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Handfuls Of Hands – Common Gestures In French Posted by John Bauer on Nov 29, 2017
There are often small things that can be hard to learn in French because they aren’t things that are often said. Talking about specific hardware or buying a bed can lead to learning some interesting vocabulary. A similar difficult part of learning the language is learning the words for les gestes (gestures). When I first…
To Do The Point – Fun French Expressions Posted by John Bauer on Nov 22, 2017
There are some expressions that can seem really strange. Whether it’s being known like le loup blanc (the white wolf) or being sick as a dog, there is a lot of colorful language that often goes unnoticed by les locuteurs natifs (native speakers). Il y a une expression française (there’s a French expression) that really…
Christmas Is Ruined In Paris? – The Christmas Market At Les Champs Élysées Posted by John Bauer on Nov 15, 2017
It may be a little early for some people to start talking about Christmas and the holidays, but the cold weather has thoughts of le vin chaud et le papa Noël (mulled wine and Santa Claus) already in people’s head. As everyone starts getting ready for the holidays there is a surprisingly missing fixture this…
Little Red Chaperon Rouge – Fairy Tale French Posted by John Bauer on Nov 8, 2017
When I was looking up the origin of the French expression, être connu comme le loup blanc (to be known like the white wolf), I was reminded of the most famous story I know that features un loup: Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood). That made me curious about les contes de fées…
A Household White Wolf – Idioms In French Posted by John Bauer on Nov 1, 2017
When I learned Joe Dassin is a household name, I wanted to use an equivalent French expression in the article. What I found surprised me with how imaginative it is to English speakers: to be known like the white wolf. Les expressions (the expressions) we use every day can be hard to translate because of…
Joe Dassin – Un Américain French Singer Posted by John Bauer on Oct 25, 2017
La semaine dernière (last week), after looking up where the expression un été indien (an Indian summer) comes from, I was surprised to learn about Joe Dassin and his seemingly interesting mix of being a French singer with origins aux États-Unis (in the United States). Qui est cet américain qui chante en français ? Who…
Un Été Indien – Surprising Autumn Weather In France Posted by John Bauer on Oct 18, 2017
Cette semaine (this week) the weather in Paris has been surprisingly good. Le chaleur (the heat) surprised many people and un collègue (a coworker) in turn surprised me with un nouveau mot (a new word) for the nice weather! The idea of surprise heat when the season should be getting colder is not something I…