Actus français facile

Our first steps into listening to French can be slightly harrowing. My mind goes to preparing DELF students for their exams by listening to authentic audio tracks. Until I hit play, they have no idea what they’ll be faced with: are they in a train station, at the supermarket, is it a debate or simply a couple talking about upcoming holiday plans?

A lack of context can be a true impediment to comprehension which is why I really love Radio France Internationale’s Journal en français facile*. The subject matter is international current affairs, giving us at least some immediate context.

The language has been pared back and slowed down for a global audience, and there’s also a full transcript you can use to follow along. If you’re really keen, you could even read the dialogue ahead of time to translate any unknown vocabulary before your first listen. If you’re short on time, though, I still recommend just popping it on in the background (if only for the opening news theme which makes me feel like I’m right back in France).

*News in easy French

Breaking bread

If you’ve grown up in your country of birth, you’re likely so steeped in that particular culture that you’re unaware of the extent of the practices, customs and social etiquette you adhere to every day.

This explains why the first foray into navigating a new culture can make us so mal à l’aise* - there are just so many opportunities for embarrassment.

So let’s make a start by coming to grips with le pain* at least, in all its charming complexité*.

Un grand merci* to Géraldine from Comme Une Française* for this very helpful explainer vidéo.

*awkward | bread | *complexity | *A big thank you | *Like a Frenchwoman

Manet vs Monet

Monet

Not sure you could pick a Manet from a Monet? According to this article, it couldn’t be more simple: Manet is people, Monet is spots.

If you need a bit more to make it stick, the trick may be in their names. The ‘man’ in Manet represents the people and the ‘o’ in Monet, the dots.

Voilà* (for a start, at least).

MANET

*There you go.

The first Tour de France

Given many of you will be collés* to your TV screens from the 1st July as the Tour de France 2022 kicks off, we thought it timely to take a look back at how it all began.

If you have cinq minutes* and an interest in le cyclisme* or even simply like history, you’ll really enjoy this short video from TV5 Monde Plus.

By the way, you can choose English or French subtitles, or, if you’re really courageux*, none at all.

*glued | *five minutes | *cycling | *brave

TV5 Monde

With a fresh set of students enjoying the Club de Culture Cinéma series this term, there has been a lot of talk of les films français*.

We were recommended the TV5 Monde Plus site for its enormous gamme* of French content, from movies to series to docos, and there is even a French language section. A word of warning though: I couldn’t click on that option fast enough, but noticed it was pitched more towards native French speakers, so while interesting, it’s probably something to strive for rather than likely to offer any immediate solutions to your French défis*.

That said, there’s a great little animated series called Quelle Histoire* (we’ve mentioned the books in a previous post) which are a fun watch. There is also a brilliant four-season series called La Grande Explication* which serves up five minute bites explaining iconic moments in history.

La meilleure nouvelle*? There are English subtitles on offer, giving you the choice to follow along, or turn them off for a more immersive experience.

*French films | *range | *challenges | *What a Story/History | *The Big Explanation | *The best bit of news

More French Cinéma - Jacques Tatie retrospective in May

The Brisbane multi-cultural cinema scene se porte de mieux en mieux* !

With the curtain only just coming down on the 2022 Alliance française French film festival, Dendy Cinemas have taken up the relais* with the announcement of a Jacques Tatie retrospective from the 11th - 22nd May.

While Tatie is known to French cinema fans as a comic genius in the vein of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, he was a man of many talents….et professions*. We have two tickets to give away. To win, be the first to éliminez l’intrus*. The question: which of the professions below can Jacques Tatie not claim as his own?

Bonne chance* !

*is going from strength to strength | *reins | *and professions | *find the odd one out | *Good luck!

The new Call My Agent?

If you’re anything like us, the wait for the fabled fifth series (and film!) of Call My Agent commence à traîner*, so if you’re casting about for a stand-in, why not try Standing Up instead?

The latest offering from Fanny Herrero (who also happens to be the showrunner of Dix Pour Cent*) is available on Netflix right now.

Here’s what she has to say about it:

“Drôle, il faut le prendre dans tous les sens. “Drôle” comme ce qui fait rire, évidemment, mais aussi “Drôle” comme ”étrange”, “singulier”, qui ne ressemble pas aux autres.”

— Fanny Herrero, créatrice de Stand Up.

Picture : ft.com

“Funny, you have to take it in all senses. ‘Funny’, as in, something that makes you laugh, obviously, but also ‘funny’ as in ‘strange’, ‘different’, that which is unlike anything else.”

Jetez un œil*…

*is starting to drag | *literally ‘Ten Per Cent’ | *Take a look…

Chanel

The Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria inspired us to do a bit of digging into her back catalogue.

For a period of time in the 80s, the Chanel brand was considered fusty and démodé*. The arrival of Karl Lagerfeld in 1983 quickly put paid to that, but what is so striking is that her iconic designs, many of which appeared for the first time in the 20s, feel so fresh and contemporary today.

Jetez un œil*.

*out of fashion | *Take a look

La Piscine

A few of us went to see la version remasterisée* of Plein Soleil* recently, starring Alain Delon as the duplicitous Tom Ripley and Maurice Ronet as his favourite frenemy, Dicky Greenleaf. If the characters’ names sound familiar, it’s likely you saw the 1999 American remake called The Talented Mr Ripley starring Jude Law, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Philip Seymour Hoffman and our own Cate Blanchett.

In the same vein and once again pairing Alain Delon and Maurice Ronet is the 1969 classic La Piscine*. The movie also stars the stunning Romy Schneider and an extremely young Jane Birkin (mother of Charlotte, wife of the inimitable Serge and the inspiration for the Hermès Birkin bag).

La Piscine is un film à huis-clos, meaning a movie that takes place in one location. Huis is a literary word for front door and clos means closed, so it is literally a film (or theatre piece) where the plot unfolds behind closed doors. Despite the languid beauty of the holiday home in the hills of the Côte d’Azur, there is a foreboding sense of claustrophobia which leads to mounting tension and culminates in a very uncomfortable scene in the titular piscine.

The plot is well-executed and there are some very strong performances, and as noted in the bande annonce* below, it stars four of the most photogenic actors ever, and for that alone it is worth a watch. Recommandé*.

Le film entier* is available here on Youtube.

Attention*: there are no English subtitles, so this is the perfect opportunity to simply let the language wash over you, si vous me pardonnez ce jeu de mots*.

*the remastered version | *literally Full Sun but called Purple Noon or Blazing Sun in the English title | *The Swimming Pool | *trailer | *Recommended | *The whole film | *if you’ll pardon the pun

The Parisian Agency

Ils sont de retour*! The French series that epitomises what it means to be photogénique* is back for a second season on Netflix.

This time, the family is trying to extend their influence beyond le périphérique* so expect some tantalising glimpses of regional France, notamment* the uber-chic Cap Ferret near Bordeaux as well as a trip to a magnificent ski lodge in Les Alpes*.

The luxury quotient reaches its summum* when the family pulls out all the stops to try to win the business of the improbably named Daniel Daggers - a James Bond type who is the king of the UK luxury property market.

À voir pour le pur plaisir*.

Read on…

*They’re back! | *photogenic | *the ring road around central Paris | *notably | *The Alps | *peak | *To watch for the pure pleasure of it

En Vogue

FLASH INFO* !

After more than 100 years, Vogue Paris has undergone a name change.

Continuer à lire*…

PS: Merci à Jillian pour le tuyau*.

*NEWSFLASH | *Read on… | *Thanks to Jillian for the tip-off.

Napoleania?

Imaginez* if instead of learning French, we trying to get our heads around l’anglais* instead!

This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Those of you who have done a trip with us to Akaroa in New Zealand to attend the. bi-annual French Fest know that the French explorers were only days away from claiming the Banks Peninsula as a colony before les Anglais* swooped in and planted the Union Jack.

According to this article from The Guardian, a very similar story could have been played our here in Australia during the height of the Napoleonic Wars.

Très intéressant*…

Nicolas-Martin Petit and Charles Lesueur were crew members of Le Geographe. They were among the first Europeans to portray the land, people, animals and plants of South Australia. Lesueur’s ‘Le Wombat’ was sketched on King Island, Tasmania. Photograph: State Library SA

*Imagine | *English | *The English | *Very interesting

Académie française

C’est possible* that in recent times, I may have lightly mocked the Académie française* for its somewhat anachronistic tendencies.

Set up in in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII, its raison d’être* is to protect the purity of the French language.

It’s actually one of five académies, that fall under the auspices of the Institut de France*. While the Académie française is concerned with language, the others take care of literature, pure sciences, fine arts and the social sciences.

*It’s possible | *French Academy | *reason for being | *academies | *French Institute

There are forty members of the Académie at any one time, who are called the immortels*, since they are elected for life. So serious are they about this life-long tenure, that when Marshal Pétain was sacked for collaborating with the Nazi regime in occupied France during WWII, his post was left vacant until his death in 1951.

The Académie bears the responsibility for producing the dictionary of reference for the French language and let’s just say they’re not exactly rapide*. In 1986, work started on the 8th edition. By 2011, they were up to the letter Q.

In its nearly 400-year history, only nine women have been granted a seat, with the first, writer Marguerite Yourcenar, elected in 1980.

*immortals | *quick

The Interior of Académie Française

So, there are reasons for my failure to wholeheartedly embrace this institution. However, having just read this France 24 webdoc (brand new word for me in English, by the way), I am rempli d’humilité.

Fusty or not, the history and practices of the Académie française are so passionnant*, they deserve further exploration, and listening to Sir Michael Edwards, the first native-English speaker elected as an immortal, express his unbridled love for the French language had me racing to other corners of the internet to see what I could find.

Below, a list of my favourite anecdotes*.

*truly humbled | *interesting

1. In their excitement to publish the first edition of the official dictionnaire français*, a very important word was somehow omitted: Français (French). Incroyable, non*?

2. Each immortel is required to foot the bill for their own l’habit vert*, a black or navy blue jacket embroidered with green laurel leaves. No uniform being complete without a sword, bien sûr*, their next job is to commission one, replete with symbolic flourishes and in some cases, jewels. One immortel, Amin Maalouf, said that his induction cost him in the region of $230,000. Luckily for French writer, poet and dramatist, Jean Cocteau, he had a benefactor in Coco Chanel, who gifted him a 2.34 carat emerald (above) which formed the centre of his lyre. Who was charged with putting it all together? None other than la Maison Cartier.

3. Most people hate public speaking, but imagine the pressure of having to write a eulogy for the immortel you’re replacing and deliver it in front of 39 masters of the French language. C’est le pompon*! Eight days later, if all goes to plan, a reception is held for the new member to welcome him (or occasionally her) to the fold. Things did not quite go to plan for Georges de Porto-Riche. His eulogy was deemed unsatisfactory, he refused to rewrite it and consequently, he was not afforded a reception. Maybe not the best work début* in the history of the world.

4. Occasionally, the Académie’s rigid adherence to existing rules means they run the risk of impeding the free use of the language. A recent controversy was kicked off when Lionel Jospin’s government began using la ministre instead of the official le ministre to refer to a female minister. The Académie was not impressed and insisted upon the traditional use of the masculine noun for a minister of either gender. In 2017, 77 linguists retaliated with an opinion column to denounce the “incompetency and anachronism”. Today, use of either form remains highly controversial. Quel cauchemar*.

*French dictionary | *Incredible, isn’t it? | *green outfit | *of course | *It takes the cake | *start | *What a nightmare

Brigitte Bardot

Cette semaine* at Lingua Franca we debuted our brand new Club de Culture classes for our more advanced students.

Each term, we’ll focus on a different aspect of French culture and for Term 1 we’ve chosen le cinéma*.

The courses run over ten weeks and we devote each lesson to a certain acteur ou actrice* and their most iconic film.

Spanning the period just before the arrival of La Nouvelle Vague* all the way up to the present day, we kicked off week one with Brigitte Bardot in Roger Vadim’s 1956 film Et Dieu…créa la femme*, which marked his directorial debut.

With a wafer-thin script and some comedically bad fight scenes, the film nonetheless is credited with introducing le sex-symbol* Brigitte Bardot to the film-going public. An indomitable free spirit, we see her topless, shoeless, braless, pantless and even legless…but never helpless. It’s BB who holds all the power for the majority of the film, until, with a couple of violent slaps to the face, her young husband brings her to heel in what makes for an anti-climactic and uncomfortable ending.

The release of the film coincided with the beginning of the sexual revolution and eerily mirrors the love story between Vadim and his starlet wife, Bardot, which scandalised her conservative parents.

À mon avis*, Et Dieu…créa la femme still merits a watch, if only to marvel at Bardot’s unbridled sexual allure and to reassure oneself that, in the words of one of our students “les temps ont bien changé!*”

Interest piqued? You can watch the entire film ici*.

*This week | *the cinema | *actor or actress | *The New Wave | *And God…Created Woman | *the sex symbol | *In my opinion | *times have definitely changed

La Moustache

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It may have occurred to you that moustache is a French word, but did you have any idea of the social significance it has carried throughout history?

Moi non plus*, but here's a little wrap up, thanks to the website of France Culture (one of the radio stations we recommend to students of all levels to 'get your ear in’).

Enjoy!

---

*Me neither

Chanel exhibition comes to Australia

Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel died on the 10th January 1971 and yet more than fifty years later, the designs from her eponymous maison de couture* scream her legacy.

Until the 25th April, we here in Australia have the chance to appreciate the enormous impact she had, not only on the way women dress, but on how they live their lives.

Plus d’informations ici*

*Fashion becomes out of fashion, style never does | *fashion house | *More information here

C'est délicieux!

If you just can’t wait for the Alliance Française French Film Festival to come to town, there is a stop-gap measure available to you.

Délicieux* was released in Australian cinemas on 26th December and though it is still showing, ne tardez pas* if you’re keen to catch it.

A historical comedy starring Isabelle Carré and Grégory Gadebois, Délicieux tells the tale of a talented and passionate chef, whose mistreatment at the hands of a grandiose duke eventually leads to the creation of France’s very first restaurant.

Enjoy la bande annonce*.

*Delicious | *don’t waste any time | *the trailer

Josephine Baker

“France made me what I am. I will be grateful forever. The people of Paris have given me everything… I am ready, captain, to give them my life. You can use me as you wish. ”

— Josephine Baker offering her services to Free France

What a life it was to give.

Born into poverty in Little Rock, Arkansas, Josephine Baker was waitressing by 12, married by 13 and at 19, long divorced from the first of her four husbands, took Paris by storm when she landed a leading role in La Revue Nègre*, a musical comedy show featuring an all-black cast.

But this was just the start. At Le Casino de Paris* she wowed in her one-woman show (if you don’t count her pet cheetah Chiquita, who wore a diamond collar) and at one time was the highest paid and the most photographed woman in the world. Dame Shirley Bassey said of her: “I swear in all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, such a spectacular singer and performer."

The first woman of colour to have a starring role in a major motion picture, Baker returned to the States triumphant, but received terrible reviews for her role in a reprisal of the Ziegfield Follies. Heartbroken, she retreated to France, relinquished her US citizenship and became a French citizen.

A new marriage to Frenchman Jean Lion followed and as war broke out in 1939, Baker moved to the South of France and became involved in the French resistance. Later (and with yet another new husband Jo Bouillon) she adopted 12 children of different races and religions creating what she called her ‘Rainbow Tribe'.

There are so many more twists and turns to the life of Josephine Baker, but one constant was her love for her adopted country. Whereas her life in the US was hampered by segregationist policies, in France she could move about freely, without fear of reprisals. Like many American artists during the Jazz Age, she found her creative home in the clubs and theatres of Paris, and remained fiercely loyal to la République française until her death in 1975.

Jus this week, it was announced that Josephine Baker would become the first Black woman to be entered into the Panthéon mausoleum, joining illustrious alumni such as Victor Hugo, Pierre and Marie Curie, Louis Braille and Antoine St Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince.

Read more about her fascinating life here…

*The Negro Revue | *The Paris Casino

Marché de Noël

We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but Noël* is just around the corner.

In great news though, the organisers of Le Festival* have decided to end 2021 with a bang by staging Brisbane’s first French Christmas Market .

Bringing a traditional, French festive vibe to West End’s impressive West Village complex, the event will run over two days, the 20th and 21st November. Come along to browse quality produits français* just in time to fill your Christmas stockings.

Hope to see you there!

Plus d’infos* right here.

DIOR - Designer of Dreams

If you have just une minute*, it is well worth watching the very beginning of this documentary, “Dior - Designer of Dreams”.

The opening scenes find us at a photo shoot for the image above, and the moment of its capture is pure magie*. Keep an ear out for the unexpected Australian accent off camera, too. It truly is une équipe internationale* who pulled off this exquisite exhibition of 70 years of the House of Dior at Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in 2017.

If you have an interest in la haute couture*, you’ll fall in love dès le départ*.

If you’re more of a sceptic, though, this could be le documentaire* to win you over, as it illustrates in the most intricate detail le dévouement*, la passion* et le travail acharné* required to create things of such beauty.

Currently showing at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, is it too much to hope it’ll eventually find its way aux Antipodes*?

Entre temps*, we have a video to watch… Enjoy.

*one minute | *pure magic | *an international team | *haute couture (literally ‘high sewing’) | *from the get-go | *the documentary | *the dedication | *the passion | *the sheer hard work | *Down Under