Masculin ou féminin

We know, we know! When we first start teaching you here at Lingua Franca, we break the bad news that every single noun in French is either masculine or feminine (that’s why some words start with le* and others with la* and others with l’*…but that’s another story…).

We also tell you just to accept that there is no rhyme or reason as to which category they fall into. Now though, with possibly a bit more time on your hands than d’habitude*, we feel it’s time to let you in on a couple of little secrets as to how you can make an educated guess.

Bonus points for anyone who can identify the person in the background, going about her day at le nid*.

*the | *the | *the | *usual | *the nest

Les saisons

What would your vocabulary list look like to encapsulate the seasons? A fun exercise to while away le temps*.

*the time

Les faux amis

At Lingua Franca we're always encouraging you to take risks with your French. You'll often hear us saying "Just have a guess!" when you're stuck for a word, since we know there's a fairly good chance you'll get it right. French and English share at least 10 000 words, so it's not a bad stratégie* (see?), except when you get it wrong...

The culprit in these instances is usually a faux ami, or a false friend. These are words that look the same or similar in both languages, but have différent* meanings.The naughty Chouchous amongst you will already know to avoid excité* and préservatifs*, but there are many more seemingly innocuous words that can trip you up on your way to conquering la langue française*.

un bouton ≠ a button.
Well, it does actually but it also means a pimple, so attention*.

la monnaie ≠ money.
La monnaie actually means change, so if you hear someone saying "Je n'ai pas la monnaie." it doesn't mean they're broke, just that they might need to break a fifty.

la déception ≠ deception.
We nearly didn't employ someone once when he told us that since he'd worked in sales, he was very familiar with deception. Déception means disappointment, not being untruthful.

la location ≠ the location.
Have you ever seen a sign at a French airport indicating 'location de voitures'? I always assumed it meant the place where the cars were located (and it was never clear to me which cars, by the way), but it made a lot more sense when I finally realised location means 'rental'.

le pain ≠ the pain.
In fact it's the opposite. In France, le pain (bread) is usually synonymous with a whole lot of pleasure.

un tissu ≠ a tissue.
A tissue is un mouchoir, whereas tissu simply means fabric. By the way, for a vrai ami (true friend), you can always say 'un Kleenex' instead of un mouchoir for tissue. The glory of la globalisation*, non?

une prune ≠ a prune. How is that possible? How could it not mean prune? Because une prune is a plum and a prune is un pruneau. Tu piges*?

un slip ≠ a slip. In fact, un slip refers to a pair of men's undies. Not boxers but briefs. Which reminds me, les culottes does not refer to a wide-legged pair of pants. Les culottes is a slang word for women's knickers. Mignon, non*?

By the way, we're not immune to falling into the faux ami trap here at the office either. We're all second-language learners, like you, and have had our share of embarrassing language-related incidents over the years. For example:

• Katrina recently responded to a text of Myriam's thanking her for something by saying "Ça me donne beaucoup de plaisir". She thought she was saying “it gives me a lot of pleasure”, meaning, you're welcome. Apparently not. Phrased that way, it means it gives me a lot of physical, even erotic, pleasure, which was really not her intention! She’s since been told the correct phrase is "Ça me fait très plaisir."

• Myriam's own slip-up was more a question of pronunciation. When she first arrived in Australia and was setting up the house and buying bed linen, she went shopping for 'shits'. Oops.

• The first time someone told Deborah they worked in hospitality, she assumed they worked in a hospital. Tellement mignon*!

• Josephine was trying to explain her physique to someone and wanted to talk about her 'measurements' which in French is 'les mensurations'. Translating (almost) directly from French to English she ended up saying that her menstruations were not standard. La honte!*

*strategy | *different | *sexually excited | *condoms | *the French language | *be careful | *globalisation | *Get it? | *Cute, isn't it? | *So cute! *How embarrassing!

L'accent aigu

I absolutely love teaching about the acute accent (accent aigu in French). I find it really interesting.

Firstly, it's a sound we're relatively familiar with even before we come to learn French, since it appears in some very common words we've borrowed: café, risqué, touché, for example.

Secondly, there is a really neat trick I was taught by my French teacher which I now love to pass on. It goes like this: if ever you're faced with a French word that starts with an 'é' and you're having trouble deciphering it, try dropping the 'é' and replacing it with an 's' instead.

For example:

étranger = stranger
état = state
Écosse = Scotland

Pourquoi? Well, the history of language is a long and complicated one, but this is my simple (and by no means authoritative) take on it. Modern French is derived from Latin via Old French. Several other modern languages are also based on Latin, for example Italian, Spanish, Portugese and Romanian. These are often called western Romance languages. If we take an example of the evolution of the word 'study' from Latin to Old French to Modern French, you may start to see an interesting pattern.

Latin: studium
Old French: estude
Modern French: étude

Can you see how when the 's' dropped out of use in the transition between Old and Modern French, the acute accent makes an appearance? It seems English borrowed many words from Old French, and just removed the 'e' over time, leaving us, in this example at least, with 'stude' which is quite close to the Modern English word 'study'. Interestingly, Spanish also borrowed many words at this stage, and yet they chose to keep the 'es' (their word for study is 'estudio').

Le tréma

This past week at Lingua Franca we've been holding free trial lessons in the run-up to a new term. One day, we had a small group including an absolute beginner, an intermediate (but slightly rusty) speaker and someone who was really quite advanced. I decided to do a quick lesson on the French accents, as it is suitable for all levels and en plus* it's heaps of fun! I thought you might like it too, so this week we made a short video explaining my favourite accent of the five, le tréma*. Enjoy.

*plus *the trema (or the two dots you sometimes see above a vowel in French).

Peut mieux faire | can do better

Peut mieux faire | can do better  

De quoi ? | Say what ?

De quoi ? | Say what ?

se prendre un râteau | rouler une pelle

©EverEarth

What is it about the French using gardening tools to describe amorous pursuits? Perhaps they really love their jardinage*?

Prendre un rateau* is a colloquial French saying and is used to describe the (often humiliating) experience of being rejected by a love interest. So why are we talking about râteaux*? Well, if you think about it, c’est logique*. Imagine you’re walking along, dreaming about your intended, and you step on the teeth of a rake. What happens? Well, the handle hits you in the face and you’re laid out flat. Ça fait mal*, c’est humiliant* and ça laisse des traces*. We can all feel the pain, non?

“Oh le pauvre, il a essayé de draguer Martine, mais il a pris un râteau.” 

“ Oh the poor thing, he tried to pick up Martine, but she rejected him.”

Less violent, but perhaps even more excruciating, by the way, is to be put in the ‘juste-un-pote’* category, ’ with ‘pote’ meaning ‘mate’ or ‘friend’. Ouch!

So what if, in fact, you’re lucky enough to not ‘prendre un râteau’, but succeed in winning over your paramour? Well then, you might have to change verbs (and nouns for that matter) and rouler une pelle, which means ‘to snog’. Why is French kissing known in France as ‘rolling a spade’? You’d have to ask a French person. Sérieusement*, I’m out of ideas.

*gardening | *to take a rake | *rakes | *it makes sense | *it hurts | *it's humiliating | *it leaves a mark | *friend-zone | *seriously

ON AIME | WE LIKE

ON AIME | WE LIKE

AUDIBLE

The vast majority of our students have a real passion for reading. They are also, like everyone else, often time-poor. Notwithstanding, they have a real desire to improve their French, and often lament how difficult it is to understand the spoken word. Is there une solution*? Well, yes, it appears there may be.

Audible Inc. is a seller and producer of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming. That is, they sell audio books, and it is no surprise to learn their parent company is Amazon.

Although there is nothing quite like sitting down with a really good book and whiling away the hours, it's also true that being able to listen to your favourite books while exercising, cooking, doing the gardening or even while stuck in traffic n'est pas mal du tout*.

There are nearly 6000 French texts available to download, from the French version of Harry Potter, to Le Petit Prince* and Jules Verne's Vingt Mille Lieues Sous les Mers*  as well as a huge range of French textbooks. 

The best bit? You can listen to your book at three-quarters of its natural speed. This is a fantastic option for French learners, especially if you have a hard copy of the book in your hands as you listen.

We're so excited by this app's possibilities that we've incorporated it into our new Club de Lecture*. We're starting off with Ensemble, C'est Tout, a book by Anna Gavalda which was made into a movie starring Audrey Tautou and Guillaume Canet. The idea is that we'll listen to a passage in class, check our comprehension, then read the passage in French (a hard copy of the book is included in the cost of the course) and finally translate it into English. Students who download the app can then re-listen to the passages at home, over and over again if necessary. We're confident this approach will vastly improve students' comprehension in a relatively short space of time as well as being really fun. If this sounds like your thing, fais-nous signe*.

*a solution | *is not bad at all | *The Little Prince | *Twenty Thousands Leagues Under the Sea | *Book Club | *let us know

CAN DO BETTER | PEUT MIEUX FAIRE

CAN DO BETTER | PEUT MIEUX FAIRE

QUICK TIPS FOR ALL LEVELS

EN UN MOT | IN A WORD

EN UN MOT | IN A WORD

CURFEW

C'est vrai*, curfew is an English word, but did you know it has French origins?

Curfew originates from Middle French and is a mix of two words: the verb couvrir (to cover) and the noun feu (fire).

For the real intellos* out there, the word dates from the early 14th century and was originally, in Old French, cuevrefeu. Cuevre is the imperative form of the verb covrir, which later became couvrir as we know it today.

So why were the French being told to couvre-feu*? Well, it seems William the Conqueror, or Guillaume le Conquérant, the first Norman King of England, was to blame. Also known as Guillaume le Bâtard*, perhaps he was just a huge killjoy who wanted everyone safely tucked into bed by a certain heure*? In fact, his bastard moniker referred the fact that he was the son of Robert Le Magnifique* (imagine having such a great name?) and his maîtresse*, Arlette de Falaise, not that he was just a big old rabat-joie*.

In fact, demanding that townspeople return home to deaden or cover up their fires (not necessarily extinguish them) at the ringing of an 8pm bell served two purposes for William. Prohibiting the use of live fires after the curfew bell was used as a repressive measure to prevent rebellious gatherings of the conquered English. But clever William was able to pass this off as concern for his fellow citizens. Since most houses at the time were made of timber and particularly susceptible to fire, being forced to cover them at the ringing of the bell greatly reduced the risk of incendies*. Malin, non?*

*It's true | *brain-boxes | *cover-fire | *William the Bastard | *hour | *Robert the Magnificent | *mistress | *party pooper | *fires | *Clever, eh?

SAY WHAT? | DE QUOI?

SAY WHAT? | DE QUOI?

ÊTRE À CÔTÉ DE SES POMPES

Photo credit: Shopstyle

I think we can all agree that les pompes* in the above photo are sérieusement sexy*.

So how did the French expression ‘to be beside your pumps’ come to denote a rather unsexy state of mind?  And why are you beside your pompes and not in them?

As you may know, the French word for shoes is chaussures*. The word pompes came about in the 19th century as a slang word for shoes, allegedly since their flimsier construction let water in via the soles, thereby turning them into little suction pumps (pompes aspirantes).

Since shoes are associated with walking, and therefore the idea of direction, it stands to reason that if you’re not walking in your pompes, but to the side of them, you’re not exactly focused. It describes the idea of doing something without thinking, of not being in the moment, of there being a décalage* between thought and reality. A more dramatic definition describes an angoisse existentielle*, or a difficulty in adapting to the real world.

In English, we have many ways of expressing this idea, though none possibly as evocative as être à côté de ses pompes. We talk of ‘not being with it’, or ‘being out of sorts’ or even ‘being away with the fairies’. Come to think of it, that’s a lovely expression! 

The word pompe is a useful little word. Here are some other meanings:

les pompes = push-ups

• Mon entraîneur fait 200 pompes avant d'arriver à la salle de sport.

• My trainer does 200 push-ups before he gets to the gym.

avoir un coup de pompe = to have wave of tiredness

• Oh là, j’ai un coup de pompe. Je vais faire une petite sieste.

• Wow, I’m suddenly really tired. I’m going to have a little nap.

être une pompe à fric = to be a money pit

• Ce bateau est une vraie pompe à fric.

• That boat is a real money pit.

lâcher les pompes = to leave someone alone

• C’est ma décision, alors lâche-moi les pompes!

• It’s my decision, so get off my back!

*pumps | *seriously sexy | *shoes | *gap | *existential anguish

EN UN MOT | IN A WORD

EN UN MOT | IN A WORD

curfew

If you're a student of French, I sincerely hope you've had the luck to experience a moment when for some reason, all of a sudden ça fait tilt*. As a lover of language, there's nothing I like more than when a word I've been using unthinkingly all my life takes on a whole new relevance thanks to my studies.

Take the example of the English word 'vinegar' for example. Have you ever paused to ponder its provenance? Probably not, I would venture.

However, when you look at the French word for it, vinaigre, it really does make a lot of sense. Most of you know the French word for 'wine': vin. But do you know what aigre* means? Oui, c'est ça*: sour. So vinaigre = sour wine. C'est logique, non?*

A further dig into wordreference.com turns up these beauties:

• tourner au vinaigre - to turn sour (literally and figuratively)

• un pisse-vinaigre - a sourpuss/grump

• On n'attrape pas les mouches avec du vinaigre - You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Again, j'adore mon travail*.

*something clicks | *sour | *Yes, that's it | * It makes sense, doesn't it? | *I love my job

On aime | We like

on aime | we like

Quelle histoire

One of our lovely students brought back this charming petit livret* on Coco Chanel from a recent trip to France. We frequently have people ask us to recommend children's books as a starting point to reading French, which in theory sounds like a good idea. However, if you think of the average vocabulary of a five or six-year-old, it is quite extensive: they can ask for pretty much anything they want.  Therefore, children's books are often more difficult to read than one would expect. At the time of writing, we still haven't found a series of simple story books for learners of French. If you know of one, we'd love to hear about it.

This series by Quelle Histore, while not extremely simple, is great because they tell the story of a known figure, using illustrations help to flesh out the tale. While you're unlikely to understand every single word, with the help of a good dictionary (we recommend www.wordreference.com) you'll be well on your way to reading your first French book.

Coco Chanel is just one of many mini-biographies produced by Quelle Histoire. Bonne lecture!*

*little book | *Happy reading!

DE QUOI? | say what?

DE QUOI? | say what?

REtournons à nos moutons | Let's return to our sheep

If I had a euro for every time I've pulled this one out in a lesson...

I love this French saying as it not only evocative but effective as well.

Our French lessons here at Lingua Franca are casual affairs. Of course, we want our students to learn, and we're happy to report they do, but with groups of like-minded people passionate about French as well as countless other topics, we can sometimes become side-tracked. 'Retournons à nos moutons' (which literally means 'let's return to our sheep' or more colloquially 'let's get back to the subject') is a gentle and amusing way to remind everyone to come back to the topic at hand - le français*.

Apparently the saying originated from a 15th century French play called La Farce de Maître Pierre Pathelin. It tells the story of five characters, each more dishonest than the next, and includes a courtroom scene where the accused is instructed by his lawyer to answer all questions directed at him by saying 'Baaa' in an attempt to have him declared mentally instable. Sounds très drôle* indeed.

*French | *very funny