Archive by Author
Part 2: Line by Line Lesson: “Le droit à l’erreur” by Amel Bent Posted by Josh Dougherty on Mar 17, 2016
La semaine dernière (last week), I posted microlessons from the first 12 lines of Amel Bent’s Le droit à l’erreur (The Right to be Mistaken). The previous lessons focused on indefinite expressions, multiple word meanings, the 5 senses, negations, le passé composé vs. l’imparfait, the past infinitive, intensifiers, the uses of the word tout, coordinating…
Line by Line Lesson: “Le droit à l’erreur” by Amel Bent Posted by Josh Dougherty on Mar 10, 2016
Don’t you love it when a song you hadn’t heard in a long time comes on and you can sing along like a pro? This recently happened to me with a song I listened to when I started learning French. I didn’t know the lyrics well – it was always a song I had on…
Learning Through Music – “Rien qu’une fois” by Keen’V Posted by Josh Dougherty on Mar 3, 2016
Elizabeth, John, and I have all written about the benefits of music as a language learning resource. They’re a great source of current vocabulary, expressions, and even pronunciation. The fact that they’re catchy only makes it easier for you to remember words you may otherwise not learn in class or even in most conversations. Regardless…
Slow Cooker French Recipe: Fricassée de Poulet à l’Ancienne Posted by Josh Dougherty on Feb 18, 2016
Last year, I moved from the east coast to the west coast of the US, and one of the biggest shocks I had when I arrived was the weather. Why is it 80° in February? Don’t get me wrong – j’adore ce temps (I love this weather), but growing up on the other side of…
An Onion without an I – The French Spelling Reform Posted by Josh Dougherty on Feb 4, 2016
Anyone who has heard French can tell you it’s a beautiful language. Anyone who has written French can tell you it’s freaking difficult at times. Yes, those lovely sounds are accompanied by a complicated spelling system filled with silent endings, stem-changing verbs, hyphenation, elision, and doubled letters – and, of course, there are exceptions to…
What Does This House in San Francisco Have to do with the French? Posted by Josh Dougherty on Jan 28, 2016
Exactly one year ago today, I hopped on a plane to go visit a friend in San Francisco. I’d originally only planned to stay for 5 weeks, mais je suis tombé amoureux de la ville (but I fell in love with the city), and I never left. Whoops. I was excited about what it had…
The Best French Music of 2015! Posted by Josh Dougherty on Jan 21, 2016
If you’ve spent any time in France, you know very well that much of the music you hear will be in English – and it’s non censuré (uncensored), mind you. It’s also no secret that the French are proud of their language, and this is one of the reasons the government began imposing a law…