Feelin' Good

Un film qui rechauffe le coeur

A 'feel good film' - un film qui rechauffe le coeur - literally, a film which  warms the heart or we would say, which warms the cockles of your heart. Why on earth we have to say 'cockles' and what exactly they are is a mystery to me.

Talking of films...... Monday 26th March is Film Night chez Julian & Judith.

You have a choice: 

Watched this one last night. Very clever and complex plot. Keeps you guessing the whole time .  Click for information

 

Powerful, well-crafted plot and beautifully acted drama.  More info.

Perfect comic timing and belly-achingly funny throughout. More info.

À vous de choisir!

Please note: the above are my opinions and not that of a film critic. However, I think Claudia Winkelman does have some serious competition.

Les Devoirs

Is the wordsearch doing your head in?  Fear not, it is difficult and not compiled by me, I hasten to add. Although there are 43 verbs in total (I have found 36 so far), you are doing well if you find 10 in each category. Hint - Look for the ones which take être first, as you know what they are and it helps to know what you are looking for. Just do as much as you can and don't get stressed by it.  I am more interested to see if you know which category they fit into. 

It's good value!

Why, of course - c'est bon marché!

bon marché  = good value or good deal

Click here for the history of one of the best known department stores in Paris.

C'est Julian non?

faire signe à quelqu'un = to wave to someone

Il fait beau

Can it possibly be the beginning of March en Angleterre? 

This week, we took our coffee break in the garden, enjoying the warm, early spring sunshine - amazemont! (sic). 

As requested, today's post is about how to type French accents. There are, at least, 3 ways. There may be more, for all I know. 

1)  Use the alt key plus the code numbers on your number pad.  I usually use this method.  

2) Use French typeit and then cut and paste your document. I use this method if I am writing a long text.

3) When using 'word' you can click on Insert, Symbol to access French accents and characters for a wide range of languages.

As you like it

Here are two phrases we revised this week:

   Without doing something = sans + infinitive

Examples:
without speaking                    =   sans parler
without eating                       =   sans manger
without drinking                     =   sans boire
without doing the washing up =   sans faire la vaisselle

If you remember, this phrase is repeated to great effect in the Jacques Prévert poem, Déjeuner du Matin.

Sans, meaning 'without' is an archaic English word most famously used in the 'All the world's a stage' soliloquy from Shakespeare's 'As you like it'.

"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste sans, everything"

(William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II Scene VII)

N.B. Words in dark red are hyperlinks and if you click on them you will be taken to the relevant internet page. 

 
Before doing something = avant de + infinitive

Examples:

before reading    =   avant de lire

before speaking  =   avant de parler

before going out =   avant de sortir

When you use reflexive verbs, remember to change the reflexive pronoun e.g.me, te, se, etc.) to match the subject eg. je, tu, il, elle etc.

Examples:

avant de me coucher, j'ai regardé la télé 

before going to bed, I watched t.v. 

avant de te coiffer, tu as cherché le miroir

before doing your hair, you looked for the mirror

avant de se lever, il a regarde son réveil 

before getting up, he looked at his alarm clock

Je suis allé au travail sans me changer

I went to work without getting changed

Tu t'es couché sans te brosser les dents

You went to bed without brushing your teeth

Elle est sorti sans se maquiller

She went out without putting on her make up

  

Keeping Pigs

Nous n'avons pas gardé les cochons ensemble!

Linda taught us this phrase today, which, I must say, is new to me. It means, 'don't get so familiar with me' and might be used when you say tu instead of vous to someone you hardly know. It originates from when a member of the aristocracy thought that a peasant was getting too familiar, hence, 'we didn't keep pigs together'. Merci Linda.

Plus ça change ......

....plus c'est la même chose. Meaning, the  more things change, the more they stay the same. French people will often use this cynical phrase when talking about 'new ideas' introduced by the government, for example. We often talk about things going 'full circle'. You will hear people saying just, Plus ça change because it's such a well-known saying that everyone knows that it is followed by, 'plus c'est la même chose'.

If you want to say I did something for a change, you say, pour changer un peu. This can be used seriously or sarcastically, just as we do in English.

Nul points.......

 ... was the men's score after our 'passé composé' game today.  Despite getting most answers right, Lady Luck was not on their side and the wheel of fortune dealt them a savage blow, which sadly, only added to our hilarity pour changer un peu!

Bits 'n' Pieces

Herewith the vocabulary, which we encountered in last week's conversation:

Angela is still doing her spring cleaning, so the verb nettoyer has featured regularly over the past few weeks.  Nettoyer is a regular ER verb but the y changes to i in certain parts:

                                                          nettoyer = to clean

                                     1) je      nettoie       4) nous  nettoyons

                                     2) tu      nettoies      5) vous   nettoyez

                                     3) il    }                    6) ils   } nettoient

                                        elle }   nettoie          elles}

                                        on   }

This is known as a 1,2,3,6 verb because it changes in parts 1, 2 3 and 6!

un tiroir    =   drawer

tirer          =   to pull

pousser     =  to push

la trousse =  (small) case 

la trousse (scolaire)

la trousse de maquillage 

la trousse de secours 

la trousse manucure

You might wonder how on earth the following words came into the conversation?

mordre (irregular verb)        = to bite
étrangler (regular ER verb  =   to strangle

If you remember, Julian was talking about the puppy!

surtout                =  above all, especially
un écran              =  screen
Ça va mieux?       =  Are you better? Is s/he better? Is it better? etc. 
Oui ça va mieux   = Yes I'm better. S/he's better. It's better etc.
mûr                     = mature / ripe
commander         = to order (regular ER verb)

N.B. attendre is to wait and to wait for.

Two phrases from last week:
il y a       =  there is or there are
il y avait = there was or there were

Les Devoirs
Use the passé composé to write captions to the pictures in the handout. Most verbs (but not all) are reflexive or are one of the 14 which take être.

Relaxez-vous.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9t7WuRz3RQ

As requested, here is the séance de relaxation gratuite which we did today. We listened to the first 2 minutes 42 seconds. Enjoy......