Posted on by Peter Rettig

Learn French with "bouillabaisse"...


Paris Traveling to France? Preparing for the trip may both heighten your anticipation as well as enhance your experiences there. Travel entrepreneur Rick Steves has called this "Prepare for Spontaneity."

A basic knowledge of the local language and culture are essential tools for navigating new places and meeting locals.

In our four language courses we are introducing the learner to various particularities of each language or culture. For example in our French 1 course our traveler Daniel learns about the "bouillabaisse". bouillabaisse

Listen HERE to a conversation between him and his aunt. Maybe your French lets you understand how this traditional French dish got its name. If not, you'd certainly understand it by the end of lesson 33!

The 36 lessons - we call them "Scenes" - take our "hero" Daniel (and, by extension you!) for a three week journey to France, where you'll learn the language of daily French life.

For example, in Paris, you'll visit with relatives, take a walk on a famous square, order "un express" and "une tarte aux fraises" at a café. You'll buy a train ticket to Aix-en-Provence.

There, you'll ask directions to a friend's house, and on a walk around the city, learn about Cézanne's occupation before he became a famous painter. In Avignon, you'll take a bus to your hotel, and check in.

Later, after dinner, a friend will show you the famous bridge. (Who doesn't know the song "Sur le pont d'Avignon"?) For your last week, you'll return to Paris.

Each of the 36 lessons is based on a dialog and on part of the story. In each lesson, you'll play your way through a series of games, with which you learn and practice vocabulary, train your listening comprehension, practice speaking by recording and playing back your own voice.

You'll also get essential grammar and culture tips.

Your goal will be to exceed a target score so that you can move on to the next lesson and hear “the rest of the story.”

You'll also be challenged and often able to understand the meaning of the next dialog through the context of the story alone – similar to what you might experience living in the foreign country, or following an original French movie.

So, maybe, next time you're sitting in a French bistro and see the "bouillabaisse" on the menu, you'll give it a try and even know what the name means...

Posted on by Ulrike Rettig

Expand Your French for the Davis Cup: USA versus Switzerland...

The 2012 (tennis) Davis Cup between the USA and Switzerland is taking place in Fribourg in February.

I'm just now spending some time in Fribourg, one of the western cantons of Switzerland where mainly French is spoken. Because of its common language, this region is called “la Suisse romande” or “la Romandie” (Romandy).

With my knowledge of standard French, I have no problem conversing with locals here. But once in a while, I'm baffled and not sure I'm really getting what's being said. That's because in French Switzerland, some words have acquired a different meaning.

Fribourg

Here are a few Swiss French words and a common expression that I've encountered during my visits to Fribourg. I've also added three numbers in French that have a wonderful simplified Swiss French version.

Swiss French 

American English

Standard French

action

special offer

promotion

Fr: action = action, act

ballon

round bread roll

petit pain (rond)

service

place setting

couvert

Fr: service = favor, services

linge

bath towel

serviette de bain

Fr: linge = linen

foehn

hair dryer

sèche-cheveux

Fr: foehn = dry wind from mountains

natel

cell phone

Natel = brand name of Swisscom

portable

SMS

text message

Eng: Short Message Service

texto

simple course

one-way (ticket)

aller simple

bonnard

nice

sympa

Ça veut jouer. 

That works.

Ça marche.

FR: veut jouer = lit. wants to play 

septante

seventy

soixante-dix

huitante

eighty

quatre-vingts

nonante

ninety

quatre-vingt dix

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