Archive for October, 2010
Must-Know French Slang: Laisse Béton Posted by Hichem on Oct 29, 2010
Oyez, oyez ! We’re now officiellement about to cover la première moitié (the first half) of the alphabet in our featured “B.A.-BA de l’argot” (“the ABC of French Slang”), and in order to properly celebrate this one happy occasion, we shall concentrate today on one and only expression which, in many funny ways, epitomizes French Slang: “LAISSE BÉTON !“ This is a “concrete” (uhm) example of a “bétonnière…
Le passé composé Posted by Jennie on Oct 28, 2010
I started studying French in middle school, and by 8th grade, I thought had learned everything. All I needed was a little more vocabulary, and I’d be fluent. Then I came into class one day, and my teacher said, Alors la classe, aujourd’hui on va commencer le passé composé, a form of past tense. Past…
Musique voisine du Rock VS. Musique de Roch Voisine! Posted by Hichem on Oct 27, 2010
Sometimes, nothing seems to be easier than feeling nostalgique about your jeune enfance (young childhood.) But then you should try to think again, putting things in a clearer and more objective perspective, until you remember when you were a boy who’s not even ten years old yet, and all you could hear playing all day long in la télévision or la radio were songs that you and your buddies dismissed…
Outdated French Expressions to Avoid Posted by Hichem on Oct 26, 2010
Il y a quelques années (A few years ago), one of my very good old American friends, who by the way will have no hard time recognizing herself when reading this, went to France for the first time of her life, only to discover there that whenever she used the interjections she had painstakingly learned at her French class back in the States -expressions like sacrebleu…
Kitchen Confidential in French! Posted by Jennie on Oct 22, 2010
Ce week-end, j’ai fait (I did) l’un des mes passe-temps (pastimes) préférés : je suis allée à Ikea ! Ikea (pronounced EEE-kay-ah en français), land of Swedish meatballs and starter furniture ! Bien sur, I really go there for the ferry ride (il y a un ferry de Manhattan à Brooklyn). But every time, I find something…
Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves) Posted by Hichem on Oct 20, 2010
Sometimes, one single song takes a whole life of its own in le fleuve du temps (in the stream of time), and tracing its avatars can prove to be un exercice instructif et amusant (a fun and educational exercise.) After hosting a few encores of Édith Piaf‘s masterpieces in your favorite French Blog, it was of course seulement une question de temps (only a matter of time) to reintroduce…
C’est la Danse des Canards, Tecktonik Style! Posted by Hichem on Oct 18, 2010
After the latest parodies of David Guetta by “les Guignols de l’Info“, who, pour dire le moins (to say the least), have not spared him at all in their latest episodes, and the class action about to be launched against him by many DJ ducks (read “ducklass action“) accusing him of outright plagiat (plagiarism), one…