Lawless French News https://www.lawlessfrench.com/ Lawless French News Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:06:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/wp-content/uploads/logo-2lines.png Lawless French News https://www.lawlessfrench.com/ https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/learn/speaking/what-is-fluency#asenha_ep What Is Fluency? https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/960309738/0/lawlessfrenchnews~What-Is-Fluency https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/960309738/0/lawlessfrenchnews~What-Is-Fluency#respond Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:00:10 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=11015 What is fluency?There’s no secret recipe for fluency; indeed, it’s difficult to even find consensus on what "fluency" actually means. Is it the ability to have a conversation, or language proficiency equivalent to that of a native speaker?

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]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/960309738/0/lawlessfrenchnews~What-Is-Fluency/feed/ 0 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/expressions/bonne-fete/ Bonne fête ! https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/100283100/0/lawlessfrenchnews~Bonne-f%c3%aate/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:00:26 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=6379 Bonne fête !

Spread holiday cheer and good wishes with the French expression bonne fête.

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]]> Celebratory French Expression
Bonne fête !
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Meaning Happy (holiday)! Happy (name) day! Happy birthday!
Literally Good holiday!
Register normal
Pronunciation French sound files [buhn feht]
IPA   [bɔn fɛt]

Usage notes: Bonne fête traditionally means "happy (name) day," in reference to Saint’s days, also known as Feast days. For example, Saint Laura’s feast day is 19 October, so on that day someone might say bonne fête to me.

Bonne fête is also used as a generic holiday wish, such as for Bastille Day or another holiday like Mother’s Day, Assumption, etc.

French holiday expressions

 In Canada and Louisiana, bonne fête typically means "happy birthday."

Synonyms (in North America)

Related features

Useful verb conjugations

Gifts for French lovers

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Bonne fête

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]]> https://www.lawlessfrench.com/travel-and-culture/holidays/bastille-day-links/ Bastille Day https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/165385480/0/lawlessfrenchnews~Bastille-Day/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:00:27 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=12873 Bastille DayYou probably know that 14 July is Bastille Day, but do you know what it's called in French? (Hint, it's not "jour de Bastille.") Do you know the history behind Bastille Day, or how it's celebrated in France? This page has links to everything you could possibly want to know.

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]]> The Ultimate Resource
Bastille Day
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You probably know that 14 July is Bastille Day, but do you know what it’s called in French? (Hint: it’s not "jour de Bastille.") Do you know the history behind Bastille Day, or how this national holiday is observed in France? This page has links to everything you could possibly want to know about the celebration of Bastille Day.

Bastille Day

Brief introduction to Bastille Day and the French Revolution (reading comprehension)

Bastille Day Quiz

Think you know what France’s national holidays is all about? Let’s find out!

La prise de la Bastille

Sound file with transcript and translation about the storming of the Bastille (listening/reading)

Le Quatorze Juillet

If you think Les Misérables is about Bastille Day or the French Revolution, think again! (listening/reading)

La Bastille de Grenoble

No relation to the Parisian prison (reading comprehension)

Bastille: the holiday, the prison, the word

7 things you might not know about Bastille
 

Notes, Further Reading, and Resources

There is no French equivalent to "Happy Bastille Day" – all you can say is, generically, Bonne fête ! And of course, there’s also Vive la France ! (but try not to overuse it).

Bastille Day is one of the symbols of France (others are Marianne, the flag, the Marseillaise …)

Bastille Day is one of 11 official French holidays, known as jours fériés.

Celebrate with a bleu-blanc-rouge fruit salad or some French recipes like crêpes and chocolate mousse.

Did you know that there are 7 names for France?

Bastille Day à fond – in case you still need more.

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Bastille Day

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]]> https://www.lawlessfrench.com/expressions/pedaler-dans-la-choucroute/ Pédaler dans la choucroute https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/599898138/0/lawlessfrenchnews~P%c3%a9daler-dans-la-choucroute/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:00:11 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=22745 Pédaler dans la choucroute

You might be spinning your wheels if you don't read this lesson about the French idiom pédaler dans la choucroute.

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Familiar French Expression

Meaning To be spinning one’s wheels, be getting nowhere fast
Literally To pedal in the sauerkraut
Register familiar
Pronunciation French sound files [pay dah lay da(n) lah shoo kroot]
IPA   [pe da le dã la ʃu kʁut]

Usage notes: Pédaler dans la choucroute is one of my favorite French expressions because it offers a fantastic visual image of someone working like crazy but getting exactly nowhere.

Par exemple…

J’ai l’impression de pédaler dans la choucroute depuis deux heures.   I feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels for two hours.
Ce n’est pas la peine de continuer à chercher – tu pédales dans la choucroute.   Don’t bother continuing to search – you’re getting nowhere fast.

Pédaler dans la choucroute is also a completely bizarre expression – why on Earth would someone ride a bike in a bowl of sauerkraut? Interestingly, this idiom dates back to the early days of the Tour de France. When cyclists got too tired to continue, they’d climb into the broom wagon, which at the time was covered in ads for sauerkraut. So they’d be mocked for "pedaling in sauerkraut" on their way to the finish line.

Eventually, the meaning left the world of cycling and evolved into saying that someone is making an effort but not getting anywhere.

Tasty variations

  • pédaler dans la cancoillotte – “to pedal in the Cancoillotte" (a type of runny cheese)
  • pédaler dans le couscous – "to pedal in the couscous"
  • pédaler dans la purée – "to pedal in the mashed potatoes"
  • pédaler dans la semoule – "to pedal in the semolina"
  • pédaler dans le yaourt – "to pedal in the yogurt"

Somewhat synonymous

  • avoir beau + infinitive
  • s’égarer
  • s’enliser
  • faire quelque chose en vain
  • patauger
  • pédaler à vide
  • se perdre
  • perdre le fil de ses gestes
  • perdre le fil de ses paroles
  • perdre le fil de ses pensées
  • perdre ses moyens
  • vasouiller

 Related lessons

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Elle pédale dans la choucroute

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]]> https://www.lawlessfrench.com/expressions/allez-les-bleus/ Allez les Bleus ! https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/555672162/0/lawlessfrenchnews~Allez-les-Bleus/ Thu, 09 Jul 2026 20:00:30 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=19378 Allez les Bleus

Support the French team during the World Cup by learning about the slogan allez les Bleus !

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]]> Allez les Bleus ! Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

French Expression

Meaning Go French team!
Literally Go "Blues"!
Register normal
Pronunciation French sound files [ah lay lay bleuh]
IPA   [a le le blø]

Usage notes: French sports team uniforms usually consist of blue jerseys along with some white and red in an echo of the French flag. For this reason – and also because their official names are very dull – French teams are nicknamed les Tricolores or, more often, les Bleus. (Or les Bleues in the case of women’s teams.) That way, instead of supporting the team with calls of Allez l’Équipe de France de football !, fans can yell Allez les Bleus ! (and of course Vive la France !)

 Variation (incorrect): Aller les Bleus !

While the infinitive can be used for impersonal commands, in this case it doesn’t make sense, as the encouragers know exactly who the encouragees are. It’s also less direct. When you’re yelling for your team, you want to be very direct, so the correct verb form is allez.

 Grammar note

Allez is the second person plural imperative of aller (to go).

It’s also an informal interjection for encouraging someone, along the lines of "come on." Weird as it seems, it is commonly used alongside verbs conjugated for tu.

Par exemple…

Allez, viens ici.   Come on, come here.
Allez, dis-moi.   Come on, tell me.

Au fait …

Interestingly, as simple and obvious as the slogan Allez les Bleus ! is, for years it was trademarked by an individual who earned hundreds of thousands of euros from it before the Comité national olympique et sportif français (CNOSF) reacquired the rights in December 2014.

More info

 Related lessons

Learn Spanish Equivalente en español

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Allez les Bleus !

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]]> https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/tests/overview/6756319#asenha_ep Le 14 juillet en famille – Tout Quiz https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/959913968/0/lawlessfrenchnews~Le-juillet-en-famille-Tout-Quiz Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:00:22 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=60564 14 juillet balloons

Test yourself on the various forms and meanings of tout with this fill-in-the-blanks test:

   Le 14 juillet en famille

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don't have one, sign up - it's free!

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]]> https://languatalk.com/french-tutors-online?via=lawless-french#asenha_ep LanguaTalk – French Tutor https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/959754083/0/lawlessfrenchnews~LanguaTalk-French-Tutor Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:00:20 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=14283 French tutorStudying French online has many benefits, as well as some limitations. If you want to get serious about learning French but can't handle a rigid class schedule, private tutors are the way to go. LanguaTalk offers an easy-to-use search interface to help you find your ideal 1-on-1 French tutor based on availability, reviews, and video introductions.

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]]> https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/game-library/whack-a-mole#asenha_ep Gender Whack-a-Mole Game https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/959560514/0/lawlessfrenchnews~Gender-WhackaMole-Game Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:00:22 +0000 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/?p=61272 Whack a mole gameFrenchDespair of ever knowing whether nouns are masculine or feminine? Put your knowledge to the test while taking out your frustration with this fun game: Gender Whack-a-Mole!

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