Our Smokey, all grown up now, would like to add: Je suis toujours le fils de mon père. ("Still the son of my father… even if he does live far away, in Marseilles.") fils (feece) noun, masculine : son C'est bien le fils de son père = he is very much his father's sonêtre le fils de ses oeuvres = to be a … Continue reading fils
A good place to glander… in a cozy room, flowers on the windowsill. Photo taken in Villedieu sometime last fall. glander (glahn day) : to loaf about, to do nothing (especially when you should be working) Example Sentence On se sent un peu coupable quand on glande, n'est-ce pas? We feel a little guilty when we loaf about, don't we?. A Day in a … Continue reading glander
Our son, Maxime, examines some weight-lifting equipment on his birthday. Notice the patch, just above his ear (read on, in today's story…). Never miss a word of photo: get French Word-A-Day delivered by email, here. les cheveux blancs (lay sheh veuh blahn) : white hair Also: le cheveu gris = gray hairles cheveux poivre et sel = salt-and-pepper hair Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce … Continue reading cheveux blancs
Something scary arrived in the mail… read on. le recensement militaire : registration (military), census, counting (votes) Audio File: listen to our son, Max, read his letter (below) from the mayor, including the term "recensement militaire": Download MP3 file or Wav file A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse "I begin to be adult". Our 15-year-old son has received a letter* from the mayor. It … Continue reading recensement militaire
Calico cat in a window Louper (loo pay) verbto miss (a class…) After his hearty lunch of poulet rôti, spicy eggplant ratatouille, and rosemary potatoes (and seconds of all three!), I suspect that my son is brimming with health and not at all as sick as he claimed to be when the alarm clock rang this morning. ("Aïe! J'ai mal au ventre!" he … Continue reading How to say “to miss a class” in French
I fell in love with this roulotte, or gypsy caravan, in Hyères. Don't show my mom this photo — or she'll be text messaging me in seconds–and in ALL CAPS–instructing me to cash in the kids' college fund — and buy the wooden trailer! Travel, Jules might argue, is the best education. More photos in the upcoming photo blog. * * * Holy moly! After … Continue reading saisonnier
A child care center in Flayosc. Seems like yesterday that my son went to the crèche… read on in today’s column. ado (adoh) noun, masculine, feminine : teen (short for un(e) adolescent = teenager) Note: the audio file feature will return on Monday. . Does “ado” mean adieu to childhood? There is something in the air around here and it smells like Adieu, like goodbye … Continue reading ado
The best anti-odor remedy yet! Read on, in today's story. Well, here's one for you: "puer"! In English it means "the dung of dogs". Is it me, or is there a whisper of poetry in that last entry? We can forget about the stinky English definition for the moment (aren't you glad this is a French word list?) and rejoice, instead, in knowing that the … Continue reading puer
Minus Cancer: my mom (in 2003)–post-op and playing the game of life again. (That’s her, arms in the air, ever in praise, in the second to the last lane where her grandson, Max races beside her and into the shallow piscine in the town of St. Maxime). la piscine (pee-seen) noun, feminine swimming pool (slang) the French secret service En amour, il y a un … Continue reading La Piscine: Everyone in America has a Swimming Pool?
Fruit and vegetable crates at a corner market in Orange (Vaucluse). une emplette(om-plet)noun, femininea purchase When Max and his soeur cadette, Jackie, offer to ride their bikes to the bakery, I request a little detour along the way. "Please stop by the supérette. We're out of toilet paper!" The kids wrinkle their noses, complaining that they'll look carrément ridicule shopping for le papier WC. But … Continue reading Emplette: Only in France Can Children Buy Wine!
