese made from unpasteurised cow milk from the Franche-Comté region)
• La Tomme (Group of hard, cow milk cheeses from the French Alps and Switzerland)
• Le Cousteron (Soft, smooth, pasteurised cow milk cheese from the Pays de Loire region)
• La Raclette (Semi-hard cow milk cheese from the Savoie region and Switzerland)
• Le Reblochon (Soft washed-rind raw cow milk cheese from the Haute-Savoie region)
• Le Maroilles (Creamy, washed-rind cow milk cheese from the Northern region)
• Le Casu Martzu (Sheep milk cheese from Corsica that contains live fly maggots!)
• Le Coulommiers (Soft ripened cow milk cheese from the Seine-et-Marne region)
• Le Chaussée-aux-Moines (Popular industrial semi-soft cheese, pasteurised cow milk cheese from the Pays de la Loire region)
• Le Brie de Meaux AOC (Soft, unctuous raw cow milk cheese from the historic Brie region of northern France)
• Le Rouy (Soft, pasteurised cow milk cheese, with a golden-orange appearance, from the Loire region)
• Le Pont-l’Évêque (Uncooked, unpressed cow-milk cheese, square in shape, from Normandy)
• Le Roquefort (Creamy, tangy sheep milk blue cheese from southern France)
• Le Bleu d’Auvergne (Cow milk blue cheese from the Auvergne region of south-central France)

Ready for a little challenge? Listen out for this sentence taken from the podcast:

“Mon papa, il en mange sans arrêt, donc…
pendant les vacances, on en mangeait beaucoup,
à la maison, on en mangeait tout le temps […]
– Du coup, ça t’a dégoûtée ?
– Ouais, ouais.”

To help you practise your grammar, test yourself with this special Notebook comprising the following Kwiziq lessons related to this sentence:

• Common mistakes with mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes and son/sa/ses
• En can replace de + [phrase]
• Conjugate semi-regular -ger verbs in the imperfect tense in French
• Chez = at someone’s place
• Conjugate regular -er verbs (+ avoir) in the compound past in French
• Special cases when the past participle agrees (in number & gender) when used with ‘avoir’ in the compound past in French

Want to practise some French grammar while enjoying a routine-themed conversation? Then you’re going to love this Fill-in-the-Blanks exercise 😍:

• La visite d’une fromagerie française (Le Conditionnel Présent) – B1

Want to practise your French knowledge further? Have a go at these food-themed Kwiziq exercises:

• Fill-in-the-Blanks – À la pâtisserie française (B1 – L’Impératif)
• Dictée (Premium subscribers only) – Les spécialités québécoises (B1)
• Writing Challenge (Premium subscribers only) – Belgian food facts (B1)

Not Premium yet? Now’s a great time to upgrade! You’ll get unlimited exercises, kwizzes and multiple notebooks to help you stay organised and make progress faster, plus Weekend Workouts exercises every week.