Numbers, dates and times: defusing the classic audio traps
Automate 70/80/90, decode dates, prices and times of day, and drill until recognition is instant.
Numbers are the single most reliable source of dropped listening points — an announcement about a price, a platform, an appointment date. They go by fast, they rarely repeat, and there is no context to reconstruct them from if you miss the sound. The fix is not vocabulary; it is automation, so decoding costs you zero thinking time.
The 70 / 80 / 90 problem
Standard French builds these from addition: soixante-dix (60+10), quatre-vingts (4×20), quatre-vingt-dix (4×20+10). You may also hear the Belgian/Swiss forms septante and nonante in some audio or from certain speakers, so recognise both — but produce the standard forms yourself, which are what candidates in Canada use.
The high-trap numbers, spelled out
| Number | Standard form | Also heard |
|---|---|---|
| 71 | soixante et onze | septante et un (BE/CH) |
| 80 | quatre-vingts | octante / huitante (rare, CH) |
| 91 | quatre-vingt-onze | nonante et un (BE/CH) |
| 93 | quatre-vingt-treize | nonante-trois (BE/CH) |
| 200 | deux cents | — |
« Le train de treize heures quarante-cinq partira du quai numéro seize. »Dates, times of day and prices
Fast-decode habits
- Times: the 24-hour clock is standard — « quatorze heures trente » = 2:30 p.m. Note it as 14 h 30 immediately.
- Parts of the day: « en fin de matinée », « en début d'après-midi », « en soirée » signal approximate times, not exact ones.
- Dates: « le premier » for the 1st, ordinals only for the first — « le 1er mars », then « le 2 mars », « le 3 mars ».
- Prices: the comma is the decimal — « 12,99 » is said « douze quatre-vingt-dix-neuf » or « douze euros/dollars quatre-vingt-dix-neuf ».
« Rendez-vous fixé au vingt et un avril, en début d'après-midi. »Original ScoreRoute lesson — written for TEF Canada / TCF Canada preparation.
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