Archive for June, 2011
Monsieur Balzac Asks: How Well Can You Do French Conjugaison? Posted by Hichem on Jun 9, 2011
Imagine one second that your French teacher asks you by surprise: “Passez au tableau” (“Come to the blackboard”) to write the full conjugaison of the verb “faire” (“to do”)—“Que faire?” (“What to do“?) Whatever you “do”, ne panique pas(don’t panic)! As you will see in the tables listed below, it’s far from being a “UNE…
Out of a “Nouveau Monde” (“New World”) Posted by Hichem on Jun 9, 2011
Les paroles (the lyrics) of today’s song contain an unusual feature, do you think you can identify it? Need un indice (a hint)? Many words in French sound similar (homophones): Pot (meaning “pot” in English) and peau (skin); fer (iron) and the verb faire (to do), etc.! * * * Mypollux – “Notre Nouveau Monde” *…
Édith Piaf: A Love Hostage to the Vagaries of “La Foule” (“The Crowd”) Posted by Hichem on Jun 7, 2011
Who said that la culture française rarely opened itself to cross-border influence and inspiration, and that the French always lived secluded within the stone walls of their village gaulois ? 🙂 With her outstanding song “La Foule” (“the Crowd”), Édith Piaf dispels such a misconception about her country, by interpreting a Peruvian Waltz titled “Que nadie sepa mi…
Les classes grammaticales françaises (French Grammatical Classes) Posted by Hichem on Jun 6, 2011
Don’t be just good, or “average good”, in French grammar; why not become un superman de la grammaire française ! (Picture suggested by a fan of The French Blog) * * * For that, retour aux bases (back to the basics): Starting with identifying les classes grammaticales (Grammatical classes), which are today’s subject: Le…
Who’s Haunted by “Le Fantôme de l’Opéra”? Posted by Hichem on Jun 2, 2011
As your keen powers of observation have infallibly prompted you to notice, it is the second time d’affilée (in a row) that des fantômes (ghosts) boast a prominent appearance here on The French Blog… But don’t panic just yet, or speed dial the “S.O.S. Fantômes” (“Ghostbusters”) emergency line. Unlike “Ça” of the previous post, today’s phantom wears no makeup or some silly pair of chaussures rouges…