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Archive for March, 2014

*IL FAUT* que tu apprennes le Français (You *Must* Learn French)! Posted by on Mar 30, 2014

Learning French is not optional anymore; it is now mandatory! Well, just kidding, bien sûr… One thing you must do, however, if you already speak French, is to watch out for the good use of le subjonctif. Just pay a bit of attention to when French people speak, or to French books, articles, etc., you will…

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Johnny Hallyday: The Most Famous Singer You Never Knew Existed Posted by on Mar 12, 2014

The French Elvis, the biggest rock star you’ve never heard of—these are just some of the nicknames given to Jean-Philippe Smet, also known as Johnny Hallyday, one of the best-selling French artists of all time. Born in 1943, Johnny—as the French like to call him—began sa carrière (his career) in 1960 with the release of…

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Stop! Sens Interdit!: A Quick Guide to French Roadway Vocabulary Posted by on Mar 10, 2014

If you’ve ever visited France and found yourself behind the wheel of une voiture (a car), you were most likely confronted with some signs you had never seen before. Although France and the United States share some road signs such as the ubiquitous red octagonal STOP and the sens interdit (no entry), others are not…

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Marcel Pagnol: Un Trésor de la Littérature Française (A Treasure of French Literature) Posted by on Mar 7, 2014

Do the names Victor Hugo, Jules Verne, Alexandre Dumas or Gustave Flaubert sound familiar? All four of these French novelists have earned their place in the pantheon of literary greats and their books continue to inspire legions of readers nearly two centuries after they were written. What about Marcel Pagnol? Doesn’t ring a bell? Pagnol…

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*HAPPY* We Are From Paris! Posted by on Mar 6, 2014

Unless you’ve been living under une pierre (a rock), you most likely have noticed that many cities throughout the world are dancing to the rhythm of “HAPPY“, the song of Pharrell Williams. Last year, Williams made deux gros tubes (two big hits):  “Blurred Lines” and “Get Lucky” (with the French group Daft Punk) Of course, Parisians couldn’t pretend like…

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Astérix: A French Comic for the Whole Family Posted by on Mar 5, 2014

Lisez-vous des bandes dessinées (Do you read comics)? I’m not referring to classic American comics with superheroes fighting les forces du mal (the forces of evil). Everybody has heard of Superman, Batman and X-men. The popularity of these characters, once confined to the pages of paperback comic books, has soared in recent years thanks to…

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“Un Roi Clandestin” (“An Illegal King”) in France Posted by on Mar 4, 2014

This is the extraordinary story of a little prodige du jeu d’échecs (chess prodigy) who was forced to flee his country, le Bangladesh, in order to avoid the threat of being abducted. Un matin d’hiver (one winter morning), he ended up with his père (father) in a Parisian banlieue (suburb.) Despite their many efforts and their tough situation, the French…

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