I've decided to live vicariously through Brangelina.  Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and their six children recently moved into a lovely $70 million home.  It sits on 880 acres in the sun-drenched south of France near Aix-en-Provence. 

The amenities of Chateau Miraval include:

trente-cinq salles (35 rooms)

un vignoble (vineyard)

un lac (lake)

une forêt (forest)

deux piscines (two pools)

un gymnase (gym)

des douves (moat)

A moat?  Oh la la!

Here are a few useful phrases du jour:

J'habite dans un appartement. (zhah-beet dohnz un ah-part-a-mohn) -- I live in an apartment.
J'habite dans une maison. (zhah-beet dohnz ewn may-zohn) -- I live in a house.

J'habite dans un château. (zhah-beet dohnz uhn shah-toe) -- I live in a castle.

. . . avec des douves (ah-vek day doov) . . . with a moat.

Où habitez-vous? (ooh ah-bee-tay voo) Where do you live?

You might be interested to know that Angelina has been busy learning French the past few years.  According to this story at TheImproper.com, she eventually wants to try out for a role in a French film.  Wonder if Brad knows any French?

For more photos of the humble abode, click on this link from the Huffington Post.

Bollywood is hot.  Still, I was a bit surprised to find a French Bollywood workout video.  That's right, you can get in shape to Hindi music and French directions.  Bollyrobics en français.  How very multicultural!  

The song on this video clip is from a Bollywood musical called Kal Ho Naa Hol.  The song is Maahi Ve, which means "Oh, my love" or "Oh, mon amour."  I've been singing it all day. 

 

As an educator, I can assure you that movement reinforces learning in a powerful way.  So, enjoy this kinesthetic, effective, and fun French lesson.  Voilà Bollyrobics: 

Foulard (scarf/veil)

Vite (quickly)

Lentement (slowly)

Les hanches (hips)

Le foulard au dessus de la tête. (Scarf over the head.)

Rotation (rotate/circle)

Saisir le foulard. (Grab the veil.)

Maahi Ve

Encore deux (Two more)

Dernière fois (Last time)

Flamant rose (Flamingo)

Mouvement en forme de huit (Figure eight movement)

Flamant rose (Flamingo)

Le huit (Figure eight)

Ondulation (Sway)

Avant (Forward)

Arrière (Back)

Maahi Ve

Encore deux (Two more)

Dernière fois (Last time)

Did you know that France is home to over 400 different varieties of cheese?  In fact, some sources even put the number closer to 1000.  That's a lot of fromage!  I'm not a huge cheese connoisseur, especially when it comes to anything remotely smelly.  I like my cheese smooth, creamy, and mild.  My favorite French cheese is Port Salut, a semi-soft pasteurized cheese from Bretagne (Brittany.) 

Well, I had an idea for a little mélange of cultural cuisines tonight.  The kids and I were tired out from our back-to-school schedules, so I turned to my favorite classic American comfort food--grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.   It's what my mom often made for me when I was a kid.  Miam-miam!   As I was preparing my sandwich with good 'ol squares of processed American cheese, I remembered the Port Salut sitting in my fridge.  Hmmm . . . American cheese AND Port Salut!  It was, indeed, the perfect French twist on a classic American sandwich.

I do hope I have not committed an unpardonable sin by pairing French fromage with processed American--and then relishing every bite.  I remember a French acquaintance who was horrified by the mere existence of Cheez Whiz.  But, in fact, my grilled fromage sandwich is pretty much symbolic of me . . . a classic American girl with a just touch of French!  

Photo Credit:  by cohdra at http://morguefile.com/archive/?display=136544

Learn how to count in French with this traditional French children's song.

Un, deux, trois, nous irons au bois  (1,2,3, we’re going to the woods)

Quatre, cinq, six, ceuillir des cerises  (4, 5, 6, to pick cherries)

Sept, huit, neuf dans un panier neuf  (7, 8, 9, in a new basket)

Dix, onze, douze elles seront toutes rouges  (10, 11, 12, they will be all red.)




Here are the French numbers 0-20:

0     zéro

1      un

2     deux

3     trois

4     quatre

5     cinq

6     six 

7     sept

8    huit

9    neuf

10  dix

11   onze

12  douze

13  treize

14  quatorze

15  quinze

16  seize

17  dix-sept

18 dix-huit

19 dix-neuf

20 vingt

Foreign Language House is on a roll, with another downloadable e-book ready for the francophiles (or francophile wannabe's) out there! French Numbers 0-20 is a nifty little 10-page packet for beginners of any age. You'll find word lists, flash cards, a mini-workbook, culture (like this song) and LOTS of games. Check it out here. Only $3.25!

When you're a kid, picking the person to be "It" for a game is serious business.  I grew up with this elimination rhyme:

Eeney meeney miney moe, 

Catch a tiger by its toe,

If he hollers let him go,

Eeney meeney miney moe.

My mother says to pick 

The very best one 

And you are not it!

Meanwhile in France, children were up to the same serious business with an equally silly rhyme:

Am, stram, gram, 

Pique et pique et colégram 

Bourre et bourre et ratatam

Am, stram, gram 

No, it doesn't mean anything.  (Though it's great practice for pronouncing the French "r"!)  Whenever you need to make a decision, turn to Am Stram Gram!

C'est octobre.  I love the chill that's in the air this time of the year.  It can only mean one thing . . . l'Halloween!  I took my boys costume shopping this afternoon.  Looks like I'm going to have a little pirate and a Darth Vader this year.  I can't wait to dress in costume and take the kids trick-or-treating on a dark, chilly night.  Tomorrow we're decking out our house with the paper skeletons and light-up bats.   J'adore l'Halloween!

I grew up with this holiday, but it's a relative newcomer to France.  Every year I'm amazed by how it's catching on.

Learn some spooky vocabulary in French, and challenge a friend to a game of Halloween Tic Tac Toe.  It's the latest language download by Foreign Language House.

Disguised as the classic X and O game, this effective activity encourages speaking and communication. Instead of a blank tic tac toe grid, you'll find Halloween vocabulary pictures in each square. Players must speak in order to place an X or O in a box. Beginners can just identify the picture with a single word, while more advanced speakers can make descriptions or create original sentences in a variety of tenses.

haunted house - maison hantée

bat- chauve-souris
ghost- fantôme
owl- hibou
pumpkin- citrouille
black cat- chat noir
skeleton- squelette
mummy- momie
scarecrow- épouvantail
witch- sorcière

spider - araignée

Visit the Foreign Language House storefront at Lulu.com for an ever growing collection of fun, convenient, and affordable language learning downloads. Halloween Tic Tac Toe is less than one dollar :-)

Photo Credit: by Tinneketin at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1083110

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With a kindergardener and a preschooler in the house, I sing the Alphabet Song on a fairly regular basis. Knowing the sounds of the alphabet are fundamental to learning any language, and crucial for reading and pronunciation. Whenever my students read out loud, I am always giving them little alphabet reminders, like "i" in French sounds like "ee" in English.

Even if you are 80 years old, you've got to go back to those fundamental building blocks if you are new to learning French. At least for us English speakers, the French alphabet is nice and familiar. No new letters or hard-to-decipher symbols.

Voici l'alphabet français. Go ahead and sing along!

A (ah), B (bay), C (say), D (day), E (eh), F (eff), G (zhay),

H (osh), I (ee), J (zhee), K (kah), 

L (el), M (em), N (en), O (oh), P (pay),

Q* (kew), R* (air), S (ess),

T (tay), U* (ew), V (vay),

W (doo-bleh vay), X (eeks), Y (ee-grek), et Z (zed)

Some French sounds don't exist in English. The R sound is produced in the back of your throat. For U and Q, try saying "ee" but move your lips into position for "u."  Listen to the pronunciation of the French Alphabet on this Studio4Learning video lesson:

Practice spelling your last name out loud using French letters. That's a skill that you will most likely use when you travel. Another fun way to practice the alphabet is to play a game of le Pendu (Hangman).

The following downloads will come in handy for helping you master the French alphabet. Most (but not all) are for children.  Even so, learning through song is an effective, proven method for language learning.

Learn your basic French building blocks with l'alphabet français.

Photo Credit: CBI Design at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/149856

It's rough being a language teacher sometimes.  You hear a great song and all you can think about is, "Wow, I can use this to teach grammar!"

Such is the case with one of my favorite songs, Je t'aimais, je t'aime, et je t'aimerai (1994), by French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel.  Despite years of using the song to teach tenses, I still love it.  It was the only non-English song at my wedding almost ten years ago.

So, I'll make the grammar lesson brief and let you enjoy la chanson.

Je t'aimais (l'imparfait) - I loved you (imperfect past tense)

Je t'aime (le présent) - I love you (present tense)

Je t'aimerai (le futur) - I will love you (future tense)

It's time for a French lesson.  Let's synchronize our watches and get started! 

Quelle heure est-il? What time is it?

À quelle heure (est) = At what time (is)

C'est l'heure = It's time

Il est une heure. (1h00)

Il est deux heures. (2h00)

Il est trois heures. (3h00)

Il est quatre heures. (4h00)

Il est cinq heures. (5h00)

Il est six heures. (6h00)

Il est sept heures. (7h00)

Il est huit heures. (8h00)

Il est neuf heures. (9h00)

Il est dix heures. (10h00)

Il est onze heures. (11h00)

Il est midi. (12h00) = noon

Il est minuit. (24h00) = midnight

To indicate how many minutes have passed the hour, simply state the time followed by the number of minutes. For example--

Il est trois heures dix. (3h10)

Il est six heures vingt-cinq. (6h25)

Il est sept heures cinquante-cinq. (7h55)

For 15 minutes past the hour, you can say "quinze" or "ET QUART."

Il est huit heures quinze = Il est huit heures et quart = 8h15

For 30 minutes past the hour, you can say "trente" or "ET DEMIE"

Il est six heures trente = Il est six heures et demie = 6h30

There is often more than one way to express a time. You can say "It's two forty" or "It's twenty to three." In French, you do not say "to" or "til". Instead, you SUBSTRACT the number of minutes before the hour. The word "minus" is "MOINS" in French.

Il est huit heures quarante = Il est neuf heures moins vingt = 8h40

Il est deux heures cinquante-cinq = Il est trois heures moins cinq = 2h55

If you are subtracting 15 minutes (a quarter) say, MOINS LE QUART.

Il est trois heures quarante-cinq = Il est quatre heures moins le quart = 3h45

Other useful time expressions:

tôt = early

tard = late

du matin = in the morning

de l'après-midi = in the afternoon

du soir = in the evening

Instead of using a.m. and p.m. most French schedules are based on the 24-hour clock. You will see this on train schedules, school schedules, and TV guides. If you see an official or military time over 12, simply subtract 12 to find the time in p.m.

Play around on this fun ONLINE TIME GAME for kids from the Hello-World website.

Now that you are a telling-time-in-French-expert, try your luck on this TIME QUIZ from About.com. 

Photo Credit:  by jayofboy at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1064321

I call them the "Question Words" . . . things a reporter might ask, such as:  who, what, where, when, how, why, etc.   When I teach my French students, I always introduce the Question Words as soon as possible.  Even if a beginner doesn't formally understand all of the intricacies of question formation, the use of these single words are vitally important for communication. 

Of course, it's best to use these French question words within a logical context.  We spend plenty of time in class doing just that.  But there's a place for simple memorization, too.  And what better way to memorize that with la musique?

Without further ado, here are the French Question Words to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

Qui - Who

Que (Qu') - What

Où - Where

Quand - When

Comment - How

Pourquoi - Why (parce que . . . because!)

Combien (de) - How much/many (of)

À quelle heure - (At) what time . . .

Voilà les questions!

Listen to my French II students singing La Chanson des Questions.  The quality is rather poor since I recorded them on my cell phone.  (Shhh . . . don't tell my administrators that I broke the "no phones" rule.)  Hopefully, you'll be able to get the general idea.  Ignore my cheesy "teacher persona" and enjoy!

questions-song1

Photo Credit: by lusi at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/787433

Every beginning French student learns clothing vocabulary.  As a high school teacher, I often send my kids on web quests to experience real language vs. textbook language.  All kids love to shop . . . why not do some pretend internet shopping in Paris?  

Yeah, right.  Just try to find a site with no snicker-producing, parent-complaining photos of beautiful women in sexy lingerie.  Luckily, I had what Oprah calls an "Aha!" moment.  Why not shop for dog clothes?

The Parisians' love and acceptance of man's best friend did not disappoint.  I found the ultimate in canine-couture at Un Chien dans le Marais: the boutique "Pour tous les chiens qui ont du flair!"  My students will spend a little time and imaginary euros in the computer lab today, pretending to outfit the likes of Paris Hilton's high-class chien.

Here are a few basic vocabulary items to get you started on shopping for your best friend:

le pantalon - pants

la chemise - shirt

le pull - sweater

le chapeau - hat

la robe - dress

la jupe - skirt

le blouson - jacket

le pyjama - pajamas

You've got to check out Un Chien dans le Marais!  Doesn't your chien deserve a little flair?

Photo Credit:  planetka at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/771661