Tag Archives: France
DÉGAGE! Le verbe dégager Posted by Hichem on Feb 25, 2011
Le monde arabe se soulève toujours ! (The Arab World still rises up!) “IR’HAL” (إرحــــــــــــــل) is actually the Arabic word for “dégage“, which means “get out” in French, and if you’ve payed attention, it was very often written as such, en français, in the massive demonstrations that still shake this strategic region of the world. After…
The “Gaulois” Legacy in French Part 1 Posted by Hichem on Feb 8, 2011
Long before that the hexagonal land that we know today as France was invaded by foreign German tribes called the Franks, who went as far as changing its original language and name, it was known to its inhabitants as La Gaule. Those native inhabitants, who were of Celtic “souche“(a Gaulish word meaning “stock”, “origin”), were known…
Outdated French Expressions to Avoid Posted by Hichem on Oct 26, 2010
Il y a quelques années (A few years ago), one of my very good old American friends, who by the way will have no hard time recognizing herself when reading this, went to France for the first time of her life, only to discover there that whenever she used the interjections she had painstakingly learned at her French class back in the States -expressions like sacrebleu…
Banning the Burqa: Une nouvelle loi française Posted by Jennie on Jul 14, 2010
Aujourd’hui, l’Assemblée nationale (Today, the National Assembly) a voté (voted for) l’interdiction du port du voile intégral. A law banning the full-face veil, or voile intégral, has already been passed in the lower house of le parlement belge (Belgian parliament). When we discussed that law in April (The Burqa Ban in Belgium, April 30), le…
Scandal au Mondial des Bleus ! Posted by Hichem on Jun 22, 2010
Ca y est les gars, c’est fini ! (That’s all folks, it’s over!) Prochain rendez-vous des Bleus dans quatre ans pour la Coupe du Monde au Brésil (Next rendez-vous for les Bleus in four years for the World Cup in Brazil), and in two years for the UEFA Euro 2012 in la Pologne (Poland) and l’Ukraine. But then, the nagging question…
Un Début-Surprise du Mondial 2010 ! Posted by Hichem on Jun 19, 2010
Every Coupe du Monde has had its fair share of surprises and so-called “coup de théâtres”. But will this particular Mondial hold even more surprises for us than ever before? Consider these games; almost no day has passed so far without a surprising result: * Sud Afrique contre le Mexique (South Africa vs. Mexico), last Friday: 1-1…
The Burqa Ban in Belgium Posted by Jennie on Apr 30, 2010
Aujourd’hui, on va aborder (today we’re going to tackle) un sujet assez chaud (a pretty hot subject). I know this blog is about la langue et la culture françaises, and I hope you’re learning both from reading it. Today’s topic is at the center of la discussion actuelle (the current discussion) on French culture and…