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J'ai étudié le français à l'université il y a 35 ans. Ayant récemment décidé de faire une révision de mon français, je suis un cours de français ce printemps à une branche de l'Alliance française dans ma région. Pourtant, les opportunités de le parler en dehors de la classe sont vraiment trop peu. C'est la raison pour laquelle je me trouve sur Italki. J'ai des compétences de base, certes, mais je voudrais continuer à les perfectionner. Mes buts sont d'améliorer mon expression à l'oral et à l'écrit.
Learning
French
Language Skills
EnglishNative
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Teacher reviews
Thérèse
French
Aug 24, 2021
Avec Maureen, nous avons des conversations très sérieuses, surtout qu'elle possède un tres tres bon niveau de français oral, c'est un parcours linguistique très agreable avec elle et très riche.
Iméne Bel (A2- C2)
French
Jan 16, 2021
Un bout de sucre cette femme ! Quel plaisir d'échanger avec elle, une des meilleures rencontres sur Italki ! J'espère te revoir bientôt <3
Violaine
French
Aug 27, 2019
Toujours un plaisir d'enseigner à Maureen :) Les leçons sont passionnantes et très agréables car son niveau et sa motivation sont excellentes! MERCI :)
Viviana Claudia
French
Apr 30, 2019
Formidable travail, malgré les inconvénients techniques :)
Activities
  • Corrected
    Kids! Corrections, please.

    Have you ever talked with a four years old kid? Every time,I listen to my little kid, he surprises my with a new story, that he <s>makes it</s> made up. I sometimes like listening to these stories. I always believe kids are intelligent. One day, he asked if I like going to supermarket to do shopping. I said:, "Yes, I do like <s>shppoing</s> shopping." He kept <s>silence</s> silent for a while then looked at me and said, "You like ice cream, too?" The story now is about to reach the end. I said:,"Look, I can't take you there today because I have things <s>should be done</s> to do." He said, "I understand you are busy today. Therefore, <s>W</s>we can go tomorrow."

    Haha, very cute story.
    0 voted
    June 23, 2019
    1
  • Corrected
    Some Sentences with Brand New Words

    1) The German bombardment of London caused a lot of human casualties. <s>Huddles of</s> The troops that were concentrated around the city could hardly defend the capital from massive air attacks. (Huddles of troops doesn't sound right to my ear.)
    2) She held <s>a</s> the grip of the gun so tightly that her arm stiffened.
    3) The <s>Pp</s>olitical convergence of Russia and China can change the world<s> in the future</s>.
    4) He used an inkstand as a weapon to defend himself from the goons.
    5) My competitor frowned, and I felt something menacing that came from him. (I would use "something menacing coming from him.")
    6) The Russian TV show "The Puppets", devoted to political establishment, was forbidden soon after 2000. The puppets, representing key political figures, looked like caricatures, which was unacceptable for the Kremlin.
    7)They sent a small squad ahead to find out what the landscape looked like.
    8) Instead of encroaching on his freedom, you'd better ask yourself if you're really honest with him.
    9) It would have been <s>an inevitable</s> a catastrophe if they hadn't switched off the engine. However, the imminent accident was prevented.
    10) The film <s>became</s> was an artistic reflection on what was happening during the Chernobyl accident.

    Good work, just watch that definite article :)
    0 voted
    June 22, 2019
    0
  • Corrected


    1 - My uncle plants carrots at his farm to survive. (or In order to survive, my uncle plants carrots on his farm.)
    2 - I saw on the news the case of a torturer<s> that </s> who was shot by the police when trying run away. ("while trying to run away" sounds better to my ear.)
    3 - That salesman always tries to induce clients to buy things they're interested in. (Technically correct but "induce" would generally be used to suggest that the client wasn't really interested in the item to begin with.)
    4 - When she was a child, her parents oppressed her by don't give her freedom and don't leaving her to make her own choices. (...her parents oppressed her by not giving her freedom and by not allowing her to make her own choices.)
    5 - She went to a psychologist, and he helped her to assuage her feelings. (Technically correct, but a psychologist would typically help a client explore her feelings.)
    6 - It's challenging to live in a world where distrust reigns everywhere.
    7 - They tried to invade my house, but the cops came in time.
    8 - The thieves lost badly when the police arrived.
    9 - When I was driving on the road, I saw a crop of tomatoes. (While I was driving, I saw a crop of tomatoes. Your sentence is technically correct, but a native speaker would leave off "on the road" because it is assumed. However, for a learner, it is a good idea to practice use of prepositions. You might hear "while I was driving down the road" or "while I was driving to...[name of a specific place]." Good job :-) )
    10 - When my aunt painted her nails, it gets smudges, and from now on, she goes to a manicure. (When my aunt used to paint/do her own nails, they would get smudged, so from now on she gets a manicure.)

    Neil, these are good sentences. I just added a few suggestions and corrections to polish them up. :-)
    0 voted
    June 21, 2019
    1
  • Posted
    Chloe me donne une petite frayeur Un peu de temps après mon retour chez moi hier soir, j’ai reçu un SMS de ma nièce qui m'a dit qu’on ne pouvait pas trouver leur petite chienne, qui ne doit pas peser plus d’un kilo. Elle m’a demandé si je l’avais laissée dehors quand je l’ai fait sortir pendant ma visite. Non, j’étais sûre de l’avoir récupérée après son pipi et j’ai dit à ma nièce d'aller chercher sous les couvertures du lit de ma mère où la chienne aime se pelotonner. Mais cela a vraiment provoqué des réflexions de ma part. Et si je l’avais oubliée dehors...? J’imaginais une rapace ramassant petite Chloe de la terre et s’envolant avec elle dans ses griffes. (Mon mari m’a raconté une telle histoire où il s’agissait du petit chien d’un de ses collègues au travail!) J’ai donc attrapé mes clefs de voiture, et mon mari m’a donné une torche au cas où... Soudain, mon portable a sonné de nouveau, et c’était ma nièce qui m’a dit qu’on a trouvé la chienne blottie sous une couverture au coin lecture dans la chambre de la cadette. La petite chienne aveugle avait grimpé l’escalier pour aller chercher un coin paisible où passer la nuit en tout confort. Merci d'avoir lu mon petit texte. Pour moi, écrire est toujours l'obstacle le plus difficile, mais je sais que je devrais le faire plus souvent. Passez un bon week-end.
    June 21, 2019
    2
    0
  • Commented

    Nothing changes but the numbers. 


    0 voted
    January 5, 2019
    0
  • Corrected

    Christmas with family

    This year, we passed spent Christmas in with my family and in the family that of my boyfriend. (or "and my boyfriend's family") It was really nice but also exhausting like every years because we eat ate a lot and we were a lot on the road a lot.  I can't drive so my boyfriend drove almost 18 hours to go in the East and after in the West of the country in five days. (Not sure what you mean here:  "my boyfriend drove almost 18 hours going east and west across the country"?)

    However, I'm not used to eat eating so much in my daily life because at work I don't really have time to for lunch (or "to eat lunch") and. I think this is the same case for a lot of people, doesn't isn't it? By the way, I think I eat meat and seafood for the year in five days. (not sure what you are trying to say.)  Despite of this, it was a really nice moment with our families, specifically especially because I saw my family that I didn't see since seven monthes (especially because I hadn't seen my family in seven months) and I met the daughter of my sister-in-law as well. (my sister-in-law's new baby).  She is incredibly cute (I am partial to babies so I think that almost all babies are cute). I also offered gave and received a lot of gifts. Now, I'm thinking about making DIY gifts for the next Chrismas. I had some ideas but not so many much time but I will try to do some of them by myself in 2019.

    ----

    Good work, Harilanto.  Other than a few phrases which were confusing, most of what you have written is understandable.  I've made a few corrections and suggestions to help clear thing up.  Kind regards.

    0 voted
    December 28, 2018
    3
  • Corrected

    Trying to dedicate time to quality, focused study

    For about a year now, I've been trying to dramatically improve my level in English.

    One of my main activities is listening to podcasts to expose myself to the language and improve my listening skills. I spend a lot of time doing so, and because it's so easy and convenient, you can consume hours of podcasts while doing something else, like commuting. (If you don't add "and" here, the sentence becomes what is called a "run on" sentence.)

    However, I'm getting advice from various sources, telling me that I should really dedicate a daily reasonable amount of time (maybe half an hour or one hour) to study in a really focused fashion.

    With my family and job, it's difficult to find a daily slot in my agenda to focus on my study. On a practical note, I need a place and time where I can speak alone without disturbing people or being disturbed. ("a slot in my daily agenda")

    If you're an independent learner yourself, maybe you can relate to my case.

    I consider waking up half an hour earlier, and to start my day with an English study session, but I'm not really a morning person. ( "I have considered waking up half an hour earlier in order to start my day...") 

    ----------------------------------

    Your writing is clear, just about perfect.  I've only added a couple of suggestions to bring it closer to what one would typically hear among speakers of American English in "my neck of the woods."  Nicely done.


    0 voted
    December 22, 2018
    1
  • Corrected
    0 voted
    December 21, 2018
    0
  • Corrected

    Preposition de lieu (Au restaurant)

    The fork is on the table, next to the knife and the spoon.
    The bottles are under the cupboard.
    The bread is in the pannier. (Do you mean "basket"?)
    The pizza on the plate.
    The meet is on the fire. (meat)
    You plate is cooking, It will arrive in ten minutes. (Would say, "Your meal is cooking" or "your meal is coming"
    Wait a moment please.
    The burger is behind the box.

    The house neighbour's is behind my restaurant (The neighbor's house is behind my restaurant)
    The bottle is above.

    Good work

    0 voted
    December 19, 2018
    0
  • Commented

    For a beginner, Anna's suggestion of Julie Lescaut is a good one, and some episodes of the series are available on Youtube.

    I will offer a rather bizarre recommendation:  the NRJ12 series Crimes, available on Youtube.  True crime is not a genre I ever watch at home; however, I stumbled upon this series a few years ago when I began to study French again, and found it very useful.  The French is standard, spoken at a speed that most beginners should understand.  There are descriptions of people, places, things, rooms in houses, and lots of basic vocabulary that gets repeated.  There is the use of dates and use of numbers to describe populations, as well as brief geographical and historical details about the area in which a crime takes place.  Most of the videos are subtitled if you really run into difficulty understanding them.  I found the series to be very helpful when I was starting out.

    Good luck, and let us know if you find something that you would like to share.

    Maureen

    0 voted
    December 14, 2018
    0