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Learning Voting Vocabulary With A Ballot Mistake Posted by John Bauer on Nov 7, 2018
After the spooky end of October, les élections de mi-mandat (the midterm elections) quickly arrived with a day involving more than just making decisions on future government positions and new laws. For French learners, it was also a vocabulary test every time the topic came up in conversation! Living en France, the US midterm elections…
Welcoming Halloween In French – Mister Jack’s Strange Christmas Posted by John Bauer on Oct 31, 2018
It’s the spookiest night of the year tonight and children all across l’Amérique du nord (North America) will be dressed up in their scariest costumes as they get ready to go door to door looking for tricks and treats. La tradition (the tradition) may not be a long-standing one en France, but with the influence…
C’est l’Halloween Hey! – Getting Into The Spooky Spirit In French Posted by John Bauer on Oct 24, 2018
It’s October and for everyone outre Atlantique, (over the Atlantic, saying for “in North America”) that immediately brings up spooky thoughts of ghosts and des bons bons (candy). Cependant (however), the “traditional” Halloween I grew up with aux États-Unis (in the United States) is not really traditionally a thing en France. Trick or treating and…
Egg In Your Eyes – Difficult French Voyelles Posted by John Bauer on Oct 17, 2018
Confusing simple things in a new language is so common it can be more surprising when it doesn’t happen than when it does. While mixing up the meaning of un mot (a word) happens all the time, when le mot has a sound that doesn’t exist en anglais it leads to different kinds of mistakes…
Mixing Up Chocolate Croissants And Croissant Chocolates In French Posted by John Bauer on Oct 10, 2018
Sometimes I surprise myself when I make une faute (a mistake) speaking le français. Même si (even if) I have years of experience, I still can oublier (forget) words or realize I don’t know how to talk about certain subjects. Occasionally, I just make really silly mistakes that don’t seem to make any sense, but…
Sympathetically Singing – Pink Martini In French Posted by John Bauer on Oct 3, 2018
Listening to la musique française (French music) is an easy way to integrate la langue (the language) into your everyday life, even if you live outside la francophonie. Finding the right mix of les paroles (lyrics) that are easy to understand and a catchy melody is the key to making your French studies as easy…
Edgar Allan Poe En Français – Le Corbeau Posted by John Bauer on Sep 26, 2018
Learning French is can often be difficult when everything about la langue et la culture (the language and the culture) is completely new. There is so much grammar and vocabulary that finding a comfort zone often feels like an impossible task. After following the reference in la chanson de Joyce Jonathan (Joyce Jonathan’s song), we…