Haiti – Ayiti

   (Image courtesy Wikipedia)

On January 12, 2010 Haiti was devastated by an earthquake which struck near its capital, Port-au-Prince. A year has gone by, the one year anniversary has passed, and it is easy to forget.

But it's important not to forget. Haiti has a long way to go to recover from the earthquake that hit over a year ago and the recent outbreak of cholera has not helped. With an estimated one million poeople still living in displacement camps, the effects of the earthquake are far from being behind us.

(Image courtesy Wikipedia)

So today we'll take a moment to remember that even though most of the reporters, camera crews, and lights have gone home, there is still work to be done.

The French Wikipedia (can you tell I'm a fan?) has an excellent article on the earthquake:

Séisme de 2010 à Haïti

And some very basic earthquake vocabulary:

 

 

I've never been to Haïti, but I want to go some day. I know it's not number one on most tourism destination lists, but any francophone country is worth visiting as far as I'm concerned and who said that tourism was the only reason to visit a foreign country anyway? Why not go with an aid organization and make a difference? You might find it a much more memorable and moving experience than any vacation.

So? What about you? Have you been to Haïti?

Le jour de la Saint-Valentin

Je t'aime, tu m'aimes, il m'aime. Vous l'aimez…
bref tout le monde s'aime… Ah ! C'est beau l'amour !

« Je t'envoie mon cœur dans un baiser. »
        Anatole France

« Voici mon cœur qui ne bat que pour vous. »
        Paul Verlaine

« Un baiser, qu'est-ce ? Un serment fait d'un peu plus près, un aveu qui veut se confirmer, un point rose qu'on met sur l'i du verbe aimer ; c'est un secret qui prend la bouche pour oreille. »
        Edmond Rostand – Cyrano de Bergerac

It's not for nothing that French is known as the language of love. There's something simply beautiful about the very sound of French and so it seems appropriate to have a few French quotations or poems for Valentine's Day. Can you figure this one out?

Mon premier est la première personne du singulier.
Mon deuxième se trouve dans le conduit d’une cheminée.
Mon troisième un homme dans un asile.
Mon quatrième n’est pas tout seul.
Mon cinquième nous protège de la pluie.
Mon tout est une réalité.

And to help you out as you craft that perfect billet doux, a few useful phrases:

Je t'aime – I love you
Mon amour – My love
(Mon) chéri – Sweetheart, my dear (talking to a man)
(Ma) chérie – Sweetheart, my dear (talking to a woman)
Je suis amoureux de toi – I'm in love with you (man talking)
Je suis amoureuse de toi – I'm in love with you (woman talking)

Je t'aime bien – I like you (because sometimes you have to let someone down gently)

Un coup de foudre – Love at first sight
Le grand amour – True love

(Remember! In "le grand amour" the "d" is followed immediately by a vowel and this means that it will be pronounced like a "t" when you make your liaison. "Le grant-amour.")

Looking for a song for Valentine's day? Why not revisit these Carla Bruni songs?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Do you know your Harry Potter Basics?

Today one of my Harry Potter workshops is starting (if you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the Sacramento or San Francisco page) and I thought it would be appropriate to practice our French today with a little Harry Potter. So, we're returning to TV5. Yup, I told you that website was a great resource!

Under their "jeunesse" (youth) section they have a fairly simply Harry Potter quiz. But to get it right you'll not only have to know your Harry Potter and your basic French vocab, you'll also need to know your Harry Potter vocab. What do you think? Think you can ace this simple little quiz? Give it a try and let me know how you do!

 

 

Haven't checked out Harry Potter in French? You should!

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=FFFFFF&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=DD8E10&t=aegtra-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=2070612368

Online Vocabulary – Values & Virtues

Last week I talked about learning French online – using resources about favorite pastimes and hobbies to pick up vocabulary as well as a sense of how French is really used (both well and poorly) in day-to-day life.

The vocabulary you can pick up from these excursions into French websites is a little more broad than you might at first expect. For example, in this post about martial arts resources I refer to the Fédération Française de Judo and on their site you will find this handy-dandy list of core values:

The given definitions are not necessarily what you will find in a dictionary, but they are short, fairly straitforward, and in French!

Personally, I like "courage" and "sincerity". I like the definition of "courage" because it means that something as common (and unfortunate) as lying to make yourself look good is an act of cowardice, and I'm intrigued by the definition of "sincerity" because that is one demanding definition!

Think about it, by this definition I may be "honest" if I say I don't want to sit down and write that book I've been talking about, but I'm only "sincere" if I admit that the reason I don't want to write it is that I'm terrified it won't be well-received.

What do you think of these virtues and their definitions?

French Vocabulary Online – Martial Arts

Yesterday we looked at crochet – today we're going to balance things out a bit by looking at martial arts.

For starters:
martial arts = les arts martiaux (m)

The Wikipedia article: Art Martial

In this article we learn all sorts of vocab such as:
un sport de combat = a combat sport
un sabre = a sabre
un couteau = a knife
la compétition = competition

As well as nouns and adjectives dealing with nationality:
le Japon = Japan
asiatique = Asian
japonais(e) = Japanese
coréen(ne) = Korean
birman(e) = Burmese
chinois(e) = Chinese

This is an easy subject to find links for, so I will make no attempt to list a representative sampling, but here are a few:

French Judo Federation
Capoeira France
le Taekwondo
French Karate Federation

And of course, there are a ton of related videos on YouTube, but just one as an example:

 

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/7mFnN1qaa0o?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1

How about you? What did you find?

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?

Learning French Online – Vocabulary

The easiest, quickest, and most effective way to learn a language is to pick up and move to a country that speaks it. Once in a sink-or-swim situation you'd be surprised at how well you can swim. Unfortunately, this is not always practical. Given this reality, we look for ways to study the language in our day-to-day lives and online.

There are two essential aspects to learning a language:

1) Study it.
2) Use it.

The complication comes in deciding just how you will accomplish these simple steps. While the internet is full of online activities and lessons, some free, some costly, one of my favorite ways to study French has nothing to do with lessons, activities, or fees.

Start with what you know and love.

It's that simple. What interests you? Do you spend every free moment golfing? On the tennis courts? Creating new crafty gifts for your friends? Painting? Discovering music? With your pet? Whatever your hobby, your career, your passion – research it in French.

Assuming you have a basic grasp of the fundamentals, you'll be surprised at how much you can pick up this way. Many French words are similar to English words and you will be working with a subject that you know well. What is interesting is easy to learn and remember and what's more – it's easy to use. Start thinking about your hobby in French. Are you making a shopping list for your next trip to the craft store or REI? Write it in French. Have friends who are into the same thing and who also speak French? Practice with them!

The internet is full of excellent online resources for building your grasp of vocabulary and grammar in French.

Start at: www.fr.wikipedia.org
Read about your hobby.

(Not sure what it's called in French?
Look it up at: www.wordreference.com)

Then click on the external links on the Wikipedia article (you'll find these at the bottom of the article under "liens externes".)

Finally, enter some of the key vocabulary terms you've found in French in your favorite search engine and have fun!

Okay, seriously now – I want your comments! What are your favorite hobbies, pastimes, interests?

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:

AEG Translations

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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

 

RE Verbs – The List

Attendre – does not mean “to attend.” Don’t even think it. Also, note that in English you wait “for” someone, but you do not add “pour” to the corresponding French phrase. “J’attends mon ami.”

Entendre = to hear. Écouter = to listen. These are not the same verb!

Prétendre – does not mean to “pretend.” It means to “claim” as in: “He claims that he’ll be on time.” (Which will make “attendre” unnecessary.)