Tag Archives: French language
French Vocabulary – Maps and Directions Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 2, 2019
While doing the research for my last post on le Grand Paris, I came across something that got me thinking about les points cardinaux (the cardinal points) and the words that we use in French to talk about north, south, east, and west. Le monde est grand / The world is big J’adore les cartes…
French Music – Spring is in the air Posted by Tim Hildreth on Mar 19, 2019
This year, here in the northern hemisphere, le mercredi 20 mars (Wednesday, March 20th), is le premier jour du printemps (the first day of spring)! What better time to share another fun French-language song, one that kicks off la nouvelle saison* (the new season) tout en joie (with joy). C’est l’printemps / It’s spring This…
French Music – More from Calogero Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jan 22, 2019
Calogero has quickly become one of my favorite French singers. He has a way of combining great melodies with powerful language that evokes emotions, memories, and plein de sentiments (lots of emotion). Like Voler de Nuit which I shared previously, the song below is from his great 2017 album Liberté chérie (Cherished freedom). On a tous …
French vocabulary – Making resolutions Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jan 15, 2019
Le nouvel an (New Year’s) is a perfect time for finding those little ways (comme apprendre une nouvelle langue / like learning a new language!) to make our lives better. As is the case in many countries, les Français (the French) use le jour de l’An* (New Year’s day) to declare leurs bonnes intentions (their good…
French language and culture – remembering New Year’s Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jan 1, 2019
Bonne Année 2019! Happy New Year! Le jour de l’an (New Year’s Day)* is a time for looking ahead and for looking back. And looking back over the last year got me thinking about the related vocabulary of memories. Like English, French has multiple words for remembering. For the most part, they mean the same…
French Culture – C’est Noël Posted by Tim Hildreth on Dec 25, 2018
Nous sommes le mardi, 25 décembre et c’est Noël! (It’s Tuesday December 25th… It’s Christmas!). Whether you are celebrating the holiday or partake of different seasonal traditions, it seems like a perfect time to highlight a few more of my favorite holiday traditions from France. La bûche de Noël / The Christmas log Not to…
French Vocabulary – The spirit of the season Posted by Tim Hildreth on Dec 18, 2018
The news from France hasn’t been the best lately. As of this past weekend, les gilets jaunes are still protesting in the streets of Paris – despite concessions from the French government – and of course there was the sad news out of Strasbourg of l’attaque du marché de Noël (the attack of the Christmas market). But…