Could you please include a function in the writing exercises to write the accents? I'm writing in Windows and it's not easy (I just don't bother). Thanks
A new set of self-marked weekend writing challenges was sent by email to all subscribers.
Once you’ve completed the exercise, there’s a list of grammar topics tested. If you have questions please post them under the most suitable grammar topic (if it’s related to a specific point), or here or on the QandA forum (for general questions). Don’t forget you can add any of the lessons to your notebook(s) and then kwiz against them to strengthen the areas where you discovered you were weak.
Pssst! Would you like to write about a particular topic? We’d love some suggestions!
A1 French Writing Challenge
NB: Click the test link sent to you by email to do this challenge!
Translate: “At the hotel”
Grammar lessons included in A1 exercise
A2 French Writing Challenge
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Translate: “A magical vacation”
Grammar lessons included in A2 exercise
B1 French Writing Challenge
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Translate: “When I win the lottery …”
Grammar lessons included in B1 exercise
B2 French Writing Challenge
NB: Click the test link sent to you by email to do this challenge!
Translate: “The worst vacation of my life!”
Grammar lessons included in B2 exercise
C1 French Writing Challenge
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Translate: “La Vélo Francette”
Grammar lessons included in C1 exercise
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Aurélie is our resident French Expert. She has created most of the wonderful content you see on the site and is usually the person answering your tricky help questions. She comes from a small village near Chartres in Central France, country of cereal fields and not much else. She left (in a hurry) to study English at the world-famous Sorbonne in Paris, before leaving France in 2007 to experience the “London lifestyle” - and never looked back! She's worked as a professional French teacher, translator and linguist in the UK since. She loves to share her love of languages and is a self-professed cinema and literature geek!
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Comments: 8
Bonjour Nick,
Because we're using a third-party tool for the challenges, this isn't currently possible. We are working on a way to create the challenges within the Kwiziq system and our accent picker will be included there.
I use Windows character map shortcuts to produce accents, e.g. ALT+0233 (é), ALT+0224 (à) etc. I think you can even assign your own single-character shortcuts to facilitate this method.
WK16 (Q5) - "The weather was magnificent". Can "Le temps était magnifique" be used here? Online translators produce this phrase, but possibly this is because they are translating literally and not taking account of accepted usage.
Bonjour Nick !
Yes, you're correct, you could also say "le temps était magnifique", even though it's not as elegant as the other phrases :)
I've now added it to correct answers.
Merci et à bientôt !
WK16 (Q15) - "We had a blast!" With due deference to our American cousins, to a British ear this doesn't make sense even in English (unless one is occupied with bomb disposal!), but the meaning is evident. The verb used in the translation ("se regaler") also seems odd. Does this not translate as "to feast oneself"? Possibly idiomatic?
Bonjour Nick !
I think that "we had a blast" was a bit too emphatic here, and better translated in French by the verb "s'éclater" (lit. to blow ourselves up, used figuratively here!). "Se régaler" is colloquially used specifically to qualify having a great time eating something, but is also used in a more general manner to express "having a great time" in general.
I've edited the English to reflect those distinctions.
Thank you for helping us maintain the highest standard of quality in our content.
À bientôt !
Besides reading more, I think it would be helpful to my effort to expand my vocabulary if there were, perhaps, a mini-lesson before the writing challenge. No need for anything as structured as the lessons on grammar and usage - maybe just a list of words and expressions with whicha student could familiarize him or herself, and then apply as the story in the challenge plays out. Just a thought for your consideration. Merci, et à bientôt!