Cahier de Vacances

We are excited to announce the publication of our very first Lingua Franca Cahier de Vacances*.

While for some, doing extra French practice will sound the exact opposite of being on holidays, for others (most likely the true Chouchous*), there is nothing quite like sitting down with a brand new workbook to practise your skills.

The first in a series of sixteen, so you'll soon be able to buy a companion workbook for each Lingua Franca text, from Absolute Beginner 1 to Advanced Revision. We started with the Beginner 1 title as it is an area where many of our students struggle - those pesky slightly irregular verbs. As many of you will know, if you don't learn them properly as a beginner, they will come back to haunt you as an intermediate learner (l'imparfait*, anyone?).

Fear not, though, there is more than just grammar that is covered:

• asking closed questions

• the close future

• un tas de* useful vocab.

• sentence builders

• throwback exercises and much more.
  
  Best of all, the inside front and back covers are home to the most delightful (and useful) grammar summaries to help you ace your holiday homework. Bon courage!*

*Holiday Workbook | *Teacher's Pets | *the imperfect | *a heap of | *Good luck!

Nasal vowels

The sounds that make French sound just...well...so French! Master these and you'll be well on your way to perfecting your French accent.

Katrina takes us through the four nasal vowels, which make the French language sound just so....French!

World Wellness Group

For some time now, our Chouchous* have generously supported the World Wellness Group which provides medical care to those most in need here in Brisbane.

It’s hard to believe, but being in need even here in Australia can translate to not having enough to eat, so the WWG has a ‘Community Pantry’ set up in their medical centre, where patients can access basic staples to cook at home.

We delivered several baskets of goods pre-COVID and feel the time is right to start a new collection for those who need it most. So if you have any extra cans in the back of your cupboard you don't need, we'll have a basket set up au nid* from next week. Not sure what's needed? Jetez un œil* at our shopping list below.

*Teacher's Pets | *the nest | *Take a look

liste de courses

boîtes de conserve

haricots, pois-chiches, thon, lait de coco

céreales

riz basmati, nouilles instantanées, pâtes

légumes secs

lentilles, orge

laitages

lait longue conservation

pâtes à tartiner

beurre de cacahuètes, miel, confiture, nutella

autres

petits pots pour bébé et lait maternel, couches, produits d'hygiène et de beauté

shopping list

canned goods

beans, chickpeas, tuna, coconut cream

grains and cereals

basmati rice, two-minute noodles, pasta

pulses

lentils, barley

dairy

long-life milk

spreads

peanut butter, honey, jam, nutella

other

baby food and formula, nappies, personal care items

How to type French accents

We are often asked by our Chouchous* how they can type French accents on their various devices. The wonderful website Thought Co has again come up with the goods, with a blow-by-blow account of how to do so, regardless of whether you are plutôt* Apple or Android. Here below, though, a quick guide to your options.

*Teacher's Pets | *more/rather

Everly Magazine

If you've been coming to Lingua Franca for a very long time (remember the Vroom days?), you may have had the good fortune of meeting a lovely young woman called Lesley Slade. In her typically understated way, Lesley came to us 'just to learn some French', which she did for two or three terms if my memory serves me correctly. The next thing we knew, Lesley had moved to Paris and vivait son rêve* working as a freelance journalist, speaking French, completing a writers residency in Champagne, teaching English in Paris, attending shows for Paris Fashion Week and... naturellement*... falling in love.

Fast forward seven years and Lesley is back living in Brisbane (now with her French-Tunisian husband) and has decided to launch herself yet again into the inconnu* (you really have to admire Lesley's dynamisme*) by starting her very own magazine.

Everly is a lifestyle magazine about style, fashion, travel, the arts, culture and inspiring human interest stories. There's a definite French flavour, which is of course inspired by her time in France.

Taking a look at the cover of Issue #1 and Everly’s Instagram account, it is immediately clear that Lesley speaks our language: the 2020 Chanel spring-summer collection, interviews with beloved Paris-based Australian photographer Carla Coulson and comedian Tim Minchin and a round-up of Aussie entrepreneurs taking the French coffee scene by storm. Quoi de mieux?*

If you'd like to go into the running to win one of three copies of Everly Issue 1, email us the name of a book by Carla Coulson. We’ll take the first three entries. 

Bonne chance*!

*was living the dream | *naturally | *unknown | *get up and go | *What could be better? | *Good luck!

Le Coronavirus et La Covid-19

The Académie française* is the guardian of the French language. Not known for their vitesse* (the 9th edition of their gold-standard dictionary was started last century and they're still only up to the letter 's'), in the age of Coronavirus, they have shown an extraordinarily short response time to deciding the gender of the illness.

This article appeared in Moncole Magazine and was passed on to us by the lovely Xavier Amouroux, whom many of you know. Merci, Xav*!

*The French Academy (esteemed body who looks after the integrity of the French language) | *speed | *Thanks, Xav!

Society / France
Deadlier than the male

It was only a matter of time before the authorities got involved. In France, the masculine le Covid-19 has crept into daily use in conversation and the media, angering Francophone linguists in the process. Thankfully, the Académie Française has put a stop to it, ruling that the virus is, in fact, feminine. The Académie goes into impressive detail in laying out its reasoning behind the change from le to the feminine la, primarily using precedents from other acronyms, which are the gender of their core word. State-owned railway firm SNCF (the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer), for example, is feminine because of la Société. After citing everything from Latin to English, the Académie found the core of Covid-19 to be la maladie (illness). Such a simple explanation begs the question: how did this error make it into French conversation in the first place? Well, that’s because le coronavirus (which refers to the family of viruses rather than Covid-19 specifically) remains masculine. And that isn’t confusing at all...

Digital ‘coups de cœur’

We took a straw poll recently here at Lingua Franca to find about the team’s coups de cœur* in the world of digital platforms, whether they were des sites web*, des applis* or des podcasts*, and here are the results.

Remember, there is always value in taking a look at a wide range of media when you're learning French. Even if you don't think you understand much at all, you will pick up the odd word or phrase here and there and equally importantly, you'll be getting un petit aperçu* of true contemporary French culture.

*crushes | *websites | *apps | *podcasts | *glimpse

Ressource Peintures

Katrina

"C'est un bon compte Insta juste pour zapper et se détendre"

"This is a great Insta page to use to just relax your brain"

Marie Claire - Idées

Josephine

"Vu que je fais une tonne d'arts manuels, de la couture et du bricolage, je suis souvent sur ce site à chercher de nouvelles idées."

"Since I do a LOT of craft, sewing and DIY, I'm often on this site looking for new ideas"

Une souris dans mon dressing

Caroline

"Je suis le blog d'une femme créative et que je trouve très amusante : "une souris dans mon dressing". Voici sa page Instagram."

"I follow the blog of a female creative who I find very funny: "a mouse in my wardrobe"" Here is her Instagram page.

Marmiton

David

"Aimant cuisiner et pâtissier j'utilise très souvent le site Marmiton."

"Since I love cooking and baking, I often use the Marmiton site.

Nouvelles Écoutes

Fiona

"J’écoute beaucoup de podcasts et celui-là est mon préféré car il donne la parole à des femmes inspirantes."

"I listen to lots of podcasts and this is my favourite because it highlights inspiring women."

TED Talks - French

Deborah

“J’aime avoir la possibilité de filtrer les vidéos par langue et regarder des TED Talks en français.”

”I like being able to filter videos by language and watch TED Talks in French.”

Gad Elmaleh

Une courte vidéo* to prove that the French struggle just as much as we do when they learn "the English". French Moroccan comedian Gad Elmaleh takes us through their equivalent of 'ouvrez la fenêtre*'.

PS C'est promis* - ask any French person who has learned English at school and they'll tell you all about the infamous Brian and his kitchen. Enjoy!

So I've decided to translate this famous french sketch which is a parody of french way to learn english. Sorry if there are mistakes cause I'm actually frenc...

*a short video | *open the window | *It's a promise

Capucine

If you find the 'r' difficult in French, this video of an adorable young girl called Capucine will provide plenty of inspiration. Her énorme* imagination is quite something as well!

histoire racontée par une petite fille extraordinaire

I used to think students could either make this sound or not, however over the years I've been proven very wrong. I now believe everybody can do it, you just have to know how. I'll put together a video to explain the technique soon, so keep an eye out in future Le Chouchou News.

*enormous

World Wellness Group

For those of you who are new to Lingua Franca, you may not have noticed a basket of groceries as you enter the office.

We're putting it in a more prominent place in the coming weeks in case any of you are interested in contributing to the collection of goods for our friends, the World Wellness Group, a not-for-profit organisation located in Stones Corner who provide medical care for some of our most at-risk fellow Brisbanites. Helping to keep their community pantry with staples such as rice, pasta, canned beans and UHT milk allows the WWG to maintain their high levels of care.

All contributions gratefully accepted, none expected.