The closest thing to a sleigh that I could find in my photo album. Taken in the Piedmont. Faire le Traineau fehr-leuh-tren-oh to drag one's bottom As if my son and my daughter aren't busy enough doling out French vocabulary and minding their mother's grammar, I now have a dog teaching me quirky Gallic slang! The latest expression, holiday-related at that, sounds more like a … Continue reading traineau
La boucherie/butcher’s: a place cocottes, French or otherwise, ought to steer clear of. Rosetta Stone French (CD-ROM) — "an award-winning method used by NASA and the Peace Corps". More language software here. une cocotte (ko-kowt) noun, feminine 1. hen, chic 2. pot, cooker (for making stew) In French, cocotte (the feminine diminutive of coq) is originally a child’s name for "hen" (coq…cocotte) (in English "cluck-cluck") … Continue reading cocotte
Season's Greetings from La Morra, Italy. Learn French in your car : a simple, direct approach to language learning. indigne (an-deen) adjective shameful, disgraceful, unworthy, worthless, inadequate Qui ne continue pas à apprendre est indigne d'enseigner.He who ceases to learn cannot adequately teach. –Gaston Bachelard * * * … Continue reading indigne
The red-as-lips walls of Alba, Italy. In French language software: TeLL me More French — Used everyday in more than 10,000 academic institutions. le baiser (beh zay) noun masculine kiss Un baiser est un tour délicieux conçu par la nature pour couper la parole quand les mots deviennent superflus. A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous. … Continue reading baiser
Photo taken in Serre Chevalier, near Briançon Sapin (sah-pahn) noun, masculine fir tree. When Max came into the kitchen announcing, "Papa a acheté un sapin," I folded the dishtowel, set it down and took a deep breath. I knew the Christmas tree would be trunk-size—all the better to fit into the back of an economy car—and not tall, like the spruce my mom … Continue reading le sapin
Taken at the bed and breakfast in Italy. SmartFrench CD-ROM –"the smart way to learn French" acceuillant,e (listen to the sound clip, below) adjective welcoming, friendly Le véritable poète a pour vocation d'accueillir en lui la splendeur du monde. The true poet's vocation is to welcome within himself the world's splendor. –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe … Continue reading accueillant
A méli-mélo of textures in this colorful vitrine taken at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Rosetta Stone French (CD-ROM) is an award-winning method used by NASA and the Peace Corps le méli-mélo (may-lee may-lo) noun, masculine muddle, jumble, medley, hodge-podge, mishmash * * * Dans le méli-mélo, j’ai toujours préféré … Continue reading méli-mélo
Flying sièges at Park Asterix in Paris. Peter May’s new French mystery: "Intelligent, ever-moving and beautifully written" -Barbara Douglas. le siège (syezh) noun, masculine 1. seat; bench 2. head office; center (of learning) 3. siege La seule chose que la politesse peut nous faire perdre c’est…un siège dans un autobus bondé. –Oscar Wilde(About the only thing ever lost by politeness is a seat in a … Continue reading le siège
At Simon & Schuster’s headquarters along Avenue of the Americas in New York. In French language software: TeLL me More French — Used everyday in more than 10,000 academic institutions: un rédacteur (ray-dak-ter) noun, masculine an editor A female editor is called "une rédactrice" (ray-dak-treece) Comme l’apprend vite tout bon rédacteur, c’est justement ce qui est évident qui doit être souligné – sinon on passera … Continue reading rédacteur
The "hills" of New York taken with this Canon Here is New York. Perceptive, funny, and nostalgic, E.B. White’s stroll around Manhattan remains the quintessential love letter to the city, written by one of America’s foremost literary figures. The New York Times has named Here is New York one of the ten best books ever written about the metropolis, and The New Yorker calls it … Continue reading vallonnée
