Archive for 'Culture'
La Chanson d’Astérix! (The Song of Asterix!) Posted by Hichem on Dec 4, 2010
It’s finally the weekend, par Toutatis !And today’s DMCV is presented to you by Astérix le Gaulois, who will teach you a very special leçon d’histoire (History lesson.) À vrai dire (to tell the truth), as “les férus de l’histoire” (“the history buffs”) amongst youknow only too well, this lesson is not always historiquement juste(historically accurate)! For example,as a Gaulois, Astérix…
“L’Âme Des Poètes” (“The Soul of Poets”) Posted by Hichem on Nov 20, 2010
Before there was something called le synthétiseur (synthesizer or keyboard), the French had invented an instrument they named l’ondioline. And one of the first musical works ever recorded with this instrument is Charles Trenet‘s hit song called “L’Âme Des Poètes” (The Soul of Poets.) The song has known interpretations by une pléthore d’artistes (a plethora…
À la une Posted by Jennie on Nov 11, 2010
À la une means « on the front page, » or at the head of the news stories. Ce soir, examinons ce qui est à la une en France- ou bien, ce qui est enterré dans les pages au milieu ! Je me suis rendue compte (I realized) que je n’ai pas lu de journal en français (that…
L’imparfait… rhymes with DMCV! Posted by Jennie on Nov 6, 2010
Dieu merci, c’est vendredi! “Thank God it’s Friday” Let’s start with l’imparfait, and see what we can do about DMCV. II. L’imparfait L’imparfait is used for an ongoing state of being (e.g., being young: “When I was young…”) or a repeated or incomplete action. It’s used for actions that did not end at a specific point…
Must-Know French Slang: Laisse Béton Posted by Hichem on Oct 29, 2010
Oyez, oyez ! We’re now officiellement about to cover la première moitié (the first half) of the alphabet in our featured “B.A.-BA de l’argot” (“the ABC of French Slang”), and in order to properly celebrate this one happy occasion, we shall concentrate today on one and only expression which, in many funny ways, epitomizes French Slang: “LAISSE BÉTON !“ This is a “concrete” (uhm) example of a “bétonnière…
Le passé composé Posted by Jennie on Oct 28, 2010
I started studying French in middle school, and by 8th grade, I thought had learned everything. All I needed was a little more vocabulary, and I’d be fluent. Then I came into class one day, and my teacher said, Alors la classe, aujourd’hui on va commencer le passé composé, a form of past tense. Past…
Musique voisine du Rock VS. Musique de Roch Voisine! Posted by Hichem on Oct 27, 2010
Sometimes, nothing seems to be easier than feeling nostalgique about your jeune enfance (young childhood.) But then you should try to think again, putting things in a clearer and more objective perspective, until you remember when you were a boy who’s not even ten years old yet, and all you could hear playing all day long in la télévision or la radio were songs that you and your buddies dismissed…