By Patricia Tennison
So, here we are, not in Paris. Not walking along the Seine. Not sitting thisclose to the next table in a little cafe. Not flicking away the crumbs from a morning croissant. Not speaking French.
I miss it all. This coronavirus era keeps me grounded in Chicago, where I don’t expect to pull out my passport until next year.
(Early this year, I took a preemptive path and canceled the spring and fall sessions of Paris Cafe Writing for 2020. And reimbursed everyone. Safety first. However, I am optimistic that next year travel will be better. The two June 2021 writing sessions are already half-filled, so others also seem ready to head back to Paris! Check the www.ParisCafeWriting.com site for details.)
One silver lining for those of us stuck at home is more leisure time. A perfect time to brush up on our French.
I am going to list below a few of my favorite ways to keep rolling those R’s and to grasp those pesky French numbers. However, there are many more. Please tell me how you like to practice French and I will add your suggestions in another newsletter; try to be specific and add any tips. Thanks.
TV5Monde
TV5Monde is an excellent online way to learn (apprendre) French.
Currently, the online version of this French television network is my favorite way to add a little French at home. The videos are short and newsy. (As a former journalist, I love learning new things and keeping up to date on what’s going on in the world.)
Indeed, while writing this newsletter, I got sidelined by a TV5Monde video on the history of pearl necklaces and another on barley production. This site is addictive. It’s an excellent way to practice listening–and it’s free.
The instructions are all in French, so this route may be difficult for a beginner. Let me know!
Go to www.apprendre.tv5monde.com/fr . Pick a level from beginner to advanced. Pick a topic. Watch and listen to a 1- to 3-minute video as many times as you want, and do the exercises. The speakers come from various regions of France, so you will encounter some dialects and most of them speak pretty quickly.
Tips:
At the bottom of the video screen, click on “CC” to start the sous-titres, subtitles.
Click afficher les solutions to get the answers to the quizzes.
Look at the bottom left for the transcription button that will show you the script, en francais.
Le Monde
The online version of Le Monde’ s front page (A La Une).
I subscribe to 12 mostly English news sources that appear every morning on my home page, email, or front door. Le Monde is one. It is one of the major French daily newspapers and, for a socialist country, is toward the political center; Libération is toward the left; and Le Figaro toward the right.
I get Le Monde online, and I mostly skim the headlines. Recently I clicked on one article about problems French universities are having because of the record number of high school graduates. I learned a word new to me: bachelier, or high school student, from one who has passed the baccalaureate exam. Bon!
Go to www.lemonde.fr and take a look. I believe that there are a certain number of articles that you can read online before you have to pay.
Laura Lawless
Laura K. Lawless
This is a great, free online site to brush up on your French grammar. The teaching text is in English, so it’s particularly easy for beginners and intermediates.
Lawless, an American, is very personable and her site makes grammar fun–until it’s not fun. I have her site bookmarked for when I need to review, again, the same ol’ French grammar mistakes that haunt me. My fault, not hers.
She also offers plenty of reading and listening exercises, and covers French customs and language oddities. Give it a try.
Go to www.lawlessfrench.com .
Tip:
I love gutsy entrepreneurs. Lawless has kept her site free since 1999, but if you click on her “Support” button you can send her $4 for a cup of coffee, $5 a month to get her mot du jour, or even enough to buy her a book.
Movies
An episode in the movie Paris Je T’Aime at Pere Lachaise cemetery.
No grammar is needed to enjoy a movie! This is an easy way to let a bit of French slip into your brain, especially if you get creative with subtitles. Here are some tips for subtitles:
* Watch an American movie at home with the original American voices, but select French subtitles. (This is the way we often watch current American movies when we are in Paris. We pick a theater showing the movie in VO [version originale]. The theater includes subtitles in French.) You roll along, easily understanding the English-speaking actors, but you have the option of a French lesson in the subtitles.
One note on subtitles: they are often not verbatim. It takes a clever translator to handle idioms and to get the gist and emotion to fit into just a line of copy. My worst experience with subtitles was when I watched Julieta, one of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies. We were in Paris, so the Spanish director’s movie was in the original Spanish, with French subtitles. His movies are dialogue-rich, and some of the subtitles were two or maybe three lines in French–a bit much for me to grasp in a couple seconds while also watching the action! There are still some scenes in that movie that I never understood.
* Watch a French movie with English subtitles. This is the most obvious choice, and you get to hear authentic French.
*Watch a French movie with French subtitles. A double lesson! The French subtitles help when the actor is mumbling or using slang.
*Watch a non-English film with French subtitles. This can be challenging, depending on the translator. See the Almodóvar comment above.
Tip:
Gérard Depardieu (center), who stars in the movie Cyrano de Bergerac, enunciates well, so his movies are particularly good for studying the French language.
Look for films starring Gérard Depardieu. He enunciates well, so his French is easier to understand.
In-Class Lessons
Erwan Sorel
Person-to-person with a native French speaker is the ideal way to learn, of course. If you happen to live in Chicago, I strongly recommend studying with Erwan Sorel at his L’Ecole Francaise, 1714 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, Il. (773)-857-1322.
Erwan was the most popular teacher at the Alliance Francaise in Chicago when I was a student there in the ’90s. He branched off on his own 17 years ago and I still hear raves about him.
According to his website, www.lef-learn-french.com, Erwan is now offering Zoom lessons.
How Do YOU Practice French?
I have opened la porte just a bit to show you how I keep up with French when not in Paris. Do you have a radio station or blog or music selection or app that works for you? I didn’t even list Duolingo because I’ve never used it!
Send me a note on a method that works for you. Tell me why you like it, and maybe include a tip or two so I can share your ideas in a future newsletter.
To email or to subscribe: info@ParisCafeWriting.com
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