Job interview: Strengths and weaknesses

💬 The n of en links into the vowel: (ahn-nay-keep).

💬 After aimer, the next verb stays in its basic form, where English uses "-ing". For example, J'aime parler "I like talking".

💬 J' can't stand alone. Je drops its vowel before a vowel sound, so je écoute becomes j'écoute.

💬 The s of les links into autres: (lay-zoh-truh).

💬 Écouter takes its object directly, with no word for "to". For example, j'écoute la radio "I listen to the radio".

💬 Défauts means flaws or faults in general, not only weaknesses. You'll also hear it for a defect in a product.

🇫🇷 French recruiters expect an honest flaw plus how you manage it. A disguised boast can come across as evasive.

💬 This word ends in e whether the person is a man or a woman, so it never changes form.

💬 No un is needed before the job-trait word here. You say je suis un peu perfectionniste, not "a perfectionist".

💬 The t of lent is silent, but it is heard in the feminine lente (lahnt).

💬 Là-dessus literally means "on that". It's an everyday way to refer back to something just mentioned, as in J'y réfléchis là-dessus "I'm thinking about that".

🇫🇷 This is the follow-up after you name a flaw. Have a concrete fix ready to describe.

💬 French joins two nouns with de and puts the main one first: une liste de courses "a shopping list".

💬 Chaque never changes form and takes a singular noun. For example, chaque jour "every day".

💬 On here means "we". The vous "you" comes before the verb, not after it.

🇫🇷 This is the standard polite close to a French interview. It doesn't promise a yes, so a short thank-you and goodbye is the expected reply.

🇫🇷 Merci à vous returns the thanks politely, which is a nice way to close an interview. Adding madame on its own, without a surname, is the normal respectful form in France.

💬 Journée is the day as a stretch of time you live through, which is why you wish someone a bonne journée when parting rather than bonjour. Late in the afternoon, swap in bonne soirée "have a good evening".