As they say, it’s a very good place to start. It turns out, it’s also a good place to end. After 6 years … and over 300 posts! … this will be my last blog for Transparent Language. Me at the Pont Alexandre III, 2012, with the Grand Palais in the background All good things… My French journey began way back in 1981 when I was in the 7th grade. My local college only offered French and so I –  and about 30 of my classmates – got our first taste of foreign language from the fabulous Madame Rankins. Despite a boring old textbook (in which we followed the adventures of John Hughes, an Ame ..read more

In 1869, Gustave Flaubert published his Éducation sentimentale1. This classic example of the Bildungsroman or roman d’apprentissage2 tells the story of law student Frederic Moreau and his infatuation with the older Mme Arnoux in his hometown in Normandy. This week we’ll have our own éducation sentimentale3 as we explore les sentiments en français4. Photo CC0 from Juan Mendez at www.pexels.com Sentiments ou émotions “On pense, à tort, que les sentiments et les émotions se réfèrent à la même chose mais en réalité ils s’agit de deux notions différentes.”5 But like our sensations are tied to our ..read more

When I first moved to France in the 1980’s I stood out for many reasons, among them the fact that my name is Tim Hildreth. When I lived in France, everyone (or so it seemed) had very “classically” French names like Pierre or Paul, Marie or Monique or Jean. Things have changed a lot in the intervening years! Photo CC0 from www.pexels.com Comment vous appelez-vous? Up until 1993, parents in France where required to choose their children’s names from a list of approved names. In fact, “la législation française était très stricte sur la question. [Une] loi [datant] du 11 germinal an XI (1er ..read more

I keep a file where I collect ideas for future blog posts. Sometimes these ideas turn into full posts, sometimes they find their way into longer posts as bonus content … and somtimes enough of them build up that I think “ok, let’s get these out into the world!” This week I’m sharing a round-up of these items in a little post I’m calling Le saviez-vous?1 Le saviez-vous? Photo CC0 from www.pexels.com Saviez-vous que le jeu de société Risk a été inventé par un Français?2 Originally called La conquête du monde3, Risk was first developed by the French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse (of Le Ballon ..read more

I recently rediscovered this song from Calogero that I thought felt particularly relevant to these times. The context (a young man losing his life in a street fight of some kind) may be different … different than the war in Ukraine, different than the recent shootings in the U.S. … but the message is the same. Photo CC0 from Inzmam Khan www.pexels.com I’ll back in two weeks with our normal programming, but for now … Échirolles centre banlieue sud de Grenoble / Echirolles heart of the southern suburbs of Grenoble Je m’appelle Sofian j’ai 20 ans / My name is Sofian, I’m 20 years old ..read more

After our miscellaneous March and April news round up, we’re back with the monthly news and some fun vocabulary updates for mai divers1. Photo CC0 from Werner Pfennig at www.pexels.com Eurovision As was widely anticipated, Ukraine won the most recent edition of the Eurovision Song Contest this past weekend. “Le Kalush Orchestra, dont la chanson Stefania mêle hip-hop et musique traditionnelle, a recueilli 631 points.”2. The results for France, unfortunately, were not as good. Despite a strong performance, Alban & Alex, the French group signing in Breton, where avant-dernière au ..read more

Prejudice and stereotypes (les préjugés et les stéréotypes) are almost always bad … except when they are the source of a humorous campagne publicitaire1 from the French financial company Cofidis. This week we look at some pubs2 that highlight common misconceptions that people make about other people. Photo CC0 from www.pexels.com Don’t judge … A book by it’s cover! In French we would say “L’habit ne fait pas le moine.” However you say it, the meaning is the same: don’t assume you know a person based on age, race, gender, or other superficial categories. Cofidis, a company which len ..read more

In this “between two tours”1 time, a lot of the news coming out of France is related to the upcoming Presidential run-off scheduled for le dimanche 24 avril2. But that’s not the only thing happening! So this week, in addition to a presidential update, we’ll look at the recent holidays and get an update on the work taking place at Notre-Dame. Photo CC0 from Andrea Piacquadio at www.pexels.com Macron v. Le Pen, part II Next Sunday, current President Emmanuel Macron will once again face off against Marine Le Pen, leader of le Rassemblement national (RN), in the second round of the French p ..read more

Almost lost in the aftermath of the gilfe1 that rocked the Oscar’s ceremony il y a dix jours2 was the amazing performance of the film Coda. The film, a remake of a 2014 French hit, took home the awards for meilleur acteur secondaire3, meilleur scénario adapté4, and of course meilleur film5. Photo CC0 from www.pexels.com La famille Bélier Like its French fore-bearer, Coda6, tells the story of a young girl, the only hearing member of her family, who discovers a talent for singing. As the only hearing member, both families rely on their daughter(s) to be a bridge between the ..read more

Coucou! If you have been following the blogs closely these past 5 months, you will know I just moved to the south of France.  Clairement, ma vie a beaucoup changé. (Clearly, my life has changed a lot.) In fact, almost two years ago I posted for the first time on the French Language Blog and I talked about how I was dreaming about moving to Paris. Les choses changent, mais je ne pourrais pas être plus heureuse de ma décision. (Things change, but I couldn’t be happier with my decision.) One more big change to announce – il faut que je vous dise au revoir mes chers lecteurs. (I must say good ..read more