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Male or Female?
Think you know when a word in French is masculine and when it’s feminine?
Here’s a fun little quiz to see just how good you are!
So? How’d you do? Did you get all 20?
Coucou !
This site is in the process of transition. Unfortunately, I have lots on my to do list, so the transition is slow. Soyez patient !
French Vocabulary Online – Crochet
Crochet is not, perhaps, the most popular hobby, but I have a certain fondness for crochet. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was a child and anytime I crochet anything new (or discover some old unfinished crochet project) I think of her.
Yesterday we talked about turning our hobbies into excuses to practice French. Today I'm going to demonstrate with crochet.
From simple dictionary searches we learn that:
to crochet = faire du crochet
a crochet-hook = un crochet
to crochet (something) = faire (qqc) au crochet
Now we have our basic search terms.
The Wikipedia article is pretty basic: Crochet
Nonetheless, from it we learn the names of a few different kinds of crochet as well as:
une aiguille = a needle
le fil = thread, yarn
crocheter = to crochet
le tricot = knitting
la dentelle = lace, lacework
And here's one I didn't know, but was happy to learn:
un carré de grand-mère – a granny square
Unfortunately, the "lien externe" on this article takes us to an English-language page, so now it is time to tearn to Google and when we do we find all sorts of websites with patterns, history, and commentary:
Passion Crochet
Crochodile – Blog
Crochet Forum (Practice reading and writing! – Please note though that this is not a language forum; don't bombard the forum with a lot of language questions. If you have a lot of language questions go somewhere like: www.wordreference.com.)
Want to practice your listening comprehension? Why not try YouTube?
YouTube videos vary greatly, the quality and content can be poor, but it's worth a look. The great thing about How To videos is that there is almost always a LOT of repetition, so if you didn't catch a word or phrase the first time around, just wait. It's sure to be repeated. For example:
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/NlVgrv7tQk0?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1
So? What did you learn? What do you have to add?
San Francisco
French Tutoring
Anne Elizabeth’s Novel French Workshops, currently featuring Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers, (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in French) is coming soon to San Francisco!
If you live in the San Francisco area and you’re interested in participating in this exciting workshop; if you’re an intermediate or advanced French student; if you studied French long ago and are afraid you are forgetting it – join the waiting list now!
Join us while we read and discuss Harry Potter in French and work through the associated workbook to develop fluency, expand vocabulary, and learn grammar and conjugation.
View page one of Harry Potter in French
If you want to receive an email when these workshops come to San Francisco, leave a comment below expressing your interest or contact me via:
Email: anneelizabeth (at) aegtranslations (dot) com
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San Francisco French Resources
Alliance Française San Francisco
French American Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Bay Acceuil
French Consulate – San Francisco
San Francisco Bay Area Francophile List
Sacramento
While most people think of San Francisco as California’s center for international affairs and francophone resources, Sacramento is an incredibly diverse city with large francophone and francophile communities as well as an active Alliance Française.
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Translation
For years I have worked out of Sacramento as French teacher and tutor. My translation business is also based out of Sacramento. If you are interested in translation, you can visit my translation site here:
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French Lessons
If you are in the Sacramento area and are interested in French lessons, I am currently offering Novel French Workshops for motivated intermediate and advanced students. We will be reading book one in the Harry Potter series in French and will be working from an associated workbook as we work towards fluency, study vocabulary, and work on grammar and conjugation.
Come join us!
**A new workshop will be scheduled soon. Join the waiting list!**
Email: anneelizabeth (at) aegtranslations (dot) com
Wonder if this is the right workshop for you? Read page one of Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers in French and let me know what you think! (If you find it too difficult, try reading it again an hour or a day later. You’d be surprised how much this can help!)
View page one of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Want to join us but don’t know if you’ll be free for the next workshop? Interested in something a little easier or a little trickier? Send me an email or leave a comment below about your interest in future workshops and I will add your email address to the waiting list. (I never sell, rent, or give away email addresses.)
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French Resources in Sacramento
Alliance Française de Sacramento
Club Français de Sacramento
Sacramento French Film Festival
The Serious Store
The Fun Store
Read Me!
Is that French?
Throughout my posts I provide links to native French-language sites as well as links to dictionary and bi-lingual dictionary type sites. Occasionally, very occasionally, I will link to other English-language sites with information about French or France. When I do, the nature of the site will be clearly explained in the blog post.
Since I try so hard to direct you to native French-language sites, you will often find yourself on sites that are not designed for foreigners or that are not even designed for language learners, but I believe that this is the best way to learn. Why just learn about a language when you can dive right in?
French, it’s not just for France:
French is a beautiful language spoken by many people in many different accents with many different local variations around the world. However, I know far more about European French and about France than I do any other variation of the language or any other French-speaking country, so you can safely assume that most posts are France-centric.
Whenever I do explore another part of the French-speaking world with one of my posts I will always label it accordingly. Check the Categories list to view posts specific to Canada, Haiti, Belgium, etc.
** I Take Requests **
What do you want to see here? Do you want to know what the pronouns “y” and “en” have to do with donkeys? Or are you confused by that pesky subjunctive? Maybe you’re just curious why you saw hords of people on rollerblades your last night in Paris. Post your questions!
About Me
I’ve been told that I have a soft voice. I’ve been told that I have a strident voice. I’ve been told that I need to speak up.
I prefer games of language and strategy.
I don’t collect butterflies.
If you prefer to describe me in numbers, here are a few:
-At any given time I am probably in the middle of one French-language novel, one English-language novel, and one or two non-novels.
-I’ve lived in three countries: the US, the UK, and France. So basically I live in countries with red, white, and blue flags.
-I know that the answer is 42.
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. – Ludwig Wittgenstein
The sum of human wisdom is not contained in any one language, and no single language is capable of expressing all forms and degrees of human comprehension. -Ezra Pound
[…] to lose any language is to lose a unique way of knowing life. – Melvyn Bragg
Novel French Learning 
