Archive for the year 2012
Hollande Vs. Sarkozy: Comics, Economics, and Freakonomics! (Part II) Posted by Hichem on May 4, 2012
Nicolas Sarkozy is a man of contradictions: When a handful of delinquents welcomed him with rotten eggs at one of the Parisian banlieues, he didn’t hesitate to call them racailles (scum.) Yet he never shied away from using un langage de voyou (thuggish language) himself: To an old man who refused to shake his hand, he said “Casse-toi, pauv’ con” (“F***…
Hollande Vs. Sarkozy: Comics, Economics, and Freakonomics! (Part I) Posted by Hichem on May 3, 2012
As you saw in yesterday’s “Hollande Vs. Sarkozy: Get in the Ring!“, the first round of the French Presidential Debate can be best described by the French motto of “pas de quartier” (“no pity”), especially after media reports quoted Sarkozy saying: “Je vais l’exploser” (“I’m gonna blow him up”)! Things heated up even more when it…
Hollande Vs. Sarkozy: Get in the Ring! Posted by Hichem on May 2, 2012
Only three more days to go before we know the name of the leader of France for the next five years. The close interest paid to this year’s French Presidential Elections, pitting François Hollande vs. Nicolas Sarkozy, seems to go beyond the borders of l’Hexagone (as France is nicknamed, after its hexagonal shape.) Nearly 18 millions of French people were…
Joyeuse Fête du Premier Mai! Posted by Hichem on May 1, 2012
Joyeuse fête du premier mai à vous tous ! Of course, you all know that today is la fête du travail (the International Workers’ Day), a celebration which takes place nearly everywhere in the world… But did you know that the First of May is also the special date of another celebration in France? Réfléchissez un petit peu (think for a little bit)… No?…
Basic French: Les Aventures of Monsieur Guy Posted by Adir on Apr 27, 2012
Salut! Comment ça va? The Imagiers channel on Youtube has a very cool series of basic French videos called Les Aventures de Monsieur Guy. They are short videos (3-4 min) in basic French about Mr. Guy’s adventures. Check out the first two videos with the script and translation then click on the link to watch…
French in Canada Posted by Sean Young on Apr 25, 2012
Canadian French refers to the language as spoken in Canada and is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians (roughly 22% of the national population). The dialects of French spoken in Canada are Quebec, Acadian, Métis, Newfoundland and Brayon dialects. You will also find Canadian French spoken in parts of New England in the…
Colloquial French – Part 02 Posted by Adir on Apr 17, 2012
Last week we had our first post of the Colloquial French series and by the comments I see that you guys liked it, so today is the second part. Profitez! Dis-le! = Spit it out! C’est cassé! Ça ne marche pas! = It’s broken! (computer) Tout a bien fini! = It all worked out…