Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Happy Birthday, Canada! Have You Heard Her National Anthem? Posted by Josh Dougherty on Jul 3, 2017
On Saturday, July 1st, Canadians (and the world – many cities lit up their important buildings in red and white) celebrated 150 years of innovation, art, and history. This holiday exists to recognize the passing of the Constitutional Act of 1867 which united the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into one. Much…
Les Soldes D’Été – Summer Sales In France Posted by John Bauer on Jun 28, 2017
Summer is in full swing with hot temperatures and la fête de la musique already over, but there is another imoprtant summer event in France: les soldes. Les soldes d’été commencent aujourd’hui (summer sales start today) and if your like to faire du shopping (shop) then it’s the perfect time to enjoy le soleil (the…
Heat And Thunderstorms – Warm Thoughts Of L’Été Posted by John Bauer on Jun 21, 2017
With le mois de juin (the month of June) almost over thoughts of l’été (summer) fill the warm air. La canicule may be on everyone’s mind, but ce mois (this month) is also about la fête des pères and, bien sûr (of course), mon anniversaire! Les stores are open everywhere to cool things down by…
Taking A Shower In French Posted by John Bauer on Jun 7, 2017
Talking about basic necessities is difficult when you don’t know le vocabulaire. Many textbooks go over a lot of useful information, but miss things like what to do in an emergency or how to say conditioner. Every trip au magasin (to the store) is a learning experience en France. Whether I am trying to figure…
Back to the store . . . Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 30, 2017
… For a love story! Between the world wars (la grande et la deuxieme*), France saw the creation of three stores dedicated to providing convenience and savings to urban shoppers. All three offered products “for a single price” and their names played on that concept. While all three evolved over the years, Monoprix (Mono-price), Uniprix…
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…