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Hi Hungry, I’m Dad – La Fête Des Pères In French Posted by John Bauer on Jun 13, 2018
La fête des pères (Father’s Day) is just around the corner! Unlike la fête des mères (Mother’s Day), cette fête (this holiday) doesn’t involve remembering two different dates when you’re from les États-Unis! In both France and aux USA, la fête falls on the third Sunday of June. La fête des pères is both a…
A Leaf Of Paper – Talking About Le Papier In French Posted by John Bauer on Jun 6, 2018
There is a never ending list of incredibly common words that always surprise me when I realize I don’t know them. The funniest part about these kinds of words is how they sneak up on me. It’s easy to never think about how to say a simple everyday thing until you need to say it!…
Show Me La Monnaie – The Paris Mint Posted by John Bauer on May 30, 2018
When you are in Paris, se promener (go for a walk) and you will stumble upon a historical site before you can count to soixante-onze (seventy-one). As long as le métro (the subway) is running, no matter how far you go, it will always be easy to make your way back home! One day while…
Learning 3 New Words From 1 Mistake Posted by John Bauer on May 23, 2018
Hier (yesterday), summer weather stormed through Paris and it started pouring during the humid afternoon. Le temps (the weather) may seem like nothing but small talk, but it ended up teaching me trois nouveaux mots (three new words)! It was a dark and stormy après-midi (afternoon) when it started happening. I turned to mon collègue…
Gee Or Jay – Why I Struggle To Spell My Name In French Posted by John Bauer on May 16, 2018
One of the first things covered in most French classes is, reasonably, the alphabet. L’alphabet français (the French alphabet) is almost the same as l’alphabet anglais (the English alphabet), but that similarity hides some easy mistakes, especially when you need to spell something out loud. After learning l’alphabet français, I didn’t pay much attention to…
Le Trajet And Rising Water Levels – Commuting Vocabulary In French Posted by John Bauer on May 9, 2018
Anyone who has ever commuted, whether it’s à l’école ou au bureau (to school or to the office) knows just how annoying anything that slows the the daily trip can be. En France, there is a stereotypical reason for commutes to be delayed that most students and workers have had to use at least once…
And If We Sang – Learning Grammar Through Music Posted by John Bauer on May 2, 2018
Some things like learning les genres des mots (the gender of words) can take a long time and requires a lot of memorization. If you’re lucky sometimes there’s a catchy song that helps the process and makes practicing grammar something you can do for fun! When learning le français, there are some things that can…