Archive for 'Vocabulary'
There Must Be More Than This Provincial Life! Beauty and the Beast’s Opening Number in French Posted by Josh Dougherty on Mar 23, 2017
For the past few years, Disney has been remaking their animated classics into live action films. I was never a big fan of “Sleeping Beauty,” but I really enjoyed “Maleficent.” “Jungle Book” and “Cinderella” were great. “Mulan” is on the way soon, but it’s already been announced that this version will have no musical numbers…
Invested In Vêtements – Winter Clothing In French Posted by John Bauer on Mar 22, 2017
After spending time in la Floride over the holidays, I had an interesting wardrobe problem when I flew back to France. I had to make sure I had access to mes vêtements d’hiver (my winter clothes) or I would freeze à Paris! My relationship with le froid (the cold) started when I first moved to…
French pronunciation basics part 2 Posted by Tim Hildreth on Mar 21, 2017
A few weeks ago, I shared a fun song that highlights proper pronunciation for the common ‘oo’ sound in French, based on requests for more help with pronunciation. This week in our continuing journey of sound, I thought it would be a good time to talk about final consonants. As many of you probably know…
Une Visite Chez Le Coiffeur Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Mar 20, 2017
Here’s a short story in French (with it’s English translation below) about my son’s monthly trips to the barbershop. Following these three paragraphs, you can find the vocabulary used in the story as well as additional vocabulary you can use for your own trip to the hairdresser. Chaque mois, mon mari amène notre fils chez…
Managing Le Déménagement – Moving In French Posted by John Bauer on Mar 15, 2017
After a few more longues layovers I’ve settled into mon nouvel appartement (my new apartment). The whole process of moving was stressful, but not nearly as much as ma soutenance (my thesis defense). After the holiday cheer died down and the sounds of Bonjour Noël were drowned out by the cries of “Bon Nouvel An…
A few of my favorite things Posted by Tim Hildreth on Mar 14, 2017
This week marks my cinquante-deuxième (52nd) entry to the Transparent Language French blog! Bon anniversaire à moi! (Happy anniversary to me!) Cinquante-deux semaine (52 weeks) means it’s been just un an (one year) since I first introduced myself to you! I hope it’s been une bonne année (a good year) for all of you and…
Blizzard! Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Mar 14, 2017
In New York, we are awaiting a huge blizzard just several weeks before the first day of spring. But did you know that the word “blizzard” is actually a loanword–from English to French? The exact etymology of “blizzard” is unknown, although it was first used in the eighteenth century in Minnesota and it has been claimed…