French with Flo

Bonjour ! I hope everyone is having a very nice dimanche de Pâques (Easter Sunday) despite the shelter-in-place order ( le confinement in French). Since we're all at home, I thought you may enjoy a few fun, Easter-related activities in French. By the way, do you know that Pâques is one of the weirdest French words ? (Yes, I know, that's saying something...) The word Pâque  (no final "s") is a feminine singular when used in the expression " la Pâque juive " (which means Passover). Example: Le pain azyme est un aliment traditionnel de la Pâque juive . (Matzah is a traditional Passover food.) The word Pâques  (referring to the Christian Holiday) is a masculine singular (despite the final "s") when it is NOT accompanied by an adjective. It is never preceded by an article (such as " le "), either. Example: Parfois Pâques tombe en mars, parfois il tombe en avril . (Sometimes Easter falls in March, sometimes it falls in April.) But...

Unsurprisingly, the last class of the year had a seasonal theme! Thank you so much to you all for your cards, gifts and kind words. They mean a lot to me and I'm so happy to have such wonderful students. Thank you also for the amazing food. I'm sure we have the best potlucks in the Senior Center! 😋 This year, I had three Christmas-related handouts: Christmas Eve - Image Description (created by silvialefevre at ISLCollective.com) Christmas Vocabulary  (created by jannabanna at ISLCollective.com) Text - Fill in the Blanks  (created by cranberry2 at ISLCollective.com) Finally, here's a beautiful Christmas song about children and world peace. I hope you'll enjoy it. And here's the karaoke version:

" Tout le bonheur du monde " is a 2004 song by the French Reggae / Ska group Sinsemilia . This is the official video clip -- very cute! I think the translation in class was a bit confusing, so I reworked the class handout to include an English translation next to the French lyrics.  The song was also covered by the French group Kids United .  For the singers among you (yes, I know you're there), here's the Sinsemilia version  of the song with lyrics, and here's the Kids United version , also with lyrics. They sing in different keys, so pick your favorite one to sing along! 😉

Music Day , la fête de la musique , is celebrated on June 21st, the longest day of the year and the first day of Summer. In this video by FrenchPod101.com , Ingrid tells us everything about this special Holiday: In class, we also studied the text " La fête de la musique " (with audio version) from Podcast Français Facile . I reformatted their pdf to create the class handout , which includes a fill-in-the-blanks exercise, vocabulary notes and comprehension questions. We also took this opportunity to study a song in class: "Parce qu'on vient de loin" ("Because we Come from Far Away") by singer-songwriter Corneille . Here is the official music clip: Here are the chords with guitar tabs I used for the class handout . You can also find here the French lyrics with English translation. In order to fully understand this song, it is necessary to know the singer's story. Corneille grew up in Rwanda. At 17, his whole family w...

I'm going to gather in this post everything we've studied in connection to  chapter 11 of the French Made Simple textbook.           1. Vouloir, pouvoir, etc. The grammar point in chapter 11 is the conjugation of the verbs  vouloir  and  pouvoir  in the present tense. To get a little more practice, I handed out  this exercise  (created by  silvialefevre  on ISLCollective), in order to review the verbs vouloir, pouvoir, as well as savoir et devoir. You may also be interested in  this online quiz  on the same topic.          2. The numbers (part 1) In chapter 11, we're also learning the numbers from 1 to 69. Here are some extra ressources, including the exercises done in class: Numbers from 1 to 20 on Podcast Français Facile. [BEGINNER] We did the first addition exercise in class. If you'd like extra practice, you can do the second one on your own! 😉 I also...

Another Old Chestnut... This song by Joe Dassin came out in in 1969 and has been popular ever since. Here are the lyrics .

For our last class of the year, here is a series of Christmas-related links and resources.  I hope you'll find them interesting and entertaining.  🎄 Joyeux Noël à tous, et à l'année prochaine ! 🎄 Here is the first video we watched in class, explaining how Noël is celebrated in France.  The video is in French, with both French and English subtitles. It is produced by FrenchPod101.com. The second video we watched comes from a language school in Germany. This one is only in French (with a little bit of German.) But don't worry, it's not difficult ! Clic Here  for the class handout that includes questions about the video, as well as a full transcript. I also recommend the following videos: Christmas in France: So. Much. Food! (video in English) Easy French: Noël in France (Interviewing French people about Christmas. A great way to hear the way regular people talk. In French with both French and English subtitles.) Easy Fren...

Are you in touch with your inner child? it can be really useful for learning a language! Here are a few videos in French, with French subtitles.  And first, let's start with the alphabet: Illustrated alphabet for English speakers:   https://youtu.be/E7MrFRKRtPg The Alphabet Song, adapted in French:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xuZxGirWQI Mozart's Alphabet, followed by another version of the Alphabet Song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp1IU2VGpBQ Then, I've found a whole series of "comptines" (nursery rhymes.) Here are a few examples, but you'll find much more on Youtube once you start watching them. Many of them are classics, going back several centuries, which may explain how weirdly inappropriate for kids they can sound nowadays! 😳 Trois jeunes tambours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuyOfi7lKUk Biquette:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmsxJ5MzrRY Frère Jacques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Y7D7xNQG8 Au clair de la lune: http...

On July 14th , the French celebrate the " Fête Nationale ," the French National Holiday. If you'd like to learn more about this Holiday and how we celebrate it in France, I recommend you check out  this page .  (In English, with French vocabulary and short texts.) One element of the celebrations is the French National Anthem, which is called " La Marseillaise ". So why, then,  is this blogpost's title " Les Marseillaises "? There is only one official " Marseillaise ," composed during the war that followed the French Revolution, but over the decades many people have complained about its violent, belligerent lyrics, and some have proposed alternative versions. In our class handout, you'll discover, on top of the official song, two of those alternative, more pacific (but unfortunately almost unknown)  Marseillaises . 1. La Marseillaise de Rouget de Lisle The first song in the handout is the first stanza and the choru...

Je ne sais pas si vous êtes comme moi, mais j'ai eu cette chanson dans la tête toute la semaine ! Si c'est votre cas, j'espère que vous en aurez profité pour pratiquer... 😄 I don't know if you're like me, but this song got stuck in my head for the entire week! If it was your case, too, I hope you seized this opportunity to practice... Voici les paroles de la chanson, et le vocabulaire . Here are the song's words and the vocabulary. Cette chanson, inspirée des chants de marins traditionnels, a été composée en 1961. La vidéo ci-dessus est la version originale d'Hugues Aufray. La chanson a eu un succès énorme et a été reprise par de nombreux artistes. J'aime aussi beaucoup la version ci-dessous, par les Marins d'Iroise. This song, inspired by traditional sailor songs, was composed in 1961. The video above is the original version by Hugues Aufray. The song was a huge success and was covered by many artists. I also like very much the version...

" Mon amant de Saint-Jean " est une chanson réaliste qui raconte une brève histoire d'amour entre deux danseurs de bal-musette . "My Lover from Saint-Jean" is a "realist song" that tells a short love story between two dancers at a "bal musette". La chanson a été interprétée pour la première fois par Lucienne Delyle en 1942. Elle a été reprise par le chanteur et acteur Patrick Bruel en 2002, avec quelques modifications dans le texte. The song was first interpreted by Lucienne Delyle in 1942. It was covered by the singer and actor Patrick Bruel in 2002, with some changes in the words. Voici les paroles des deux versions de la chanson. Here are the words for both versions of the song.

Graeme Allwright est un chanteur français né en Nouvelle-Zélande. Il est connu pour avoir traduit en français les chansons de Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger et autres chanteurs folk américains. Graeme Allwright is a French singer born in New Zealand. He is known for having translated in French songs by Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and other American folk singers. "Petit garçon" est un chant de Noël dont voici  les paroles . "Petit garçon" is a Christmas song. Here are the words. Cette chanson est une traduction de  Old Toy Trains  par Roger Miller. This song is a translation of Old Toy Trains by Roger Miller. Voici la chanson originale : Here is the original song: *** 12/20/18 UPDATE You may also be interested in this Karaoke version of "Petit Garçon" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTs0SLlGsNY