The closest thing to a sleigh that I could find in my photo album. Photo taken in the Piedmont. Bestseller in French language instruction: SmartFrench empreinte de pas (soundfile follows…) noun, feminine : footprint Audio File: Listen to my daughter, Jackie, pronounce the French word for footprint: Download Une empreinte de pas . Download Une empreinte de pas A Day in a French … Continue reading empreinte de pied
Our friend, témoin, avocat, son's parrain, and more, in today's story. (The cute guy is Matthieu, my husband's godson). avocat (avo-kah) noun 1. avocado 2. lawyer, barrister, counsel The feminine of avocat is "avocate" Do you have a funny, language-learning (or other) story about an avocado/avocat or lawyer/légume? Wait a minute; an avocado is a fruit… Never mind, share your fruity, law-abiding story with us … Continue reading avocat
The woman across the table from me has hair the color of steeped red tea. Her thick, curly locks are gathered at the nape of her neck and loosely tied. Her name is Ouahida (pronounced why-dah) and she tells me her prénom* means “unique” in Tunisian. Ouahida and I are drinking Earl Grey at an Irish pub in the French Alps, but soon we will … Continue reading Ouahida
I don't know why I want "straight" to always be the rule when, in fact, I often admire what is off-center. Read on, in today's story column. règle (regl) noun, feminine : rule, ruler; rule (of conduct, grammar); (règles = menstruation) Audio File: listen to today's word and hear Jean-Marc read a passage (that is: (a list of rules) from today's story Download WAV or … Continue reading regle
That's my daughter, freshly-picked flowers hidden behind her back, trailing behind on a school field trip back in 2005. The goal of the "sortie" was to learn how to use a compass. Looks like our girl will need that information these days, in order to navigate the range of information, sometimes conflicting… that she receives from her trusty parents. Read on, in today's story column. … Continue reading epargner
The scene was so classic that I wondered, as I snuck up to snap the photo, if it wasn't staged! Notice the underwear: one per "hook"… Photo taken in Nyons (just next to a chichi restaurant. Well, that oughta show 'em!). de guingois (deuh-gehn-gwah) adverbial and adjectival phrase : askew, lop-sided marcher de guingois = to walk lop-sidedlytout va de guingois = everything's going … Continue reading How to say lop-sided in French: de guingois
What does a mom do when her kids use the M-word (see today’s story)? Does she look to an old French billboard for the answer? (This one, an ad for “La Roue” savon–see the old red wheel in the background?–seems to suggest a good old-fashioned washing-out-of-the-mouth with soap! SAPERLIPOPETTE (saah-pair-lee-poh-pet) exclamation : gadzooks! goodness me! Update: my friend Alicia just wrote in, adding this: … Continue reading saperlipopette!
Those lime-green leaves are just itching to tickle that lemon of a Citroën. Guili-Guili! Gallic Gazettes for you today! Ticklish? Vous craignez les chatouilles (fear the tickles…)? Then you'd better go and hide under the bed, with the dust bunnies, lest our furled Francophile fingers find you (!) and unleash a string of snorts from your inner laughing court. Guili-guili!* Gitchy, gitchy!–we're tickling today: CHATOUILLER … Continue reading chatouiller
NEW! Discover reader-recommended blogs (and add your own France/French related site to this page via the comments box, here.) Blogs :: Rachel Pommier :: 39Vaugirard.com :: France With Ansley :: Notre Vie Quotidien :: Learn French For Fun :: Chitlins & Camembert :: The French Corner :: A Puerto Rican in Paris :: French Letters :: Days on the Claise :: Parislogue :: Learn French Avec … Continue reading French Blogs – Websites about France, French Learning
Oh, those French love their art. They tuck it into every nook and cranny. Photo of Madonna and Child in a corner niche in the village of Villedieu (Vaucluse). CONTRETEMPS (con-truh-tahn) noun, masculine : mishap, mischance : hitch; delay, inconvenience : syncopation (music) … and see story, below, about "a shifting of the normal accent, usually by stressing the normally unaccented beats…." (Dictionary.com) Expressions & … Continue reading contretemps
