- The Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes: pure emotion.
Annette came from Nigeria on a language immersion trip to improve her French. “On Saturday afternoon, we went to Nantes and when we got there, we discovered the Memorial for the Abolition of Slavery. I was very moved to discover how people, men, women, children, in short human beings, were treated, in both senses of the word: mistreatment and the slave trade. I knew the story, but I wasn’t aware of what the victims had gone through. At the Memorial, I really felt the pain […]
- What if it was the spelling’s fault after all?
Or why it is absolutely necessary to put things into perspective and to play it down in order to get out of it… A few weeks ago, it was “Ke Bi” who asked us: “Do you have an explanation for the pronunciation of the letter x ( s ) in dix-sept and ( z ) in dix-neuf? “ A picture is worth a thousand words and we will let Arnaud Hoedt and Jérôme Piron, linguists by training, answer this question in a hilarious way. A […]
- The question of the day is from Amer Grine, from the group: French, reading and writing…
I would love to know how you learned to spell the words in French… It’s a very difficult spelling that contains many exceptions…How do you manage to have all these words in your head? Here is my answer: Since a large proportion of native French speakers have significant difficulties with written French, your goal of excellence is commendable but virtually unattainable for three reasons:: 1- difficulties and exceptions have been consciously generated over the centuries by the dominant class to classify and sort learners by […]
- The art of conversation, a shared responsibility…
When he talks, he talks, he talks and I can’t get a word in edgewise… It is sometimes a very embarrassing situation for learners to have worked hard beforehand to be able to participate in a conversation and to find themselves in an exchange where a native French speaker monopolizes the floor without leaving any room for the interlocutor who is making the effort to speak in French. It is even worse when our learners understand 90% of the information that is transmitted and there […]
Annette came from Nigeria on a language immersion trip to improve her French. “On Saturday afternoon, we went to Nantes and when we got there, we discovered the Memorial for the Abolition of Slavery. I was very moved to discover how people, men, women, children, in short human beings, were treated, in both senses of the word: mistreatment and the slave trade. I knew the story, but I wasn’t aware of what the victims had gone through. At the Memorial, I really felt the pain […]
Or why it is absolutely necessary to put things into perspective and to play it down in order to get out of it… A few weeks ago, it was “Ke Bi” who asked us: “Do you have an explanation for the pronunciation of the letter x ( s ) in dix-sept and ( z ) in dix-neuf? “ A picture is worth a thousand words and we will let Arnaud Hoedt and Jérôme Piron, linguists by training, answer this question in a hilarious way. A […]
I would love to know how you learned to spell the words in French… It’s a very difficult spelling that contains many exceptions…How do you manage to have all these words in your head? Here is my answer: Since a large proportion of native French speakers have significant difficulties with written French, your goal of excellence is commendable but virtually unattainable for three reasons:: 1- difficulties and exceptions have been consciously generated over the centuries by the dominant class to classify and sort learners by […]
When he talks, he talks, he talks and I can’t get a word in edgewise… It is sometimes a very embarrassing situation for learners to have worked hard beforehand to be able to participate in a conversation and to find themselves in an exchange where a native French speaker monopolizes the floor without leaving any room for the interlocutor who is making the effort to speak in French. It is even worse when our learners understand 90% of the information that is transmitted and there […]