Tag Archives: French vocabulary
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 Culture – What do the French think Posted by Tim Hildreth on Mar 12, 2019
As I was recently following up on news about les Gilets jaunes I stumbled across a great resource for anyone interested in understanding what les français pensent (the French think) on any number of different topics. Qu’en pensez vous? / What do you think? There’s no better way to know what someone is thinking then…
French Language – Learning New Words Posted by Tim Hildreth on Mar 5, 2019
As I read, listen to the latest news from France, and explore new music, I like to jot down ideas for blog posts. Sometimes (like last week) those items come together in a cohesive story. Sometimes, like this week, they’re a real méli-mélo. Méli-mélo Méli-mélo is a great little expression that means a mish-mash, a mixed bag…
French Culture – Saving History Posted by Tim Hildreth on Feb 26, 2019
One of the things I always loved about living in France was just how much history was … everywhere! On my very first visit to la Bretagne my host brother took me to see le Mont Saint-Michel and to the ruins of an ancient château fort in the middle of the woods. For a kid…
French language and culture – the past as prologue Posted by Tim Hildreth on Feb 19, 2019
I’ve talked about nostalgia before. I’ve also shared mid-century songs from French yé-yé singers like Katty Line and Jacqueline Taïeb . But as the movement known as les gilets jaunes enters its third month, I had to share this new oldie I came across. Plus ça change… / The more things change… While les gilets jaunes don’t have…
Here and Now – More useful French expressions Posted by Tim Hildreth on Feb 12, 2019
Last June I wrote a post with common terms for describing où et quand (where and when) things happen. This week we’ll explore some more useful time and place terms (and enjoy a new song from the French musician/group Yelle). Ici ou ailleurs Français English ici here là there (or here, depending on the context)…