Aux armes, citoyens ! The History of the French National Anthem Posted by Josh Dougherty on Nov 19, 2015
Les hymnes nationaux (national anthems) are patriotic numbers used to tell the history, traditions, and struggles of a country and unite its citizens. Their styles vary per country – some versions are standard fanfares, some sway more toward operatic pieces, and others have difficult lyrics that are very easy to flub! As an American, I…
Leaving Imprints – How to Print in French Posted by John Bauer on Nov 18, 2015
Having just come back to France, after getting over la fatigue à cause du décalage horaire (the jetlag), there’s been many meetings catching up on what happened while I was away. That means I’ve had to imprimer (print) many documents, and has led to me realizing that I don’t know how to talk about les…
French Vocabulary: Housing Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Nov 16, 2015
Do you have a dream of changing your life drastically, whatever that entails, and moving to France? Maybe you’re there already. Or maybe you want to make this drastic change for only two months, or even two days. Hotels can get very expensive when you are staying for longer periods of time. To keep it…
Education in France and Counting Backwards Posted by John Bauer on Nov 11, 2015
Je viens de revenir en France (I just came back to France), which means I’ve been dealing with le décalage horaire (the time difference). That also means all the confusion of living abroad in another language has come rushing back, bringing up interesting interactions. Having a conversation with un ami (a friend), I wanted to…
French Music: Indila Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Nov 9, 2015
Have you heard of a singer-songwriter named Indila? Indila is a French musician whose first album, Mini World, came out in 2014 to great acclaim. Indila is of Cambodian, Egyptian, and Algerian descent and uses musical influences from each of these cultures in her songs. In particular, she has stated that Algerian räi music has been a…
Learning through Music – Calogero’s “Pomme C” Posted by Josh Dougherty on Nov 6, 2015
Music is a fun and stress-free way of learning a foreign language. You expose yourself to new genres and voices. You learn new phrases, hear new accents, discover plays on words, and learn vocabulary that you’ll never forget. And it makes sense – you can still remember all the words to the music you listened…
My Ancestors and Their Degeneration Posted by John Bauer on Nov 4, 2015
I’m a big fan of les chansons françaises (French songs) or rather les chansons en français (songs in French). Whether they’re from la France, le Québec, or somewhere else in la francophonie, there’s a lot of musique en français that mixes modern styles with a folkier past. One groupe I like is, Mes Aïeux (My…