Written on August 16, 2007 at 9:00 am by Jennie

Nerdiest post of the month

Filed under French Culture {14 comments}

Since I’m slightly obsessed with geography and memorizing states/provinces/capital cities in North America, I decided to finally start learning all of the départements of France. Not just their assigned numbers, but their locations, main cities, and the region to which they belong. The numbers correspond to alphabetical order (somewhat), so it’s not so hard, but there’s just so many of them!

Useful sites for learning the departments (in case anyone is as nerdy as me):

Wikipedia Departments of France – list of numbers, departments, and main cities

Interactive Map of French Departments – roll the cursor over a department to see its number, name, and region

Departments of France Game – I will not stop until I get 100% on this game!

P.S. That last site also has tons of learning games for geography, history, languages, science, etc. My new favorite site!

0saves

Save

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed.

Leah

Kewl! You’re certainly not alone in your nerdy love of memorizing capitals and geography:)
Leah

Kewl! You’re certainly not alone in your nerdy love of memorizing capitals and geography:)
Penny

Good for you! I will have to check out these links. So far, I have been trying to learn by looking at a kid’s puzzle I gave Lily for her birthday, that has all the regions, departments and main cities on it.
Penny

Good for you! I will have to check out these links. So far, I have been trying to learn by looking at a kid’s puzzle I gave Lily for her birthday, that has all the regions, departments and main cities on it.
Jennie

Ooh, where did you buy that puzzle, Penny? That’s exactly how I learned all the US states and capitals, and I’ve been looking for a France puzzle!
Jennie

Ooh, where did you buy that puzzle, Penny? That’s exactly how I learned all the US states and capitals, and I’ve been looking for a France puzzle!
Penny

I bought it in the vielle ville, in a tourist shop in rue Saint Claire. We stayed at number 18 and its on the same side, in the same block just a little closer to the lake. They also have puzzles of Europe – we got them both and they were not very expensive. I’ve also seen them at the markets in the vielle ville on a Sunday.
Penny

I bought it in the vielle ville, in a tourist shop in rue Saint Claire. We stayed at number 18 and its on the same side, in the same block just a little closer to the lake. They also have puzzles of Europe – we got them both and they were not very expensive. I’ve also seen them at the markets in the vielle ville on a Sunday.
Linda

My husband can look at any number on a license plate of a French car and tell you which department it came from. Unfortunately, for some reason, they are going away with that system but I rather like it. I only know the numbers for the area we are in.
Linda

My husband can look at any number on a license plate of a French car and tell you which department it came from. Unfortunately, for some reason, they are going away with that system but I rather like it. I only know the numbers for the area we are in.
The Late Bloomer

Wow, you are super-motivated and disciplined to work on learning something like this! In all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never buckled down and learned the départements. I only know a couple, and that’s because I’ve either spent time there or passed through them often enough. You’re right about the alphabetical order helping to learn them, but I guess I’m just too lazy!
The Late Bloomer

Wow, you are super-motivated and disciplined to work on learning something like this! In all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never buckled down and learned the départements. I only know a couple, and that’s because I’ve either spent time there or passed through them often enough. You’re right about the alphabetical order helping to learn them, but I guess I’m just too lazy!
http://www.franceprofonde.blogspot.com/ Betty C.

Oh, I like that sort of thing too. Thanks for the links! I tried to memorize them all when I first came here, but blocked at the Ms…

Betty C.s last blog post..A tribute to three true friends I’ve made through blogging
http://www.franceprofonde.blogspot.com Betty C.

Oh, I like that sort of thing too. Thanks for the links! I tried to memorize them all when I first came here, but blocked at the Ms…

Betty C.s last blog post..A tribute to three true friends I’ve made through blogging