La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, the final chapter of the Advanced 1 level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

« Au revoir ! Amusez-vous bien ! » Les enfants et moi faisons signe au reste du groupe depuis le jardin devant la maison de Robert et Beth. Les anciens parents d'accueil d'Amina emmènent Hervé et Amina à Stonehenge pour la journée. Finalement, Michael, l'ancien frère d'accueil d'Amina, décide de les accompagner pour faire office de guide non officiel. Comme promis, Claire, la femme de Michael, doit arriver dans environ une demi-heure pour pratiquer un peu d'anglais avec moi autour d'une tasse de thé.

« Allez les filles, à l'intérieur. C'est l'heure de votre sieste du matin. Allez hop. » dis-je en les faisant entrer dans le cottage.

Trente minutes plus tard, la sonnette retentit. « Pile à l'heure, » pensai-je en ouvrant la porte. Claire sourit sur le pas de la porte, un Tupperware à la main.

« Qu'est-ce que c'est ? » demandai-je, grimaçant à cause de mon anglais basique.

« Des scones bien sûr ! On ne peut pas prendre une tasse de thé sans eux. Après tout, tu es en Angleterre, » plaisanta-t-elle en entrant dans le hall.

Quelques minutes plus tard, nous sommes installées à la table de la salle à manger, une tasse de thé à la main.

Notre conversation commence lentement. Je trouve que je peux comprendre la plupart de ce que Claire me dit, mais quand il s'agit de répondre, les mots ne sortent pas comme je le veux. Claire parle très clairement et soigneusement, donc je n'ai pas l'impression que mon cerveau se bloque comme cela arrive parfois pendant nos cours à l'université. C'est plutôt que je me sens si à l'aise en sa présence et que j'ai tellement de choses à dire, mais chaque fois que j'ouvre la bouche, je me rends compte que je ne sais pas comment le dire en anglais. C'est très frustrant.

Claire doit sentir quelque chose, car après quelques minutes, elle me dit : « Leïla, je ne veux pas t'insulter, mais quand j'ai appris l'allemand au lycée, je me souviens très distinctement que notre professeur nous a félicités juste avant nos examens finaux en disant que nous étions maintenant capables de parler allemand au niveau d'un enfant de huit ans. Nous étions dévastés ! »

Je souris à ma nouvelle amie. « Je ne suis pas du tout insultée, Claire, tu es gentille de penser à mes sentiments. J'adorerais pouvoir parler comme un enfant français de huit ans. Ils peuvent dire beaucoup de choses ! »

« Ouf ! » dit-elle. « D'accord alors, voici ce que notre professeur nous a dit. Puisque tu es maintenant un enfant de huit ans, fais semblant de parler à quelqu'un d'encore plus jeune, peut-être à ton petit frère ou ta petite sœur. Cela t'aidera à simplifier ton langage et donc tu seras plus susceptible de trouver les mots. »

« Ça me va, Claire. Merci. » Je suis étrangement soulagée de ne pas avoir à formuler des phrases sophistiquées. Nous parlons de nos familles, de nos lieux de croissance et de nos goûts et dégoûts et, au fil des minutes, je me sens de plus en plus ouverte avec elle. Devoir simplifier mon langage au niveau d'un enfant semble avoir l'effet de clarifier mes sentiments sur ma vie, qui, pendant ce voyage au moins, ont été quelque peu confus. Même ainsi, je suis aussi surprise que Claire lorsque, en réponse à sa question sur ma vie idéale, ma réponse est « voyage, aventure et amour ».

Un peu choquée, Claire dit : « Mais tu n'as pas déjà ça, Leïla ? Je veux dire, tu es ici, non ? »

« Oui, c'est de l'amour dont je parle, » j’ai avoué, les larmes aux yeux.

« Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire ? » demande doucement Claire en baissant sa tasse de thé.

Juste à ce moment-là, la sonnette retentit. « Je me demande qui cela peut être ? » dit Claire en se levant de la table. « Je vais ouvrir, Leïla, mais si jamais tu veux continuer cette conversation, fais-le moi savoir. »

« Ça ira, » dis-je rapidement, « mais merci. Laisse-moi débarrasser ces tasses. »

Je suis entrée dans la cuisine pour rassembler mes pensées, m'agrippant à l'évier et prenant quelques respirations profondes pour essayer de me calmer. Je devais être complètement perdue dans mon petit monde. Quelque chose doit expliquer mon choc total lorsque, quelques instants plus tard, j’ai entendu une voix masculine que j’ai cru reconnaître, suivie immédiatement par Claire entrant dans la cuisine et disant : « Leïla, est-ce que tu as rencontré Simon ? »

“Bye! Have fun!”

The children and I waved goodbye to the rest of the gang from the front garden of Robert and Beth’s house. Amina’s former host parents were taking Hervé and Amina to Stonehenge for the day. In the end, Michael, Amina’s former host brother, had decided to go along, too, to act as unofficial tour guide. As promised, Claire, Michael’s wife, was due to arrive in about half an hour to do some English speaking practice with me over a cup of tea.

“Come on girls, inside. It’s time for your morning nap. Scoot.” I directed as I ushered them inside the cottage.

Thirty minutes later the doorbell rang. “Right on time,” I thought, as I opened the door. A smiling Claire was on the doorstep, Tupperware in hand.

“What is it?” I asked, wincing at my basic English.

“Scones of course! We can’t have a cup of tea without them. You’re in England, after all,” she joked as she stepped into the hall.

A few minutes later we were settled at the dining room table, cups of tea in hand.

Our conversation started off slowly. I found I could understand most of what Claire was saying to me, but when it came time to respond, the words just wouldn’t come out the way I wanted them to. Claire spoke very clearly and carefully, so I didn’t get the feeling of my brain freezing as I sometimes used notice during our lectures at uni. It was more that I was so comfortable in her presence and had so much to say, but that each time I went to open my mouth I realised that I had no idea how to say it in English. It was so frustrating.

Claire must have sensed something, because after a few minutes she said to me. “Leïla, I don’t want to insult you, but when I learned German at high school, I remember very distinctly our teacher congratulating us just before our final exams, saying we were now able to speak German at the level of an eight-year-old. We were devastated!”

I smiled at my new friend. “I’m hardly insulted, Claire, though you’re kind to consider my feelings. I’d love to be able to speak like an eight year old French child. They can say a lot!” 

“Phew!” she said. “Okay then, here’s what our teacher told us. Since you’re now an eight-year-old, pretend you’re speaking to someone even younger, maybe your little brother or sister. It’ll help you simplify your language and therefore you’ll be more likely to get the words out.”

“Sounds good to me, Claire. Thank you.” I was strangely relieved to not have to formulate sophisticated sentences. We covered our families, where we grew up and our likes and dislikes and as the minutes wore on, I found myself opening up to her more and more. Having to simplify my language to the level of a child seemed to have the effect of clarifying my feelings about my life, which during this trip at least, had been somewhat confused.

Even so, I was as surprised as Claire was when in response to her question about my ideal life, my answer was ‘travel, adventure and love’.



Slightly shocked, Claire said: “But don’t you have that already, Leïla? I mean, you’re here aren’t you?”



“Yes, it’s the love part I’m talking about,” I admitted, tears welling in my eyes.

“What do you mean?” Claire asked gently, lowering her tea cup.



Just then the doorbell rang. “I wonder who that is?” Claire said, getting up from the table. “I’ll get the door, Leïla, but if you ever want to continue this conversation, you just let me know.”



“I’ll be fine,” I said quickly, “but thank you. Let me clear these cups.”



I went into the kitchen to gather my thoughts, holding onto the sink and taking a few deep breaths in an effort to calm self. I must have been completely lost in my own little world. Something has to account for my total shock when a few moments later, I heard a male voice I thought I recognised, followed straight away by Claire walking into the kitchen and saying: “Leïla, have you met Simon?”


Olympic Glossary: Fun French Sporting Expressions

Want to sound like a pro discussing the Olympics with your French friends? From ‘envoyer une pizza*’ to ‘prendre un caramel*’ (not as pleasant as it sounds), this fun Olympic glossary will arm you with some weird and wonderful sporting expressions to try out at your next soirée.

*to hit a volleyball in a straight line that’s as flat as a pizza |* to hit the ground hard when tackled

How to Learn French - Another five-minute fix

In writing last month’s article on five-minute fixes, I realised two things:

1. There are plenty more where the first five came from, and

2. Fixing these seemingly small errors can really make a very positive difference in how others perceive your French.

So, let’s get going on another five to further hone your French in a way that is très efficace* !

We breeze right past them in English, yet for some reason we tend to hesitate when faced with an apostrophe in French. Not all of them of course…

For example, very few people skip a beat when they say j’ai*. You likely know that j’ai is a contraction of je (meaning ‘I’) and ai (meaning ‘have’), but I’d bet you don’t pause when you see the apostrophe, do you? You’re so used to saying j’ai that you say it as if it were one word, just as you’ve never dream of making a pitstop at the apostrophe in the English contraction ‘don’t’.

However, with less commonly used words, we find that some students baulk like a showjumper whose horse is afraid of water.

Have you ever had un doute* when it comes to these?:

aujourd’hui (o-zhoor-dwee)
jusqu’à (zhu-skuh)
hors d’œuvre (or-der-vre)
ce qu’il (se-kil)
ce qu’elle (se-kel)

Many have, so ne vous inquiétez pas*. You just need to train yourself to glide right on past the apostrophe, treating it as though it’s just one word. Don’t risk being thrown off, just gather your linguistic reins, squeeze your thighs against your steed and prepare yourself to sail over the word with all the grace and ease of an Olympic champion. Bon courage*!  

Things can start to snowball pronunciation-wise when we see both an apostrophe and an ‘h’ right next to one another. Think, for example, of the word j’habite*, which many of our beginners struggle to master.

However, now that you know to completely ignore any apostrophes you see, you’ve managed to get rid of one barrier at least.

Then when I tell you that in French all ‘h’s are silent, just like that, there goes the other one!

By ignoring both the apostrophe and the letter ‘h’, you’ve effectively rendered it a single word that looks like this:

jabite
(pronounced ‘zhuh-beet’)

Pas si difficile* after all, huh?

Other examples to try:

l’homme = lomme
(pronounced ‘lom’)

l’huile = luile
(pronounced ‘lweel’)

je m’habille = je mabille
(pronounced ‘zhe mubee’)

Having tackled the double whammy now, let’s return to simpler times: the letter ‘h’ by itself. Remember, wherever it may crop up, you have permission to ignore it completely. For example:

heureux
(pronounced eu-reu)

histoire
(pronounced iss-twar)

herbe
(pronounced airb)

What can trip us up à nouveau* is when we see an ‘h’ sitting cheek by jowl with a ‘t’, as in the word théâtre*, for example. So used are we to pronouncing ‘th’ the English way, it can seem counterintuitive to pronounce only the ‘t’, but this is exactly what you must do.

théâtre
(pronounced tay-ahtre)

mathématiques
(pronounced mat-ey-mat-eek)

Édith
(pronounced Ey-deet)

By the way, you may take some comfort in the fact that the French generally find formulating the English ‘th’ sound very difficult. We take it for granted, but try consciously making that lisping sound yourself (or indeed explaining to someone how to do it) and you’ll likely appreciate that no matter the language, there will always be challenges. Surely that’s part of the fun?

This one is relatively easy to fix: fille* rhymes with the English word ‘fee’. Alternatively, if pronouncing the word famille* (fum-ee) is second nature to you, then you may prefer to align fille with that word, since they’re from the same family (poor pun most definitely intended).

The fact that fils (the French word for ‘son’) rhymes with ‘police’ works for me, but if you’re looking for something different, try thinking of the French tennis player, Gaël Monfils.

If you can hear the commentator saying ‘mon-feece’, you’ve got the right idea. By the way, have you ever thought that his surname literally means ‘my son’? Moi non plus* until recently, but there you are.

Pronouncing the ‘s’ on the word ans* when saying your age is a classic error and it’s not confined to absolute beginners. Oftentimes, when students first learn to say their age, they’re so focused on saying j’ai and not je suis*, that the ‘s’ on ans just slips out. If it’s not picked up early on, it can become an unconscious habit, but if you’re reading this now and you realise this applies to you, ça suffit*. You can stop now.

We really hope you’ve found these quick fixes of benefit to you. There may well be a fresh crop next month. By the way, if you think of a quick fix that could be included in a future article, please feel free to let us know in the comments.

*very efficient | *I have | *a doubt | *don’t worry | *Good luck | *I live | *so hard | *anew | *theatre | *girl/daughter | *family | *Me neither | *years | *I am | *that’s enough

La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 5 of the Advanced 1 level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

Malgré mon léger trac à rencontrer l’ancienne famille d'accueil d'Amina, mes inquiétudes étaient infondées. Robert et Beth étaient très charmants et accueillants. Robert, ancien professeur d'université, et Beth, enseignante d'anglais dans un lycée local, m'ont surpris : j'ai réussi à comprendre la plupart de leurs paroles. Mais répondre à leurs questions en temps réel était une autre histoire ! En classe, je m'en sortais avec des idées simples en anglais, mais là, c'était comme si mon cerveau bloquait dès que c'était mon tour, et j'étais gênée.

Heureusement, tout le monde était adorable et encourageant, surtout ma belle-sœur Amina, qui m'a assurée avoir vécu la même chose lors de son échange chez les Proctor il y a quelques années.

Michael, l'ancien frère d'accueil d'Amina, et sa nouvelle épouse Claire, se sont joints à nous pour dîner le premier soir de notre visite, et ils étaient aussi charmants qu'Amina l'avait promis. Bientôt, nous avons discuté de nos plans pour le reste de notre séjour.

"Donc, Amina, que devraient voir Hervé et Leïla pendant leur séjour ici ?" a demandé Robert. "Quels endroits préférais-tu à Bath lors de ta première visite ?"

"Au fond, Bath m'a semblé si belle. Paris est impressionnante, mais Bath a un charme typiquement anglais. Les jardins magnifiques, les petits pubs pittoresques et bien sûr les Thermes Romains sont chouettes," a répondu Amina, de plus en plus enthousiaste à mesure qu'elle se remémorait.

"Combien de temps restez-vous ici, Hervé ?" a demandé Michael.

Mon frère avait l'air perdu. "Pardon ? Je veux dire... Could you repeat that more slowly, please ?"

Amina a ri gentiment et a pris la main d'Hervé. "Mon mari est encore débutant en anglais. J'aimerais l'aider plus, mais avec les jumeaux, c'est compliqué ! Nous sommes à Bath pour seulement deux jours, Michael."

"Eh bien, profitez-en bien ! Je suis d'accord pour visiter les sites à Bath demain. Claire et moi serions ravis de vous faire découvrir."

"Ce serait super, merci, Michael," a dit Amina. "Hervé, tu viens avec nous ?"

"Oui, j'aimerais beaucoup," a répondu Hervé avec son fort accent français, et tout le monde a ri.

"Je pense que visiter Stonehenge serait une bonne idée pour le lendemain. Pas besoin de parler couramment anglais pour apprécier ce site mystérieux, Hervé, je te le promets," a ajouté Beth en souriant.

"Et toi, Leïla ?" a demandé Claire en souriant. "D'après Amina, tu aimerais vraiment pratiquer ton anglais autant que possible, n'est-ce pas ? Peut-être que Stonehenge n'est pas l'endroit idéal pour toi."

"Non, et de toute façon, j'ai promis de m'occuper des enfants un jour. Je suis contente de passer mon tour pour Stonehenge. Ce n'est pas le meilleur endroit pour les enfants, je pense."

"Tu as raison, Leïla. J'ai une idée ! Le jour où tu gardes les enfants, je pourrais venir pendant la sieste et nous pourrions prendre un vrai thé et discuter en anglais. Quelques heures de pratique intensive pourraient vraiment t'aider. Et j'aimerais beaucoup te connaître un peu mieux. Amina m'a beaucoup parlé de toi."

"Ce serait génial, Claire. C'est une bonne idée !" ai-je répondu alors que nous levions nos verres et nous tournions vers l'agneau rôti que Beth venait de placer sur la table.

Despite my slight nervousness at meeting Amina’s former host family, my apprehension was misplaced. Robert and Beth were extremely charming and very welcoming hosts. Robert was a retired university professor and Beth had taught English at a local high school so to my surprise, I was able to understand most of what they said to me. Formulating a response to what I had heard was a different matter, though, as I soon found out! While in class I was able to express simple ideas in English correctly, it was a totally different story when trying to respond in real time. It was as though my brain froze as soon as it was my turn, and I could feel the hesitation turn to embarrassment and then near-paralysis as the seconds ticked on.

Everyone was so sweet and encouraging, though, especially my lovely sister-in-law Amina who assured me she’d been through the same excruciating process when she did her exchange with the Proctors a few years before.

Michael, Amina’s former host brother, and his new wife Claire, joined us for dinner on the first night of our visit and they were as lovely as Amina had promised. Soon, talk turned to our plans for the rest of our stay.

“So, Amina, what do you think Hervé and Leïla should see while they’re here?” asked Robert. “What were your favourite parts of Bath when you first came here?”

“I just remember finding Bath so incredibly pretty. Paris is majestic and impressive but Bath has a charm that to me is typically English. All the beautiful gardens, the quaint little pubs and of course The Roman Baths are delightful,” Amina answered, her enthusiasm mounting with every memory.

“How long are you here for, Hervé?” asked Michael.

My brother looked confused. “Pardon? Je veux dire…I beg your pardon. Could you please repeat that more slowly?”

Amina laughed kindly and took Hervé’s hand reassuringly. “My darling husband is still a beginner at English. I’d like to help him more, but with the twins there just never seems to be the time! We’re here in Bath for just two days. Michael.”

“Well, you should make every second count, then! I agree it’s important to see the sights in Bath and I think you should do that tomorrow. Claire and I would be happy to show you all around.

“That would be great, thank you, Michael,” said Amina. “Hervé, would you like to do that with us?”

“Yes, I would like that very much,” Hervé answered, in his heavy French accent, and everyone laughed.

“And I think to Stone Henge would be a good idea for the day after. No need to be fluent in English to appreciate the eeriness of that site, Hervé, I can promise you,’ Beth said smiling.

“And how about you, Leïla?” asked Claire, smiling. “From what Amina has told me, you’d really like to practise your English as much as possible, wouldn’t you? I’m not sure Stone Henge would be the best use of your time here.

“No, and I’ve promised I’ll take care of all the children one day anyway, so I’m happy to sit the visit to Stone Henge out. I wouldn’t think it’s a great place for children anyway.”

“You’re right, Leïla. Hey, I have an idea? On the day that you’re babysitting, why don’t I come over and while the children are having a nap we can sit down and have a proper cup of tea and a chat in English? An hour or two of intensive practice would really improve your English. Plus, I’d love to get to know you a little better. Amina’s told me so much about you.”

“I would be delighted, Claire. That’s a plan!” I responded as we all clinked glasses and turned our attention to the roast lamb that Beth had just placed on the table.

How to Learn French - A five-minute fix

Sometimes when you’re learning a new skill you just need a few quick wins to keep your spirits up and encourage you to tenir le coup*.

There are all sorts of little errors that I hear over and over again when I’m teaching. Little errors that are really very simple to fix.

So common are they that I go through periods where I don’t even hear them anymore. Other times, I do hear one of these petites erreurs* while teaching, but it’s not the right time to correct the student sitting across the table from me and so I let it slide.

So, for the last week, and with this article in mind, I’ve been keeping my oreilles* wide open to see if I could pick up on the worst offenders. Not all students make all of these errors but it is interesting how often they do crop up and it’s across all levels.

Let’s be faithful to the title of the article and launch into our five-minute fix. Your French will be likely be markedly better by the time you get to the bottom of the page.

This crops up time and time again, particularly with students who taught themselves before coming to us. I totally understand why they make the mistake of pronouncing the ’s’: it distinguishes it from the singular form and it’s reassuring to hear the difference in pronunciation. However, it’s always wrong, unless your next word starts with a vowel or an ‘h’ and you’re (rightly) making the liaison, or elision. Remember, in this case, the ’s’ is pronounced more like a ‘z’ sound, likely to differentiate it from ils sont* and elles sont*.

While in English we say ‘a thousand’, in French, we don’t, no matter what follows it. Thus:

1000 : mille
1487: mille-quatre-cent-quatre-vingt-sept

Never: un mille.

I know, I know, it’s so tempting to pronounce this word for ‘woman’ or ‘wife’ as it reads, but please don’t. That is, for pronunciation purposes:

femme does not sound like ‘them’

femme sounds like ‘thumb’

Really!

I’m the first to admit that this word is a capricious little mite, as, depending on its meaning, it may or may not end in an é (acute accent or accent aigu). But, can we make a pact that when we see it does end with this little flourish, that that we make the effort to pronounce it? Merci*.

You’re off the hook here:

côte = coast / shore
côte = hill / slope
côte = rib

But all eyes (ears) are on you here:

côté = side
à côté = next to

If you’re anything like me, you’ve grown up hearing sauvignon blanc pronounced as ‘sovinyon blonk’. Let’s spare our French friends’ ears, shall we? The ‘c’ in blanc is always silent.

Et voilà* ! Just five minutes and you’re on your way to being a much more expert speaker of French. 

*stay the course | *little mistakes | *ears | *they are (masculine or mixed group) | *they are (female only group) | *Thank you | *And there you go

It's Been A While...

It’s been a while, it’s been ages, it’s been an eternity... If you find yourself overusing “Ça fait longtemps”*, this handy article provides plenty of other options to spice up your conversation.

*It’s been a long time

Métro-boulot-dodo

Ever feel like all you do is work, eat, sleep, repeat? Well, the frustration and ennui* many of us experience in adult life is shared, and the French have their own spin on the term.

Combining the words for subway and job/ hard work/ graft with the babytalk for sleep (dodo), métro-boulot-dodo* can be translated as commute, work, sleep.

Apparemment, c'est un sentiment universel!*

*weariness and boredom | *commute-work-sleep | *Apparently, it’s a universal feeling!

La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 4 of the Advanced 1 level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

Le lendemain, nous nous sommes levés tôt pour prendre le petit-déjeuner à l'hôtel avant de prendre le train pour aller à Bath.

Depuis notre dispute la veille, Hervé me traitait avec beaucoup de précautions, étant encore plus attentionné que d'habitude. Si j'avais eu le moindre doute sur le fait qu'Hervé avait parlé à Amina de notre discussion, un seul regard sur son visage de l'autre côté de la table du petit-déjeuner a répondu à ma question. Je l'ai surprise en train de me regarder avec un mélange de préoccupation et de compassion et elle aussi faisait attention à la façon dont elle me parlait. Toute la scène était assez inconfortable, je dois dire, et j'aurais aimé ne jamais avoir ouvert ma grande bouche à propos de mes soupçons concernant Jean-Louis et son comportement étrange récemment.

Pour détendre l'atmosphère, j'ai demandé à Amina : « Alors, tu es excitée de revoir ta famille d'accueil ? »

Le visage d'Amina s'est illuminé et elle a souri largement. « Oh oui, Leïla, j'ai vraiment hâte. Ils sont tellement adorables. Et bien sûr, ils vont t'adorer. Tu sais, j'ai vu Robert et Beth quand je suis venue pour le mariage de Michael il y a quelques mois et même à ce moment-là, je leur ai dit que nous viendrions peut-être en famille bientôt. Ils étaient tellement excités à l'idée de te rencontrer, surtout depuis qu'ils savent que tu fais des études d'anglais à l'université maintenant. »

« Oui, j'aurai enfin l'occasion de pratiquer mon anglais ! » j’ai dit en levant les yeux au ciel.

À ce moment-là, mon frère est intervenu : « Au contraire, ma chère sœur, tu as eu de nombreuses occasions depuis ton arrivée, tu n'en as juste pas profité ! Que dirais-tu de promettre de parler anglais et uniquement anglais dès que nous arriverons à Bath ? »

« Que dirais-tu de... » j’ai commencé sarcastiquement, puis j'ai décidé de m'arrêter. Je me suis rappelée qu'Hervé, en tant que grand frère, serait toujours protecteur envers moi et voudrait le meilleur pour moi. À vrai dire, il pouvait être un peu autoritaire parfois, mais vu ce que je lui avais dit hier, je ne pouvais vraiment pas être surprise qu'il s'inquiète pour moi.

J'ai pris une profonde inspiration et dit : « Oui, tu as raison, Hervé, c'est une très bonne idée. Je te promets que j'essaierai au moins. »

« Eh bien, la bonne nouvelle est que tu auras plus que Robert et Beth pour pratiquer. Michael sera là aussi, avec sa nouvelle femme. Tu l'adoreras : elle est intelligente, drôle et gentille, tout comme toi, » Amina a ajouté gentiment.

« Eh bien, j'ai hâte de rencontrer cette version anglaise de moi-même ! » j’ai dit, commençant à me sentir mieux.

« De plus, » Hervé a ajouté, « n'est-ce pas leur autre fils qui va aussi venir nous rendre visite, Amina ? Je crois que c'est ce que tu m'as dit. »

« Oh oui, tu as raison, j'avais oublié. Il - »

Amina fut coupée en plein milieu de sa phrase lorsqu'un des jumeaux réussit à renverser une délicate carafe de lait par terre.

« Oh là là, Mina. Qu'est-ce que tu as fait ? Tiens, non, ne pleure pas, Maman est là. Elle va nettoyer ça. »

« Je pense qu'il y a peut-être une expression à ce sujet en anglais, Amina, non ? »

« Je pense que tu as raison, Leïla, » a répondu Amina. « Tu as envie de faire un peu de baby-sitting quand nous serons à Bath ? »

« D'accord, » j’ai dit. « Je vous dois bien ça après tout. »

« Tu ne nous dois rien du tout, frangine, » dit Hervé affectueusement. « Nous sommes une famille après tout. »

« Tu as raison, » j’ai répondu en souriant. Ouf, les choses étaient redevenues normales entre nous. Quel soulagement.

The following day we got up early to have breakfast at the hotel before catching the train to go to Bath.

Since our argument the day before, Hervé had been treating me very carefully, being more even more thoughtful than usual. If I had had any doubt as to whether Hervé had told Amina about our discussion, one look at her face across the breakfast table answered my question. I caught her looking at me with a mixture of concern and compassion and she too was careful in the way she spoke to me. The whole scene was quite uncomfortable, I have to say, and I wished I’d never opened my big mouth about my suspicions regarding Jean-Louis and his strange behaviour recently.

In an effort to lighten the mood, I asked Amina: “So are you excited to be seeing your host family again?”

“Amina’s face lit up and she smiled widely. “Oh yes, Leïla, I really can’t wait. They are so lovely. And of course they will love you. You know I saw Robert and Beth when I came over for Michael’s wedding just a few months ago and even then I mentioned to them that we may be coming over as a family rather soon. They were so excited at the prospect of meeting you, especially since they know you’re doing English at university now.”

“Yes, I may finally have an opportunity to practise my English!” I said, rolling my eyes.

At this, my brother butted in: “Au contraire, my darling sister, you have had many opportunities since you arrived, you just haven’t taken many of them! How about from the moment we arrive in Bath, you make a promise to speak English and English only?”

“How about you….” I started sarcastically, then decided to stop myself. I reminded myself that Hervé, as my big brother, would always be protective of me and want the best for me. Truth be told, he could be a bit bossy at times, but given what I’d told him yesterday, I couldn’t really be surprised that he was worried about me.

I took a deep breath and said, “Yes, you’re right, Hervé, that’s a very good idea. I promise you I’ll at least try.”

“Well, the good news is that you’ll have more than just Robert and Beth to practise with. Michael’s going to be there, too, with his new wife. You’ll love her: she’s smart, funny and kind, just like you,” added Amina sweetly.

“Well I can’t wait to meet this English version of myself!” I said, starting to feel better.

“Plus,” added Hervé, “isn’t their other son coming to visit as well, Amina? I think that’s what you told me.”

“Oh yes, you’re right, I’d forgotten. He - ”

Amina was cut off mid-sentence as one of the twins managed to tip a delicate jug of milk on the floor.

“Oh là, là, Mina. What have you done? Here, no, don’t cry, Mummy’s here. She’s going to clean it up.”

“I think there might be a saying about that in English, Amina, isn’t there?”

“I think you’re right, Leïla,” answered Amina. “Feel like doing a bit of babysitting when we get to Bath?”

“You’re on,” I said. “I owe you both after all.”

“You don’t owe us anything at all, Sis,” said Hervé affectionately. “We’re family after all.”

"You’re right,” I answered smiling. Phew, things were back to normal between us. What a relief.

How to Learn French - When will I be fluent?

Our Chouchous* here at Lingua Franca are a fairly diverse  bunch but I’d guarantee almost every single one of them harbours this desire: to be fluent in French one day.

It’s a noble goal, c’est sûr*, and one I still hold myself after all these years, but recently I’ve been thinking about what really means to be fluent and I might be en train de* amending my goal.

Most people would think that I am fluent, and I guess I am in many ways. But if your version of fluent means knowing every single word in French, then I am most decidedly not. I still discover new words in French regularly and it’s this petit plaisir* that got me thinking in the first place.

Until recently, it very much was my goal to one day speak French as easily and as fluently as I speak English, but I’ve realised recently this is simply not possible. I’m 52 and I have lived in Australia for 50 of those years. Even if I were to jump on a plane today and live to the ripe old age of 100 in France, my French would still never catch up to my English. It’d get close, that’s for sure, but all of that imprinting as a very young person in an anglophone environment would not be able to be overridden by mes années glorieuses* in France.

That realisation troubled me at first until a second one hit me: if I was truly fluent in French, I’d have no reason to learn it any more, and what would my life look like in that case?  Much poorer, I have to admit. French has been the passion of my life and I can’t imagine my vie* without it. It brings me so much: challenge, exchange, wonder, frustration, joy, connection. Why would I wish that away?

I’ve spoken before about how I was always in a rush to learn French, to get ‘there’, as I thought of it. Any yes, ‘there’ was fully fluent. I know a lot of students wish for the same thing, and while I want them to achieve their goals, I think it might be helpful if we all reframed our aims a bit.

How about we think about achieving proficiency instead of fluency? Linguistically, the difference between these two is actually a bit of a minefield, but on a less academic level, proficiency means being able to get things done, and that sounds appealing to me.

There are different levels of proficiency (and fluency, too, by the way) but in an effort to help you recognise the wins as they come to you, let’s consider some concrete proficiency milestones.

Could you introduce yourself at an AA meeting?

Let’s set our expectations nice and low for our first milestone in order to (hopefully) get a quick run on the board.

The traditional AA introduction in a meeting (in the movies at least) is “Hello, I’m so-and-so and I’m an alcoholic”.

Can you insert your name and an adjective of your choice instead?

“Bonjour, je m’appelle Katrina et je suis australienne*.”

Okay, you’re not going to set the world on fire with that sentence but it’s a start! You’ve got a foot on the ladder.

Could you introduce yourself at a party?

We’re just talking the basics here, not getting involved in a philosophical debate about the merits of Simone de Beauvoir’s later works. Do you think you could have a very short conversation with a French person about yourself: where you’re from, what you do, why you’re here at this fabulous party? Oui*? Félicitations*, you’ve just become a social papillon* in French!

Could you get around France for a couple of weeks without causing an international incident?

Do you think you’d be able to order a taxi, book into a hotel, perhaps hire a car and order in a restaurant without falling foul of the law? Some people call this traveller’s French, which makes it sound a lot easier than it actually is. Being able to pull this off requires a level of proficiency that doesn’t usually come from a quick read of your guidebook on the plane on the way over. Confidently navigating these situations demands not only linguistic skill, but some cultural savvy as well, and this usually only comes after you’ve been at your French for a while. So if you’re able to do this, chapeau* ! You’ve just moved up another rung on the language learning ladder.

Could you have an argument in French?

This is the rung that brought me undone when I was living in Paris. I won’t go into the gory details, but it involved the Musée d’Orsay, my tendency to procrastinate and some missing headphones. For the record, it also involved a gross miscarriage of justice*, but let’s move on.

Not being able to defend myself articulately in French when I felt I was being wronged was a low point in my French learning. I knew that if I broke into English, my French interlocutrice* would have ‘won’, so I continued on in my strangled and mangled French until it became clear to me that my only choice was to walk away. So I did, and managed to keep it together until I got home, but the minute my apartment door clicked shut, I burst into tears of frustration and humiliation. I can still feel it as it write this. Not the best day for my French, je t’assure*.

A former student of mine had the exact opposite experience though, when her car hire fell through on her first day in France. She found herself on the phone, arguing with the Hertz representative and was absolutely gobsmacked when all the words she wanted to say came streaming out of her mouth in the right order and with the perfect level of indignation. It was that day that she realised she’d reached a level of fluency she’d been aiming for.  She now lives part-time in France and I can only imagine how incroyable* her French is these days. How about we take Karen’s experience as inspiration over mine?

Could you make and maintain a friendship with a French person?

Finally, the true hallmark of proficiency, making a French friend. What better way to exercise your French muscles but with deep conversations, shared experiences, and maybe even some inside jokes (tout en français*)?

As you know, I don’t consider myself perfectly fluent in French, but I have reached this level of proficiency in the last few years and it feels like the most incredible reward ever for all the hard work I’ve put in. 

Don’t get me wrong, for the most part learning French has been an utter joy for me, but there have definitely been times (many, many times) where I’ve felt like I was stagnating, or worse, going backwards, and it was akin to hard labour. But from where I am now, and with the relationships I have with French people, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Ten times over.

So, let’s be careful what we wish for. Being totally fluent in French would be wonderful, it’s hard to deny, but where would we be without the thrill of the pursuit? Bon courage, les Chouchous*! I know you can do it, just go one rung at a time.


 

*Teacher’s Pets | *That’s for sure | *in the process of | *little pleasure | *life | *my glorious years | *Hello, my name is Katrina and I’m Australian | *Yes | *Congratulations | *butterfly | *Congratulations | *justice | *fellow speaker | *I assure you | *incredible | *all in French | *Good luck, Teacher’s Pets

La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 3 of the Advanced 1 level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

« Ça va, frangine ? » a demandé Hervé avec un air inquiet.

J’ai regardé à ma gauche, désireuse d'éviter la question. Je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de sourire en regardant Amina et les trois enfants complètement absorbés alors qu'ils regardaient une ligne de canetons suivre leur mère vers le lac. Comme c'est mignon, j’ai pensé.

« Leïla, je t'ai demandé si ça va. Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ? Tu as l'air si distraite tout ce voyage. »

« Oh Hervé, pas ça encore, s'il te plaît ! Je t'ai dit, je pense juste que j'essaie de faire trop de choses. Tu as de la chance, tu as Amina. Je veux dire, c’est un rêve. Si aimante et patiente, et vous deux travaillez en équipe. N'oublie pas que j'ai la complication supplémentaire de mes études en plus d'un mari accro à son travail. »

« Leïla, quand on a parlé au pub, avant que tu partes à Oxford, je t'ai dit que j'étais là pour toi et je le suis. Tu n'as pas été toi-même tout ce voyage et bien que nous soyons officiellement ici pour qu'Amina rende visite à sa famille d'accueil et pour que tu améliores ton anglais, je dois te dire que nous pensons tous les deux que tu pourrais vraiment bénéficier d'un changement d'air. Nous avons remarqué... »

À ce moment-là, j'ai coupé brusquement mon frère. « Oh, je vois, donc vous avez parlé de moi dans mon dos. Merci beaucoup. »

« Oh Leïla, je commence à perdre patience avec toi. Je te jure, j'essaie d'être un ami pour toi aussi bien qu'un frère, mais tu me rends la tâche très difficile. »

« Eh bien, qu'avez-vous exactement remarqué, Hervé ? Qu'est-ce qui est si différent chez moi récemment ? »

« Frangine, si nous allons parler ouvertement, ce n'est pas seulement récemment, je suis désolé de le dire. Cela fait un moment que tu es différente. »

« Qu'est-ce que tu veux dire par différente ? » j’ai demandé, sur la défensive.

« Regarde, il me semble qu'à partir du moment où tu as épousé Jean-Louis, tu n'es plus tout à fait la Leïla que nous avons toujours connue et aimée. »

« Quoi, tu ne m'aimes plus, c'est ça que tu dis ? »

« Non, pas du tout, bien sûr que non. Mon dieu, Leïla, nous sommes une famille, bien sûr que je t'aime et Amina aussi. C'est juste que nous avons l'impression de perdre un peu de l'ancienne Leïla jour après jour », il a avoué doucement.

« Et qui est cette ancienne Leïla, Hervé ? Comment est-elle ? Il semble que j'aimerais la rencontrer ! » Je sentais la colère monter en moi, mais plus que tout, ses paroles avaient touché quelque chose au fond de moi que je soupçonnais depuis un moment.

« Insouciante, vive, confiante, légère ! Leïla, crois-moi, je sais que le mariage et les enfants ajoutent un certain niveau de stress à la vie de n'importe qui, mais avec cela devraient venir la joie, la satisfaction et un certain sentiment de calme. » Hervé me regardais d’un air implorant. J’ai baissé les yeux sur mes chaussures, les yeux remplis de larmes.

« Eh bien, c'est un peu difficile d'être calme quand tu penses que ton mari a une liaison, tu ne trouves pas, frérot ? » Et sur ces mots, je m'éloignai en faisant semblant de m'intéresser aux canards.

“Are you okay, sis?” asked Hervé with a look of concern.

I looked to my left, keen to avoid the question. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Amina and the three children completely engrossed as they watched a line of ducklings waddling after their mother towards the lake. How cute, I thought.

“Leïla, I asked you if you’re okay. What is up with you? You’ve been so distracted this whole trip.”

“Oh Hervé, not this again, please! I told you, I think I’m just trying to do too much. You’re lucky, you’ve got Amina. I mean, she’s a dream. So loving and patient and the two of you work as a team. Don’t forget I’ve got the added complication of my studies as well as a husband who is addicted to his work.”

“Leïla, when we spoke at the pub, before you went to Oxford, I told you I’m here for you and I am. You haven’t been yourself this trip and although we’re officially here for Amina to visit her host family and for you to improve your English, I have to tell you that we both thought you could really benefit from a change of scenery. We’ve noticed…”

At this point, I cut my brother off abruptly. “Oh I see, so you’ve been talking about me behind my back. Thanks a lot.”

“Oh Leïla, I am starting to lose patience with you. I swear, I’m trying to be a friend to you as well as a brother, but you’re making it very difficult for me to do that.”

“Well, what exactly have you noticed, Hervé? What’s so different about me recently?”

“Sis, if we’re going to speak openly, it’s not just recently I’m sorry to say. It’s been quite a while now that you’ve been different.”

“What do you mean different?” I asked, defensively.

“Look, it seems to me that ever since you married Jean-Louis, you’re not quite the same Leïla we always known and loved.”

“What, so you don’t love me anymore, is that what you’re saying?”

“No, not at all, of course not. My god, Leïla, we’re family, of course I love you and Amina does, too. It’s just that we feel we’re losing a bit of the old Leïla day by day,” he admitted quietly.

“And who is this old Leïla, Hervé? What’s she like? It sounds like I’d like to meet her!” I could feel myself getting angry, but more than anything, his words had hit something deep inside of me I’d been suspecting a while.

“Carefree, spirited, confident, light! Leïla, believe me, I know marriage and children add a certain level of stress to anyone’s life, but along with that should come joy and satisfaction and a certain sense of calm.” Hervé looked at me pleadingly. I looked down at my shoes, my eyes filling with tears.

“Well, it’s a bit hard to be calm when you think your husband’s having an affair, don’t you think, bro?” And with that, I stormed off to pretend to be interested in the ducks.

Word Power: Bouche

If you want to expand your French vocab and pepper your conversation with some fun expressions, bouche*, meaning mouth, is another mot très utile* to add to your repertoire.

The following is just a little *mise en bouche (visit WordReference for a bumper list!) – but we’re sure you’ll find an expression or two that will tickle your fancy.

*mouth | *very useful word | *taster

C'est Pas Versailles Ici...

Looking for an inventive way to tell your kids to turn off les lumières* (and stop racking up your energy bill)? Look no further than the French and give les enfants* a disdainful, “C’est pas Versailles ici”. This tongue-in-cheek saying is a go-to among parents – and one of our favourites from this list of everyday French expressions.

Do you have a favourite French saying? Tell us in the comments below.

*the lights | *the children

Les Petits Mots

We hear from so many of our students that it's the 'little words' they struggle with in French. You may know the culprits: le, la, l', les, un, une, des, au, à la, à l', aux, du, de la, de l', des, mon, ma, mes... the list goes on.

With so many options on offer, there’s understandably some confusion, even among our more advanced students. So, to help you get to grips with les petits mots* (once and for all), Katrina has created a series of petites vidéos*.  

We’ll be releasing a video a week on Instagram (we’re up to week 4), so make sure you head on over for ta leçon hebdomadaire*. Below is a taster of week 1’s lesson on the definite article, ‘the’. (As promised, we’re starting back at the basics.)

Enjoy learning this way? You might be interested in our online lessons, set to début later this year. Register your interest here. And make sure you follow us on Instagram for more mini-lessons and helpful tips and tricks.

*the little words | *little videos | *your weekly lesson

How to Learn French - Et tu, Brutus ?

Well, this is embarrassing. Oftentimes when I ask our Chouchous* how they are as they come into class, they respond like this:

“Très bien, merci….et…..(long pause, scrunched up face)…tu (pleading eyes) ?”

For some reason, whenever I hear this response, the phrase “Et tu, Brutus?” comes to mind. It’s one of those phrases that you seem to pick up by osmosis and I’ve always thought that perhaps this is why students struggle to give the correct response to ça va* (which is et toi* ? by the way).

However, in doing some preliminary research for this article, I found out tout de suite* that the phrase is in fact “Et tu, Brute?” in Latin and “And you, Brutus?” in English. It turns out that long-standing loop in my head was wrong all along in any case.

Of course, if you’re reading this and have no idea (or interest) in what I’m talking about, you may more readily accept this logical (and simple) explanation as the most likely. Simply put, tu in French means ‘you’, so many students put two and two together (being et for ‘and’ and tu for ‘you’) and come up with et tu ?

It’s not a terrible mistake, but it is one that can crop up right at the start of a conversation and slightly derail proceedings, so if we can fix it without too much effort, tant mieux*, no?

The word toi belongs to a group of pronouns called ‘disjunctives’ and the name holds the key to their use. The dictionary definition of ‘disjunctive’ is: lacking any clear connection.

Bear that definition in mind as we contrast it with tu, for example. Tu is a subject pronoun and must be connected to a verb. In fact, you could say that subject pronouns need their accompanying verbs to make any sense at all.

Disjunctive pronouns, on the other hand, can be used without a verb. They can actually be used all by themselves (moi ?) or with little connecting words called conjunctions. Take a look at the table below to see the difference.

You’ll see I’ve marked in bold the shared English translations between the two different types of pronouns. I think this may be the root cause of the confusion.

By the way, disjunctive pronouns marry really well with lots of other little words to create quick rejoinders:

et toi ?
avec moi ?
sans nous ?
pour eux ?

and my personal favourite: the chez* family. In fact this is how I tend to remember them:

chez moi
chez toi
chez lui
chez elle
chez soi
chez nous
chez vous
chez eux
chez elles


So, next time you’re asked ça va, take a breath before answering with confidence, très bien, merci, et toi ?

Of course, you could simplify your life by calling everyone the formal vous, but that’s not nearly as much fun, is it?

*Teacher’s Pets | *How are you | *And you (yourself) | *straight away | *so much the better | *home/place

Word Power: Papillon

Many of our students tell us they love the French word for butterfly, papillon*. Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities to use it, too, as ce joli mot* has a surprising number of applications.

As in English, the French refer to la brasse papillon* ­– a complicated (and impressive) stroke in swimming. And you might just find yourself in need of un écrou papillon,* or butterfly nut, if you’re putting together some flat-pack furniture.

Want a few more examples to have up ta manche*? Memorise the little list below, and you’ll be sure to send your French friends into a flutter with your vocab.

*butterfly | *the pretty word| *butterfly stroke |*butterfly nut |*your sleeve

La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 2 of the Advanced 1 level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

“Alors, Leïla, tu as passé une bonne journée hier à Oxford ?” a demandé ma belle-sœur, Amina, alors que nous nous installions dans un petit café près de Harrods.

“Ah, oui, c’était un rêve franchement, Amina. Merci d’avoir gardé Anouk. C’est tellement gentil de ta part. Tu t’es bien amusée avec Tati Amina, ma chérie ?” j’ai demandé à ma fille, qui prétendait lire la carte.

“Oui, maman,” elle a dit. “Mais tu m’as manqué un petit peu quand même.”

Pas pour la première fois pendant ce voyage en Angleterre, j’ai eu une sensation de culpabilité. Évidemment, Amina a remarqué ma réaction car elle a dit tout de suite: “Tu es sûre, Anouk ? Tout ce que j’ai entendu de toi hier était à propos des canards à Hyde Park.”

“Ah oui, les canards !” Anouk a crié, “On peut y retourner aujourd’hui, Tati? S’il te plaît ? “

Amina a hoché la tête et m’a regardé en souriant. “Tu vois, Leïla, ta fille t’adore, c’est vrai, mais je ne dirais pas que tu lui manquais trop hier.”

Soulagée, j’ai souri aussi et pris la carte pour voir ce que je voulais commander pour le petit-déjeuner.

Quelques secondes plus tard, j’ai senti un petit doigt sur mon nez. “Regardez !” a crié ma fille. “Le nez de Maman est rouge comme une fraise !”

“C’est vrai, Leïla, tu a pris un coup de soleil hier ?”

Avant que je puisse répondre, mon frère m’a fixé le regard. “Tu as pris un coup de soleil dans une bibliothèque…en Angleterre ?” il m’a dit, d’un air suspicieux.

“Ben, il faisait très, très beau à Oxford hier, tu sais. Et après deux ou trois heures dans la bibliothèque j’ai décidé d’en profiter pour me balader le long de la rivière…” j’ai menti en baissant mes yeux.

“Ah, bon ?” a répondu Hervé. “C’est une longue promenade, il me semble.”

“C’est beau, non, Leïla, près de la rivière ?” a ajouté Amina gentiment.

“Ah oui, c’était tellement charmant que je n’ai pas vu le temps passer. Il faut être plus prudente la prochaine fois. Alors, vous avez choisi ?” j’ai demandé à tout le monde pour changer de sujet. Ouf ! J’adore mon frère et c’est vrai qu’il est très compréhensif, mais je n’étais pas sûre qu’il serait prêt à entendre que sa sœur mariée a passé la journée avec un homme qui n’est pas son mari. J’ai rougi de nouveau en pensant à Simon, qui n’a pas échappé mon frère.

“Bon, Anouk, la première chose qu’on va acheter chez Harrods est un joli chapeau pour ta mère. Elle ne peut pas attraper un coup de soleil à nouveau aujourd’hui. On doit la protéger. Commandons et puis on y va, hein ?”

“Merci, Hervé,” j’ai dit d’une petite voix. “C’est un bon plan.”

"So, Leïla, did you have a good day yesterday in Oxford?" asked my sister-in-law Amina as we settled into a small café near Harrods.

"Oh, yes, it was a dream, honestly, Amina. Thank you for taking care of Anouk. It's so kind of you. Did you have fun with Aunty Amina, darling?" I asked my daughter, who was pretending to read the menu.

"Yes, Mum," she said. "But I still missed you a little bit.”

Not for the first time during this trip to England, I felt a sense of guilt. Obviously, Amina noticed my reaction because she immediately said, "Are you sure, Anouk? All I heard from you yesterday was about the ducks in Hyde Park."

"Oh yes, the ducks!" Anouk shouted, "Can we go back today, Aunty? Please!"

Amina nodded and smiled at me. "You see, Leïla, your daughter loves you, it's true, but I wouldn't say she missed you too much yesterday."

Relieved, I smiled too and took the menu to see what I wanted to order for breakfast.

A few seconds later, I felt a little finger on my nose. "Look!" cried my daughter. "Mum's nose is as red as a strawberry!"

"It's true, Leïla, did you get sunburned yesterday?"

Before I could answer, my brother looked at me pointedly. "You got sunburned in a library… in England?" he said, suspiciously.

"Well, it was very, very nice in Oxford yesterday, you know. And after two or three hours in the library, I decided to take advantage of it by strolling along the river…" I lied, lowering my eyes.

"Oh, really?" replied Hervé. "That's quite a long walk, it seems to me."

"It's beautiful, isn't it, Leïla, near the river?” added Amina kindly.

"Oh yes, it was so charming that I didn't notice the time. I should be more careful next time. So, have you all decided?" I asked everyone to change the subject. Phew! I love my brother, and it's true that he's very understanding, but I wasn't sure if he would be ready to hear that his married sister had spent the day with a man who isn't her husband. I blushed again thinking of Simon, which ddin't escaped my brother's notice.

"Well, Anouk, the first thing we're going to buy at Harrods is a nice hat for your mother. She can't get sunburned again today. We have to protect her. Let's order and then we'll go, hey?"

"Thank you, Hervé," I said quietly. "That's a good plan."

How to Learn French - French-lovin’ friends

With the French film festival almost over for another year, I’m betting many of you have taken a trip to le cinéma* in recent weeks.

While we’re so lucky to have access to this annual buffet* of French celluloid, I know from personal experience and also anecdotally that it can come with an unfortunate effet secondaire*.

Beaucoup de chouchous* (and I include myself in this count) have left screenings with shoulders slumped, regardless of the quality of the film they’ve just seen. Pourquoi*? Because watching a movie is possibly the worst gauge of your true level of French. Arguments, slang, different accents, turned backs and “in” jokes all make the task très difficile*. Yes, it’s true, if you were to travel to or live in a French-speaking country, these are the types of factors you’d be up against, but as a learner, do you really need try to jump over that very high bar just yet? And yet I do…

As you know I’ve been at this French caper for multiple decades, and I still play a (slightly depressing) game with myself each time I go. I know my French should be good enough to watch a whole movie without subtitles, and yet, do you think I can tear my eyes away from the subtitles for more than about three frames? I test myself each time I go, even resorting to closing my eyes at times to avoid the temptation of looking. This is a dangerous game, cependant*, as it removes all the visual clues that are so helpful to our comprehension.

My problem, and the problem of many of our students, is that if I don’t understand every single word, I start to panic, thinking I’m going to lose the thread of the plot entirely. I’ve written about this in the past with regards to listening exams and the same holds true with films. It really is a skill to have the sang-froid* to accept that you’re not understanding everything and to stay tuned in anyway. In my recent, slightly more successful attempts, I’ve noticed that something that slips by me often crops up in another form or phrase just a few seconds later, restoring my understanding. I just have to hold my nerve until it happens.

Of course, I’m speaking as an advanced French speaker here, but les films français* are there to be enjoyed by everyone, so read on for some more tips, no matter your niveau*.

Period pieces can be a good place to start. Not only are the costumes sumptuous and the stories often drawn from French history, but the dialogue is often much easier to understand. In gentler times, people spoke more deliberately and used a higher, more formal register that can be kinder to our oreilles*. Higher level French words are often very similar to English. Also, take out the street slang that often peppers contemporary tales and you’re left with a language that more closely resembles your textbooks. That’s not to say that slang should not be learned at some point (it is after all, a whole lot of fun) but again, is this really the battle you want to wage just yet?

When you’re a beginner, reading the English subtitles is fairly unavoidable if you wish to follow along. As you improve, you may be able to pick up a word or two of the dialogue and see it in the translation, which can be a real thrill. With every movie you watch, your ears will discern more and more and in time, you may even find yourself predicting the English translation. Chapeau*! This is a huge step. Hélas*, no sooner have you fait péter le bouchon* on a fine bottle of champagne to celebrate, you may be scandalisé* to see that the English translations do not match your own. Have you been being duped this whole time? Well, no. It turns out subtitle translators are restricted to three lines of text across the screen. Any more and the text will start to monte* up into the actors’ faces, et ça ne se fait pas*. Therefore, the translators are forced to summarise the French dialogue, which is why you’ll often find a watered-down version of the rich  French dialogue as you read.

Lastly, choose a film that resonates with your interests. You’ll stay more engaged, and if you’re familiar with the subject matter, you’ll be more likely to be able to guess at certain words and meanings. Even better, go for a French film that has had an English remake you’ve seen. There are plenty to choose from. Bon ciné* !

• CODA - La Famille Bélier

• The Birdcage - La Cage aux Folles

• Three Men and a Baby - Trois Hommes et un Couffin

• Cousins - Cousins, Cousines

• The Talented Mr Ripley - Plein Soleil

*cinema | *smorgasbord | *side effect | *Lots of Teacher’s Pets | *Why? | *very difficult | however | *self-control | *French films | *level | *ears | *Hats off to you | *Alas | *cracked the cork (literally “made the cork fart”) | *scandalised | *climb | *that’s not done | *Happy cinema-going!

La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, Chapter 1 of the Advanced 1 level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

Nous étions assis sous un grand chêne près de la rivière. La lumière du soleil passait à travers les feuilles, faisant des taches sur l'herbe douce en dessous de nous. Je me suis appuyée contre Simon et il m'a serrée dans ses bras. Il a repoussé mes cheveux de mon épaule, et pendant qu'il le faisait, la bretelle de ma robe est tombée. Avant que je puisse la remettre en place, il a touché doucement mon épaule et a dit "Oh, tu as un petit coup de soleil là, mon amour." Je me suis retournée pour regarder mon épaule gauche et c'est là que nos lèvres se sont rencontrées.

« Maman, maman, tu dors ? » J'ai entendu une petite voix près de mon visage. « Maman, allez, il est temps de partir ! »

Surprise, je me suis redressée dans mon lit, regardant autour de moi pour retrouver mes repères. L'armoire, la lampe, les rideaux floraux, la serrure de la porte. Où étais-je ?

« Allez, maman ! Lève-toi ! » Anouk a dit en essayant de me tirer les couvertures.

« Anouk ! Arrête ça ! Laisse maman une minute pour se réveiller ! » j’ai dit en frottant mes yeux endormis.

“Mince, j'ai dû faire un sommeil profond avant d'être réveillée, j’ai pensé, un peu grognon. Puis ça m'est revenu. Pas tellement les images du rêve, mais la délicieuse sensation d'être dans les bras de Simon sous le chêne. « Pourquoi m'as-tu réveillée ? » j'ai eu envie de dire, mais dès que j'ai eu cette pensée, une vague de honte m'a envahie. Je suis mariée ! Qu'est-ce que je fais à rêver de mon professeur d'anglais, de tous les gens ! Perturbée par mes pensées, j'ai décidé de me lever, et vite.

« D'accord, allez, mon chéri, préparons-nous et allons retrouver ta tante et ton oncle et les filles. Il ne nous reste pas beaucoup de temps à Londres. Allons-y ! »

Vingt minutes plus tard, nous étions dans le hall de l'hôtel, habillées et prêtes à partir.

« Alors, qu'est-ce qu'on va faire aujourd'hui ? » Hervé a demandé à notre petit groupe.

« Est-ce que je peux voter pour un petit-déjeuner d'abord ? » j’ai demandé. « J'ai une faim de loup. »

« Oh, je pensais que tu serais descendue prendre le petit-déjeuner, Leïla. Tu sais qu'il est inclus, n'est-ce pas ? »

« Oui, je le sais », j’a’i répondu un peu timidement, « mais nous avons un peu fait la grasse matinée, n'est-ce pas Anouk ? »

« Oui, j'ai dû réveiller maman. Elle était une grosse dormeuse ce matin. »

Merci, ma chère fille, je me suis dit.

Amina a souri puis a dit : « D'accord, et si nous nous dirigeons vers Harrods et que nous nous arrêtons pour prendre un petit-déjeuner en chemin ? Je pense que nous aurons tous besoin de carburant dans nos ventres avant d'attaquer le département des jouets avec les enfants. Qu'en pensez-vous ? »

« Ça me semble être un bon plan. Allons-y ? »

We were seated under a beautiful big oak tree close to the river. The sunlight peeked through the leaves, dappling the soft grass below us. I leaned back against Simon and he wrapped his arms around me protectively. He brushed my hair away from my shoulder and as he did so, the cotton strap of my sundress fell to the side. Before I could reach back to straighten it, he touched my shoulder tenderly and said “Ooh, you’ve got a little sunburn there, my love.” I turned to peer at my left shoulder and as I did so, his lips met mine.


“Mummy, mummy, are you sleeping?” I heard a little voice next to my face. “Mummy, come on, it’s time to go!”



Startled, I sat up in bed, looking around to find my bearings. The wardrobe, the lamp, the floral curtains, the lock on the door. Where was I?



“Come on, Mum! Get up!” Anouk said, as she tried to yank the bedcovers from over me.



“Anouk! Stop that! Give mummy a minute to wake up!” I said, rubbing my eyes sleepily.



Gee, I must have been in a deep sleep before being woken up, I thought, a bit cranky. Then it came back to me. Not so much the images of the dream, but the delicious feeling of being in Simon’s arms under the oak tree.

“Why did you wake me up?” I wanted to blurt out, but as soon as I had the thought, a wave of shame came over me. I am married! What am I doing dreaming about my English professor, of all people! Disturbed by my thoughts, I decided to get up, and fast.



“Okay, come on kiddo, let’s get ready and go and find your Aunty and Uncle and the girls. We haven’t got much time left in London. Let’s go!”


Twenty minutes later we were in the foyer of the hotel, dressed and ready to go. 



“So, what are we going to do today?” Hervé asked our little group.



“Can I vote for some breakfast first?” I asked. “I’m starving.”



“Oh, I thought you would have gone down for breakfast, Leïla. You know it’s included, don’t you?”



“Yes, I do,” I answered a little sheepishly, “but we had a bit of a sleep-in, didn’t we Anouk?”

“Yes, I had to wake mummy. She was a big sleepyhead this morning.”



Thank you, darling daughter, I thought to myself.



Amina grinned then said: “Okay, we how about if we make our way to Harrods and we stop for some breakfast on the way? I think we’ll all need some fuel in our tummies before we attack the toy department with the kids. What do you think?”



“That sounds like a plan to me,” I replied. “Shall we go?”

How to Learn French - Gotcha!

I’m not sure about you, but I have memories of being told in primary school that the word ‘get’ was borderline verboten. It’s possible my teachers were stricter than most, but more likely, times have simply changed in the grammar world. Given my primary school days are more than four decades in the past I should not be surprised. Nonetheless, in doing research for this article, I was indeed surprised to see the legitimacy the word ‘get’ is afforded as a highly used, irregular English verb.

Though I likely avoided use of the word ‘get’ in my hunt for scratch ’n’ sniff stickers while at school, I absolutely know I use, even overuse, this verb in my everyday life.

I was first alerted to this through learning French. Since French does not have a verb that directly translates as ‘to get’, once I moved beyond the basics, I was often pulled up short by this missing verb.

Just in case you’re not convinced of its ubiquitousness in English, here are a few examples off the top of my head:

1. To get a drink
2. To get an email
3. To get a new car
4. To get angry
5. To get married
6. To get drunk
7. To get some results
8. To get a cold
9. To get your car cleaned
10. To get your hair cut


In fact, given the multitude of ways we use ‘to get’ in English, this article could run to a smallish book, so, how do we get around this word in the most commonly cases?

The easiest, and probably most ‘correct’ way, is to try to think of an appropriate synonym.

to get a drink = to fetch a drink
to get an email = to receive an email
to get a new car = to buy a new car

So try instead:

Je cherche une boisson (I’m looking for a drink)
J’ai reçu un email (I received an email)
Je vais acheter une nouvelle voiture (I’m going to buy a new car)

What happens, though, when we use ‘get’ to mean ‘to become’ in English, which we do a lot, as in examples #4, #5 and #6 above? This is a little trickier. In my experience, French usually has a dedicated verb for these instances and often it’s a reflexive one.

to get angry = se fâcher
to get married = se marier
to get drunk = se saouler

These verbs are a little tricker to conjugate, granted, but if you practise them enough, they’ll eventually come more naturally to you.

Je me suis fâché(e) (I got angry)
Je me marie ! (I’m getting married!)
Je me suis saoulé(e) (I got drunk).

In some cases, the verb ‘avoir’ will give you a less formal-sounding, but still correct, option. Take these two sentences as examples.

to get some results
to get a cold

Instead of opting for ‘j’ai obtenu des résultats’, you could use ‘j’ai eu des résultats’ instead (literally ‘I had some results’).

Rather than going for the more formal ‘J’ai attrapé un rhume’, ‘j’ai eu un rhume’ works just as well and may even sound more natural to native speakers. Either are fine, though, so the choice is yours.

Those of you who have done advanced courses at Lingua Franca will have certainly encountered le causatif (the causative construction). I didn’t realise the usefulness of this turn of phrase when I first learned it, but having now taught it for several years and listened to a lot of French via the news, podcasts, series and movies I have come to understand its value.

Without realising it, we use it a lot in English as well. Think of the difference in these two sentences:

I clean the house
I have the house cleaned

I know which one I’d rather and this has motivated me to look into this construction more carefully. We use the causative when we’re not performing an action ourselves but having someone else doing it for us. It’s a personal goal of mine to trade active sentences for causative ones for all the menial tasks I don’t want to do.

Sometimes it’s less about la paresse*, it’s just common sense. For example:

I cut my hair
I have my hair cut

So try these:

Je fais nettoyer la maison (I get the house cleaned)
Je fais couper mes cheveux (I get my hair cut)


I predict that the more you think about the use of the verb ‘get’ in English, the more you risk a sense of overwhelm as you realise how heavily we rely on this three-lettered workhorse. Please don’t succumb. The first step is to simply take notice of the ‘get’ phrases including you reach for most often when trying to speak French. Note them down, and see if they fit into one of the four categories above. They most likely will. If they don’t and you really, really want to use one in particular, challenge yourself to dip into a good dictionary to see if you can find the translation and start testing it out for yourself. Bon courage* !

*Good luck!

La Petite Histoire

If you've ever done a group lesson here at Lingua Franca, you've probably come into contact with La Petite Histoire*. A tale with the very humblest of beginnings, it winds up becoming a rollicking schlockbuster as you move up the levels and your French improves enough to handle the outrageous (some would say impossible) turns of events of the six young friends.

La Petite Histoire is currently only available to our students, however La Préquelle is for everyone’s enjoyment. Below, another instalment of this new series, the final chapter of the Intermediate Revision level.

*The Little Story | *The Prequel

En voyant mon désarroi, Simon a pris ma main tendrement.

“Mais, Leïla, qu’est-ce qu’il y a ? Pourquoi tu pleures ?” il a demandé.

“Ah, je suis désolée, Simon. Je suis vraiment embarrassée.”

“Tu ne devrais jamais être embarrassée devant moi, Leïla, mais je suis inquiet. Pourquoi tu es tellement triste ?”

“Ce n’est pas que je suis triste, Simon, c’est que je ne sais plus où j’en suis ! Je trouve très difficile de réconcilier tous les rôles de ma vie. Je suis femme, maman et étudiante mais c’est vraiment difficile de mélanger les trois. Je sais que je ne devrais pas me plaindre car je suis très chanceuse. Je suis très heureuse de pouvoir faire mes études mais parfois j’ai l’impression d’avoir trop de responsabilités.”

“Jean-Louis ne t’aide pas ?” a demandé Simon.

“Il travaille beaucoup,” j’ai répondu.

“Mais cette semaine, par exemple, il s’occupe des jumelles. Ça aide, non ?”

“Oui, je suppose, mais ce n’est qu’une semaine et il a dû demander l’aide de sa mère ! Moi, je fais les autres 51 semaines de l’année presque sans aide.”

“Tu ne peux pas lui demander pour plus d’aide, Leïla ?” Simon a proposé.

“C’est compliqué. J’adore mon mari mais c’est un homme traditionnel. Lui, il n’était pas très content quand je lui ai dit que j’avais l’intention de reprendre mes études. Il pense que si je décide de faire les études en plus d’être mère et femme que c’est à moi de gérer parce que son travail prend presque tout son temps.”

“Ah, je vois,” a dit Simon, d’un air sérieux. “Je vois. Ça doit être très difficile pour toi, Leïla.”

“Parfois, oui, Simon, c’est vrai,” j’ai admis. “Aujourd’hui, par exemple. Je ne sais pas pourquoi je te raconte mes problèmes. Encore une fois, je suis désolée.”

“Tu ne dois jamais t’excuser auprès de moi, Leïla. Je suis flatté que tu aies choisi de me parler de tout ça. Tu peux me faire confiance, tu sais,” il a ajouté sincèrement.

“Merci Simon,” j’ai dit. “En fait, maintenant qu’on en parle, ce n’est pas tout. Avant de quitter Paris, j’avais l’impression que Jean-Louis avait hâte que je parte. Et puis hier, quand je lui ai téléphoné pour dire coucou, j’ai entendu la voix d’une femme inconnue en fond.”

“C’est sa mère, sûrement ?” Simon a tout de suite répondu.

“Non, Simon. Je connais très bien la voix de sa mère. Ce n’était pas elle.” Et avec cette confession, j’ai recommencé à pleurer.

“Leïla, ne pleure pas, s’il te plaît. Parlons des choses plus agréables. Tu as parlé à Anaïs récemment ?”

“Non,” j’ai répondu, reconnaissante de la distraction. “Pas pendant quelques jours de toute façon. Elle a une vie très chargée. Elle est très sociale.”

“C’est normal, Leïla. Anaïs n’a pas des responsabilités comme toi.”

“Oui, c’est vrai, mais parfois je voudrais changer de place avec elle. Tout serait tellement plus simple,” j’ai dit.

“Oui, peut-être,” Simon a dit, hésitant, “mais à mon avis, Leïla, Anaïs serait incapable de gérer ta vie. Je l’aime bien, mais c’est toi que j’admire,” il a ajouté, en rougissant un petit peu.

J’étais vraiment touchée, je dois admettre. Il y avait un long moment de silence entre nous avant que j’ai noté que Simon me tenait toujours la main. En fait, il était en train de la caresser doucement.

Choquée, j’ai retiré ma main tout de suite, mais je le regrettais deux secondes plus tard.

Upon seeing my distress, Simon took my hand gently.

"But, Leïla, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Simon. I'm really embarrassed."

"You should never be embarrassed in front of me, Leïla, but I'm worried. Why are you so sad?"

"It's not that I'm sad, Simon, it's just that I don't know where I stand anymore! I find it very difficult to reconcile all the roles in my life. I'm a woman, a mother, and a student, but it's really hard to mix all three. I know I shouldn't complain because I'm very fortunate. I'm very happy to be able to pursue my studies, but sometimes I feel like I have too many responsibilities."

"Doesn't Jean-Louis help you?" Simon asked.

"He works a lot," I replied.

"But this week, for example, he's taking care of the twins. That helps, right?"

"Yes, I suppose, but it's only one week, and he had to ask his mother for help! I handle the other 51 weeks of the year almost without assistance."

"Can't you ask him for more help, Leïla?" Simon suggested.

"It's complicated. I love my husband, but he's a traditional man. He wasn't very happy when I told him I intended to resume my studies. He thinks that if I decide to pursue studies in addition to being a mother and a wife, then it's up to me to manage because his work takes up almost all of his time."

"Ah, I see," Simon said, with a serious expression. "I see. It must be very difficult for you, Leïla."

"Sometimes, yes, Simon, it's true," I admitted. "Today, for example. I don't know why I'm telling you about my problems again. I'm sorry."

"You should never apologize to me, Leïla. I'm honored that you chose to talk to me about all this. You can trust me, you know," he added sincerely.

"Thank you, Simon," I said. "Actually, now that we're talking about it, it's not everything. Before leaving Paris, I felt like Jean-Louis was looking forward to me leaving. And then yesterday, when I called to say hello, I heard the voice of an unknown woman in the background."

"It's his mother, surely?" Simon immediately replied.

"No, Simon. I know his mother's voice very well. It wasn't her." And with that confession, I started crying again.

"Leïla, don't cry, please. Let's talk about more pleasant things. Have you talked to Anaïs recently?"

"No," I replied, grateful for the distraction. "Not for a few days anyway. She has a very busy life. She's very social."

"That's normal, Leïla. Anaïs doesn't have responsibilities like you."

"Yes, that's true, but sometimes I wish I could switch places with her. Everything would be so much simpler," I said.

"Yes, maybe," Simon said, hesitating, "but in my opinion, Leïla, Anaïs would be unable to handle your life. I like her, but it's you that I admire," he added, blushing a little.

I was truly touched, I must admit. There was a long moment of silence between us before I noticed that Simon was still holding my hand. In fact, he was gently caressing it.

Shocked, I withdrew my hand immediately, but I regretted it two seconds later.