As in any language, French has a large and rich slang vocabulary that never stops from evolving.

This is the second part of the blog series that showcases some of the current d'jeunes French slang...

As in any language, French has a large and rich slang vocabulary that never stops from evolving.

You all have heard of " le Verlan" which consists of inverting syllables in a word (the word "Verlan" itself is an inversion of the word "l'envers" ('reverse').  This slang form is now very prevalent throughout the French language and some verlan words are even now found in French dictionaries.

Many of you have studied common French slang: "un bouquin" for 'a book', "un mec" for 'a guy'... All these are still used, but lately, a new form of slang emerged: "le parler d'jeunes".

Telling or understanding the time is part of everyday life. Unfortunately, it is not so easy in French, because we have lots of different ways to tell time and lots of expressions. To add to the complexity, the heavy use of liaisons makes the pronunciation even more difficult. So make sure you listen to the audio to memorize the proper pronunciation.

Yes, I know, you spent hours studying them, and they’re so fun. And schools love to teach them since it makes for an easy, lively, fun class.

The verb Aimer means a lot of things in French; to like, to enjoy, to love, as well as to be in love. It is very important that you know how to use it correctly so you avoid embarrassing mistakes.

If you don’t understand something, don’t say “répétez s’il vous plaît”, because the person will repeat exactly what he/she just said. And, if you didn’t get it the first time, it’s unlikely you will the second. We use this only when we didn’t hear well the first time.

In this song, famous contemporary singer "Bénabar" talks about the French love nicknames I described in my earlier post. He is making fun of them, so you need to take the lyrics with a grain of salt, not all the nicknames he uses are real.
The lyrics are below, and you can also find his album containing that song in my amazon.com store . Enjoy!

As in other languages, French has its own little words or names to call a love one. How does calling your wife "My flea" sound to you? It's one of the most popular ones in French!

Everyday, les "Jeunes" use this new language.

The SMS, which in French is called Texto, or SMS (pronounced like in English, or "Smeu Seu" for fun).

S'habiller, mettre un pantalon, porter un pantalon, être en pantalon... all these expressions can be quite confusing. This should clear things up.

1 - S'habiller and se déshabiller

These French verbs describe the act of getting dressed and undressed. They are usually NOT followed by a direct object (like a piece of clothing).
Example: le matin, je m'habille. Le soir, je me déshabille. (In the morning I get dressed. In the evening, I undress).