sigmer_.

[grave orchid]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[dreamy pulsar]

watch more french videos

[compact oxide]

There's no trick to it
You need to interact with natives and you'll pick up more natural ways of speaking.
That being said, there's nothing wrong with using "book" French and you'll be perfectly understood.

[ashen zinc]

"school french" is a lot closer to everyday french than you'd expect
there are, obviously, some differences, but almost everything you learn in school is relevant for understanding french

not sure what you mean by french "speaking with a lot of references to things"

[fleet tinsel]

you could try learning about verlan! im not very familiar with it (I'm still learning as well) but I believe its slang that natives use?

feel free to correct me les francophones though

[ashen zinc]

It's common among younger folk in France and I'd imagine other european french regions (but it's not universal)
It's only used for a small handful of words outside of things like rap, though, and some are more common than others or might have different connotations (I can often spot non-native speakers bc they'll overuse verlan like "cimer")

[fleet tinsel]

is meuf a common use? it's the only one I know to be honest

[dreamy pulsar]

yea

its like in english

like "girlll"

but also like my girl as in gf

[fleet tinsel]

ohhh okay thanks!

[ashen zinc]

It's very common but I hate it personally, and it can definitely come off offensive if used incorrectly (to me it sounds something like calling a woman "woman" to her face, or "this chick" when talking to other people)

[fleet tinsel]

ohhh I see

so it's like slang but could bee considered pretty vulgar slang?

[ashen zinc]

It's not vulgar at all, it can just be rude (like calling a woman "woman" to her face can be)

Usually if it's a woman speaking there won't be any offense, men still use it plenty but it's more likely to come off rude from a guy

It ultimately comes down to tone, context, and who you're speaking to exactly
Usually people won't say anything even if it sounds a bit rude though since it's so common

[fleet tinsel]

ah okay I get it now! thank you for explaining it to me. does this apply to lots of verlan or just meuf?

[ashen zinc]

As I said earlier verlan will vary in its usage and connotations
It's pretty hard to explain since each term is a bit different. In general I suggest people learn what they mean and learn to recognize verlan, but hold off on actually using it until they've heard it enough in usage to have a feeling of what it means

And if it's even common at all

For example, I've heard cimer maybe 2 or 3 times from native speakers in the ~18yrs+ I've been learning French, but literally hundreds and hundreds of times from learners
I know that certain native speakers will use it more, but it's far from universally common (no negative connotations to it tho at least)

Also, different people can disagree on what terms are offensive or not

[jade rapids]

the general rule is don't force yourself to pickup verlan and other form of slangs. if used wrong it could be offensive. there's nothing wrong in speaking a more standard french

verlan and slangs varies too much from regions, and also generation, i don't think it is effective for any learner to learn it activily

just meet more french natives, you'll pick up a more native way of speaking as the time goes by

if you want to practice on your own, you can watch french speaking content creator that speaks about science, history, music, and other similar topics. i think these are a good middle ground between proper french and slangs

[fleet tinsel]

oh my gosh thats very few times!