It’s too hot for me to stay at the computer and do a real update. It was about 37° C / 98.6° F here today and it’s still not that cool at 10 PM. The Tour de France started in Chambéry this afternoon before heading down to Gap and I feel sorry for the cyclists [...]
Full Story »Non-French French and Why Am I Just Now Learning This?
I studied French for 3 years in high school and another 3 years at university between 1997 and 2003. Then I took some time off from languages while I was doing my Master’s in Linguistics and ended up moving to France in late 2006. So I guess you could say that I’ve been learning French [...]
Full Story »Multilingual Goodness of the Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is going on this week in Oslo and even though I’m not watching it, I am using the unofficial website to learn languages through song lyrics. It is called the Diggiloo Thrush and it includes the lyrics and translations into English of almost all of the songs ever performed for the [...]
Full Story »Common Slang Verbs in Informal Spoken French: New Video
The 4th video in the informal French series: slang verbs with their standard/written counterparts, with sample sentences to illustrate their use. Don’t forget! Voting ends today at 11:59 PM French time / 5:59 PM Eastern Standard Time!
Full Story »Using Realia Resources in Language Teaching & Learning
Realia is everyday, authentic objects, such as photographs, menus, brochures, receipts, maps, movies, television shows, commercials, etc. that are used to teach and learn languages. Some researchers include any items that can be used to prompt conversations or role-play, such as telephones, but those are generally meant to be employed in the classroom with other [...]
Full Story »The Loom of Language: An Approach to the Mastery of Many Languages
The Loom of Language: An Approach to the Mastery of Many Languages by Frederick Bodmer has always been my favorite book about learning languages. I first discovered it on F.X. Micheloud’s Learning Languages site about 9 or 10 years ago when I was still an undergrad and much more interested in learning languages on my [...]
Full Story »Learning French Slang with Les Simpson
Watching French TV with the subtitles on was the fastest way for me to learn common slang words. Back in 2006 when I barely understood spoken French, I spent a lot of time watching TV and writing down the words that I didn’t understand. Unfortunately, French TV shows aren’t all that great, so I resorted [...]
Full Story »The Frenchified English of McDonald’s in France
I had the misfortune of eating at McDonald’s last Sunday when David and I decided to go on a drive to Chanaz, at the other end of Lac du Bourget. Unfortunately, we arrived at 2pm, when every restaurant in Europe closes because no one can possibly still be hungry at that time, so it was [...]
Full Story »Learning the Language AND Cultural Vocabulary Online
How do you learn proper nouns, place names, brands, acronyms or other culture-specific vocabulary if you aren’t immersed in the culture? Before I moved to France, I knew that Carrefour was one of the largest stores and so I used their online ads to learn vocabulary for everyday objects that I would need when I [...]
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