Can you give us more help with the hints?

Question

Sometimes the English translation is not even close to what the French should be. Could you possibly give us the basic expression and then we can make the necessary changes? It is very frustrating and disheartening to spend so much time looking up vocabulary and invariably choosing the wrong word/expression. For example in this exercise," Do you ever hear  from Tatiana?" Looks pretty easy! If you could give the basic "ça + pronoun+arrive de+ infinitive", we might have a much better chance of getting it right and actually using it again. I have a pretty good understanding of French grammar but I am having a hard time with these writing exercises because I don't know the idiom or the expression. It would be more useful if you could list the most important vocab in French in the writing exercise ! Many times the explanations that accompany the exercise don't apply because the problem was not the grammar but the idiom or the expression used. Just a suggestion! I have really improved so much using this site. I do appreciate all your hard work. It is the best site on the Internet.

Accepted Answer

Hi Barbara, 
Just to add to Chris’ excellent answer, writing in a foreign language is the hardest skill to acquire. I have known plenty of students who were pretty fluent but couldn’t write in French. 
The aim of those exercises is to introduce new expressions which will enrich your language. 
Looking for the correct translation is always a minefield and I too, sometimes have to look for the correct expression in English of a French idiom, I have a rough idea but still get it wrong...
Please send your suggestion to the Helpdesk where it will go to the right people.
Thank you for your kind comments we do appreciate them.

Answer

It is using those little idioms which make your French really sound like French. On kwiziq, the lessons and tests teach you bone-dry grammar, whereas the other reading, writing, and listening exercises introduce you to the more fluid points of the language -- like idioms.
It might be a good idea to keep a little notebook with such idioms. If you encounter one -- such as the one you mention -- write it down. They are important elements of language. After all, it's not about getting things right on kwiziq, it's about learning as much as possible from what kwiziq throws at you.