📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 20 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 4 · La pensée et l'éthique
Abstrait sans jargon
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 20 of 30: C2 is not the level where sentences get longer. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 20.
The words
French
English
Say it
le jargon
jargon
luh zhahr-GOH(n)
le terme technique
the technical term
luh tehrm tehk-NEEK
définir
to define
day-fee-NEER
l'exemple concretmasculine — the article elides to l'
the concrete example
leg-zah(n)pl koh(n)-KREH
le bluff
bluff
luh BLUHF
atteindre
to reach
ah-TA(n)DR
porter plus
to carry more
por-tay PLEWS
accessible
accessible
ahk-seh-SEEBL
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
C2 is not the level where sentences get longer; it is the level where they get shorter and carry more. The test: could a well-read person outside your field follow this?
Et aussi · And also
Two habits help. Define a technical term the first time you use it, in a clause. And prefer the concrete example immediately after the abstract claim — French readers expect it, and its absence reads as bluff.
Attention · Watch out
Define a technical term the first time, in a clause, and follow an abstract claim with a concrete example. atteindre loses its d in the present: j'atteins, il atteint, nous atteignons — unlike vendre, il vend.
atteindre — the table
je atteins · tu atteins · il/elle atteint · nous atteignons · vous atteignez · ils/elles atteignent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le jargon.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out atteindre in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.