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Les ananas ne parlent pas?
By Kristen | December 13, 2007
In my efforts to learn French this semester, I’ve been trying to watch, read or listen to something in French every day.
I listen to Radio France International’s 10-minute podcast en français facile.
I watch Le Journal (with subtitles) on WNYE.
And I’ve been trying to read food blogs in French. I say “try” because, well, they’re blogs. They’re slangy, they have typos, they have weird turns of phrase in them, but at the same time, they force me to read in a way I won’t get to otherwise, and it introduces me to a lot of words I wouldn’t otherwise encounter. (To wit: my textbook translates moule as “mussel” but it can also mean a cake pan.)
Anyway, here are my personal favorites so far:
- Les notes bleus d’une gourmande
- Cuisiner… tout simplement
- jesuispasunecourge.com
- les miam miam d’Annabel
- mes petites recettes faciles
I won’t say these blogs are the reason I got an A, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t hurt.
Endnote: the title of this post is a reference to Téléfrançais, an educational kids’ show from the late 1980s, which, well, see for yourself…
Topics: Odds and Sods |
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December 14th, 2007 at 9:27 am
You inspire me. I’ll have to take two more semesters of French at some point in the not-too-distant future. It wouldn’t have occured to me to look for blogs in French.
NOW what you need to do is translate “It smells like a hobo’s ass in August” into French! From what I vaguely remember from 1987 (when I took my first class) August is Aout (?) or something similar.
Merci, Kristen!
December 14th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Because we all watched Téléfrançais growing up, it’s very Canadian to randomly say things about what les ananas can and can’t do. “Les ananas ne saute pas” is a very popular one.
You might also enjoy Tetesaclaque’s Willy Waller 2006:
http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/video.php?vid=30
And Eddie Izzard on learning french:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1sQkEfAdfY
December 14th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Fen Tiger: Perhaps someday, you’ll be riding a subway on a hot, humid summer day, sitting next to a person of questionable hygiene, and suddenly, you’ll know exactly what raclette cheese smells like. And then you will get away from it as quickly as possible.
Catherine: Téléfrançais was just this weird show that was on public television during the day when I was a kid. I tried explaining it to my husband for years: “It was this pineapple… that spoke French… what?”
December 14th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
http://french.about.com/library/motdujour/blmdj-moule.htm
Maybe this helps- UN moule is a mussel, UNE moule is a mold (like a jello mold).
I think a fairly good translation of “hobo’s ass in August” would be “les fesses d’un SDF en aout” (SDF= sans domicile fixee= homeless).
December 16th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Wonderful! I have studied much French, but have only a barely passable grasp on the language now…
I’m going to check out all these links you sent.
Merci!
December 19th, 2007 at 8:40 am
“Oui, les ananas parlez!”
“Non! Ce n’est pas possible!”
That was every exchange from every episode.
(Except I had totally forgotten about Pilote. Kinda made my day.)
December 20th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Kristen—Netflix the 60s French film The Two of Us. it is quite possibly the most charming movie of all time, without being cloying. Seriously.