Archive for May, 2020
Le or La COVID-19? Posted by Bridgette on May 29, 2020
Coucou tout le monde! You may or may not have heard about the Académie Française (French Academy). Essentially, it is a council that handles all matters of the French language, and has been in existence since 1635, having been suspended for 10 years during the French Revolution in 1793. It is made up of 40 members…
French History – More monarchs Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 26, 2020
The French Revolution of 1789 brought about enormous changes and laid the foundations for the France that we know today. It also ended the reign of Louis XVI and his reine (queen) Marie Antoinette. But … it didn’t end the monarchy in France! Un empereur, trois rois, et un autre empereur! Before France would bid…
French History – Shaking Things Up Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 19, 2020
The French have had more than their share of revolutions. They’ve never had a problem when things weren’t working, just scrapping it all and starting over. There’s a reason that the current political administration is the Ve République (Fifth Republic). Une histoire révolutionnaire / A revolutionay history Most students of French language and culture are familiar with…
Dreaming of the arrondissements… Posted by Bridgette on May 14, 2020
Bonjour tout le monde! Je m’appelle Bridgette and I will be joining Tim to contribute to the French blog! I have been the Italian blogger for Transparent Language for almost a year now, if you want to check that out just click here. I’m really excited to also be able to share with you my…
French Culture – A New Day Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 12, 2020
As of Monday, France has started the slow process of opening up for business. And while travel within 100 kms of home is now permitted, foreign visitors will still need to quarantine for 14 days if they travel to France. So no trips for me anytime soon … but the news did get me thinking…
French Culture – Opening Up Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 5, 2020
As I’ve covered in my blog posts these past several weeks, France (like much of the world) has been on lock down. Starting at midi le 17 mars (March 17 at noon) the French could only leave their homes for a strictly defined list of déplacements dérogatoire (exceptional outings). That may all be about to change. Le…