Archive for 'Culture'
Sarrasine! Posted by Jennie on Apr 14, 2010
Félicitations, Bill Penn! Congratulations to our commentateur for guessing that l’écrivain I hinted at last week was Honoré de Balzac. Ce soir (this evening), we’ll discuss une petite nouvelle (a novella) by Balzac, qui s’appelle (which is called) Sarrasine. Links to the texte intégrale (full text ) in French and English can be found at…
What is an “Énarque”? (1ère partie) Posted by Hichem on Apr 12, 2010
Getting into the ÉNA is akin to taking on les Douzes Traveaux d’Hercule (The Twelve Labours of Hercules): Like any other Grande École (Polytechnique is another one, famed to be the “French MIT”), you first have to go through une classe préparatoire, where you are in for a little “avant-goût” (“foretaste”) for what is to…
Le cinéma français: Entre les Murs Posted by Jennie on Apr 9, 2010
Hier soir (last night), I stayed up till 2h du matin (2:00 in the morning!) to finish watching “Entre les murs,” a film released in the US as “The Class.” Normalement, je ne suis pas très fan du cinéma—normally, I’m not a big fan of cinema. I get scared easily (« Le Roi Lion » m’a fait…
Confusing French Pair: La Langue vs. Le Langage Posted by Jennie on Apr 7, 2010
It’s hard to grasp as a débutant (beginner), but great French writing is elegantly structured without losing its clarté. More than croissants or fashion, I think la culture française se défine (French culture defines itself) by its language—both la langue and le langage. These two words fascinated me when I first learned them. They have…
The French Language: L’Éloquence, Par Excellence! Posted by Hichem on Apr 6, 2010
If the Italians are notoriously known for their obssession with l’Opéra, the English for their penchant towards the performing arts, the Germans for their grand amour of la musique classique, then what about the French? Eh bien the French are tout simplement fond of their own language! What they cherish par-dessus tout (above all) is…
Un petit déjeuner parisien Posted by Jennie on Apr 5, 2010
One of the things I miss most about Paris is the breakfasts—les petits déjeuners. (Before we go any further, did you know that « jeuner » means to fast, so « déjeuner » is literally to break the fast ?) Un petit déjeuner parisien, for me, c’est tout simple. It depends if you’re eating chez…
Un apéro à la française Posted by Jennie on Apr 1, 2010
My favorite French custom, sans exception, is l’apéro, or l’apéritif: the late-afternoon, pre-dinner cocktail hour. Whether you’re in France or having friends over chez vous, here are the bons mots de vocabulaire (right vocabulary words)! An apéro is a goûter (snack) for grown-ups. You’ll need des boissons et de quoi grignoter—drinks and something to snack…