If you need a way to learn or review a large amount of material in Québécois French, if you have trouble understanding spoken Québécois French but don’t know what you’re supposed to be learning to remedy the problem, and if you still need help making your spoken French sound less bookish, then this new OffQc guide is for you.
1000 (pronounced mille) is a downloadable PDF that you can buy here. It’s inspired by the first four years of content on OffQc, or almost 1000 posts. To create this new guide, I’ve taken the most essential language that has appeared on this blog to create 1000 examples of use with notes. I’ve also injected this guide with new vocabulary that has never appeared on OffQc, as well as many new examples of overheard language taken from real conversations in Montréal.
I’ve written this book to accompany you in your independent study of French. It’s for motivated learners who are doing all the right things on their own — listening to French and speaking when possible — but who need a helping hand in getting past that barrier in French. 1000 will raise your confidence in French by helping you to become more proficient with informal vocabulary, expressions and contractions… Québécois style, of course!
How is 1000 arranged?
This book is arranged in a way that makes it as easy as possible for you to learn or review a large amount of material. There are 1000 examples of use (five on each page), all taken from the conversational level of French as used in Québec. Each example is accompanied by notes, which will help you to make sense of the example, and to enable you to incorporate the language into your own use of French or simply understand what the Québécois are saying.
Below are three sample pages of the examples of use. In total, there are 200 of these pages in the book.
At the beginning of the book, there are also notes about frequently used contractions in informal language, how yes-no questions are asked informally with tu, and the sound made by â and the letters d and t in Québécois French. Here are a few sample pages from the beginning of the book:
How to use 1000
You can either read this book from beginning to end, or just dip in and out when you have some spare time. You don’t need to read example of use number 75 before reading example of use number 678. You can start anywhere. I’ve also included certain features of language more than once in this book so that if something doesn’t make sense on the first go, you’ll have more chances to see it elsewhere in the book in a different example.
You can read 1000 before leaving on a trip to Québec, or even on the way here. :-)
Are there audio files?
This book is text only. The notes are full of tips on pronunciation. But, more importantly, this guide is meant to accompany you in your own independent listening. Read a little of this book, then listen to French on your own (radio, TV, film, etc.), read a little more, then listen a little more on your own again. Listening to authentic French (along with actually speaking it) is the most important thing you can do to improve your command of French. This book will help you to make sense of what you hear while doing all of this important work on your own. When you read something in this book and then hear it for the first time on your own and actually understand it, you’re going to feel pretty excited!
What’s the difference between 1000 and C’est what?
At the time of writing this, there are 3 downloadable PDFs in the OffQc store — C’est what?, 1000 and Say it in French. C’est what? provides an overview of the main features of informal language. It prepares you for the sort of things you’ll be hearing when listening to French spoken by the Québécois. 1000 takes it farther. There are far more examples in 1000, and you’ll learn or review a wider range of vocab and expressions. 1000 will help you to fill in the gaps in your knowledge, and help you to get an even better grip on French. Note that 1000 also contains swear words and vulgar language (C’est what? doesn’t), which are important to learn if we want to understand colloquial French.
How much does it cost?
For this book, I’m asking $20 CDN. It’s the culmination of four years of material on OffQc, which means you’ll be learning or reviewing a lot of colloquial Québécois French.
After you read 1000, you’ll:
- be able to identify and use the most frequently used contractions and vocabulary heard in informal language,
- have filled in many of the gaps in your knowledge of Québécois French and informal language,
- have a much stronger understanding of what distinguishes informally spoken French from the written standard,
- feel more confident about speaking French in a way that sounds less bookish and helps you to fit in better,
- have a much stronger base upon which to build as you continue learning French, and more specifically Québécois French, on your own.
About the cover
OK, OffQc is a little (very) biased… The cover is an image of a manhole cover in Montréal. Considering 1000 is based on colloquial (“street”) French, and OffQc is very much inspired by life in Montréal, it seems fitting! But if you’re wondering if you can use 1000 in preparation for your stay in Québec City or Trois-Rivières or wherever else in Québec, the answer is yes. The language in this book is good for anywhere in Québec, no worries.
How to buy 1000
You can buy and download 1000 immediately here. Payment is by credit card or PayPal. After paying, you can download. You’ll also receive an email — keep it. There’s a link in it to download. You’ll automatically get 20 downloads for a one-month period. If you need to download again after that (if you accidentally delete your file, for example), just let me know and I’ll get the book to you again — no problem. This also goes for people who’ve bought C’est what? or Say it in French.
If you’ve got any questions not addressed here, just let me know!
