Strange French Sites: Who Was Nicholas Flamel? Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Apr 5, 2018
If you happen to be in Paris, you might want to check out the oldest stone home in the city. Located at 51, rue de Montmerencey, it dates to 1407. But that’s not the only special thing about this house: it was built by Nicholas Flamel, the most famous French alchemist of all time. For…
Using Delicious Spaghetti To Remember The Gender Of French Words Posted by John Bauer on Apr 4, 2018
Remembering le genre d’un mot (the gender of a word) is one of the hardest parts of learning French. Getting a feel for how un chaise sounds wrong is very hard for non-native speakers. While there are countless examples les anglophones (English speakers) like myself making mistakes with French words, looking at words that les…
French Grammar – Past imperfect Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 3, 2018
Welcome to lesson 3 in our mini French Grammar series. After le passé récent and le futur proche, it’s time this week to look at the French tense known as l’imparfait. L’Imparfait (The imperfect) Like le passé composé, le passé simple, and the passé récent, l’imparfait is a tense for talking about things that…
Using An Chair To Understand The Importance Of Les Genres In French Posted by John Bauer on Mar 28, 2018
Learning des nouveaux mots (new words) in French means remembering a word’s definition, pronunciation, and le genre du mot (the gender of the word). For many people including myself, remembering les genres des mots is the hardest part of learning the language! Malheureusement (unfortunately), as un anglophone (an English speaker) the idea of every word…
French Grammar – Back to the future Posted by Tim Hildreth on Mar 27, 2018
Last week I kicked off a short series of posts on useful French grammar topics that sometimes get ignored. This week we head back to the future* with a look at a way to talk about upcoming actions and events that is as easy as the passé récent that we looked at last week. Le…
Travel in France: A Palace Made of Pebbles? Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Mar 26, 2018
There are lots of famous sites in France, from the iconic French Riviera to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. But there are also some interesting attractions off the beaten path … like a gigantic palace made almost entirely of pebbles in Hauterives, France. Known as Le Palais idéal, or the Ideal Palace, this strange…
Spice up Your Life! Herbs and Spices in French Posted by Josh Dougherty on Mar 25, 2018
It’s amazing how a little salt and pepper can enhance the flavor of a dish, but it’s generally a blend of other épices (spices; feminine) that bring a dish’s full flavor profile to the surface. Ces aromates (seasonings; masculine) can transport you to an exotic land, remind you of home-cooked meals from your childhood, or…