French with Flo

Today was our last class for a month. As a reminder, there is no class in October, as I'll be in France for a good part of the month. We'll meet again on November 7th for our Spelling Bee and pot luck . Or, as I'd rather call them, our Concours d'orthographe et buffet à partager . Bring something to share and don't get too nervous, it's just a game! I've compiled a list of 500 words and phrases we've seen in class. You can use this to study for the spelling bee if you want to compete (which is completely voluntary, of course.) The verbs are listed in the infinitive tense, but don't forget to also review the present tense conjugation . Here's the document in pdf format and in Excel format (which wasn't actually created on Excel but on a Mac software, so I hope it works.) I also have a few extra hard copies. We'll bring them to the Senior Center Office tomorrow, in case some students would like to pick one up instead of printi...

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...

The first part of our class about devinettes (guessing game) was a couple of beginner-level dialogues from Podcast Français Facile , introducing the vocabulary and sentence structure needed to describe an object. Here are the two dialogues (with the audio recordings), and the accompanying vocabulary . [BEGINNER] We then used a vocabulary in pictures about classroom items in order to practice the guessing game. (source: ISL Collective, originally created by mafaldita47 and updated by me.) [BEGINNER] And finally, here is the list of 10 devinettes we went over today. You all did a great job guessing the answers. Congratulations! 👏

I hope you enjoyed the yogurt cake I baked for the class the other day... even though it didn't rise properly! 😥 Here is the recipe , from Podcast Français Facile once again, with the audio version. I hope you'll try this cake at home. Let me know how it comes out! Picture: www.podcastfrancaisfacile.com By the way, I really enjoyed our lunch at Casse-Croute Bakery today... and it looked like Juan enjoyed it too! 😁 Becky, thank you again for this great idea.

To finish our overview of the indicatif présent , here are the handouts I gave in class about 3rd group verbs: Tableau de quelques verbes du 3e groupe  ( * UPDATED* on 9/1/19 ) Exercise:  A few irregular verbs in present tense (source: ISLcollective, créé par Paugaliza) As I explained in class, the 3rd group basically includes the verbs that don't belong in the first two groups. They all present some form of irregularity, so there is no other possibility than memorizing them! Sorry... If you want to learn more, you might find the following pages from the Podcast Français Facile useful: Verbes de base Venir, tenir... Verbes en -uire Verbes en -dre Verbes en -eindre I also recommend using an online conjugation guide, such as Toute la Conjugaison . Just enter the infinitive form of any verb in the search field and you'll see all its tenses and modes. Very useful, including for me ! 😉

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...

Avec un peu de retard (mes excuses !) voici notre leçon sur la conjugaison au présent des verbes du premier groupe (-er) et du deuxième groupe (-ir) A little late (my apologies!), here is our lesson about conjugating in the present tense first group (-er) and second group (-ir) verbs. Tableau de conjugaison - groupes 1 et 2  ( * UPDATED*  on 9/1/19 ) Exercice: verbes du premier groupe (source: ISLcollective, créé par lenoca) Si vous voulez plus d'informations, vous pouvez aussi consulter les leçons suivantes du Podcast Français Facile: For more information, you can also check the following lessons on Podcast Français Facile : Verbes du premier groupe en -er (avec une version audio et un petit test à la fin) (with an audio version and a little quiz at the end) Verbes du second groupe en -ir

" 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.

En France, le 1er mai est un jour férié. Les français célèbrent la fête internationale des travailleurs. In France, May 1st is a national Holiday. The French celebrate International Workers' Day. Voici une vidéo sur le sujet, avec sous-titres en français et en anglais. Here is a video on that topic, with French and English subtitles. Et voici un lien vers le texte que nous avons étudié en classe, avec la version audio : And here is a link to the text we studied in class, with the audio version: https://www.podcastfrancaisfacile.com/podcast/la-fete-du-travail.html Le muguet du premier mai. Pour les français, c'est un porte-bonheur ! Lily of the Valley, offered on May 1st. For the French, this is a lucky charm!