📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 22 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 5 · La nuance
Les mots que l'anglais n'a pas
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 22 of 30: Some French words carry a whole idea. 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 22.
The words
French
English
Say it
le dépaysement
the feeling of being pleasantly displaced
luh day-peh-eez-MAH(n)
flâner
to stroll with no destination
flah-NAY
râler
to grumble habitually
rah-LAY
la rentrée
the September return
lah rah(n)-TRAY
une idée entière
a whole idea
ewn ee-day ah(n)-TYEHR
sans destination
with no destination
sah(n) dehs-tee-nah-SYOH(n)
intraduisible
untranslatable
a(n)-trah-dwee-ZEEBL
la perte en traduction
the loss in translation
lah pehrt ah(n) trah-dewk-SYOH(n)
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
Some French words carry a whole idea. Le dépaysement — the pleasant disorientation of being somewhere unfamiliar. Flâner — to wander with no destination and enjoy it. Râler — to grumble, constantly, as a way of life.
Et aussi · And also
La rentrée is another: the return in September, to school and to work and to the political year, all at once. English needs a clause for each of these, and the clause loses the word.
Attention · Watch out
le dépaysement is pleasant disorientation, not homesickness (that is le mal du pays). flâner takes no object: on flâne dans les rues, never on flâne les rues. la rentrée is the September return.
acquérir — the table
je acquiers · tu acquiers · il/elle acquiert · nous acquérons · vous acquérez · ils/elles acquièrent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le dépaysement.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out acquérir 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.