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French pronunciation basics part 3 Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 16, 2017
Many words in French end in ‘e’. And while the final ‘e’ can make us pronounce other letters (think ‘petit‘ vs. ‘petite‘ or ‘français‘ vs. ‘française‘), it is, in itself, usually silent. Usually, but not always! In poetry, and often in songs (which are, after all, just poems set to music), a final silent ‘e’…
A question of size Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 9, 2017
The results are in! I’m sure you all have heard, but as discussed last week, France held the second tour of the presidential elections dimanche (Sunday). And dimanche prochain (next Sunday) Emmanuel Macron will be sworn in as the youngest French president. There has been so much coverage of the topic, I didn’t think it worth…
It’s spring and inspiration is in the air Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 2, 2017
May has returned and with it the beautiful weather of le printemps (spring) at least here in my little corner of the world. In France that means – even with the stress of les élections présidentielles (the presidential elections), which are particularly heated this year*, and a recent spate of cold weather in the north…
What would you do? Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 25, 2017
Last summer I asked ‘what I did‘ and ‘what you are going to do‘ (looking at the past and future tenses in song). This week, a look at another French tense – and a new song – to learn about le conditionelle (the conditional). Le conditionelle is not actually a tense, but a mood…
A final trip to the store Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 18, 2017
Last week* we took a tour around France and learned about les gentilés (‘the names of the inhabitants’) of a number of French cities and towns. This week we’ll complete our shopping trip with a look at the new food labeling coming to France en avril (in April). In order to help les consommateurs…
Shopping and Geography in France, Part 2 Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 11, 2017
Last week we learned that – at least according to leurs propres pubs* (their own ads) – les supermarchés E.Leclerc sont les moins chers en France. (the Leclerc supermarkets are the least expensive in France.) This week we’ll take a closer look at the towns visited by the Leclerc price team. Lille – is…
A shopping and a geography lesson about France Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 4, 2017
One of my favorite adventures of Asterix and Obelix is Le Tour de Gaule (Around France)* In an attempt to show up the local Roman soldiers, our intrepid heroes attempt to complete a trip around France bringing back the regional specialties from the different cities they visit. If they were to undertake the task today…