essay about vacation in french

Complete Guide to French Vacation ⛱

Learn the French vacation vocabulary + French to describe your holidays in France + Vacation dates and zones in France + tips form a French native.

Vacation, in French “les vacances” (always plural), is at the heart of the French culture.

With 5 weeks paid vacation for French employees, and a total of 16 weeks of vacation for French school students, France sure values her holidays.

1 – French Holiday Vocabulary

• bonnes vacances! = have a good holiday!
• bon voyage! = have a good trip!
• bonne route! = have a safe journey!
• les grandes vacances = school summer break
• partir en vacances = to go on holiday/vacation
• aller au soleil = to go under the sun
• aller à la mer = to go by the beach
• aller à la montagne = to go to the mountains (usually to ski, but maybe to hike)
• Faire ses valises = to pack
• Défaire ses valises = to unpack
• On est allés… We went… à l’hôtel – in a hotel dans un club de vacances – in a resort dans un camping – in a camping dans une auberge de jeunesse – in a youth hostel dans un gîte / une chambre d’hôte – in a B&B chez des amis – at some friend’s house.
• le départ – departure
• l’arrivée – arrival
• le trajet – the trip
• le voyage – the trip
• la douane – customs
• l’immigration – immigration
• la frontière – the border
• un passeport – passport
• un billet d’avion – plane ticket
• un ticket de train – train ticket
• une réservation – booking

2 – Expressing What Went Well or Poorly During Your Vacation in French

• On a vu… = we saw
• Le voyage/tout… s’est bien / mal passé = the trip/everything… went well / poorly
• La circulation était fluide / dense = traffic was fluid / dense
• L’avion/ le train était à l’heure / en retard = the plane / the train was on time / late
• La chambre (n’) était (pas) très confortable = the room was very comfortable (or not)
• La vue était superbe / moche (slang) = the view was great / ugly
• La nourriture était délicieuse / dégueulasse (slang) = the food was delicious / awful
• Il a fait beau / mauvais = the weather was nice / bad
• Il a fait (trop) chaud / froid = the temperature was (too) hot / cold
• Le musée était ouvert / fermé = the museum was open / close
• On a perdu nos valises = we (or someone else) lost our suitcases
• On a été volé = we were robbed
• J’ai été malade = I was sick
• Il y avait des grèves = there were strikes
• Le vol a été annulé = the flight was canceled

3 – Paid Vacation in France

The French are known to take a lot of vacations, especially if you compare them to the Americans! But is this “five weeks of paid vacation” myth really true?

Yes it is. According to Le Journal du Net, French employees take even more vacation time than that, with an average of 37 days per year, or 5.2 weeks (in 2012). There is quite a difference between French workers: a public office manager takes an average 7.4 weeks of paid vacation, versus a farm worker/ artisan who takes 4.6 weeks.

So who doesn’t take this much vacation in France? Self employed people… Shop owners, small businesses and startups – believe me, not everybody takes 5 weeks vacation in France!

However, it’s true that in general, the French really enjoy a lot of vacation time: don’t go to France in August and expect to do a lot of shopping! A lot of stores close in August – and actually in January as well, especially in smaller countryside towns.

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4 – School Vacation and School Breaks Dates in France

French kids enjoy 16 weeks of vacation (+ all the long weekends and official holidays…)

The French school vacation is divided as follows:

• France’s Summer break: “les grandes vacances”, July and August, so 8 weeks total.
• France’s Fall vacation: “les vacances de la Toussaint”, mid October, 2 weeks.
• France’s Christmas break: “les vacances de Noël”, mid December, 2 weeks.
• France’s Winter vacation: “les vacances d’hiver”, zone dependant*, February, 2 weeks.
• France’s Spring break: “les vacances de printemps”, zone dependant*, April, 2 weeks.

5 – What is the French Vacation “Zone” System?

Since 1964, France is divided into “zones” to facilitate the departure of students for vacation : France is cut into three zones (A, B, C) and the vacation time spread over one month so that there is enough room for everybody in the ski stations! I am NOT kidding…

So now, every single French household with kids has to check out this map to know which zone they now belong to, and when the vacation for their kid is going to be. And forget about meeting your Parisians cousins for the vacation if you live in Brittany… you are not in the same zone, which means you won’t have the same vacation date.

So practical!

For more info and exact French vacation dates, go to the French School Vacation Government Site .

6 – Watch Out For Ticket Prices and Driving in France During School Vacation

Of course, as soon as you hit the vacation starting / ending dates, France is in a gridlock. We call them: “les journées noires” (black days) and you should not plan on driving during these days if you don’t want to be stuck in endless traffic-jams (“les embouteillages”, “les bouchons”).

Train and plane tickets, room prices, all goes up as well.

So it’s a good thing to know about the French school vacation dates before you plan your next trip to France!

7 – French Speaking Vacation Tip – Think Club Med!

Lots of French students want to practice their French during their vacation. It’s a good idea, however:

• you have to pick your location carefully (read my article about vacationing in France )
• you need to make sure you get people to talk to – it’s not always easy to strike up a French conversation with perfect strangers… This is why I recommend you check out my immersion at French Teacher’s house programs .

However, your family may not speak French, or share your enthusiasm to visit France over and over again… Or going to France maybe too far, too complicated… So why not try “Club Med”?

As a French organization, many people speak French there, and you’ll be surrounded by a lot of French guests. Even in Florida, or the Caribbeans…

Club med now has “family” clubs, which are kid friendly – although not everybody may agree on what is PC around kids! The evening shows may be viewed as “too risqué” for very conservative families, so be aware that with French speaking people, you’ll also get a bit of French culture, humor, attitude…

8 – How do You Say “How Was Your Vacation” in French?

This is more tricky than it sounds. First, you have to memorize that the French word for vacation is always plural: les vacances, mes vacances, des vacances… The verb and adjectives will also have to be plural to match “les vacances”.

Then, to ask “how was your vacation” (or rather how were your vacations in French…) we don’t use the same construction.

• In formal French, we say: “comment se sont passées tes/vos vacances”?

Or you can use a statement and turn it into an informal question:

• “Vos/tes vacances se sont bien passées?”
• Another way is to switch it around: “vous avez / tu as passé de bonnes vacances ?”

I suggest you pick one and learn it by heart to use it yourself, but you need to know the three formulas because they are very, very common in French.

Of course, one can get creative and say: “tes/vos vacances, c’était bien ?”. It’s much simpler, but less used in French!

9 – How do You Answer “My Vacation was…” in French?

Here again, you have to watch out to keep your answer in the plural.

Your answer usually “matches” the formality of the question, but it’s not set in stones.

• Mes vacances se sont (très) bien/mal passées – My vacation was (very) good/bad.
• J’ai passé de (très) bonnes / mauvaises vacances – I had a (very) good / bad vacation.

or, much easier:

• C’était super / nul – It was great / really bad.

10 – How to say Where You Went / Are Going on Vacation in French?

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You’ll start by using “aller” or “partir”.

In the past, both form their passé-composé with “être” :

• Je suis allé(e), je suis parti(e) – I went, I left
• Nous sommes allé(e)s, nous sommes parti(e)s – we went, we left

In the future, we tend to use the near future construction:

• Je vais aller, je vais partir – I’m going to go, I’m going to leave
• Nous allons aller, nous allons partir – we’re going to go, we’re going to leave

Then, what follows get complicated… I’ll sum it up here, but read my articles to know more about the French prepositions of place and how to say the date in French .

• Use à + city, en + feminine country, au + masculine country, aux + plural country. Je suis allée à Paris, en France, au Japon, aux Bahamas.
• Use en + month Je vais aller en France en juillet.

Voilà, I hope this is helpful. To learn more about French vacation vocabulary, the best is to learn in context: I suggest you check out my “ Une Semaine à Paris ” and “ Une Semaine à Paimpol ” downloadable French audiobooks, featuring:

• A fun and reachable French story, full of useful everyday vocabulary and situations, and its English translation.
• A story recorded at 2 speeds: a bit slower than normal and street French (normal for the French and featuring modern pronunciation and glidings).
• A Q&A section to practice your French out loud and check your understanding of the story.

I post new articles every week, so make sure you subscribe to the French Today newsletter – or follow me on  Facebook , Twitter  and  Pinterest .

Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 25+ years in the US and France. Based on my students' goals and needs, I've created unique downloadable French audiobooks focussing on French like it's spoken today, for all levels. Come to Paimpol and enjoy an exclusive French immersion homestay with me in Brittany .

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How Would You Describe Your Vacation in French?

By Anna Duncan

Are you planning to take a vacation in France? Do you want to impress your French friends by telling them all about your trip in their native language?

If so, then you need to learn how to describe your vacation in French. In this article, we will guide you through the process of describing your vacation in French using various vocabulary and phrases.

Vocabulary for Describing Your Vacation

Before we dive into the different ways of describing your vacation in French, let’s first look at some essential vocabulary that will help you talk about your trip:

• Les vacances – Vacation
• Voyager – To travel
• La plage – Beach
• Le soleil – Sun
• L’hôtel – Hotel
• Aller à la plage – To go to the beach
• Faire une promenade en bateau – To take a boat ride
• Découvrir de nouveaux endroits – To discover new places
• S’amuser – To have fun

Talking About Your Vacation in French

Now that you know some essential vocabulary words, let’s talk about how to describe your vacation in French.

Talking About Your Accommodation:

To describe where you stayed during your vacation, you can say:

“J’ai séjourné dans un hôtel à Paris.”

(I stayed at a hotel in Paris.)

You may also want to provide more detailed information about your accommodation, such as the location or amenities available. For example:

“Mon hôtel était situé près de la Tour Eiffel, et il avait une belle vue sur la ville.”

(My hotel was located near the Eiffel Tower, and it had a beautiful view of the city.)

Talking About Your Activities:

To describe what you did during your vacation, you can say:

“J’ai visité le Musée du Louvre et la Cathédrale Notre-Dame.”

(I visited the Louvre Museum and Notre-Dame Cathedral.)

You may also want to talk about specific activities you enjoyed during your trip. For example:

“J’ai passé une journée à la plage et fait une promenade en bateau sur la Seine.”

(I spent a day at the beach and took a boat ride on the Seine.)

Talking About Your Impressions:

To describe your overall impression of your vacation, you can say:

“J’ai adoré mes vacances en France. C’était très agréable et j’ai découvert beaucoup de nouveaux endroits intéressants.

(I loved my vacation in France. It was very enjoyable, and I discovered many interesting new places. )

Describing your vacation in French is an excellent way to impress your French friends and practice your language skills. Remember to use appropriate vocabulary words and phrases to accurately convey your experiences. With these tips, you’ll be able to describe your trip in perfect French!

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DELF A1: Writing a Postcard or letter in french about your vacation

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How do you write a postcard or letter in french telling someone, such as a friend, about your vacation? This is a common question to be found on many french exam or test paper. Well this article a step by step guide on how to write a postcard or letter telling someone about your vacation.  

In the Production Ecrite section of your french exam such as the DELF A1 exam, you will be required to write a message, email or letter consisting of 40 to 50 words.  So lets begin!

How to plan your postcard or letter in french

It is possible to plan and practice various response to the possible exercises before the date of your exam.  In general, when you are writing a postcard there are certain information you may include, such as:

• How You went
• Where you went (montagne, plage, campagne, ville…)
• When / with whom you went
• Where or with whom are you staying? (à l’hôtel, chez l’habitant, dans un camping, dans un gîte…) Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
• What you saw or visit/did or are doing, etc
• Are you enjoying yourself?
• What is the weather and or the place like
• When are you coming back?
• Sign your name

While it is not necessary to provide all of the above information, It is important to note that DELF exam instructions, sometimes select from the list above and specifically ask you to include such information. As a result, it is important to practice different response which will include different combination of the suggestions above. The ones highlighted in red are the basics and should almost always be included in your postcard.

Writing your postcard or letter in french

Sample exercise: writing  a postcard or letter in french about your vacation.

Exercise 1                                                                                                   15 points  

Vous êtes en vacances à Nice. Vous envoyez une petite carte postale a un ami à Paris. Vous lui parlez de temps, de vous activités et vous lui donnez votre date de retour. (40 à 50 mots).

Sample letter in french about your vacation :

Bonjour Jean,

  (Word count = 49)

Sample Exercise for You!

Salut______________,

Je suis en vacances à _____________ pour _________________. C’est une ville très ______________. je visite_________________. c’est________________. Il fait______________ . Je rentrerai chez-moi _____________________.

________________

Evaluation:

• Greetings : Bonjour Jean ( We could also use: “Salut Jean Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ”  “ Cher Jean” . Use “Chère” only if it is a female)
• Where you are and for how long: Je suis en vacances à Nice pour cinq jours
• What you did or are doing: Hier, j’ai jou é au volley sur la plage . Maintenant, je prends le déjeuner dans un petit café.
• Are you enjoying yourself? Super!
• What is the weather and or the place like: Il fait très beau, avec beaucoup de soleil.
• When are you coming back?:  Je rentrerai chez-moi samedi prochain.
• Farewells: Bises ( We could also use: “ Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 A bientôt” “or “a samedi !” or “a la semaine prochaine !” or “au revoir”)
• Sign your name: Janet

There is agreement of adjective and verb: un petit café. Plus I have used three tenses:

• Le présent: je prends, Il fait ,
• le passé composé: j’ai jou é
• le futur: Je rentrerai .

I have included the specific information that they had asked for. I have also stayed within the word limit. 

Remember to stick to the word limit and follow the instructions that are given. If they want you to provide any specific information such as when you are coming back, the weather, what you visited etc this must be included in your postcard. You will lose points if this is not done.

Check for Errors

Remember to read carefully through your text. Check to ensure that plural words have a plural ending. Make sure that there is agreement between adjectives and the nouns they describe (such as une belle église , un beau chateau ). Check all to ensure that all verbs are in the right tense and that the endings match the subject (such as Je vais for the present but Je suis allé for the past ). Check to make sure you have followed the instructions and fully used all the structures that you have learnt during your study.

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Telling your holidays in French

Drrriiiiiiing !!!

It is the start of the new school year, students and learners of French are back to lessons! 

How to restart the brain gently? Telling your holidays in French is an excellent back to school exercise to keep your mind on vacation a little longer.

Vacances Actives gives you the right tips to make the start of the new school year a pleasant one that refreshes your French as a Foreign Language (FFL) skills and stimulates exchanges!

Recounting  one’s holidays: a complete linguistic exercise

Holidays, a good subject to create an exchange and integrate.

At the start of the school year, the first lessons of the year can impress students and it is important to facilitate dialogue between them . Whether a learner is shy or not, speaking is never an easy exercise in a new group whose members you don’t know. And the task falls to the teacher to stimulate the pupils and to encourage them to speak. Recounting your holidays in French is an excellent “ice breaker” : in turn, or as part of a two-person dialogue, the pupils share their experience and describe their holiday destination. Travel, sport, leisure, geography: so many subjects that allow students and teachers to find common points and perfect topics of conversation to facilitate their integration.

A story that mobilizes a lot of knowledge in French

“En juillet, je partis à Nice et j’ai allé à la mer”. ( = with mistakes :“In July, I left for Nice and I went to the sea”. )

Coming back from vacation can be hard for the learner’s brain. We will not hold it against him, these mistakes are very common!

First of all, recounting one’s vacation requires using the concordance of times from the past. Here is an opportunity to work on the conjugation and use of the past tense, simple and imperfect past. This exercise is not suitable for all language levels, but it can be adapted with a simplified version, using only the past tense. Here is a good introduction to discover this grammatical tense, if it is on the program for the year.  

Also, recounting one’s holidays is an opportunity to express one’s preferences, feelings and emotions . ‘I liked, I preferred, I loved, I regretted, I hated…” : so many personal formulas to testify to a moment or a pleasant or not pleasant activity. This exercise opens up many possibilities for discussion. And for those who have not had the chance to go on a trip, the exchange can be oriented towards the wish, the future desire to discover a destination, or to do a particular activity. 

Describing one’s holidays: a wide range of vocabulary

The description exercise is an effective way to mobilize a lot of French vocabulary words . Many lexical fields can be used, depending on the activities and the destination in question. It is a good idea to provide students with vocabulary sheets to help them describe their vacation. The sea, the mountains, the countryside, sport, leisure, transport, accommodation, weather, geography, etc. are among the main themes that can be used for this exercise. 

In particular, very dense vocabulary supports can be found on the site: https://www.lepointdufle.net/pseigner/lexique_vacances-fiches-pedagogiques.htm#h

Exercise materials to tell about one’s holidays in French

Orally: a set of questions relating to the holidays.

In pairs or in the form of a group forum, the exercise which consists of recounting one’s holidays can be easily set up with a set of questions . It is true that at the resumption of lessons, learners generally have difficulty finding their words and developing a speech in front of others. It is up to the teacher to guide them through a framework of dialogue:

• Did you go on vacation this summer? 
• Where did you go? 
• At what period? How long ? 
• With whom did you go)? 
• How did you spend your time? What activities? What visits have you made? 
• Have you had any meetings? (a question open to several interpretations!)
• Did you speak French during the holidays? 
• What do you plan to do for the next vacation?

If the speaking is still too timid and the students are not very verbose on the subject, then an ultimate exercise can help them. The idea is to ask them to identify which student in the group has had a vacation most like theirs ! As a result, the pupils question the others in the form of a game and discover a maximum of common points. A good way to untie tongues.

In writing: essay or travel diary

For higher French as a foreign Language (FFL) levels, it is interesting to work on written expression on this question. In writing, an essay for example, the story of the holidays can be developed further but the exercise will lose its interactive and playful side. 

On the other hand, to tell their vacation, students can rely on their travel diary. This can be used as “summer homework”. The travel journal is a very effective activity for working on students’ written expression and creativity. We have devoted a generous article to it with tips and suggestions: Create your linguistic travel diary. Some teachers go so far as to organize contests within the class!

The postcard exercise

Writing a postcard is a tradition that is being lost… It is an opportunity to revive it and to suggest that the pupils tell their holidays in French in a reduced format. It only takes a few minutes for learners to address the postcard to the person of their choice.   This approach is well suited to the first levels of FLE: it allows students to give a synthetic account of their adventures. Borrowing in the telegraphic style or with a more literary tone, they use a few well-chosen words to quickly describe the destination and give their impressions. 

The teacher can play the game to the end by printing a nice photo in the appropriate format to illustrate the vacation destinations of his students, or provide a set of ready-to-use postcards!

Tell your holiday stories on Instagram !

Why not do this exercise on social media? Teachers, you can create an Instagram account dedicated to your class, and start the exercise. Students should choose and post a photo and then write a clear description. Destination, anecdotes, exciting visits… The end result: an aesthetic and complete picture illustrating the holidays for the whole FFL class, to show and share!

Summer peregrinations are an excellent topic of conversation and story to mobilize knowledge and develop French vocabulary. 

The exercise can very well be applied when returning from a language study trip, where each of the learners will share an anecdote or an opinion on the trip made. 

So many good ideas to encourage travel and learning French!

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TALK ABOUT HIS VACATIONS IN FRENCH

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In this video, I tell you about my vacation in French. The goal is to show you how I talk about my vacation so that you can be inspired to do the same. Telling your vacation story is a great exercise to improve your French.

Test your understanding of the video. Take the quiz about my vacations in Bulgaria!

• She already lives in Bulgaria, she came by car.
• We arrived at the same time
• We ordered dishes.
• We ordered a drink.
• We talked about the program of our three-day stay in Sofia.
• I told my friend about my day.
• Hitchhiking
• A monastery
• The castle of the former queen of Romania
• A monument of the communist era
• A medieval fortress
• Eating ice cream
• Dining in restaurants
• The plovdiv, a Bulgarian specialty
• Fish caught on the island
• A Bulgarian cocktail
• A Bulgarian yogurt

Hello to all of you. I hope that you are doing well and that your learning of French is going well.

So today, I will tell you about my vacations in French. The goal of this video is for you to learn new expressions, new phrases, new vocabulary so that you too can tell your vacation in French. Don't hesitate to comment the words or expressions you don't understand so that I can explain them to you. You can also go to www.hellofrench.com to find the transcript of the video, so the text of the video, the vocabulary associated with the video, so I'll explain all the useful words to tell your vacations in French. And also, you can find a quiz to test your understanding of what I'm going to tell you about my vacations. Last year, I went on vacation in Bulgaria. I went with a friend. We made a road trip in the whole country by car. I I left Paris so I have flew in in Paris to go to Sofia and my friend was taking off of Brussels.

I was the first to arrive at the airport of Sofia. Once I have retrieved my suitcase I have been buy a metro ticket to go to the city center . Once in the center of Sofia, I used Google Maps to find the hotel that we had booked. At the hotel, I went to the reception and I spoke with the person at the front desk who gave me the keys to the room and who also gave me a map of the city.

We talked a bit, she told me about the sites to visit , of bars of restaurants that could be nice. I took advantage of the day by myself to walk around, to start visit the city waiting for my friend. In the evening, when she joined me, we went to a restaurant that I had booked during the day. We started by having a cocktail and I was able to tell him about my discoveries about the city. We spent three days in Sofia visiting the different cultural sites: museums, churches, parks and to walk around.

We also have tasted to many local specialties . At the end of the three days, we then rented a car to begin to visit the country and especially go to the sea . On the way to the sea, we stopped to visit different villages, different towns or monuments .

For example, we stopped in a town called Veliko Tarnovo to visit a medieval fortress. We also visited on top of a hill a monument dating from the communist era that looked like a huge flying saucer . Once we arrived at the sea, we stopped in the city of Balchik.

It is a very touristic city, because there is a castle, the castle of the former queen of Romania. She used to spend her vacations at the sea in this city. The castle is surrounded by a huge botanical garden and both the gardens and the castle overlook the beach and the sea. It is really beautiful. Then we went to a seaside resort for a few days. The goal was really to enjoy the beach. So we mostly tanned always with Sunscreen and an umbrella .

In the evening, we made walks by the sea and we dined in restaurants having cocktails or eating ice cream on the seaside. We then went to an island or rather a peninsula. It is a very very tourist But once we found some small streets with calm, it was really very pretty. So, we spent one evening on this peninsula where we had dinner in a restaurant which overhung the sea.

It was really beautiful and above all, we could taste our first and famous Bulgarian yogurt. It was really delicious. Then, we took the car again and we went for two days in the second biggest city of the country, Plovdiv. There was not much to visit, but we liked the atmosphere very much. There were a lot of young people, a lot of small bars, small restaurants on the terrace. Then, we took the car back to Sofia to return the car to the rental agency.

We then took advantage of the few hours we had left to go back to the places we had loved before going back to the airport to take our flights .

I hope you enjoyed this video, that you were able to learn some new vocabulary about the vacations. New words. Feel free to like this video if you liked it and follow the channel to see other videos. See you soon and have a good vacation!

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HOW TO USE "PLUTÔT" IN FRENCH? 🥵🇫🇷

Transcript In French, we use the adverb "plutôt", "rather", in different cases. Today we will see what it can mean, how it can be used and, above all, we will see some contextualizations to help you better understand and to

10 MISTAKES THAT THE FRENCH DO (Guess the right or wrong answers)

In this video I show you 10 mistakes that French people make themselves. But don't worry, everyone makes mistakes in French, it's normal. You have to make mistakes to progress in French and not to

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1 Sur la Côte d'Amour

This section on summer holidays in France starts with a video sequence showing a typical beach scene from a French resort on the Atlantic coast. As well as finding out a little about the history of holiday-making in France, we hear present-day holiday-makers describing the advantages and disadvantages of a popular beach. A number of people then explain how much holiday they take and when they can take it. Finally we explore current trends and investigate how popular foreign holidays are among the French.

The video was shot partly in the Pays de la Loire region in the west of France and partly in Paris. In the first sequence we see an area that is particularly popular with the people of Nantes ( les Nantais ), namely the beaches around La Baule on the Atlantic coast to the west of the city. Like all coastal areas of France, this one has a name: la Côte d'Amour.

The opening video sequence uses archive and contemporary footage to show some of the ways in which the coast is used for leisure activities. It also traces a little of the history of holiday-making in France. Various people explain to us why they like the Batz-sur-Mer beach, or why they don't.

View the following video

Activité 2, Sur la Côte d'Amour

Transcript: Sur la Côte d'Amour

Key point 1: using visual clues.

When learning a language, it is important to be aware of visual clues. They often help you understand the context: for example, a shrug of the shoulders may indicate indifference or resignation, even if the words seem neutral. They can indeed give an idea as to the language the speaker may be using. They may also help your visual memory: you'll probably remember words and phrases better if you associate them with images. So, we begin with an exercise in visual concentration.

Warning signs on the beach

Pour vous aider

salariés workers, wage-earners (remember that French uses the masculine plural to embrace both sexes)

congés payés (m.pl.) paid holiday/leave

au moins at least

d'après according to

toute la journée the whole day

surveiller to keep an eye on

pas tellement/pas trop not very much

pas mal de (informal) quite a lot of

Grammar Point 1 Using ‘de’ in expressions of quantity

The word de is used in expressions of quantity (including negative quantities such as pas de ), whether the noun that follows is singular or plural.

trop de vent too much wind

beaucoup trop de monde far too many people

pas assez de temps not enough time

pas tellement d' amis not that many friends

plus de six semaines de congé more than six weeks' leave

moins de jeux fewer games

pas de glaces à la vanille no vanilla ice cream

énormément d' argent lots of money

un tas de mouches (informal) loads of flies

pas mal d' algues (informal) quite a lot of seaweed

des centaines de vacanciers hundreds of holiday-makers

But note the use of des with the expressions la plupart and la majeure partie when followed by a noun in the plural:

la plupart des Français most French people

la majeure partie des commerçants most shopkeepers

The suffix -aine indicates approximate quantities, except for (demi-)douzaine which may mean exactly (six) or twelve.

Hier, j'ai planté une dizaine de rosiers dans mon jardin.

Yesterday I planted around ten rose bushes in my garden.

Je vais passer une quinzaine de jours à Paris.

I'm going to spend a fortnight in Paris.

J'ai appelé une trentaine de campings, mais ils sont tous complets.

I phoned about thirty campsites, but they're all full.

Je connais une demi-douzaine de personnes ici, c'est tout.

I know about half a dozen people here, that's all.

Je voudrais une douzaine d' œufs, s'il vous plaît.

I'd like a dozen eggs please.

Key point 2: Learning phrases

We suggest that you learn the examples given. Here are two suggested methods to help you do this.

Where there is an English translation, cover up the French and try to translate the English back into French. Check as you go along. Then reverse the process.

Close your book and, from memory, write out all the examples in French on a piece of paper. Then look at your book in order to check back.

As you progress through studing a language, why not collect examples in a notebook for each grammar rule and make up some of your own too, using the new vocabulary that you have learned? Share these examples with other students.

Activité 3.1

1 Lisez les deux cartes postales écrites par Valérie et trouvez les dix adjectifs qui montrent qu'elle aime beaucoup cette station balnéaire.

Two postcards

pratique convenient

toutes mes amitiés all the very best

l'eau est bonne the sea is at a pleasant temperature

bonjour à say hello to

grosses bises (informal) lots of love (literally ‘big kisses’, used for family and close friends only)

The adjectives showing enthusiasm are: superbe, magnifique, pratique, merveilleux; joli, belle, beau, bonne, délicieux, idéales.

Activité 3.2

2 Le mari de Valérie n'est pas aussi enthousiaste qu'elle. Il écrit à un de ses collègues de bureau. Les mots ou expressions qui manquent dans le texte de sa carte postale sont donnés avec l'illustration de ce qui se passe à la plage pour vous aider.

Ce sont nos derniers jours de vacances. Valérie et les enfants sont tristes, mais moi je suis vraiment (a) __________ de rentrer à la maison! Je n'aime (b) __________ cette plage: il y a (c) __________ de (d) __________, trop (e) __________ sur la plage, beaucoup trop de (f) __________ (oh là là, les enfants et les transistors!) et il n'y a (g) __________ de vent pour faire de la planche à voile. Et puis, il (h) __________ trop (i) __________ : 36 degrés à l'ombre! Ah, la clim au bureau!

la clim air conditioning (short for climatisation )

à bientôt see you soon

Below are the words you should fit in the spaces:

pas tellement • mécontent • algues • mouches • vent • de monde • fait • pas assez • glaces • gens • froid • bruit • dauphins • bronzé • trop de • des centaines • chaud • différent • surveille • content

A busy beach scene with lots of people annoying Marc

Ce sont nos derniers jours de vacances. Valérie et les enfants sont tristes, mais moi je suis vraiment (a) content de rentrer à la maison! Je n'aime (b) pas tellement cette plage: il y a (c) des centaines de (d) mouches, trop (e) de monde sur la plage, beaucoup trop de (f) bruit (oh là là, les enfants et les transistors!) et il n'y a (g) pas assez de vent pour faire de la planche à voile. Et puis, il (h) fait trop (i) chaud: 36 degrés à l'ombre! Ah, la clim au bureau!

Grammar Point 2 Writing an informal letter or postcard

When you are writing to someone it is important to use the appropriate opening and closing phrases. These vary according to who you are writing to.

Make sure that there is agreement (in gender and number) between cher and the name or names that follow.

And you can of course add a message to someone else:

Meilleurs souvenirs à/Bien des choses à…

Kindest regards to…

Say hello to…

We suggest you start a section in a notebook devoted to letterwriting, in which you could record these and other examples of opening and closing phrases as you come across them (for instance when you get a postcard or letter from a French-speaking friend). If you have a dictionary which has a 'Language in Use'; or 'Communicative Grammar' section you will also find more examples there.

Would you like to spend your own holiday on the beach featured on the video? Activity 4 gives you the chance to express your views in writing and to revise the expressions you have met so far in this section. You will also be listening to some audio materials for the first time.

You will be

Looking at the advantages and disadvantages of a seaside resort

Expressing an opinion

Using 'de' in expressions of quantity

Writing an informal postcard

Activité 4 EXTRAIT 1

1 Relisez les activités 1 à 3 et trouvez les expressions qui décrivent:

les avantages et les inconvénients d'une station balnéaire;

les réactions personnelles des gens.

Notez-les dans votre Carnet. Par exemple:

2 Écoutez le premier extrait. Imaginez que vous êtes en vacances sur la Côte d'Amour. Écoutez bien tout: les voix et les bruits. Ensuite, écrivez une carte postale d'environ quatre-vingts mots à un(e) ami(e). Vous devez:

expliquer les avantages et les inconvénients de votre station balnéaire;

donner vos réactions (positives et/ou négatives);

utiliser quelques expressions de quantité;

utiliser les formules correctes pour commencer et terminer le texte de votre carte.

Base yourself on the three examples of postcards you have seen above. You can use phrases from the lists you compiled in step 1.

Audio Track 1

Transcript: Audio Track 1

At the Beach: An Easy French-English Bilingual Story

A Learn French Vocabulary in Context Lesson

• Pronunciation & Conversation
• Resources For Teachers

Many people travel to France to enjoy its gorgeous beaches. Whether you prefer sunny “Côte d’Azur”, the windy beaches or “Arcachon”, the historic “plages de Normandie” or the wild and rocky coasts of Brittany, you’ll have plenty of sea waters and beaches to choose from when traveling , for real or virtually to France.

Explore the vocabulary related to beach activities with this learn French in context  story. This story is written mostly in the present tense and with simple sentence structures, so even beginners can follow the story once they have studied their  French beach vocabulary .

And Now, Let's Go to the Beach!

Mon mari, ma fille et moi, nous habitons en Bretagne, dans le nord-ouest de la France, en face de l'Angleterre, dans une petite ville qui s'appelle « Paimpol ». J'ai de la chance car nous sommes à côté de la mer, au bord de la Manche plus précisément. 

My husband, my daughter and myself, we live in Brittany, in the north-west of France, across from England, in a small town called "Paimpol". I am lucky since we live by the sea, on the banks of the Channel more precisely.

Ma fille Leyla et moi, nous adorons nager. Il y a une petite plage de sable à 5 minutes à pied de chez nous, et bien sûr, nous y allons très souvent.

My daughter Leyla and I, we love to swim. There is a small sand beach five minutes walking distance from our house, and of course, we go there very often.

Leyla a dix ans, et elle sait bien nager. Elle a pris des cours de natation à la piscine avec son école, et aussi pendant les weekends, et donc vraiment elle nage bien la brasse, le crawl etc... Mais quand elle va à la plage, elle ne nage pas beaucoup : elle joue dans la mer, saute dans les petites vagues, patauge... Elle boit rarement la tasse, mais ça arrive. Alors elle tousse, et elle replonge dans l’eau ! Elle aime bien aussi faire de grands châteaux de sable avec les autres enfants qui sont sur la plage.

Leyla is ten, and she is a good swimmer. She took swimming lessons at the pool with her school, and also during the weekends, and therefore she can really swim the breaststroke, the crawl etc well… But when she goes to the beach, she doesn't swim much: she plays in the sea, jumps in the small waves, splashes around… She rarely accidentally swallows sea water, but it happens. Then she coughs, and dives back in (the water)! She also enjoys making big sand castles with the other kids (who are) on the beach.

Faire de la Voile = to go Sailing in French

L’autre jour, Leyla a fait une journée de voile avec son école. Et tout a coup, elle a vu deux dauphins !! Malheureusement, au début elle a pensé que c’était des requins, et elle a eu très peur...

The other day, Leyla had a sailing outing with her school. And suddenly, she saw two Dolphins !! Unfortunately, at the beginning, she thought they were two sharks, and she was very scared.

C’est un vrai déménagement lorsque nous allons nous baigner ! Il faut prendre des pelles, des seaux, un râteau, des serviettes de plage, et surtout ne pas oublier la crème solaire. Il fait souvent gris en Bretagne, mais le soleil est toujours là, en dessous des nuages, et il faut toujours mettre de la crème solaire pour ne pas attraper un coup de soleil. Nous ne prenons pas de parasol, ni de chaise longue – on est en Bretagne , pas à St Trop’ !!

It's like packing for a move when we go swimming! We have to take shovels, pails and a rake, beach towels and above all not forget the sunscreen!! It's often overcast in Brittany, but the sun is always there, under the clouds, and you should always wear sunscreen so you don't get sunburnt. We don't bring a beach umbrella, nor a beach chair — we're in Brittany, not "Saint-Tropez" !!

• Camille Va Nager: Easy French-English Bilingual Story
• À la plage – beach vacation French vocabulary
• Halloween in France: French-English Bilingual Story
• Touring Montréal: An Easy French-English Bilingual Story
• French Valentine's Day Traditions: Easy Bilingual Story
• Shopping for Clothes in French: French-English Bilingual Story
• Saint Nick in France - an Easy French Story With English Translation
• French Reading Comprehension Test
• Kissing Hello in France: A French-English Dialogue
• Visiting a Champagne Cellar in Reims: French-English Bilingual Story
• Christmas in France: a Fun French-English Side-by-Side Story
• Introduction to French Stressed Pronouns - Pronoms Disjoints
• Meet a French Family: Easy French-English Bilingual Story
• Advanced French Verb Conjugation
• Promenade sur le Marché de Beaune: Tour of a French Market
• 12 Useful French Verbs You Might Not Be Using

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How to Write an Essay in French

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When it comes to expressing your thoughts in French , there’s nothing better than the essay.

It is, after all, the favorite form of such famed French thinkers as Montaigne, Chateaubriand, Houellebecq and Simone de Beauvoir.

In this post, I’ve outlined the four most common types of essays in French, ranked from easiest to most difficult, to help you get to know this concept better. 

Why Are French Essays Different?

Must-have french phrases for writing essays, 4 types of french essays and how to write them, 1. text summary (synthèse de texte).

• 2. Text Commentary (Commentaire de texte)

3. Dialectic Dissertation (Thèse, Antithèse, Synthèse)

• 4. Progressive Dissertation (Plan progressif)

And one more thing...

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Writing an essay in French is not the same as those typical 5-paragraph essays you’ve probably written in English.

In fact, there’s a whole other logic that has to be used to ensure that your essay meets French format standards and structure. It’s not merely writing your ideas in another language .

And that’s because the French use Cartesian logic (also known as Cartesian doubt) , developed by René Descartes , which requires a writer to begin with what is known and then lead the reader through to the logical conclusion: a paragraph that contains the thesis. Through the essay, the writer will reject all that is not certain or all that is subjective in his or her quest to find the objective truth.

Sound intriguing? Read on for more!

Before we get to the four main types of essays, here are a few French phrases that will be especially helpful as you delve into essay-writing in French:

Introductory phrases , which help you present new ideas.

Connecting phrases , which help you connect ideas and sections.

Contrasting phrases , which help you juxtapose two ideas.

Concluding phrases , which help you to introduce your conclusion.

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The text summary or synthèse de texte  is one of the easiest French writing exercises to get a handle on. It essentially involves reading a text and then summarizing it in an established number of words, while repeating no phrases that are in the original text. No analysis is called for.

A  synthèse de texte  should follow the same format as the text that is being synthesized. The arguments should be presented in the same way, and no major element of the original text should be left out of the  synthèse.

Here is an informative post about writing a synthèse de texte , written for French speakers. 

The text summary is a great exercise for exploring the following French language elements:

• Synonyms , as you will need to find other words to describe what is said in the original text.
• Nominalization , which involves turning verbs into nouns and generally cuts down on word count.
• Vocabulary , as the knowledge of more exact terms will allow you to avoid periphrases and cut down on word count.

While beginners may wish to work with only one text, advanced learners can synthesize as many as three texts in one text summary. 

Since a text summary is simple in its essence, it’s a great writing exercise that can accompany you through your entire learning process.

2. Text Commentary  (Commentaire de texte)

A text commentary or commentaire de texte   is the first writing exercise where the student is asked to present an analysis of the materials at hand, not just a summary.

That said, a  commentaire  de texte  is not a reaction piece. It involves a very delicate balance of summary and opinion, the latter of which must be presented as impersonally as possible. This can be done either by using the third person (on) or the general first person plural (nous) . The singular first person (je) should never be used in a  commentaire de texte.

A commentaire de texte  should be written in three parts:

• An introduction , where the text is presented.
• An argument , where the text is analyzed.
• A conclusion , where the analysis is summarized and elevated.

Here is a handy in-depth guide to writing a successful commentaire de texte,  written for French speakers.

Unlike with the synthesis, you will not be able to address all elements of a text in a commentary. You should not summarize the text in a commentary, at least not for the sake of summarizing. Every element of the text that you speak about in your commentary must be analyzed.

To successfully analyze a text, you will need to brush up on your figurative language. Here are some great resources to get you started:

• Here’s an introduction to figurative language in French.
• This guide to figurative language  presents the different elements in useful categories.
• This guide , intended for high school students preparing for the BAC—the exam all French high school students take, which they’re required to pass to go to university—is great for seeing examples of how to integrate figurative language into your commentaries.
• Speaking of which, here’s an example of a corrected commentary from the BAC, which will help you not only include figurative language but get a head start on writing your own commentaries.

The French answer to the 5-paragraph essay is known as the  dissertation .  Like the American 5-paragraph essay, it has an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. The stream of logic, however, is distinct.

There are actually two kinds of  dissertation,  each of which has its own rules.

The first form of  dissertation  is the dialectic dissertation , better known as  thèse, antithèse, synthèse . In this form, there are actually only two body paragraphs. After the introduction, a thesis is posited. Following the thesis, its opposite, the antithesis, is explored (and hopefully, debunked). The final paragraph, what we know as the conclusion, is the  synthesis , which addresses the strengths of the thesis, the strengths and weaknesses of the antithesis, and concludes with the reasons why the original thesis is correct.

For example, imagine that the question was, “Are computers useful to the development of the human brain?” You could begin with a section showing the ways in which computers are useful for the progression of our common intelligence—doing long calculations, creating in-depth models, etc.

Then you would delve into the problems that computers pose to human intelligence, citing examples of the ways in which spelling proficiency has decreased since the invention of spell check, for example. Finally, you would synthesize this information and conclude that the “pro” outweighs the “con.”

The key to success with this format is developing an outline before writing. The thesis must be established, with examples, and the antithesis must be supported as well. When all of the information has been organized in the outline, the writing can begin, supported by the tools you have learned from your mastery of the synthesis and commentary.

Here are a few tools to help you get writing:

• Here’s a great guide to writing a dialectic dissertation .
• Here’s an example of a plan for a dialectic dissertation , showing you the three parts of the essay as well as things to consider when writing a dialectic dissertation.

4. Progressive Dissertation ( Plan progressif)

The progressive dissertation is slightly less common, but no less useful, than the first form.

The progressive form basically consists of examining an idea via multiple points of view—a sort of deepening of the understanding of the notion, starting with a superficial perspective and ending with a deep and profound analysis.

If the dialectic dissertation is like a scale, weighing pros and cons of an idea, the progressive dissertation is like peeling an onion, uncovering more and more layers as you get to the deeper crux of the idea.

Concretely, this means that you will generally follow this layout:

• A first, elementary exploration of the idea.
• A second, more philosophical exploration of the idea.
• A third, more transcendent exploration of the idea.

This format for the dissertation is more commonly used for essays that are written in response to a philosophical question, for example, “What is a person?” or “What is justice?”

Let’s say the question was, “What is war?” In the first part, you would explore dictionary definitions—a basic idea of war, i.e. an armed conflict between two parties, usually nations. You could give examples that back up this definition, and you could narrow down the definition of the subject as much as needed. For example, you might want to make mention that not all conflicts are wars, or you might want to explore whether the “War on Terror” is a war.

In the second part, you would explore a more philosophical look at the topic, using a definition that you provide. You first explain how you plan to analyze the subject, and then you do so. In French, this is known as  poser une problématique  (establishing a thesis question), and it usually is done by first writing out a question and then exploring it using examples: “Is war a reflection of the base predilection of humans for violence?”

In the third part, you will take a step back and explore this question from a distance, taking the time to construct a natural conclusion and answer for the question.

This form may not be as useful in as many cases as the first type of essay, but it’s a good form to learn, particularly for those interested in philosophy. Here’s an in-depth guide  to writing a progressive dissertation.

As you progress in French and become more and more comfortable with writing, try your hand at each of these types of writing exercises, and even with other forms of the dissertation . You’ll soon be a pro at everything from a synthèse de texte to a dissertation!

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Vacances – Vacation

By: Author David Issokson

Posted on Published: December 13, 2023  - Last updated: June 16, 2024

In this lesson we’ll learn how to say vacation in French: les vacances . In French, vacation is always a feminine-plural noun: les vacances . A very common misake for beginners to make is to say vacation in singular form “la vacance” . That is wrong. Keep reading to discover some sentences with les vacances .

les vacances

Vacances – vacation

Origin of the word vacances.

Vacances comes from the Latin vacans , which is the past participle of the Latin verb vacare (to be free, not busy, vacant).

In French, the singular noun la vacance does exist but it has nothing to do with going on vacation. It means “vacancy” as in a “job vacancy”.

Example sentences with vacances

The French use two verbs to express “going on vacation”: aller en vacances and partir en vacance . While aller means to go and partir means “to leave”, these two ways of saying “to go on vacation” are more or less synonymous.

aller en vacances, partir en vacances

to go on vacation

Here are some exampe sentences using vacances .

On part en vacances en Espagne cet été .

We are going on vacation to Spain this summer.

Où est-ce que tu préfères passer les vacances, au bord de la mer ou en montagne ?

Where to you prefer to spend your vacation, at the sea shore or in the mountains?

The following example sentences uses the verb profiter , which means to “enjoy” and not necessarily to “profit” financially.

Bonnes vacances ! Profitez de votre séjour !

Have a good vacation! Enjoy your stay!

The following example sentences uses the term les grandes vacances , which refers to summer vacation in France.

Sylvie va visiter le sud de la France pendant les grandes vacances.

Sylvie is going to visit the south of France during summer vacation.

This example sentence uses the term les vacances scolaires , which is “school vacation”.

Les vacances scolaires en France sont toujours en février.

School vacation in France is always in February.

Et voilà ! You now know how to use les vacances (vacation) in French. Now check our lesson covering how to pronounce the names of 10 major French cities !

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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Write an essay in French

Beyond the fact that writing an essay in French can be a good practice to improve your writing, you may also be asked to write one during your schooling. So, it is important to study the topic of French essay writing and get some useful tips..

» Tips and tricks for your French essay » The structure of a French essay » Sample French Essay

Tips and tricks for your French essay

When writing a French essay for school, you should always use a structured approach and good French skills to present your arguments in a focused way. Beyond French skills, there are also important formal requirements for a successful French essay. We will come back to this in detail later. First, you will find some useful tips and tricks that will help you write more compelling and better French essays in the future.

• Have a clear thesis and structure
• Do sufficient research and use reliable sources
• Use examples and arguments to support your thesis
• Avoid plagiarism and cite correctly
• Always check structure, grammar and spelling

When you write your essay at school or university, you need to make sure that the general structure of your essay, the presentation of the arguments and, above all, your French language skills play a role in the mark you will get. This is why you should definitely take a closer look at the structure of an essay as well as the most important grammar rules and formulations for French essays.

The structure of a French essay

In an essay, you deal at length and in detail with a usually given topic. When you write an essay in French, you must follow a certain structure. Below we show you what this structure looks like and give you some tips for writing the most important parts of your essay.

The Introduction

The introduction prepares the main body of your essay. You think of a meaningful title for your essay, you describe your thesis or your question, you give general information on the subject and you prepare your argument by giving an overview of your most important arguments.

Below are examples and phrases that you can use to write the introduction to your essay in French.

The title should be meaningful, concise and reflect the content of the essay.

Introductory paragraph

The first paragraph of your French essay should briefly introduce the topic and engage the reader. Here are some examples to help you write your essay:

Proposal or question

The central proposition or question of your French essay should be a clear and concise definition of the purpose of the essay. Use these examples to get a clearer idea of ​​how to write theses in French:

Overview of Arguments and Structure

At the end of your introduction, describe the structure of the main part of your essay (your outline) and outline your argument. Here are some French expressions that will certainly help you write your essay:

The body of your essay

The main part of your French essay deals with the given topic in detail. The subject is studied from all angles. The main body of your essay follows a thread of argument and discusses in detail the main arguments of your thesis previously made in the introduction.

In the body of the text, you should discuss the subject of your essay in clear and concise language. To achieve this, we give you some wording aids as well as vocabulary and phrases that you can use to write your essay in French.

Formulation tools:

French vocabulary for essays.

In the conclusion of your French essay, you address the thesis of your essay, summarize the main points of your discussion in the main body, and draw a conclusion. On the basis of the arguments and the resulting conclusions, you formulate in the conclusion of your dissertation final thoughts and suggestions for the future. It is important that you do not add new information or new arguments. This should only be done in the body of your text.

Here are some wording guides to help you write your essay in French:

Sample French Essay

Les avantages des voyages linguistiques

Malgré les difficultés potentielles, les voyages linguistiques offrent aux apprenants une occasion unique d'améliorer leurs compétences linguistiques et de découvrir de nouvelles cultures, ce qui en fait un investissement précieux pour leur développement personnel et académique.

Les séjours linguistiques sont des voyages organisés dans le but d'améliorer les compétences linguistiques des participants. Ces voyages peuvent se dérouler dans le pays ou à l'étranger et durer d'un week-end à plusieurs semaines. L'un des principaux avantages des séjours linguistiques est l'immersion. Entourés de locuteurs natifs, les apprenants sont contraints de pratiquer et d'améliorer leurs compétences linguistiques dans des situations réelles.Il s'agit d'une méthode d'apprentissage beaucoup plus efficace que le simple fait d'étudier une langue dans une salle de classe.

Un autre avantage des séjours linguistiques est l'expérience culturelle. Voyager dans un nouveau pays permet aux apprenants de découvrir de nouvelles coutumes, traditions et modes de vie, et de se familiariser avec l'histoire et la culture du pays. Cela enrichit non seulement l'expérience d'apprentissage de la langue, mais contribue également à élargir les horizons et à accroître la sensibilisation culturelle.

Cependant, les séjours linguistiques peuvent également présenter des inconvénients. Par exemple, le coût du voyage et de l'hébergement peut être élevé, en particulier pour les séjours de longue durée. En outre, les apprenants peuvent être confrontés à la barrière de la langue ou à un choc culturel, ce qui peut être difficile à surmonter. Le coût et les difficultés potentielles des séjours linguistiques peuvent sembler décourageants, mais ils offrent des avantages précieux en termes d'épanouissement personnel et scolaire.

Les compétences linguistiques et les connaissances culturelles acquises peuvent déboucher sur de nouvelles opportunités d'emploi et améliorer la communication dans un cadre professionnel. Les bourses et les aides financières rendent les séjours linguistiques plus accessibles. Le fait d'être confronté à une barrière linguistique ou à un choc culturel peut également être l'occasion d'un développement personnel. Ces avantages l'emportent largement sur les inconvénients et font des séjours linguistiques un investissement qui en vaut la peine.

En conclusion, malgré les difficultés potentielles, les séjours linguistiques offrent aux apprenants une occasion unique d'améliorer leurs compétences linguistiques et de découvrir de nouvelles cultures, ce qui en fait un investissement précieux pour le développement personnel et académique. Qu'il s'agisse d'un débutant ou d'un apprenant avancé, un voyage linguistique est une expérience à ne pas manquer.

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• French vocabulary for the holidays

You have planned a stay in France or in a French-speaking country for your vacations? Here is a selection of tips , tricks and vocabulary in French that will be very useful.

We have prepared a free PDF to help you with the French beach vocabulary . 👉 Download it for free

You will find a summary of the lesson , exercises to practice and the correction .

Key vacation phrases

What better way to get into the holiday spirit than by learning some French vocabulary? Here are a few key phrases and words that will come in handy during your next festive gathering.

• Les vacances – Holidays
• Bonjour/bonsoir – Hello/good evening
• Comment ça va ? – How are you?
• Je vais bien, merci. – I’m fine, thank you.
• Désolé, je ne parle pas très bien français. Pourriez-vous parler plus lentement s’il vous plaît ? – Sorry, I don’t speak French very well. Could you please speak more slowly?
• Je voudrais réserver une table pour 4 personnes à 19h – I would like to reserve a table for 4 people at 7pm
• J’ai une réservation au nom de M./Mme [your name] – I have a reservation in the name of Mr./Ms. [your name].
• Est-ce que vous avez une carte en anglais ? – Do you have a card in English?
• Pourrions-nous avoir l’addition s’il vous plaît ? – Could we have the bill please?
• On paye par carte / en espèces – We pay by card / in cash
• A quelle heure commence l’activité / le spectacle ? – What time does the activity / show start?
• A-t-on le droit de fumer ici ? – Are we allowed to smoke here?
• Avez-vous un cendrier ? – Do you have an ashtray?
• Avez-vous du feu ? – Do you have a light?
• Pardon, la fumée ne vous dérange pas ? – Excuse me, do you mind the smoke?
• Je voudrais un café avec un verre d’eau – I would like a coffee with a glass of water ( in France, when you order a coffee, you get an espresso. If you want a long coffee, you have to order an Americain or café allongé )

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💡 In general, don’t be afraid to be overly polite and add s’il vous plaît (please) at the end of all your questions. The French always feel that foreigners are arrogant with them… Yes, I know, it’s the world upside down! 😂😂

Also, don’t be surprised if the staff in restaurants, cafes and other places that receive tourists seem, at first, cold and distant. In France, it is because you will come back regularly to the same place that the staff will be more and more friendly with you.

And now, a selection of items that we love to see because they are synonymous with vacations 🌞🌞

Vacation items in French

@learnfrenchfun Le littoral, le bord de mer, la côte… 👉 VIDEO LONGUE : youtube / @LearnFrenchFun 👉 PDF BONUS : bit . ly / 455n5pX #parlarefrancese #francese ♬ son original – Chez Prisc & Chris – Learn French Fun

Ask for directions in French

• Quel est le chemin pour aller à la gare / la plage / la rue blablabla ? – What is the way to go to the station / the beach / the street blah blah blah?
• Vous allez tout droit – You go straight ahead
• Vous tournez à droite – You turn right
• vous tournez à gauche – you turn left
• Vous continuez tout droit – You go straight on
• Vous prenez la première rue à droite/gauche – You take the first street on the right/left
• Après le rond-point, c’est à gauche/droite – After the traffic circle, turn left/right
• Vous êtes beaucoup trop loin, faites demi-tour – You are too far, turn around
• Traversez la rue / l’avenue / le boulevard et vous êtes arrivés – Cross the street / avenue / the boulevard and you have arrived

What are some French useful vocabulary words related to travel?

When you’re planning a trip to France, it’s helpful to know a few key phrases in the local language. After all, even the most basic conversation can be difficult when you don’t share a common language. To get you started, here are a few useful French vocabulary words related to travel.

• bagages – luggage

The first word you’ll need to know is  bagage (luggage). This word covers any kind of bag or suitcase that you might bring on a trip, so it’s essential for getting your belongings through customs.

• passeport – passport

Another important word is passeport (passport). This document is required for international travel, so make sure you have it with you before you leave for France.

• avion – airplane // aéroport – airport

If you’re flying to France, you’ll need to know the word for avion (airplane). This will come in handy when booking your ticket and going through security at the airport.

⚠️ Be careful with the verb you use with the word avion . We say: prendre l’avion or aller en avion.

• hôtel – hotel

Once you arrive in France, you’ll need a place to stay. It is the same word as in English with almost identical phonetics. That’s nice.

• taxi – taxi

If you’re not renting a car, you’ll probably need to take a taxi at some point during your trip. The French word for taxi is taxi , which should be easy to remember.

And don’t worry, the UBER application exists and works very well in France. You can ask President Macron … 😂

• restaurant – restaurant

No trip to France would be complete without trying the local cuisine. The word for restaurant will come in handy when you’re ready to find a good meal.

By knowing these key French words, you’ll be better prepared for your next trip to France.

How I spend my Christmas holiday in French?

If you’re looking for a truly unique way to spend your Christmas holiday, why not try celebrating in French? France is home to some of the most festive and beautiful Christmas traditions, and spending the holidays in this romantic country is an experience you’ll never forget. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your French Christmas holiday:

• Start by decorating your house in traditional French style. Think garlands of greenery, strings of lights, and colorful ribbons. Make sure to also put up a star or angel on your Christmas tree.
• On Christmas Eve , enjoy a feast of French delicacies such as foie gras and oysters. Then, attend Midnight Mass at one of France’s stunning cathedrals. Afterward, head out into the streets to enjoy the magical atmosphere of Paris on Christmas night.
• On Christmas Day , open your presents around the tree before sitting down to a lovely family meal. In the afternoon, take a stroll through your neighborhood to admire the festive displays in people’s windows. And don’t forget to enjoy a few tasty treats along the way – after all, what’s Christmas without gingerbread cookies

We have prepared a free PDF to help you about Christmas traditions in France . 👉 Download it for free

French Vocabulary for the Christmas Holidays

• Joyeux Noël – Merry Christmas
• Meilleurs vœux – Best wishes
• La bûche de Noël – The Yule log (a traditional French dessert)
• Un bonhomme de neige – A snowman
• La crèche – Nativity scene
• Le Père Noël – Santa Claus
• Les lutins – elves
• Les marchés de Noël – Christmas markets
• Le sapin – Christmas tree
• Noël – Christmas
• Le Nouvel An – New Year’s Eve
• La Saint-Sylvestre – New Year’s Day
• La fête des Rois – Epiphany
• Les cadeaux – presents
• Galette des Rois – Epiphany cake
• Les rennes – reindeer
• Les chocolats de Noël – Christmas chocolates
• Les bonnes résolutions – New Year’s resolutions

French exam about your holidays in France

A typical exercise topic for a French exam is to talk about your vacation.

Here are some tips:

• Read the instructions carefully and check that you are not being asked to do anything specific (type of writing: blog, email to a friend, essay…)
• Remember to speak in the past tense ! Try to use the imperfect tense for the descriptions ( il faisait beau, les gens étaient sympas …) and the past tense for the main actions ( je me suis beaucoup amusé, j’ai goûté toutes les spécialités de la gastronomie française… )
• Show that you have specific vocabulary about vacations. Use the right words: une chaise longue, un parasol, prendre l’avion …
• Reread your text before handing it in to the teacher!!!

Bon voyage ! And remember, the more French you know, the better your trip will be.

Vive la France !

Now that you have learned some essential travel vocabulary words, it’s time to put them into practice! I hope you have a wonderful time in my beautiful country.

Au revoir !

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Mes vacances de l'année dernière - last years holiday

Subject: French

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

12 February 2021

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Model essay on holidays in the past tense Could be used as a translation exercise Find the French for

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65% of Americans feel deprived of vacation time. The French, who take more time off than anybody, say ‘hold my wine’

Americans continue to lead the world when it comes to prioritizing work over vacation: 53% don’t plan on using all of their time off this year, despite receiving fewer days off—just 12, annually—than any country surveyed in a recent report by Expedia . 

And it may be starting to take a toll. The number of Americans feeling deprived of vacation time is at an 11-year high of 65%, according to the survey. The next highest reading—64%—was in 2021, during the height of pandemic lockdowns.

But even if more Americans are starting to lament days in the office that could have been spent on the beach, somehow they’re not as upset about it as the French are. Despite taking nearly a month off from work on average, more than any other country in the survey, 69% of French workers reported feeling “vacation deprived.”

Christie Hudson, head of public relations for Expedia in the U.S., told Fortune that Americans tend to view vacations like a “guilty pleasure.”

“Whereas the average French worker … I think the reason why they still claim to be vacation deprived is because they feel like vacation is a basic right,” she said.

Expedia’s survey found 93% of French people said that time off was a fundamental right, and 94% said it was essential to overall health and well being—compared to 83% and 86% of Americans, respectively.

Fewer Americans are buying into workaholic U.S. culture

Even after covid upended traditional work settings—and made lots of employees rethink their work-life balance—U.S. bosses have stubbornly clung to their hopes of returning to a pre-pandemic workplace. In 2023, more than 60% of CEOs said they believed the U.S. would return to the office full time, according to a KPMG report .

But Americans’ not-so-healthy relationship with their jobs has begun to shift, even if the cultural norms around work have not: 37% of millennials have taken time off without telling their supervisor, according to another recent report , and people are pulling borderline silly tricks out of their sleeves—like periodically moving their keyboard mouse to stay online—to keep up the charade.

Expedia research from 2022 also showed more people taking advantage of flexible working arrangements, according to Hudson. More workers were going on “workations,” performing their jobs remotely while traveling.

“While that flexibility is great, it wasn’t healthy, in the end,” she said. “People were finding it even harder, actually, to draw lines between being on and off the clock. It was kind of blurring the lines of being able to be unplugged completely.”

Meanwhile, people in Japan on average took only one more day off a year than Americans, but reported the lowest levels of vacation deprivation in the world—53%. In addition, rest and relaxation were top priorities for 84% of Japanese respondents, who were also more likely to take short, monthly weekend trips that didn’t eat into PTO.

The politics of work in France

France on the other hand, has long embodied the more leisurely European attitudes toward holidays and work, and debates around protecting the country’s liberal work values have been a focal point of French politics over the last few years. 

In 2023, France experienced a wave of protests, strikes and even riots in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the minimum age of retirement for pension benefits from 62 to 64.

As the country prepares for snap parliamentary elections at the end of this month , left-wing parties have formed a new coalition called the “New Populist Front,” which is campaigning on lowering the minimum retirement age to as low as 60.

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