Cary Tutor – French and English Tutoring

Mot du Jour – 9/20/11

OK I admit it…I haven’t written a blog in a couple of weeks. But I hope those who follow it (all 2 of you know who you are ) will see I have been working hard by looking at la leçon du jour (the lesson of the day) – la première leçon française (the first French lesson).

This is also on my “French videos” page – go there to see a lot more great stuff as well

If you like this video, comment below and tell me so! And if you are not a follower yet, it is easy to do, and you should get these blogs as they come out.

Merci beaucoup (thank you very much) and bon travail (good work)!

Mot du Jour – 9/6/11

Another easy French word – le camping! I went “le camping” this last weekend for Labor Day and it was nice to be with family and friends.

I got bit by beaucoup des moustiques (lots of mosquitoes) and got sand in my toes walking the trail many times a day…but it was beautiful by le lac and les temps etait parfait! (the weather was perfect!)

Here is another great page that tells you all about camping – with sounds as you hover – great learning tool

http://www.languageguide.org/im/outdoors/fr/

And one to close out the day – look forward to next year’s vacance au camping (camping trip)!

Mot du Jour – 8/27/11

How do you say hurricane in French? Un hurricane . It is also said ouragan or cyclone tropical. A natural disaster is une catastrophe naturelle (oon catastrof naturel).

So as la pluie (the rain) and le vent (the wind) blow, stay inside and enjoy a movie and time with friends and family! And since you have some time on your hands…check out this cool page with pictures and words spoken out loud – all about the weather (les temps).

http://www.languageguide.org/french/vocabulary/weather/

Mot du Jour – 8/23/11

Have you ever been bitten by a moustique? I have – and they love to bite me! Of course, I am talking about the little mosquito…and I got bitten a LOT on Saturday night while watching a movie outdoors with a friend. She had what she thought was antimoustique (mosquito repellant) but it wasn’t, so they gave me many piqûres de moustique (mosquito bites), and I didn’t even feel them doing it! Sneaky little buggers…

So here is a question for you – what do YOU use when you have piqûres de moustique? What is your best remedy? I would love to know .

Mot du Jour – 8/16/11

“Telephonez a la maison!“. That is what I remember from E.T. when I saw it in Paris, France in 1988. Of course, in English that is “Phone home!” but I will never forget how it was translated into French . I had just graduated from college with my Lit and French degree and was in Paris for a summer missions trip. I spoke elementary English to my hosts, as one had some knowledge of this foreign language , and the rest we struggled through French to communicate. I remember “chocolat chaud” and baguettes in the morning, and riding my bicyclette all around the suburb of Paris we stayed in as we did our work for the trip. But every night, we returned to la maison of our host families, and we even had time for some enjoyable sightseeing, like seeing “E.T.” and La Tour Eiffel.

So if you ever get a chance to tour another country, be thankful for la maison you will stay in at night, or if it is an appartement, or hôtel, that is très bien, aussi! (very good too!)

Mot du Jour – 8/6/11

If you see the country of France, and how close it is in proximity to other countries in Europe – and how over the years they have triumphed over each other and blended cultures – then you will understand how fascinating it is to highlight one of these here today – Brittany (Le Bretagne). They speak Breton (in Basse Bretagne – Low Brittany) and Gallo (in Haute Bretagne – High Brittany).

The idea for this blog today came from a comment from a reader, Marie-France, who saw a previous blog I had written, using one of her pictures for “Poisson d’Avril” – April Fool’s Day. She suggested that I look at this blog that some kids had written about Brittany and it’s fascinating culture. With a combined culture of French, Celtic and Welsh, they are very diverse in what they offer to tourists and their history is quite interesting. I have always loved Arthurian legends and stories like Tristan and Iseult and they are part of the Bretan lore – so I did some research and found some more interesting sites to share with you -

http://www.brittanytourism.com/about-brittany/a-land-of-inspiration

http://www.tristanandisolde.net/django.fcgi/articles/article/brittany

There are many things to visit and do there, from water sports and sailing to wine and fresh seafood. There is a beautiful video on the Brittany tourism site – http://www.brittanytourism.com/#

and for something even more unique and fun – here is a video highlighting one of their famous festivals – happening RIGHT now! Le Festival Interceltique L’orient – featuring its musical heritage – Breton music is as distinctive as anything else in the region. The biniou, or Breton bagpipes, and the bombarde, the Breton oboe, are the two most iconic instruments in any Breton band, although the harp, accordion, violin and drums can also play major parts.

If we can’t visit – at least we can get an idea from these sites – hope you enjoyed your visit to Brittany (Le Bretagne)!

Mot du Jour – 8/3/11

In a few weeks, kids will be going back to l’ecole. What is that? School! There are different French words for different levels of school – une ecole – a school (grade school) – un collège – middle school/junior high – un lycée – high school – and une université – college/university. A little confusing, non? But that is what they call them.

And you might understand what a teacher is called – un/une professeur – or for short un/une prof. (This is used for a man or woman teacher.) Easy, right?

So whether you are going back to une ecole, un collège, un lycée, or une université – bienvenue (welcome) and amusez-vous bien (have fun)!

Mot du Jour – 7/30/11

As you can see and hear from the video, réveiller means to “wake up” – and the reflexive “se réveiller” is used when you wake up after a long sleep like you would do every morning: “je me réveille tous les matins.” (literally, “I wake myself up all the mornings.“)

So the military uses the “Reveille” (Bugle Call) to wake up the soldiers every morning, and it is a good routine for them, as it definitely is a wake-up call but majestic and patriotic as well.

Have you ever have a problem with your dents (“daants“)? Your teeth are very important to you, and if you don’t see the dentiste (“daanteest“) very often…you may have some problèmes in the future.

I have had an abscessed tooth for about a year now – most of it had broken off and I was feeling some pain at times. I finally got some good insurance, found a great dentist (a  miracle! ) and got my dent pulled cet après-midi (this afternoon).

So since it is in the back, right in front of my dent de sagesse (wisdom tooth), I don’t need to have a crown. But I will have a space there and have to be careful for a while ~ but at least it won’t hurt anymore!

Mot du Jour – 7/23/11

I am into French songs these days – and I have a friend who is going to start singing in weddings, and asked me about this song – I had not heard it before, and it is really quite romantic…especially when you get the translation of what they are saying

See below for the English translation – how romantic!

The blue sky can collapse in on itself
And the earth can cave in
Little matters to me if you love me
I couldn’t care less about the whole world

As long as love will flood my mornings
As long as my body will quiver beneath your hands
The problems matter so little to me
My love, because you love me

I would go to the ends of the earth
I would dye my hair blonde
If you asked me to
I would pull down the moon
I would steal fortune
If you asked me to
I would disavow my homeland
I would disavow my friends
If you asked me to
One could well laugh at me
I would do anything
I would do anything
If you asked me to

If one day life tears you away from me
If you die and go far from me
Little matters to me if you love me
Because I will die too
We would have eternity for ourselves
In the blue of all the immensity
In heaven, no more problems
My love, do you believe that we love each other?

God reunites those who love each other.