Archive for 'Vocabulary'
French Vocabulary – Teaching and Learning Posted by Tim Hildreth on Oct 29, 2019
In a few short months, I will be completing my studies towards a Masters in Education. If all goes well, one of these days I hope to become prof de français (a French teacher) in a local college ou lycée (middle or high school). While that days is still a ways off, my work got me thinking about…
French Language – Of numbers and letters Posted by Tim Hildreth on Oct 22, 2019
Des chiffres et des lettres is a long running television program in France that challenges contestants’ spelling and computation skills. The two different parts of l’émission (the program) can help you build your spelling and counting skills in French. Le mot le plus long / The longest word In the first part of le jeu (the…
French Language – Gender Neutrality Posted by Tim Hildreth on Oct 15, 2019
One of the trickier aspects of learning to speak French, for the average English speaker at least, is dealing with the rules of gender. Not just remembering which nouns are masculin and which féminin, but also l’accord des adjectifs, keeping professions straight, and understanding why one man in a group of 99 women takes precedence…
French Language – Three Wise Monkeys Posted by Tim Hildreth on Oct 8, 2019
A random line in one of my favorite French podcasts sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole to explore a variety of expressions … and from rabbits I was soon at des singes (monkeys)! Il n’y a pas pire aveugle … A few years back, I wrote a blog on the senses in…
French Music – Michel Polnareff Posted by Tim Hildreth on Oct 1, 2019
As one season (l’été) turns into another (l’automne), I find it’s time for another song that evokes memory, loss, and the oncoming of fall. Je me souviens, moi, Me, I remember, De ce musicien That musician C’était l’automne à It was fall at La maison The house Je me souviens, moi, I remember, I do…
French Vocabulary – Talking about family Posted by Tim Hildreth on Sep 10, 2019
I just finished a book called Mon frère (My bother) in which the French écrivain (writer) Daniel Pennac interweaves his memories of a dear older brother with excerpts from a Herman Melville short story. The short text, which I picked up last summer on my trip to France avec mon fils (with my son), touched…
French Culture – Back to School Posted by Tim Hildreth on Sep 3, 2019
Et oui, c’est encore la rentrée (des classes). (And yes, it’s back to school time!). This year, les élèves français (French students) across the country returned to leurs études (their studies) le lundi, 2 septembre (Monday, September 2). Mais avant / But first (before) Back to school (la rentrée) means back to school shopping. Chaque année, les parents reçoivent…