Archive for July, 2016
Delicious Vegetable Salad for Those Warm Summer Evenings Posted by Josh Dougherty on Jul 28, 2016
Last week after a long day at work, I requested an Uber to go home. In bigger cities, you can do what’s called Uber Pool – you share the ride with up to 2 other passengers, and you may end up being dropped off last (which is always the case with me). That being said…
Beginner’s Guide to French (Free eBook) Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 28, 2016
If you’re a fan of this blog, you’ll love our new Beginner’s Guide to French. Here on the French blog, we post a variety of content for learners of all levels. For the beginners among us who haven’t combed through our archives, you may be missing some of our older, but extremely useful introductory content…
Put Another Word On The Barbie – French Barbecues Posted by John Bauer on Jul 27, 2016
Summer doesn’t just mean extreme heat! It also means finding fun ways to escape la canicule and profiter du soleil (enjoy the sun), often with a relaxing barbecue en terrasse (outside)! I saw a tweet from Transparent Language about a word that had recently caused me some trouble: Un barbeuc I had recently heard le…
Zazie dans le métro . . . et ailleurs !* Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 26, 2016
I finished a new livre (book) on vacation last week à la plage (at the beach).** Ok, it wasn’t new-new, but it was new to me. Zazie dans le métro (Zazie in the subway) is a 1959 novel by French author Raymond Queneau that was revolutionary in its use of language. Zazie (a name created by…
Rastignac Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Jul 25, 2016
In French culture, intellectualism runs deep. It’s not uncommon to have feuds by contemporary philosophers or scholars followed by the media and even become front page news. Recently, I was reading about a feud between two French scholars engaged in a public feud. They threw insults at each other through opinion pieces printed in newspapers…
Il Fait Chaud – It’s Hot In France Posted by John Bauer on Jul 20, 2016
The past few days have been hot, incredibly hot. La canicule (the heatwave) is here and that means trying hard to keep cool while the sun is up. After a few too many days without la climatisation (air conditioning), I had to buy un ventilateur. Just a few weeks ago I was enjoying SGDQ, but…
A Bastille Day Tribute Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 19, 2016
Last week’s Bastille Day celebrations ended in tragedy. Any day is the wrong day for such a terrible act, but on that day – a celebration of the French ideals of liberté, égalité, et fraternité (liberty, equality, and brotherhood) – it felt especially awful. July 14 may be changed forever by the events in Nice…