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Archive for March, 2016

Sick As A Dog – Catching A Cold In French Posted by on Mar 30, 2016

I woke up l’autre jour (the other day) feeling sick. The combination of les maux, le nez bouché et le mal à la gorge (the aches, a stuffy nose, and a sore throat) let me know I had to get myself to une pharmacie or I’d end up calling les urgences. I took une douche…

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Le Passé Simple for Regular Verbs Posted by on Mar 28, 2016

Have you ever heard of a French verb tense called “le passé simple”? The preterit, or the simple past, as it is known in English, is used primarily in literature and very formal speech. However, in modern French usage the simple past tense is rarely used and, frankly, going out of style. However, this doesn’t…

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Want to Try a Nun’s Fart? No Really – They’re Delicious! Posted by on Mar 24, 2016

Who doesn’t love a good French pastry? Even those who aren’t fans of sweets (they really do exist…) have to partake in these culinary treats while abroad to see what the big deal is. France is known for its pastries, but there are so much more than just les pains aux chocolat and les croissants…

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Trilingual Belgium – What Language Do They Speak? Posted by on Mar 23, 2016

Drapeau de la Belgique (Belgian Flag) De tous les peuples de la Gaule, les Belges sont les plus braves Of all the people of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest. – Jules César (Julius Cesar) After les attentats hier matin (the attacks yesterday morning), all our hearts are with la Belgique (Belgium). La capitale (the…

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Musings of an ex-expat Posted by on Mar 22, 2016

Bonjour et bienvenue! Permettez moi de me présenter. Je m’appelle Tim Hildreth et je suis désormais bloggeur pour Transparent Language! (Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tim Hildreth and starting today, I’m a new blogger here with Transparent Language.) I’m sure you can guess from my name, I’m not French. But I am…

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Stacey Kent’s: “Les Eaux de Mars” (French cover of Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “The Waters of March”) Posted by on Mar 21, 2016

As the month of March draws to a close, I am reminded of the beautiful Brazilian song “Águas de Março” (in English: “The Waters of March”), written and recorded by Antônio Carlos Jobim in 1973. The song is about Brazil’s rainiest month and each, disparate image in the song revolves around the central metaphor of the end of…

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Part 2: Line by Line Lesson: “Le droit à l’erreur” by Amel Bent Posted by on Mar 17, 2016

La semaine dernière (last week), I posted microlessons from the first 12 lines of Amel Bent’s Le droit à l’erreur (The Right to be Mistaken). The previous lessons focused on indefinite expressions, multiple word meanings, the 5 senses, negations, le passé composé vs. l’imparfait, the past infinitive, intensifiers, the uses of the word tout,  coordinating…

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