À partir d’aujourd’hui, French Fanatic fait une pause.
Starting today, French Fanatic is taking a break.

About two and a half years ago, I started a little project to post a French word every day. The project was called French Fanatic. I wasn’t sure how long this ambitious goal would last. After a false start or two, the first word — à propos de, or about, which you can still see here – was published on April 1, 2009. It was to be the first of more than 900 consecutive French Word of the Day postings.

These daily posts have explored a wide range of topics that we hope helped and will continue to help native English speakers who want to learn French. Each post was designed to be a word that would be useful in everyday French conversations — sometimes basic and sometimes more advanced.

After covering so much territory, we’ve decided that it’s time for a rest. Starting today, French Fanatic will be taking a break. We hope to return soon with some new ideas about how to make the site even more useful. In the meantime, I invite you to spend some time revisiting some of the 900-plus past words that you can find by rummaging through the archives on the right-hand side of this site.

Members of our Voilà service will continue to have access to all the quizzes as well as English links to many of our words by topic.

If you are an educator who has used this site or still uses it in your classes, we’d love to hear from you to learn more about how you’ve used it or what ideas you might have for improvement. Just use the Contact link on the site.

Finally, a sincere thank you to all of our readers who share a passion for the French language. Together, we are all truly French Fanatics.

Merci et à bientôt,
French Fanatic Editor

Je dois me lever à 6h demain.
I have to get up at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

ALSO RELATED
se réveiller = to wake up
éveillé(e)(s) = awake

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. This week, we’ve been exploring some French words about sleep and the activities related to it.

Les petits enfants dorment souvent avec un ours en peluche.
Small children often sleep with a Teddy bear.

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Let’s explore some French words about sleep and the activities related to it this week.

Il faisait si froid que je me suis blotti dans mon lit.
It was so cold that I snuggled up in my bed.

EN SAVOIR PLUS: Learn More
The example above explains how to express snuggling in something. To express the idea of snuggling up with someone, you would use the preposition contre: La fille s’est blottie contre sa mère (The girl snuggled up with her mother).

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Let’s explore some French words about sleep and the activities related to it this week.

Je me suis couché après avoir fini mes devoirs.
I went to bed after finishing my homework.

EN SAVOIR PLUS: Learn More
Note the difference between today’s word, se coucher, which means only to go to bed, and yesterday’s word, s’endormir, which means to fall asleep.

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Let’s explore some French words about sleep and the activities related to it this week.

Nous étions si fatigués que nous nous sommes endormis à 20h!
We were so tired that we fell asleep at 8 o’clock!

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Let’s explore some French words about sleep and the activities related to it this week.

Elle ne pouvait pas s’arrêter de bâiller.
She couldn’t stop yawning.

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Let’s explore some French words about sleep and the activities related to it this week.

Le bébé a commencé à crier parce qu’il avait sommeil.
The baby started to cry because he was sleepy.

EN SAVOIR PLUS: Learn More
Avoir sommeil is an expression using the verb avoir. To use it, you must always conjugate the verb. Click here to see a complete conjugation of avoir.

THIS WEEK
Most of us spend about a third of our lives sleeping. Let’s explore some French words about sleep and the activities related to it this week.

Les toiles d’araignée pendaient de la porte.
Cobwebs were hanging from the door.

THIS WEEK
We’re brewing up our favorite spooky French words for Halloween!
N’ayez pas peur. (Don’t be afraid.)

Les chats noirs sont des symboles de la fête.
Black cats are symbols of the holiday.

THIS WEEK
We’re brewing up our favorite spooky French words for Halloween!
N’ayez pas peur. (Don’t be afraid.)