Words wearing a disguise
They look English. They are not.
A false friend is a French word that looks exactly like an English word but means something different. Une librairie is not a library, it is a bookshop. Actuellement does not mean actually, it means right now.
They are sneaky because your brain feels confident. The fix is to meet the famous ones face to face, so that next time the word appears, a little alarm rings.
Examples
actuellementright now'actually' is en fait
assister àto attend'to assist' is aider
attendreto wait'to attend' is assister à
blesséinjured'blessed' is béni
Alarm words
If a French word looks too easy, pause for one second. Ask: does this fit the sentence? 'Je suis blessé' in a hospital scene is not about blessings.
Practice (sample)
Flip the cards and match each word with its real meaning
- librairie
Answer
bookshop - rester
Answer
to stay - journée
Answer
a day - monnaie
Answer
coins / change - sensible
Answer
sensitive - le coin
Answer
the corner - attendre
Answer
to wait - une pièce
Answer
a room / a coin
The online game draws fresh questions from a bank of 16, in two levels.