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French Vocabulary: Housing Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Nov 16, 2015
Do you have a dream of changing your life drastically, whatever that entails, and moving to France? Maybe you’re there already. Or maybe you want to make this drastic change for only two months, or even two days. Hotels can get very expensive when you are staying for longer periods of time. To keep it…
French Music: Indila Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Nov 9, 2015
Have you heard of a singer-songwriter named Indila? Indila is a French musician whose first album, Mini World, came out in 2014 to great acclaim. Indila is of Cambodian, Egyptian, and Algerian descent and uses musical influences from each of these cultures in her songs. In particular, she has stated that Algerian räi music has been a…
COP21: The 2015 Paris Climate Conference Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Nov 2, 2015
A very important climate conference is taking place in Paris from November 30 to December 11th. The Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (or COP21) seeks to work on a new international agreement to keep the level of global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Why? Because environmental scientists have…
Have a Hair-Raising (ébouriffant) Halloween! Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Oct 26, 2015
“Hair-raising” is a great adjective in English. It’s descriptive and makes you understand exactly what it conveys…a fright that makes your hair stand up on end. Some dictionaries offer “terrifiant(e)” as the French translation of “hair-raising.” Another translation–and perhaps one that is more accurate–is “ébouriffant(e).” Neither of these words, however, are as descriptive as the original…
Super Scary…Superlatives (2) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Oct 19, 2015
Last week, I went over French superlatives using the formula le/la/les + plus/moins + adjective/adverb, as well as some irregular superlative forms (le/la meilleur/e). To use the superlative form of bon in order to say that something is “the best,” you would use le/la meilleur(e). For example: Notre-Dame de Paris est le meilleur livre de Victor Hugo. (The Hunchback of…
Super Scary…Superlatives! Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Oct 12, 2015
For the remainder of October, we will be tackling difficult grammar in the “Super Scary” series. This week is “Super Scary…Superlatives!” Superlatives are adverbs or adjectives that signify the greatest degree or amount of the verb or noun used. In English this would be: “She wrote the best book on the subject.” Here, “best” is…
The Super Moon (et les loups-garous) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Oct 5, 2015
Did you see the super blood moon eclipse this week? My family and I put on Van Morrison’s “Dancing in the Moonlight,” and sat on the lawn watching the special eclipse this past weekend. It was a special experience and, apparently, one that won’t occur again until 2033. Check out the picture we took of the…