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The Zoo of French Idioms Posted by Hichem on Apr 21, 2010
Today, we will enter, in a visite guidée spéciale (a special guided visit), the parc zoologique des locutions (the zoological park of idioms.) Starting with le roi de la jungle (the king of the jungle), we find the expression “la part du lion“, which in this case (a rare one) can be directly deduced by comparing it to its English equivalent…
The (Broken) American Dream of a French Football Team Posted by Hichem on Apr 17, 2010
Today is vendredi. A long week has mercifully come to an end, Dieu merci (Thank God.) What do you les gars (guys) like to do in your fin de semaine (on the weekend) ? Personnellement (personally), one of my favorite passe-temps (hobbies) when I have du temps libre (free time) is to play le football. Let us then… “tackle” a bit the…
What is an “Énarque” ? (2ème partie) Posted by Hichem on Apr 14, 2010
We have seen, il y a deux jours (two days ago), a “special species” of people in France called “les énarques.” We found out that they in fact represent the French élite, the crème de la crème of the civil servants, a position in la société française (the French society) which naturally earns them both admiration and outrage. At the beginning, the É.N.A…
What is an “Énarque”? (1ère partie) Posted by Hichem on Apr 12, 2010
Getting into the ÉNA is akin to taking on les Douzes Traveaux d’Hercule (The Twelve Labours of Hercules): Like any other Grande École (Polytechnique is another one, famed to be the “French MIT”), you first have to go through une classe préparatoire, where you are in for a little “avant-goût” (“foretaste”) for what is to…
The French Language: L’Éloquence, Par Excellence! Posted by Hichem on Apr 6, 2010
If the Italians are notoriously known for their obssession with l’Opéra, the English for their penchant towards the performing arts, the Germans for their grand amour of la musique classique, then what about the French? Eh bien the French are tout simplement fond of their own language! What they cherish par-dessus tout (above all) is…