51 Must-Know French Words for Every International Student
Every French language learner has their own goals and dreams for what they want to do with their new language skills. For some, that may be a career. For others, it may just be to better communicate when traveling in Francophone regions. For still others, the dream may be to attend a university in a Francophone country.
If you dream of going to a French-speaking university to study, then learning French is a great first step. However, there are a few unique challenges that you’ll encounter as an international student in a French university, and as such, you will want to focus some of your French vocab lessons to better prepare you.
Key Take-Aways
International students at French universities have to face unique vocab challenges, so it’s important to target your studies before you go. This will help you feel more prepared for your studies as well as for the experience of being abroad and living in a country that speaks a different language.
Even if you don’t plan on studying in France or if you aren’t sure yet, learning French vocab words for university is a great way to expand your known vocabulary and explore more Francophone culture. Regardless of what you end up doing with your French language skills, it’s very likely that you’ll encounter many of these words both at a French university and outside of it.
Where to Begin When Studying French Vocab
No matter where you are in your French learning journey, the question of where you should begin or where to next focus your studies is always there. Even when you know what topics you want to study next, there’s always a question of how you should do it. Luckily, there’s no right or wrong answer.
How Should I Choose French Vocab to Study?
Some people like to start studying new vocab by looking for the most common French words and memorizing them. Other people prefer to organize their vocab study plans by topic and work from there. Whatever your preference is, the most important thing is to simply start. If you spend too much time trying to find the “best” place to begin studying French vocab, then you’ll waste valuable study time!
Should I Focus on French Vocab or French Grammar First?
This is a trick question because the answer is that you should focus on both. It’s easy to get caught up in studying one and then the other, but this is actually the least helpful way to study either French vocab or French grammar! Instead, you should work on them both together.
French grammar will always be present in your vocab studies, even if you don’t notice it! The same is true the other way around. As such, try to incorporate French grammar rules that you already know into your new vocab studying. For example, if you’ve already learned the French past tenses or the French subjunctive practice the new French vocab below by making sentences using the different verb tenses. So long as you never let a day of learning vocab stop you from practicing French grammar too, you’re sure to have a good study session!
25 Basic French Vocab Words for International Students
We’ll start with the basics. Perhaps you’ve already studied these basic French vocab words. Maybe you’ve only just begun studying French. Regardless of where you’re at in your language learning journey, these are essential and basic French vocab words and phrases that you should know as an international student or even just a visitor.
As a quick side note before we begin, you may already be familiar with the fact that French has both a formal and an informal ‘you’. When you’re speaking to other students or someone who looks to be your same age (unless you know that they’re a professor), the informal tu is generally the form of ‘you’ that you should use regardless of whether you’ve met that person before. Always use the formal vous and similar formal phrases with professors.
- Bonjour - Hello
- Salut - Hey (informal)
- Ça va? - How are you?
- Au revoir - Goodbye
- Ciao - Bye (More informal)
- Merci (beaucoup) - Thank you (very much)
- Je vous en prie - You’re welcome
- De rien - You’re welcome (More informal)
- Excusé(e)-moi - Excuse me (to get somebody’s attention)
- Désolé(e) - Sorry (to apologize)
- Pardon - Excuse me (if you bump into somebody or would like them to repeat something)
- S’il vous plaît - Please (for those you use vous with)
- S’il te plaît - Please (for those you use tu with)
- Oui/non - Yes/no
- Je ne comprends pas - I don’t understand
- Parlez-vous anglais? - Do you speak English?
- Je m’appelle… - My name is…
- Comment vous vous appelez? - What is your name?
- Comment tu t’appelles? - What is your name? (Informal)
- Je viens de… - I’m from…
- Je suis étudiant(e) en… - I’m a student in… (followed by your subject of study or degree)
- Enchanté(e) - Nice to meet you
- Où se trouve…/Où est… - Where is…
- Je cherche… - I’m looking for…
- Je suis perdu(e) - I’m lost
26 French Vocab Words Specifically for International Students
As a student at a Francophone university, there are specific words that you’ll encounter that are special to university life. These words are important to know. If you familiarize yourself with them in advance, you’ll understand things better when they come up in conversation.
- Le campus - Campus
- Le bâtiment - Building
- Le bureau - Office
- Le bureau des relations internationales - International relations office (usually the primary office that international students should contact)
- Le bureau d’administration - Administration office (often shortened to simply l’administration)
- La cafétéria - Cafeteria
- La cafét - The more common word for cafeteria. Pronounced caf-ette
- La résidence universitaire - University residence
- L’examen - Exam or test
- Le partiel - Midterm exam
- L’examen final - Finals exam
- La dissertation - Essay* (specifically for exams)
- La soutenance - Oral argument to support a thesis
- Les frais d’inscription - Registration fees
- La carte étudiante - Student ID card
- L’emploi du temps - Course schedule
- La bibliothèque - Library
- La salle de classe - Classroom
- L’amphithéâtre - Lecture hall
- Le cours magistral - Lecture (often abbreviated to and called un CM)
- Les travaux dirigés - Tutorials/Practical sessions (often abbreviated to and called un TD)
- Les travaux practiques - Lab/Practical session (often abbreviated to and called un TP). Most often for science programs
- Le/la professor(e) - Professor (often shortened to prof)
- La licence - Bachelors degree
- Le master - Masters degree
- Le doctorat - PhD/Doctorate program
As you can see, a lot of these words are unique to university students. Some of them may come up in everyday life (such as le bureau or le bâtiment), but most of them you will only encounter if you’re on a university campus or talking with students. Because students can be anywhere and the question of what someone studied or is studying can come up at any time, it is still useful to know some of the words above whether you plan to study in France or not.
Also, be careful with la dissertation as it's a false friend. The English word ‘dissertation’ actually translates into la thèse if you're talking about a doctoral program or le mémoire for a masters program.
Practicing Your New French Vocab
Now that you’ve expanded your French vocab, it’s important that you keep up with it. Make flashcards with the new words and go over them every now and then. Don’t assume that you’ll remember the words forever once you’ve gone over them the first day.
No matter what you do later on in your French learning journey and whether you end up studying at a French university or not, it’s important to remember that the French vocab you learn now can only help you in the future. Expanding your vocab doesn’t just expand your technical skills in the language; it also gives you a deeper insight to the culture behind the French language, even if it’s just French university vocab. As you move forward with your studying, keep practicing new and old French vocab and be sure to incorporate those well-loved French grammar rules!