Archive for June, 2020
French Culture – Comfort Food Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 30, 2020
While France (and parts of the US, where I live) are starting to open back up, we can all sometimes still use a little escapism to take us away from the challenges that life can present. Especially with all the complex issues facing the world today, I thought this week we’d spend some time on…
French Culture – Current Events Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 23, 2020
Just as the world seemed to be maybe, ever so slightly turning the corner towards normalcy, things got decidedly complicated again with the death of George Floyd here in the US. The effects of that event (representative of many sadly similar tragic events) have echoed across the US and the world in the weeks that…
French Onomatopoeia Posted by Bridgette on Jun 19, 2020
Bonjour! Today I want to explore the linguistic phenomenon of onomatopoeia, which is the formation of a word from a sound associated with that word. It originates from the word ὀνοματοποιία in the Greek language which means ‘making or creating names’, and in English we use it to describe the unique words made to imitate sounds. In…
French Vocabulary – Anatomy Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 16, 2020
Here on the Transparent Language French Blog we’ve covered the parts of the body and (more than once) the parts of the face. One thing we’ve never done (at least as far as I can tell) is gone inside. So this week we turn to … les parties du corps … Inside Edition Les organes…
French Vocabulary – Jewelry Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 9, 2020
Qui n’aime pas un peu de fantaisie (who doesn’t like a little fantasy) ? In these strange times, a little sparkle, a little distraction is always welcome. So this week, we look at la joaillerie. The French are glad to die for love … But in the infamous words of a classic song, diamonds are a…
Arthur Rimbaud – Le Dormeur du Val Posted by Bridgette on Jun 5, 2020
Bonjour! I would like to share with you all one of my favorite French poems by Arthur Rimbaud, Le Dormeur du Val, The Sleeper of the Valley. Rimbaud wrote this poem in 1870 when he was just 16 years old, during the Franco-Prussian war. The English translation is below as well, but it simply doesn’t…
French Vocabulary – In the street Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 2, 2020
The other day I was out for a walk and practicing my French en même temps (at the same time) by naming all the things I could see. Les arbres, les plantes, le ciel, le soleil, des boîtes aux lettres, et la rue (The trees, the plants, the sky, the sun, mailboxes, and the street). When I got…