When studying and living in France, "French Assistant" is definitely one of the most necessary software to install on your mobile phone, or it may not be one of them.

But, do you really know how to use and make good use of the "French Assistant" that you see every day on your mobile phone? What else can't this be used for? Isn’t it just a tool for looking up words?

That’s not necessarily true! Today, let’s take a look at some tips for using French Assistant.

1. Multi-terminal synchronization of marks, annotations, notes and vocabulary books

When learning a language, teachers always recommend buying a paper dictionary so that you can write notes and key points Write down new words in a book or a small notebook. After all, "a good memory is not as good as a bad writing". In fact, with "French Assistant", you can do the same, and these learning records can be synchronized on various terminals and will never be lost. It is more convenient and environmentally friendly than paper records.

1.1 Marking

Marking this function is actually an important point. When you simulate looking up a dictionary and encounter something that needs to be emphasized, mark it with a marker. Because everyone has experienced it, if you look up this usage of this word this time, you will still forget it in a few days! So when you encounter content that is particularly useful to you, you can mark it. Next time you look up this word or review it, you will directly see the content you marked last time, which improves learning efficiency. Generally speaking, I mark some commonly used verb structures, idioms and special meanings, etc.

The method of marking in the mobile French assistant is: long press to select the content that needs to be marked, and click the mark button on the floating toolbar to highlight the selected content. The marking function also supports different colors.

1.2 Annotation - Annotate key content

In addition to using the marking function to highlight the important content in the word explanation, if you need to add emphasis to the already marked key points, After a few sentences of explanation, you need to use the annotation function.

The method is: long press to select the marked content, and select Comment in the shortcut menu that appears. The French assistant will display a "comment box" icon next to the content containing comments.

The new version of "French Assistant" supports the use of text, pictures and recordings for annotation. If you are lazy, you can even directly say what you want to annotate, and just listen to it next time.

1.3 Notes

Notes are also a very useful function, similar to taking notes on a paper book! The annotations introduced earlier are supplements to a certain point in the explanation of a word, while notes are suitable for annotations of the word as a whole, such as adding content to the word that is not included in the explanation. It can also be used. I usually use it to remind myself to pay attention to the special pronunciation of words, the meanings commonly used in spoken English, and the mistakes I tend to make.

Notes also support text, pictures, and audio recordings, and will have a dedicated position displayed at the front of the word explanation.

1.4 Vocabulary Book

As the name suggests, it is to save the new words that you need to remember. In fact, my habit is to save the new words that I have looked up and think they can be used in the future. The vocabulary book of "French Assistant" can classify new words according to two dimensions:

Different vocabulary books: Create your own vocabulary books with different names, classify the words into the corresponding vocabulary books, and manage them by category. When no selection is made, the word will be stored in a specified default vocabulary book. A word can also be placed in multiple vocabulary books. My habit is to classify new vocabulary books according to categories, such as food, sports, a certain subject area, etc., to facilitate my future search. At the same time, the word review function of "French Assistant" can use the vocabulary book as a vocabulary library, so you can also add the words you want to memorize to a certain vocabulary book.

Star rating 1-5 stars: When adding a word to the vocabulary book, you can easily mark the word with a number of stars from 1 to 5 (the default is 1 star). The standard can be based on your own preferences, such as the importance of the word, or your mastery of the word, etc. You can then sort the words by star rating in all vocabulary books or in a specific vocabulary book. In addition, all the words that you have taken notes or marked will also appear in the "Notes and Markings" of the "Word Book" for easy review. 1.5 Multi-terminal synchronization

The most important thing is that all the content you added above (marks/annotations/notes/new words) can be synchronized to your "French Assistant" account. No matter you are using French Assistant on multiple terminals (mobile phone/Pad/computer/French Assistant website), changing mobile phones or reinstalling the system, as long as you log in to the same French Assistant account, your learning records will be with you. (To register an account, please click: /account/login)

2. Installation of expanded vocabulary library

The reason why your French teacher suggested that you buy a special French dictionary or a Casio electronic dictionary Probably "professional".

If you feel that your "French Assistant" is not professional enough, it only means that you have not found the correct way to open it! If you just download "French Assistant" and use it directly, the default thesaurus is "Chinese-French-Chinese Dictionary", etc., which is enough for basic use. If you want to learn the word systematically, or search for a special word meaning, This dictionary may not meet your needs. The most cost-effective solution is of course not to buy a thick dictionary to carry with you, but to download a third-party dictionary for French Assistant to use.

Perhaps due to the platform on which Oulu Dictionary was developed, "French Assistant" currently supports almost all mainstream dictionary file formats, including Mdict (mdx, mdd), Lingus (l2d), Babylon ( Dictionary file used by bgl).

Some commonly used third-party dictionaries have been included in "My - Dictionary Management - Download Expanded Thesaurus" by the editor of "French Assistant", including the familiar "Larouse" Robert" etc. For other dictionaries, you can also search for "mdx dictionary", "Pocket Encyclopedia", etc. on the Internet, download the dictionary you need and import it into the French Assistant. In order to solve the problem of inconvenient file sharing between iPhone and computer, French Assistant iPhone version also thoughtfully provides my-WiFi file sharing function to transfer thesaurus files to the dictionary. Of course, you can also use the computer iTunes software to import.

After the import is completed, open My-Thesaurus Management to see the added thesaurus, and adjust the display order when querying words. In addition, if there are too many dictionaries added, you can set in My - Automatic Expansion that only the first few dictionaries will be automatically expanded when searching for words.

With the support of these professional dictionaries, your "French Assistant" quickly transforms into a professional and personalized dictionary that can meet almost all learning needs. Friends who doubt that the French assistant’s explanation is not rich enough can start the LaRousse dictionary’s explanation of Faire and study it for an afternoon. In addition, you can add French and Chinese Wikipedia as a thesaurus, so that when you look up some words, you can take a look at the encyclopedia to understand the background of the word, which will greatly enrich your French and French knowledge.

3. Review of words and verb conjugations

Similar to learning any language, in the early stages of learning French, vocabulary is always a pain in everyone’s heart. Oh no, there is also the insurmountable hurdle of "transposition". . .

I believe that many friends who are learning English have used word memorization services such as "Scallop" and "TuCi", or at least have seen the word memorization check-in records posted by others in their circle of friends.

I have also tried many similar word memorization software. Basically, I choose a vocabulary library, specify the completion time, and then the software will reasonably arrange the daily recitation according to the Ebbinghaus memory curve. The principle and use are not complicated, and it is rare to always "persist". . .

If you want to increase your French vocabulary, don’t delay yourself with the excuse that “there is no good software for memorizing French words”, use the built-in “memorize words” function of “French Assistant”. Taking action is what you really need to do!

Compared with similar word memorization software, I personally think that the "word memorization" function of French Assistant has two major advantages.

3.1 Supports reciting verb conjugations

French verb conjugation is a hurdle for getting started, but it is also an interesting part of French. If you are learning French in China, I wonder if you have the same experience. That is, the domestic teaching method always emphasizes classifying verbs, and then each conjugation of each type of verb has a corresponding root and ending. This is certainly true, but my own feeling is that it is not particularly practical. It is okay for doing test questions. When I say it in spoken language, I can't remember which type of verb it is, and whether it is the third person singular or plural. What is the root of the word? It is basically based on feeling. In fact, there are not many commonly used verbs in French (most of which have weird conjugations). If you can take the time to memorize the common conjugations of these commonly used verbs, you will find that the conjugations of other verbs also form a perceptual feeling. According to the rules, sometimes even if you may write it incorrectly, when you say it based on your feelings or hear it, it will usually not be wrong.

Fortunately, the "Recite Verb Conjugation" function of "French Assistant" can strengthen this "feeling". The method is basically rote memorization, but we can make some small settings. Improve efficiency.

First, choose the basic/common verbs or a certain group of verbs summarized in "French Assistant" as a textbook.

Secondly, choose the conjugated tense that needs to be recited. This is a matter of opinion. I personally can’t remember the rules very well, so I checked “present tense/imperfect past tense/simple future tense/subjunctive/conditional/”; but in order to avoid repetition, I will check and recite each The "past participle" of a word does not fill in the "compound past tense". Then you can start the painful and happy recitation process! Tip: When entering verb conjugations (as shown above) and using "spelling mode" to recite words, you can use English letters by default instead of French letters with accents, which is more efficient. (If you want to forcefully check whether accents are correct, you can turn on "Spelling Mode Check Special Characters" in the review settings.

) 3.2 Choose a recitation textbook or customize it through the "vocabulary book"

Before making a recitation plan, you must first select the vocabulary library to be recited. Similar to other software, French Assistant has built-in commonly used vocabulary, TCF/TEF exam vocabulary, and vocabulary from commonly used textbooks such as "Traveling in France". If you are studying corresponding courses or preparing for exams, these textbooks are a good choice!

If it is just for your daily improvement, you may feel that each textbook is not suitable for you. I always find that in every textbook there are some words that I have already mastered and words that I will never use. At this time, the effect of "French Assistant" as both a dictionary and word memorization software is highlighted! You can use one or all of the vocabulary books you manage, or even "word search records" as a vocabulary library for word recitation.

Choose a customized vocabulary book as a memorization vocabulary library, which is very effective for those who need to quickly memorize words in a certain category, or to strengthen some words that they can't always remember. Whoever uses it will know. The learning records of French Assistant will also be synchronized to your personal account after logging in. Therefore, you can hold the Pad and memorize it for a while at home every day, and use your mobile phone to continue memorizing it when taking the subway. Isn’t the following interface for memorizing words on the Android version of the lock screen very cool, but you want to memorize the words after seeing it? 4. French Learning Community

The functions mentioned above are all related to "vocabulary" in "French Assistant". Now let's take a look at what else this software can do besides looking up and memorizing words.

4.1 Sentence of the Day

This is a feature that I like very much, because the editor is more attentive, and the selection of example sentences and content expansion are better organized. And it was displayed on the word search page, so I clicked on it inadvertently. In a minute or two, you can increase your knowledge of French.

4.2 French Corner

Okay, okay, I know you have never opened the tabs at the bottom of this software except "Dictionary", now hurry up and take a look at what is there.

The French Corner looks like this when opened:

To be honest, I didn’t use these functions often before. When I wrote this article, I discovered that there are some commonly used functions in the “French Corner”. Expression of French grammar and so on are summarized very well. Especially some common grammar, I have needed it many times before. I searched the Internet for a long time and couldn't find a well-formatted article. I didn't expect it to be at my fingertips here.

French World is a community for French learners to communicate and discuss. It is similar to a simple forum. There are questions raised by French learners of all levels and answers from other friends. Many of them are about difficult usage and life in France. You can learn a lot from the questions related to Chinese speaking. There are also activities organized by moderators such as the "Daily Translation Competition" to increase your interest in learning French.

In short, this "French Assistant" learning community, if used well, will make your French more life-like.

5. Other "French Assistant" usage tips

Share some practical tips I discovered in the "French Assistant" software.

5.1 If you can read but not write, use spelling correction

Everyone knows that French is a language with regular pronunciation. Therefore, in life, we often hear others say a certain word, and we probably know how to pronounce it, but we have never seen the spelling of the word. If you want to look up a word that you know how to pronounce but can't write, you often can't find the correct word because you don't hear "t/d", one "l" or two "l"s. At this time, the spelling correction function comes in handy. You can input a rough outline by voice, then click on the menu bar in the upper left corner and select "Spelling Correction". "French Assistant" will automatically match words with similar pronunciations, and generally it will have what you need.

5.2 If you can’t find the word even after spelling correction, use fuzzy search

If spelling correction doesn’t help you find the word you need, you can try this geeky fuzzy search function. You need to use "wildcards" commonly used in computers. Don't run away. It's not difficult... The asterisk * represents n characters (1 to more), and the question mark ? represents 1 character. For example:

To search for words starting with a and ending with er, you need to enter "a*er";

To search for a certain word, such as amer, but forget the m To determine which consonant the position is, you can use "?" to replace the forgotten or uncertain letter, and enter "a?er", as shown below:

Note that the wildcard character needs to be a half-width character, and the beginning of the word cannot be a wildcard character. 5.3 The word explanation is too long? Search within the explanation helps you locate quickly

As we mentioned earlier, you can install multiple extended thesauruses to enrich your "French Assistant". But this will make the explanation of the word very long, especially for some words with dozens or hundreds of idioms. If you want to find an idiomatic structure in the explanation, it is very difficult.

At this time, "search within explanation" comes in handy! For example, if you hear someone say "langue au chat" for the first time, you want to look up the meaning of this phrase in confusion, but you can't find it when you directly enter the phrase in "French Assistant". Do you think the meaning of the word langue is This expression should be included in the explanation.

The fastest way is: open the explanation of the word langue, use "Search within explanation" (click the menu icon below in the mobile version, use ctrl+F in the computer version), search for "chat", the phrase will be directly located and highlighted. , as shown below

5.4 Can’t read the French information? Import files to read and learn easily!

For French learning materials, is it too painful to look up new words while reading? If you have electronic files, you can directly import them into "French Assistant" and use the file reading function to easily translate and save new words at any time using long press to look up words!

Taking the iOS version as an example, you can use the My-WiFi file transfer function to transfer data to your phone (or use iTunes software to transfer), and then open the file in file reading. If the content you want to read is a web page, you can click on the web page to retrieve words and enter the URL.

During the reading process, long press the word to display a quick explanation above the software. You can collect, pronounce or view detailed explanations according to your own needs. 5.5 "French Assistant" WeChat official account can also quickly look up words!

Many friends may not know that the WeChat official account (ID: Frhelper) of "French Assistant" also supports quick word search, and it is very convenient to use. You only need to send the word to the official account. !

Not only does it support word search, but it also supports querying word conjugations and viewing example sentences. In fact, the explanation is quite detailed! Can words be added to the vocabulary book in WeChat? OK! After searching the word, reply with keyword s in the dialog box to add the word to the vocabulary book (you can also reply to my to get the list of recently added new words, and reply to h to get the recent query record). This vocabulary book can also be synchronized with the "French Assistant" APP or website. Just choose to use your WeChat account to log in to "French Assistant"! The "French Assistant" WeChat official account will also push some of the latest listening articles, analysis of practical example sentences, etc. You can directly enter the information you want in the dialog box to obtain French learning resources. However, although the WeChat public account can also look up words, in terms of detail and professionalism, the mobile APP and the desktop version of "French Assistant" are not sure how advanced they are. It is recommended that everyone download the full version from the official website and use it on the WeChat public account. number as an auxiliary.

What other tips have you discovered for using French Assistant? Feel free to share in the comments below!

As the software is updated, I believe this small tool we use every day will have more functions waiting for everyone to discover. In short, I hope you can make good use of your "French Assistant" so that it is not only a "word lookup", but also a powerful helper for you to learn French well and live happily in France. Finally, of course it takes a little persistence!

French One Penny is a local French information blogger who is good at buying and selling, from daily life to niche boutiques. He is not afraid of spending money and only wants to get value for money.

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