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French Knock Knock Jokes Posted by John Bauer on Mar 11, 2015
Humor doesn’t always traduire (translate) well. What’s funny in one culture is often not that funny in another culture. Just imagine trying to explain why “to get to the other side” is une chute drôle (a funny punchline) to someone who’s never heard the famous chicken joke. En même temps, (at the same time) un…
As Easy As RFI: The News in French Posted by John Bauer on Mar 4, 2015
When I first came to France I would spend every day in a café studying. I was trying to convert my entire life into French. I watched la télévision française (French television), watched des films français (French movies), listened to la musique française (French music), and followed l’actualité française (French news). Even though my French…
French Youtube Stars: Norman Thavaud Posted by John Bauer on Feb 25, 2015
In the modern era of content creation there are many new names coming out of the Internet. A big platform for these new stars is Youtube with many people now creating leurs propres séries (their own shows) on the website. En France many of these youtubeurs have strated breaking into the mainstream. One of the…
French Jokes: “Where is Brian?” Posted by John Bauer on Feb 18, 2015
Having a good private joke (inside joke) is a great way to open the door to a new culture. For many learners humor isn’t always the easiest thing to understand in a new language, and can be a rather large cultural hurdle. In my personal experiences, I found it rather difficult to capter des blagues…
Do You Know How To Toast in French? Posted by John Bauer on Feb 11, 2015
You’re out with some friends about to take your first drink and everyone raises their glasses to toast. Qu’est-ce que tu fais ensuite ? (What do you do next?) En France, you have to regarder dans les yeux (look in the eyes) of the person you’re clanking glasses with. Ce qui est important (what’s important)…
French Adverbs And Their Minds Posted by John Bauer on Feb 4, 2015
There’s a cool trick to forming adverbes that lies in the history of la langue française. This trick doesn’t apply to all adverbes, only those that end in –ment. Franchement Joyeusement Seulement Artificiellement It’s easy to see how these adverbes are formed with some root and then add –ment to them. What’s less obvious is…
French Television: Le Petit Journal Posted by John Bauer on Jan 28, 2015
When learning a new language, finding entertainment that’s similar to what you like in your native language can be a big motivation booster. I am a big fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, so when I found Le Petit Journal, I was happy to have found what is more or less une version…