Friday, April 23, 2010

Je ne vais pas voler…or quelle couleur est ton bonnet de natation


Je ne vais pas voler...mais je vais prendre un avion bientot.


A French friend has let me know that even though strictly speaking, to say I’m going to fly is grammatical, the everyday use in that context generally means I’m going to steal something. She said I also may say, if I’m flying: je m’envole.

This is where there’s no substitute for learning in context, because if you type “I’m going to fly” into a translating program (not to pick on Reverso.com, which I think is good, but which creates this very result) you come up with “je vais voler,” and all of your francophone friend will think you an admitted thief, rather than a world traveler.


Speaking of flying, my impending trip to France has me wanting to refresh my vocabulary of mundane place names and such, and make sure I can understand directions from here to there, and to pound into my head the importance of properly and politely greeting each person I meet, especially shopkeepers.

It also makes my heart soar to think of bringing a year’s worth of passionate, if clumsy, practice to fruition with a trip to the city I love and want to know more intimately. Mes amis here, and there, are so supportive of my desire to fly and I aim to find a way to share the pleasure of the journey with them.

Also, I turn my attention now to helping my son learn more these important phrases and local customs as he is joining me too. We’ll soon be buying swim caps to wear to one of the many local piscines in Paris, which we haven’t needed here, but which will be obligatoire la-bas, par example.

Really this whole year has been a journey, of community- and friendship-ship building, and how lucky I have been to be part of a surprising and delightful Francophone community in Spokane. I look forward also to spending more time with the vibrant Francophone community that I’ve just touched the edges of so far in Seattle.

So, for those of you who have helped me so much thus far,  I invite you to share some of the local words or terminology you’ve found most useful (or confusing!) on your travels to France here in the comments section.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Juste pour un petit rire

I’ve mentioned before that I find watching French films with French subtitles to be very helpful for listening comprehension. Also, if you didn’t already know this, I love humor in its many and various forms. Thanks to some French teacher friends, I’ve come across this Web site that contains a multitude of brief, comical skits to watch along with French sous titres, or without, si vous voulez.



Tetes a Claques TV

I’ll be wading through them myself now for a bit.

Amusez-vous bien!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Parlaying the parlez-ing

For those franglaphones like me, who mostly study independently, hoping to pick up what we can while surrounded by the English-speaking world, it’s necessary to make opportunities to speak French and to hear it spoken.


On ne peut pas accentuer trop l’importance de la conversation française d’apprendre plus la langue.

Groups of French speakers can thrive anywhere…just ask my pals in Spokane, a place one doesn’t expect to find several active sub-communities of native speakers and learners!

Here, at least a key ingredient to a successful group (in my humble opinion) is ownership by the members and a sense that the goal is to have fun. For some events like parties, where spouses or significant others typically join in, there’s naturally more English spoken, but still plenty of opportunity for asking les vrais français de discuter la culture.

In addition, it’s very helpful for most people to have a weekly gathering for plain old conversation, with the goal to keep it all in French. Even that does better with an element of fun, food, or a bit of wine, however, to grease the wheels.

Though, in my experience here over the last year, a leader for the group is not required, a couple of passionate people and at least a few participatory native or advanced speakers make a group way better!

For those who help coordinate group activities, encouraging volunteers to execute their own ideas, and taking a few pictures to share from events serves to solidify the community of friends and help people see and remember how much they enjoyed the event. After one recent lunch, for example, I posted about seven pictures on a group Web site and had no fewer than seven comments about the photos and requests to repost them.

Please share your favorite strategies, or questions, in the comments area to guide future the weekly posts, and begin to look for France planning discussions starting next week, as I begin to gear up for operation Gonzo Franglaphone.

A très bientôt!