L'intercompréhension dans tous ses états

Les Mots d'Or et l'intercomprehension

2012-02-05T06:32:00.000-08:00

L'ORGANISATION DU MOT D'OR 2012

et DE LA SEMAINE INTERNATIONALE DES MOTS D'OR

(mars 2012 à Paris)

Après le succès, depuis 2008, des journées de sensibilisation à l'intercompréhension en langues des affaires (langues romanes), cette innovation se poursuit durant une journée pour les meilleurs lauréats du Mot d'Or (voir l'annexe 2).

L'intercompréhension est une forme de communication plurilingue dans laquelle chacun comprend les langues des autres et s'exprime dans la ou les langues qu'il connaît.

Accès direct aux lexiques

CINCO – Training Intercomprehension for Cooperation

2012-02-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

DISCOVER INTERCOMPREHENSION

What IC can do for you

From REDINTER's Blog

Posted on January 31, 2012

Today various European organizations of social and educational volunteers are gathered in international cooperation networks. Communication between partners is often faced with problems of linguistic diversity so that English is often used as a lingua franca. However, this might make it difficult for partners to speak with precision, depth and clarity, and misunderstandings might easily result. Associations of Romance language partners face similar challenges and are looking for new solutions.

CINCO aims to integrate IC in the vocational training of workers in these organizations. It brings together a network of IC specialists and a network of educational associations and will adapt existing IC materials to their specific professional needs. This will be done through creating training modules for blended learning.

The products will be available online, and consist of structured sets of materials organized in different scripts of activities, and a collaborative platform. These scripts, including both face-to-face sessions and online individual tutorials, will be tested in the context of a training course for people employed by the associations. Scripts that will have proved their worth will be made freely accessible to a wider audience !

Le journal en français facile de RFI

2012-02-01T01:38:00.000-08:00

Le journal en français facile de RFI est un excellent outil pour travailler la compréhension écrite et orale.

Particularités du journal
- un seul journal par jour
- résume 24 heures d’information en dix minutes
- comprend un podcast de 10mn + script complet
- présenté à deux voix

Règles d'écriture du journal

- des phrases simples,

- des phrases à la voix active

- pas plus d’une information par phrase

- pas de phrases subordonnées

- pas de périphrases trop complexes

- du vocabulaire transparent

- pas de jargon journalistique

- pas de parisianismes

Le journal en français facile de RFI

Lisez le script du jour

Le colloque de Grenoble

2012-01-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

Le colloque de didactique des langues « Intercompréhension : compétences plurielles, corpus, intégration » qui se tiendra à l'Université Stendhal-Grenoble3 du 21 au 23 juin 2012 vise à faire le point sur la diffusion du concept d'intercompréhension (dorénavant IC) et des pratiques qui lui sont attachées depuis une vingtaine d'années.

Il donne suite à deux colloques internationaux organisés à Lisbonne (pt) en 2007 et à Augsburg (de) en 2010, le 1er dans le cadre d'une "Mesure d'accompagnement Socrates" européenne, le deuxième dans le cadre du projet-réseau européen Redinter (54 partenaires) relevant de l'activité-clé transversale n°2 du programme européen Lifelong Learning Programme (www.redinter.eu).

Lors de ce colloque, il s'agira d'explorer, analyser, comparer et caractériser les pratiques initiées sur divers terrains pour mettre en œuvre cette approche plurielle.

Cela se fera autour de 3 thématiques :

Développement du répertoire de compétences plurielles et leur évaluation
Constitution et exploitation des corpus, en amont ou en aval des situations d’IC
Intégration des formations, démarches et pratiques intercompréhensives

Articles de la revue LIDIL

2012-01-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

Les articles de 2003 sont désormais disponibles gratuitement en texte intégral

Le numéro 28 de la revue LIDIL est désormais en ligne !

Le numéro 28 de la revue LIDIL (revue de LInguistique et DIdactique des Langues du LIDILEM - Université Grenoble 3) intitulé "Intercompréhension en langues romanes. Du développement des compétences de compréhension aux interactions plurilingues, de Galatea à Galanet", (paru en déc. 2003) est désormais en ligne sur http://lidil.revues.org/sommaire1513.html
Il reste possible de commander une édition papier en imprimant le bon de commande ci-dessous et en l'adressant à ELLUG-Service des revues - Université Stendhal-BP25-38040 GRENOBLE cedex9. Contact : Brigitte.Pautasso@u-grenoble3.fr

Bon de commande Lidil

Plus d'une langue

2012-01-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

Dans la liste des Projets TransferS - janvier 2012 du Labex retenus au titre de l'année universitaire en cours, figure celui de Barbara CASSIN, Directrice de recherches au CNRS, intitulé Plus d'une langue.

PRESENTATION

L’un des problèmes les plus urgents que pose l’Europe est celui des langues. On peut choisir une langue dominante, dans laquelle se feront désormais les échanges ; ou bien jouer le maintien de la pluralité, en rendant manifeste le sens et l’intérêt des différences. Le Vocabulaire s’est inscrit résolument dans la seconde optique.

C’est un geste philosophique et un geste politique. Philosophique d’abord. Il constitue une cartographie des différences philosophiques européennes, en capitalisant le savoir des traducteurs. Il explore le lien entre fait de langue et fait de pensée, et prend appui sur ces symptômes que sont les difficultés de passer d’une langue à l’autre – avec mind, entend-on la même chose qu’avec Geist ou qu’avec esprit ? Pravda, est-ce justice ou vérité ? Que se passe-t-il quand on rendmimesis par imitation ? Chaque entrée part ainsi d’un nœud d’intraductibilité, et procède à la comparaison de réseaux terminologiques, dont la distorsion fait l’histoire et la géographie des langues et des cultures. Politique ensuite. De quelle Europe linguistico-philosophique voulons-nous ? Réponse : il y en a deux dont nous ne voulons pas : ni tout-à-l’anglais, ni nationalisme ontologique. Le premier scénario-catastrophe ne laisse subsister qu’une seule langue, sans auteur et sans œuvre : le globish, « global english », et des dialectes. L’autre scénario-catastrophe est lié à l’encombrant problème du « génie » des langues. Il y aurait des langues « meilleures » que d’autres, car mieux en prise sur l’être et le dire de l’être, et il faudrait prendre soin de ces langues supérieures – le grec et l’allemand, plus grec que le grec, dirait Heidegger – comme on prend soin de races supérieures. Le cap à tenir entre ces deux écueils se laisse dire d’un terme deleuzien : « déterritorialiser ». Humboldt remarque ainsi, dans son « Fragment de monographie sur les Basques », que : « La diversité des langues est condition immédiate d’une croissance pour nous de la richesse du monde et de la diversité de ce que nous connaissons en lui ; par là s’élargit en même temps pour nous l’aire de l’existence humaine, et de nouvelles manières de penser et de sentir s’offrent à nous sous des traits déterminés et réels ».

[...]

Yet Another Reason to Learn READING French

2012-01-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

Jon Cogburn's Blog

In 2006 I actually made some progress towards learning French. For a while I was good enough to read political stories in Newspapers and not to do too horribly with hotel staff and restaurants.

But after my kids were born I had to cut out a number of things (don't regret it for a second!). But now that Thomas is 4 and Audrey is 2 they are a little bit more self-sustaining, and I can actually work on stuff while watching them. So I realized for this year's resolution I could commit to something that would take advantage of the new time.

For the last few weeks I've been unclear what this would be, but today it was immediately clear after I discovered THIS AWESOME WEB SITE, which is organized by a research group at École Normale Supérieure.

[...]

I'm completely hyped about this, and I really do think (without sacrificing writing) that within a year and a half I can get my French good enough to read the materials on the web site.

Anyhow that's my New Years Resolution.

ATMOC Atelier de métaphysique et d'ontologie contemporaines

Ecole Normale Supérieure

Instructional modification of Spanish and Italian to facilitate intercomprehension

2012-01-13T19:42:00.000-08:00

Author:

Hernández, Julie Marjean Corvera

Thesis
San Diego State University (USA)
2012-01-09

Abstract
In the United States, Spanish is the most studied foreign language in the university setting, and Italian is the fourth most studied spoken language in the university setting. When it comes to travel, in 2010, Mexico was the most visited country by Americans, with Italy ranking fifth and Spain ranking tenth. The second and third most visited countries by Americans were Canada and the United Kingdom, respectively, both English speaking countries. Based on student interest and travel statistics, Spanish and Italian could be considered very worthwhile of study in the United States. What if the efforts put into studying the Spanish language could result in competency in communicating in the Italian language as well? By developing intercomprehension skills in students, this is an outcome that is very possible to achieve. Intercomprehension has been defined as the process of developing the ability to coconstruct meaning in the context of the encounter of different languages, and to make pragmatic use of this in a concrete communicative situation. This thesis provides several suggestions on how to teach Spanish and Italian in such a way that facilitates intercomprehension between the two languages. This thesis suggests using mutual intelligibility as a key factor in selecting lexical items and phrases to teach students. This sometimes will entail the teaching of a less commonly used word or phrase that is more mutually intelligible than the common word or phrase, resulting in increased intercomprehension success. The foreign language textbooks Oggi in Italia and ¡Claro Que Sí!, as well as the Kindle electronic travel phrasebook guides Language for Travelers-Spanish and Language for Travelers- Italian, are utilized to illustrate how the vocabulary and phrases provided by these resources could be modified in order to facilitate intercomprehension. In addition to modifying vocabulary and phrases to be instructed in language courses that seek to promote intercomprehension, charts indicate how pronunciation can be modified depending on whether one is communicating with a Spanish or an Italian speaker, in order to increase intercomprehension. This thesis also provides charts illustrating common morphological differences that exist in areas such as plural formation and infinitives. In addition, this thesis demonstrates how gestures can be a useful tool in making less mutually intelligible words comprehensible. Lastly, this thesis argues for the importance of multilingualism and suggests populations of students that could greatly benefit from the development of intercomprehension skills.

PDF File

Try intercomprehension between languages

2011-11-26T02:08:00.001-08:00

When and why it is better to try to understand the languages of "the others" - than to use a lingua franca

By Erik Hermming, 2011

Prezi Slide Presentation

French-English Bilingual Reading Practice

2011-11-21T20:21:00.001-08:00

Perfect for self-learning.

Le petit prince

d'Antoine de St-Exupéry

The Little Prince

by Antoine de St-Exupéry,

translated by Katherine Woods

French-English Bilingual Reading Practice

Chapitre 1

Chapitre 2

Chapitre 3-4

From my French for Reading website http://frenchforreading.yolasite.com/reading-practice.php

French-English Bilingual Reading Practice

2011-11-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

Perfect for self-learning.

L'Homme qui plantait des arbres

de Jean Giono

The Man Who Planted Trees

by Jean Giono,

translated by Peter Doyle

French-English Bilingual Reading Practice

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

From my French for Reading website http://frenchforreading.yolasite.com/reading-practice.php

2011-10-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

English version

Text : The Paradoxe Of Our Time by Dr. Bob Moorehead

Version française

Video Le Paradoxe de notre Temps

The story of English in 100 words

2011-10-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

By David Crystal

The Telegraph, 14 Oct 2011

THE LIST

1 Roe The first word (5th c)

2 Lea Naming places (8th c)

3 And An early abbreviation (8th c)

4 Loaf An unexpected origin (9th c)

5 Out Changing grammar (9th c)

6 Street A Latin loan (9th c)

7 Mead A window into history (9th c)

8 Merry A dialect survivor (9th c)

9 Riddle Playing with language (10th c)

10 What An early exclamation (10th c)

11 Bone-house A word-painting (10th c)

12 Brock A Celtic arrival (10th c)

13 English The language named (10th c)

14 Bridegroom Popular etymology (11th c)

15 Arse An impolite word (11th c)

16 Swain A poetic expression (12th c)

17 Pork An elegant word (13th c)

18 Chattels A legal word (13th c)

19 Dame A form of address (13th c)

20 Skirt A word doublet (13th c)

21 Jail Or Gaol? Competing words (13th c)

22 Take away A phrasal verb (13th c)

23 Cuckoo A sound-symbolic word (13th c)

24 C--- A taboo word (13th c)

25 Wicked A radical alteration (13th c)

26 Wee A Scottish contribution (14th c)

27 Grammar A surprising link (14th c)

28 Valentine First name into word (14th c)

29 Egg A dialect choice (14th c)

30 Royal Word triplets (14th c)

31 Money A productive idiom (14th c)

32 Music A spelling in evolution (14th c)

33 Taffeta An early trade word (14th c)

34 Information(s) (Un)countable nouns (14th c)

35 Gaggle A collective noun (15th c)

36 Doable A mixing of languages (15th c)

37 Matrix A word from Tyndale (16th c)

38 Alphabet Talking about writing (16th c)

39 Potato A European import (16th c)

40 Debt A spelling reform (16th c)

41 Ink-horn A classical food (16th c)

42 Dialect Regional variation (16th c)

43 Bodgery Word-coiners (16th c)

44 Undeaf A word from Shakespeare

(16th c)

45 Skunk An early Americanism (17th c)

46 Shibboleth A word from the King James Bible (17th c)

47 Bloody Emerging swear word (17th c)

48 Lakh A word from India (17th c)

49 Fopdoodle A lost word (17th c)

50 Billion A confusing ambiguity (17th c)

51 Yogurt A choice of spelling (17th c)

52 Gazette A taste of journalese (17th c)

53 Tea A social word (17th c)

54 Disinterested A confusable (17th c)

55 Polite A matter of manners (17th c)

56 Dilly-dally A reduplicating word (17th c)

57 Rep A clipping (17th c)

58 Americanism A new nation (18th c)

59 Edit A back-information (18th c)

60 Species Classifying things (18th c)

61 Ain’t Right and wrong (18th c)

62 Trek A word from Africa (19th c)

63 Hello Progress through technology (19th c)

64 Dragsman Thieves’ cant (19th c)

65 Lunch U or non-U (19th c)

66 Dude A cool usage (19th c)

67 Brunch A portmanteau word (19th c)

68 Dinkum A word from Australia (19th c)

69 Mipela Pidgin English (19th c)

70 Schmooze A Yiddishism (19th c)

71 OK Debatable origins (19th c)

72 Ology Suffix into word (19th c)

73 Y’all A new pronoun (19th c)

74 Speech-craft An Anglo-Saxonism

(19th c)

75 DNA Scientific terminology (20th c)

76 Garage A pronunciation problem

(20th c)

77 Escalator Word into name into word (20th c)

78 Robot A global journey (20th c)

79 UFO Alternative forms (20th c)

80 Watergate Place-name into word (20th c)

81 Doublespeak Weasel words (20th c)

82 Doobry Useful nonsense (20th c)

83 Blurb A moment of arrival (20th c)

84 Strine A comic effect (20th c)

85 Alzheimer’s Surname into word

(20th c)

86 Grand Money slang (20th c)

87 Mega Prefix into word (20th c)

88 Gotcha A non-standard spelling

(20th c)

89 PC Being politically correct (20th c)

90 Bagonise A nonce-word (20th c)

91 Webzine An internet compound

(20th c)

92 App A killer abb (20th c)

93 Cherry-picking Corporate speak (20th c)

94 LOL Netspeak (20th c)

95 Jazz Word of the century (20th c)

96 Sudoku A modern loan (21st c)

97 Muggle A fiction word (21st c)

98 Chillax A fashionable blend (21st c)

99 Unfriend A new age (21st c)

100 Twittersphere Future directions? (21st c)

Young polyglot

2011-10-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Young medical doctor speaks 11 languages, which he taught himself...

By Vincent Ukpong Kalu

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Moody’s journey to language acquisition began some 16 years ago. He had read Journey to the Centre of the Earth, a novel by Jules Vernes. In the adventure story, the protagonist and his uncle, Prof Von Hardwigg, were in Iceland, on an expedition when a volcano erupted and threw them beneath the earth. Prof. Hardwigg’s multi-lingual ability led them through the scary journey beneath the earth and up to Sicily, Italy. They survived the ordeal because of the professor’s multi lingual gift. This, Moody affirmed, was his driving force.

He said: “After reading that book, I wanted to be like Prof. Von Hardwigg. I wanted to speak as many languages as possible. So, while taking French in secondary school, I paid special attention and, of course, I got an A1 in the subject in my WAEC exam.

“I love reading French novel. I even read medical books written in French and other languages that I can understand,” he said, adding: “When I finished secondary school, I was at home for 10 months before the University of Ibadan resumed. So, all I did for those 10 months was watch thousands of French movies on satellite television. I also watched English films subtitled in French. I even enjoyed them better than English movies because I was being entertained and I was learning at the same time.”

The satellite TV is one of Moody’s obsessions, as it affords him the opportunity to watch foreign channels and test his understanding of the languages he is learning.

He says: “I like Japanese TV a lot, especially their interviews. I don’t only learn the language, I also learn their culture. Respect is an integral part of Japanese culture. So, learning other people’s language also helps you learn about their cultures.”

Learning other people’s culture is not Moody’s only reason for studying languages. He believes that knowledge of foreign languages “opens you to the world because language is the vehicle of the feelings, the culture and the traditions of a people.”

When most of his colleagues would relax by sleeping and dreaming about their medical books and their patients, Moody would sit in front of his laptop with headphones and rummage avidly through non-English websites, eBooks and e-dictionaries. He would also watch movies made in other foreign languages.

Moody’s ultimate ambition is to work with the United Nations and its agencies and impact the world from an international standpoint. He argues: “In medicine and every field of endeavor, ideas come from various parts of the world. No region has a monopoly of knowledge. I study language more than my school books, but it has not affected me because language adds richness and international appeal to your knowledge as long as you can read many languages.”

When a lot of people find it difficult to learn languages, even in the best language schools, Moody finds it very easy, learning by himself, “because right from when I was a child, I liked teaching myself. I refused to be taught the time by my parents. I did it myself.”

Explaining his self-teaching magic, he says:

“To me it’s very simple. I like my laptop, so it is my teacher. All I do is download e-books and dictionaries in those languages. I also visit their websites and read stuff on them. I read medical books and newsletters in foreign languages.”

For those who want to take the initiative, to start learning new languages, like Moody, he has this advice:

“It takes determination and discipline, because you’ll get discouraged and frustrated at the beginning. Then start with the verbs of the language because the verb is the most important part of a language.”

GRASP Method for Acquiring Latin

2011-10-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Claude PAVUR

Latin Teaching Materials

Saint Louis University

Missouri, USA

GRASP is a pedagogical method that presents the parts of sentences bit-by-bit, with variety and incremental complexity, to help learners attain the ability to grasp the original text in the order in which it was written, with immediate comprehension.

GRASP is based upon the insight of some SLA (Second-Language Acquisition) theory that claims that solid language acquisition depends upon a proportionately great quantity of comprehensible input and upon the learners' growing abilities to interpret that input.

GRASP works from small units toward the entire utterance, in effect providing some small part of the vast linguistic "background experience" or "archive" that native speakers of the target language would have had to help them interpret utterances.

[...]
Once you have certain basic patterns and words mastered or "interiorized," and after you have experienced an immediacy of meaning encountering the same words within different structures and the same structures with different contents, you will be well on your way toward the mastery of the language.

GRASP stands for GRadual Aggregative Syntactic Praxis.

Not to be confused with:

GRASP Problem Solving Method

1 Given = What do you know?
2 Required = What do you want to know?
3 Analysis = What formula can you use?
4 Solution = Show your work
5 Paraphrase = State the answer in a sentence.

L'approche progressive de l'activité de traduction autonome

2011-10-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

C'était en lisant cet excellent article intitulé L'approche progressive de l'activité de traduction autonome, que j'avais pris conscience des similitudes entre la "pédagogie intercompréhensive" que j'utilise en FLE (pour Anglophones) et ce que connaissent les professeurs de latin qui, enseignant une langue morte, se concentrent sur la compréhension écrite de textes authentiques, et peuvent s'appuyer sur la parenté linguistique entre le français et le latin.

Une pédagogie fondée sur la lecture de textes authentiques et l’étude du patrimoine

Interesting English-French pairs (5)

2011-09-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

stage n. / étage m. [é-ta-je] (same form, origin but different meanings)
a point/period in development - from Old French estage (derived from old verb ester - to stand/to be - + suffix -age)
French étage m. means storey, layer
French also has the noun stage m. [sta-je] (from Latin stagium) but it means "training period/internship (in a career development)"
stage, a platform to perform, is called scène f. [sè-ne] in French
stage, in cycling for instance, is said étape f. [é-ta-pe] (from Dutch stapel)

stable n. / étable f. [é-ta-ble](same form, origin and meaning)
a building for horse or cattle - from Old French estable - from Latin stabula, plural form of stabulum n. (standing place), mistaken for a feminine form.
étable f. is actually for the lodging of cattle (cows) where as horses are kept in an écurie f. [é-ku-ri]

establish v. / établir v. [é-ta-blir] (vous établissez)
to found, to install - from Old French establiss- (from v. estalir) - from Latin stabilire « to maintain stable, support».
establishment n. / établissement m. [é-ta-bli-se-men]

stomach n. / estomac m. [es-to-ma]
organ of the human body - both words come from Latin stomachus (same meaning)
estomaquer vb. means to stun, astonish greatly (like giving a blow in the stomach)

strait / étroit adj. [é-trwa] (narrow)
narrow passage of water - from Old French estreit (narrow) - from Latin strictus (tight, narrow)

a strait in French is called a dédroit m. [dé-trwa] - from Latin districtus adj. (linked to, enchained to)
The American city of Detroit (river and city) was called the 'city of the strait' by the French.

stay v. / être v. [è-tre] verb to be in French

to remain, to stand - from Middle French estai- (stem of ester, to stay or stand) from Latin stare (to stand)

extend v. / étendre v. [é-ten-dre] (Same form, origin and meaning)
to stretch out - both are from Latin extendere (ex- + tend)

espouse v. / épouser v. [é-pou-zé]
to adopt, to embrace (an idea) - from Old French espouser v. (to marry) - from Latin sponsare - French kept both meanings (See spouse / époux)

vanish v. / (s')évanouir vb. [é-va-nwir] (vous vous évanouissez)
to disappear - from Old French esvaniss- (verb esvanir to faint - to disappear) - from Latin e(x)vanire (related to évanescence)

ticket n. / étiquette f. [é-ti-kè-te]
slip for admission to a place - from Old French etiquet (verb estiquier « to stick in » + suffix -et )
English sticker n. is related to étiquette through Latin instigare (to spur on) - and Germanic (Old norse stik - High German stechen) Same common Indo-european stem.

An adhesive label in French is called autocollant [o-to-ko-lan] (self-sticking)
French étiquette f. means label (indicating price or characteristics of a product)

Ticket m. [ti-ké] came back to French with the same meaning as "ticket".

Interesting English-French pairs (4)

2011-09-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

spouse n. / époux m. [é-pou], épouse f. [é-pou-ze]

one's huband or wife - Old French spous m. and spouse f. (engaged) - from Latin spondere v. (to pledge solemnly)

spoil v. / spolier v. [spo-lyé] to despoil (same form and origin, but different meaning)

to dammage - from Old French espoillier - from Latin spoliare (to despoil)

Spoil can be translated by abîmer [a-bi-mé], gâcher [ga-ché], perdre [pèr-dre]
Verb to despoil itself comes from Old French despoillier (Modern French dépouiller [dé(pou-yé])

stew n. / étuve f. [é-tu-ve] (steamroom, incubator)

slow boiled dish - from Old French estuve f. -from Latin extupa (steam room)

à l'étuvée steamed

Modern French translation for stew is ragoût [ra-gou] or civet[si-vé] (for rabbit meat)

study n. / étude f. [é-tu-de]

the pursuit of knowledge - from Old French estudie - from Latin studium n. (application, zeal) - the plural form studia was mistaken for a feminine singular form (étude is thus feminine in French)

study v. / étudier v.
student n. / étudiant m. étudiante f.

stun v. / étonner v. [é-to-né] (same form and origin, but slightly different meaning)

to render unconscious, shock, astonish v. - from Old French estoner v. - from Latin extonare (struck by lightning)

Modern French translation for "stun" is étourdir [é-tour-dir] , abasourdir [a-ba-sour-dir]

French étonner v. has a lighter meaning than stun : to surprise, amaze, astonish

astonish v. is related to Old French estoner as well, probably from a dialectal form astoner

state n. / état m. [é-ta] (same form, origin and meaning)

condition; government - shortening of estate - from Old French estate ( condition) - from Latin status m. - may have been influenced by Italian stato (form of government)

strange adj. / étrange adj. [é-tran-je] (same form, origin and meaning)
unusual, odd - from Old French estrange - from Latin extraneus (from outside)

stranger n. / étranger n. [é-tran-jé]
outsider, foreigner - from Middle French estrangier
the word "foreign" comes from Old French forein, forain which originally meant "outsider" but was replace by étranger - forain was then assimilated to foire (fair) and refers nowadays to fairground, funfair and other itinerant activities

strangle v. / étrangler v. [é-tran-glé] (same form, origin and meaning)

to kill by squeezing the throat - from Old French estrangler - from Latin strangulare (same meaning)

story n. / histoire f. [is-twa-re]
fictitious tale - from Old French istorie (same meaning) from Latin historia f.
history n. (non-fictitious tale of the past) is from Latin historia f.
French uses the same word histoire f. for (fictitious) story and (non-fictitious) history!

stallion n. / étalon m. [é-ta-lon]
male horse - from Old French estalon - from Frankish stallo (same meaning) - from stall (stable): stallions were usually kept indoor

More to come in next post...

Interesting English/French pairs (3)

2011-09-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

spell v. / épeler v. [é-pe-lé] (same meaning, form and origin)
to name or write - from Old French espeller - from Frankish spellôn (explain)

spice n. / épice f. [é-pi-ce] (same meaning, form and origin)
aromatic substances - from Old French espice - from Latin species f. appearance, semblance

species n. / espèce f. [es-pè-ce] (same meaning, form and origin)
beings/things sharing some characteristics in common - both words come from Latin species

spinach n. / épinard m. [é-pi-nar] (same meaning, form and origin)
vegetable - from Old French espinache/espinage - from Arabic/Persian through Latin

spine n. / épine dorsale f. [é-pi-ne dor-sa-le] (same meaning, form and origin)
vertebral column/colonne vertébrale - from Old French espine or from Latin spina f.

French épine means also thorn, prickle

spirit n. / esprit m. [es-pri] (same meaning, form and origin)

vital principal - both words come from Latin spiritus « breath, breath of life »

spy v. / épier v. [é-pyé] (same meaning, form and origin)
to observe discretely - from Old French espier (to spy)
espion m. (a spy) derives from épier + suffix -on, under the influence of Italian spione (same meaning)

sponge n. / éponge f. [é-pon-je] (same meaning, form and origin)
sea animal and kitchen utensil - both words come from Latin spongia f. (same meaning)

square n. / équerre f. [é-kè-re] (same form, origin but different meaning)
rectangle with equal sides - from Old french esquire, esquarre related to quatre (four) - from Latin exquadra (from v. ex + quadrare to make square)
Modern French équerre f. means a (set) square, an instrument to check angles.
A rectangle with equal sides is called a carré m. [ka-ré].
square m. [skwa-re] refers to a small public garden (from English)

Where as English "esquire" (title of respect) comes from Old French escuier (Modern French écuyer [é-kui-yé] horseman) and is not related to "square".

squirrel n. / écureuil m. [é-ku-reuy] (same meaning, form and origin)
rodent - from Old French escuireul - from Latin scrurellus (same meaning)

Interesting English-French pairs (2)

2011-09-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

crook n./ escroc m. [es-kro] (same meaning, form but different origin)

thief - crook is from Old Norse krokr where as French escroc is from Italian scrocco

(Common Indo-european origin ?)

screen n. / écran n. [é-kran] (same meaning, form and origin)

light-reflecting surface - from Anglo-French escren (Modern French écran) - from Frankish

screw n. / écrou m. [é-krou] (nut)

device - from French escroue (Modern French écrou) / Dutch schrûve

Modern French translation for screw n. is vis f.

sketch n. / esquisse f. [es-ki-se] (same meaning, form and origin)
Quick drawing - both English and French words are from Italian schizzo (same meaning) - from Latin

skimmer n. / écumoire f. [é-ku-mwa-re] (same meaning, form and origin)

ustensil used in skimming liquid - from Old French escumoir (escum- + oir)

skim v. / écumer v. [é-ku-mé](same meaning, form and origin)

to remove floating matters - back formation from skimmer or directly from Old French escumer (Modern French écumer)

shop n. / échoppe f. [é-cho-pe] (lean-to booth)

retail store - from Old French eschoppe - from Middle low German Schoppe (Cassell's Dictionary)

The Modern French translation for shop is magasin [ma-ga-zin]

stall n. / étal n. [é-tal] (same meaning, form and origin)

a booth or stand in which merchandise is displayed - both words are related to Germanic (Frankish or Old Norse) stal / stall

Modern French uses étalage (étal + -age) [é-ta-la-je] instead of étal (dated)

slave n. / esclave m. [es-kla-ve] (Same meaning, form and origin)

bond servant - from Old French esclave - from Slavs (eastern Europe people)

space n. / espace m. [es-pa-ce] (same meaning, form and origin)

gap; universe; room - from Old French espace - from Latin spatium

espace f. (space between words) is used in Typography only - It is also the name of a Renault car.

More to come in next post...

Interesting English-French pairs...(1)

2011-09-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

sample n./ exemple m. [eg-zan-ple]

a part taken - from Old French assample (example) - from Latin exemplum n. (sample)

Modern French translation for sample is échantillon [é-chan-ti-yon] related to échelle [é-chè-le] (scale) ladder

scale n. / échelle f. [é-chè-le]

anything graduated (like a ladder) - from Latin scala (staircase)

Echelle in Modern French means both ladder ans scale

scale n. / écale - écaille f. [é-ka-ye]

thin plates covering fish - from Old French escale (Modern French écale / écaille) - from Germanic

scaffold(er) n. / échafaud m. [é-cha-fo]

temporary sturcture - from Old French eschaffaut (Modern French échafaud)

Modern French translation is échafaudage (for holding workers) .

The word échafaud refers to the platform on which criminals are executed.

scar n. / escarre f. [es-ka-re] (bedsore)

lasting mark - from Old French escharre (Modern French escarre) Cassell's Dictionary

scarf n. / écharpe f. [é-char-pe]

strip of material - maybe from Old French escherpe (Modern French écharpe) or from Old Norse

scarlet n. adj. / écarlate f. adj. [é-kar-la-te]

red colour - from Old French escarlate (Modern French écarlate)

schedule n. / cédule f. [sé-du-le] (dated)

time table - from Old French cédule (notice) - from Latin schedula (small sheet of paper)
Modern French translation of schedule is emploi du temps [an-plwa du tan]

scholar n. / écolier m. [é-ko-lyé] (schoolboy)

learned person - from Latin scholaris + shortening of Old French escoler (Modern French écolier) Cassell's Dictionary

scolaire adj. [sko-lè-re] (related to school) is also coming from Latin scholaris. (from schola school)

scout v. n. / écouter v. [é-kou-té] (to listen)

person sent out to bring in information - from Old French escouter

Modern French translation for scout is éclaireur [é-klè-reur] or boyscout

Many more to come...

From French...to much amasement (2)

2011-09-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

curtain n. hanging piece of fabric - from French cortine (Modern French courtine)
cushion n. pillow - from Old French coissin (Modern French coussin)
duty n. obligation - from Anglo-French deweté
due to prep. caused by - from French du(e) past p. of devoir (to owe)
flower n. blossom - from Old French flor, flour (Modern French fleur)
leisure n. freedom from business - from Old French leisir (Modern French loisir)
mean n. method/instrument used to attain an end - something intermediate - from Old French meien (Modern French moyen)
oil n. viscous liquid - from Old French oile (Modern French huile)
oyster n. molluscs - from Old French oistre, uistre (Modern French huître)
obey v. to perform a command - from Old French obéir
pace n. a step, a rate of movement - from Old French pas (step)
pain n. suffering - from Old French peine (Modern French peine sorrow)
pants n. trousers - abbrev. of pantaloons - from French pantalon (trousers)
paper n. wood pulpe - from Old French papier < from Latin papyrus (Cassell's Dictionary of Wordhistories)
rhyme n. verse - variation of Old French rime > Latin rythmus
rice n. plant/grains - from Old French ris (Modern French riz) < from Italian < from Latin
riot n. outbreak of lawlessness - from Old French riote (rihot(t)er to quarrel)
scaffold n. temporary structure - from Old French eschaffaut (Modern French échafaud)

From French... to much amazement

2011-09-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

apron n. from Middle French naperon (Modern French napperon tableclothe) - by later misconstruing a naperon as an aperon
aunt n. the sister of one's father or mother - from Old French ante (Modern French tante )
choice n. selection - from Old French (From Germanic) to choose

cry v. to shout (with tears) - from Old French crier
diet n. food - from Old French (Modern French diète)
delight n. joy - from Old French delitier

display v. to exhibit, to show - from Old French despleier (Modern French déployer - to deploy)
dress v. to clothe - from Old French dresser
easy adj. not difficult - from Old French aisié (Modern French aisé)
lease n. a letting or renting of property ... - from Old French laissier/lesser (Modern French laisser)
move v. to set or keep in motion. From Anglo-French mover (Modern French se mouvoir)
mail n. letters - from Old French malle
noise n. sound - from Old French (Modern French chercher des noises)
rent n. sum of money payable for the use of property - from Old French rente (render)

squirrel n. any bushy-tailed rodent - from Old French esquireul (Modern French écureuil)
seize v. to grab - from Old French seizir (Modern French saisir)
save v. to rescue - From Olf French sauver
story n. a narrative - Anglo-French estorie (Modern French histoire)

How to Read French Nutrition Labels

2011-08-26T03:48:00.000-07:00

By French Crasy

French Nutrition Vocabulary

Valeur énergétique: Calories (energetic value)
Protéines: Protein
Lipides: Fats
Lipides dont acids gras saturés: Saturated Fats
Glucides: Carbohydrates
Glucides dont sucre: Sugar
Fibres allimentaire: Dietary Fiber
Sodium: Salt
Poids Net: Total Weight
Un Portion: A serving
Contient: Contains
Conserver: Store
RNJ: Repères Nutritionnels Journaliers: Recommended Daily Allowance.

Common Ingredients:
Arôme: Flavoring (arôme pomme/cannelle means: cinnamon apple flavoring)
Avoine: Oats
Bicarbonate de soude: Baking soda
Blé (complète): Wheat (whole wheat)
Beurre (pâtissier): Butter (concentrated)
Colorant: Artificial coloring
Eau: Water
Farine (de blé complète): Flour (whole wheat flour)
Huile (d'olive, tournesol, végétale): Oil (olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil)
Lait (en poudre, écrémé): Milk (powdered milk, skimmed-milk)
Matière grasse (végétale): Fat, Lard (Vegetable fat)
Noix: Nuts
Oeuf: Egg
Sel: Salt
Sirop de glucose: Glucose syrup (corn syrup)
Vinaigre (balsamique, de vin rouge): Vinegar (balsamic..., red wine...)

MORE

Exploring some aspects of Frenchness in English.

2011-08-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

By DR LIM CHIN LAM

The following are some features of French words adopted into English: (1) diacritics, e.g. façade (with a small “tail”, a cedilla, trailing from the bottom of the letter “c”), née and passé (with a little tick, an acute, over the letter “e”), vis-à-vis (with a reversed tick, a grave, over the letter “a”), and rôle (with a “cap”, a circumflex, over the letter “o”) – but the diacritics are commonly omitted; (2) the terminating -re pronounced as -er, as in manoeuvre, reconnoitre, and sombre; (3) the terminating -re sounded as a faint burr represented by the phoneme “r”, as in genre and macabre; (4) the terminating -le pronounced as -l rather than -el, as in ensemble; (5) the terminating -oir pronounced as -wah, as in memoir and reservoir; and (6) the terminating -ment pronounced somewhat like -mong but with the “ng” muted, as in denouement.

MORE

Tour de France 2011

2011-07-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Du samedi 2 au dimanche 24 juillet 2011, le 98^eTour de France comprendra 21 étapes pour une distance de 3 430,5 kilomètres.
Ces étapes se décomposent comme suit :
10 étapes de plaine,
6 étapes de montagne avec 4 arrivées en altitude,
3 étapes accidentées,
1 étape contre la montre individuel (42,5 km),
1 étape contre la montre par équipe (23 km).
http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/COURSE/fr/le_parcours.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

VOCABULAIRE

accidenté adj. bumpy (une route accidentée = a bumpy road)

arrivées f. finishes (arrive / arrival)

comprendra v. = to comprise/include (future tense)

compris	COMPRENDRE
comprit	comprend	comprendra
comprenait	comprenne	comprendrait
	comprenant

se décomposent v. = split up / made up of / can be broken into

suit v. < suivre to follow (present tense) / comme suit = as follows

suivi	SUIVRE
suivit	suit	suivra
suivait	suive	suivrait
	suivant

dimanche m. Sunday

samedi m. Saturday

équipe f. = team (a group of people equipped to do a task together)

étape f. = stage (a stopping place to stock up again with food and other staples)

French “étape” and English “staple” both come from the same Dutch word “stapel” (warehouse for merchants to stock goods).

montagne f. mount / Montana / mountain (< lat. montanea f.)

montre f. a watch (< verb montrer (to show) – to demonstrate)

In French, time is “shown” by a device (une montre), where as in English, time is “watched” on a device (a watch).

contre la montre m. (against the clock) time-trial race

Tour de France m. tour m. = (to go) round/ tour (from verb “tourner” to turn around) (Not to be confused with “tour” f. which means tower from lat. turris (La tour Eiffel)

LECTURE (Reading)

2 = deux

4 = quatre

24 juillet 2011 = vingt-quatre JUILLET deux mille onze

3 430,5 = trois mille quatre cent trente VIRGULE cinq (In French numbers, comma stands for point and point for comma)

98^e = quatre-vingt-dix-huitième

GRAMMAIRE

prépositions :

comme as

avec with

contre against

par by

pour for

de of

du from the

au to the

en in

Déterminants :

ces these

la - le the

une a

STRUCTURE

Le Tour de France comprendra 21 étapes.

Le Tour de France comprendra 21 étapes pour une distance de 3 430,5 kilomètres.

Le 98e^eTour de France comprendra 21 étapes pour une distance de 3 430,5 kilomètres.

Du samedi 2 au dimanche 24 juillet 2011, le 98^eTour de France comprendra 21 étapes pour une distance de 3 430,5 kilomètres.

French easy-to-read version of the UNCRPD

2011-06-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

The French easy-to-read version of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is now available.

The French easy-to-read version has been created by a Belgian intellectual disability organization: AFRAHM.

Easy-to-read version in French

Easy-to-read version in English

2011-06-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

l’Intercompréhension et les nouveaux défis pour les langues romanes.

Publication conjointe Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie / Union Latine, l’Intercompréhension et les nouveaux défis pour les langues romanes, se fonde sur la contribution scientifique de trente cinq spécialistes de onze pays différents.

La version pdf de l’ouvrage est accessible à l’adresse http://dpel.unilat.org/Data/Publications/79.pdf

Sous la direction de Dolores Álvarez, Patrick Chardenet, Manuel Tost

450pp

Jobs requiring French reading knowledge

2011-04-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

Law librarian (legal background, must read understand French) Job - OTTAWA - CLA Personnel Job Id: 10080772 -WowJobs Canada

Law librarian (legal background, must read understand French)

CLA Personnel

OTTAWA

Law librarian (legal background, must read/understand French) ( NOC: 5111 )
Terms of Employment: Permanent, Full Time,
Day Salary: $50,000.00 to $60,000.00 Yearly for 37.5 hours per week
Anticipated Start Date: As soon as possible
Location: Ottawa Centre, Ontario (1 vacancy)
Skill Requirements: Education: Completion of university Credentials (certificates, licences, memberships, courses, etc.): Not applicable
Experience: 2 years to less than 3 years
Languages: Speak English, Read English, Read French, Write English
Work Setting: Law establishment
Computer Experience: Database development, Bibliographic data systems, CD-ROMs and other electronic resources, Data administration
Other Information: Must have a Master's degree, Familiarity with legal research techniques and the current major legal and general research materials, including print, on-line databases, CDROM and internet resources.
Employer: C.L.A. Personnel (Placement Agency)
How to Apply: Please apply for this job only in the manner specified by the employer. Failure to do so may result in your application not being properly considered for the position.
Contact Name: Julie Riva By E-mail: Business Profile: C.L.A. Personn........More Details

Found at Jobbank on 2011-04-12 09:01:11

Harvard Summer School: 2011

2011-03-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

French for Reading Knowledge (Summer 2011)

French for Reading Knowledge

Harvard Summer School: FREN S-Ax (31123)

Summer 2011 (June - July - August)

Tali Sarah Zechory AM, Teaching Fellow in Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard University

Location: Boylston Hall G-02

Meeting Time: Monday Wednesday 12:00pm - 3:00pm

Designed for students with an excellent command of English,
this course enables students to read and translate modern
French prose with a dictionary. This course is primarily for
graduate students and advanced undergraduates seeking
reading knowledge of French for research purposes.

Some previous background in French is helpful but not necessary.

Quand la langue française régnait en Angleterre

2011-03-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

D’après « Curiosités philologiques, géographiques et ethnologiques » paru en 1855)

Publié le SAMEDI 15 JANVIER 2011, par LA RÉDACTION

Il fut un temps où la langue française s’imposait jusqu’en Angleterre, les nobles anglais envoyant leurs enfants en France, afin qu’ils y perdissent, dit Gervais de Tilbury, la barbarie de la langue de leur pays ; et jusqu’au XVe siècle, elle régnait sans partage dans les tribunaux de celle qu’on appellera plus tard la « perfide Albion »

Lire la suite : La France pittoresque

Intercompréhension et langue unique

2011-01-20T01:25:00.000-08:00

L’école, la langue unique et l’intercompréhension : obstacles et enjeux de l’intégration

Pierre Escudé

IUFM Midi-Pyrénées/Université de Toulouse II-le Mirail

pierre.escude@toulouse.iufm.fr

Pierre Janin

DGLFLF, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, Paris

pierre.janin@culture.gouv.fr

Résumé :

L’intercompréhension constitue l’un des moyens privilégiés de réaliser l’objectif pédagogique du plurilinguisme, dont la nécessité est affirmée dans tous les textes officiels européens.

Mais l’intégration de l’intercompréhension à l’enseignement se heurte à deux sortes d’obstacles : d’une part l’organisation des systèmes éducatifs en savoirs étanches (peu efficaces dans le champ de l’apprentissage des langues), d’autre part l’idéologie qu’une langue unique de service constitue la solution aux problèmes de communication d’un monde globalisé (piège dangereux pour la nécessaire diversité des cultures et des langues).

L’intercompréhension ne réussira à vaincre ces obstacles et à faire son entrée dans le paysage scolaire qu’en prenant en compte la réalité de l’organisation scolaire : en bâtissant des pédagogies nouvelles et efficaces, mais aussi en montrant qu’elle peut faire évoluer positivement les structures éducatives pour y intégrer le plurilinguisme et l’éthique de respect mutuel qu’il implique

Abstract :

Intercomprehension is one of the most efficient ways of attaining the pedagogical objective of multilingualism, the necessity of which is asserted in all official European texts.

But integrating intercomprehension into teaching meets with two kinds of obstacles: on the one hand the fact that educational systems tend to be organised into watertight areas of learning (which is of little efficiency in the field of language learning), and on the other hand the ideological notion that the use of a single language is key to all communication problems in a globalised world (which is a serious threat to the necessary diversity of cultures and languages).

Intercomprehension will not overcome these obstacles and enter the educational scene unless it takes into account the reality of the school organisation: by constructing new and efficient pedagogies, but also by showing that it can help educational structures evolve positively and integrate multilingualism and its associated values of mutual respect.

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS: A CROSS-LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE

2011-01-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

In contrast with both English and Italian, Chinese has no inflectional paradigms at all (e.g. no plural inflections on nouns or tense inflections on verbs). It does have function words and particles to convey some of the functions carried out by inflections in other languages.

However, these particles come in a single unalterable form, are optional in all but a handful of contexts, and most are homophones or near-homophones of the content words from which they were historically derived (e.g. past-tense particle “wan” also means “to finish”).

Despite the absence of case or agreement markers to indicate agent-object relations, word order is flexible in Chinese, and both subject and object can be omitted. As a result, a sentence literally translated as “Chicken eat” could mean “The chicken is eating” or “Someone is eating the chicken.”

Because of all these factors, Chinese listeners have to make flexible and rapid use of many different sources of information in sentence processing, including aspects of prosody, semantics and pragmatics that are less important in English or Italian.

Elizabeth Bates,

University of California, San Diego

Antonella Devescovi,

University of Rome 'La Sapienza'

Beverly Wulfeck,

San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego

Technical Report CRL-0009,

May 2000

Historical accident

2011-01-15T23:42:00.000-08:00

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS: A CROSS-LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE

Elizabeth Bates, University of California, San Diego

Antonella Devescovi, University of Rome 'La Sapienza'

Beverly Wulfeck, San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego

Annual Review of Psychology, 2001, 52, 369-396

CONCLUSION

The dominance of English in 20th-century psycholinguistics was a historical accident, more socio-political than scientific. However, it has had particularly unfortunate consequences for those fields that try to study the universal psychological and neural underpinnings of language. Psycholinguistics has finally broken away from the hegemony of English, and the field is better for it.

There is, however, an immense amount of work that needs to be done, to verify whether

English-based findings can be generalized, and to explore the opportunities afforded by the dramatic structural contrasts that characterize human language.

Technical Report CRL-0009, May 2000

Center for Research in Language

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0526

Reading Resources

2011-01-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

Magazine Bien-dire

French reading practice with highlighted vocabulary

+ written comprehension exercises

Arrivée en station de ski

Noël chez les Français

Daniel Cohn Bendit

Le tour de France

Reading French.. How? and how long?

2011-01-13T02:52:00.000-08:00

From the forum of //how-to-learn-any-language.com

By Hashimi
How long it would take to learn how to read French?

I'm not interested in the spoken language, I just want to be able to read French texts, mainly newspapers, Wikipedia articles and so on. I'm not interested in reading French literature, philosophy, nor writing academic papers in French. Just reading everyday texts.

What are the best methods?

I've heard about "French for Reading" by Karl Sandberg, but it's not available here and it's a little bit expensive to buy it from Amazon.

The same apply to "French for Reading Knowledge", "Reading French in Arts and Science", and "Skills and Techniques for Reading French".

Can you suggest me a good way to learn reading French as quickly as possible?

The Polyglot Project

2011-01-11T04:58:00.000-08:00

www.polyglotproject.com

Amazing website! Worth watching.

Easy access to English, French, Spanish... classics: double click on any word and the translation in the language of your choice (including Thai) will appear! I just LOVE it!

www.polyglotproject.com

Read. Translate. Get Fluent.

The idea behind the Polyglot Project is simple. We want to help you get fluent in whatever language you're trying to learn. And we believe the best way to get fluent in a foreign language is to put in time exposing yourself to that language as it's actually used by native speakers. Here, we've pulled together a library of foreign language content for you to work with, starting with classic literature from all over the world. You can work on your Italian by reading Dante's Inferno, or your Spanish by reading Don Quijote, or choose any other language and learn it from the best writers that language has to offer.

Pour des modes d’enseignement différenciés

2011-01-11T04:43:00.000-08:00

Jean-Michel ROBERT,

Maître de conférences en sciences du langage (LESCLAP) - Université de Picardie Jules Verne

Dans l’apprentissage/acquisition des langues étrangères ou secondes, le degré de parenté entre langue source et langue cible conditionne fortement les conduites d’appropriation.

Dans le cas de langues proches, l’apprenant peut s’appuyer sur la transparence, ce qui rejoint la démarche proposée par la didactique de l’intercompréhension entre langues proches.

Sont présentés dans cette perspective un certain nombre d’outils fondés sur une didactique de l’intercompréhension.

De son côté, l’apprenant d’une langue cible éloignée peut choisir d’opérer une réduction à l’intérieur de sa propre langue maternelle et (re)construire progressivement un système linguistique en langue étrangère ou seconde.

Il faudrait donc envisager, dans les classes de FLE, des modes d’enseignement différenciés qui prennent en compte ces différentes stratégies ainsi que les cultures éducatives des apprenants. Les publics slaves et asiatiques illustrent cette problématique.

Jean-Michel ROBERT plaide pour une meilleure prise en compte des publics dans leurs caractéristiques propres, nature de la langue d’origine et culture éducative.

Flow et santé émotionnelle : comprendre, faire comprendre, être compris... c’est jubilatoire.

2011-01-11T02:50:00.000-08:00

par Jean HEUTTE

Novembre 2007

Si apprendre est rarement une partie de plaisir, comprendre peut être totalement jubilatoire : d’ailleurs tous ceux qui ont ressenti un jour ce violent sentiment savent qu’il l’a été encore plus fort, au moment où ils ont pu le partager avec d’autres, et qu’ils ont pu constater qu’ils étaient compris. La réaction physiologique peut d’ailleurs être si forte, comme un long frisson qui part du bas du dos pour dresser les cheveux sur la tête, qu’au moment où ils le ressentent, ils ont l’impression d’être transporté, « comme sur un petit nuage », parfois ému aux larmes, et en même temps, paradoxalement, ils ont tout simplement le sentiment d’être (Csiksentmihalyi, 2004, 2005). C’est vraisemblablement ce qui fait du métier d’enseignant un des plus beaux métiers du monde, ou en tout cas, un des plus enthousiasmants pour ceux qui ont le bonheur de vivre régulièrement cette expérience optimale. Si les enseignants qui connaissent le flow sont souvent débordants d’activité, ne comptant jamais leurs heures, toujours prêts à innover ou s’impliquer dans un nouveau projet, c’est tout simplement parce qu’ils cherchent en permanence n’importe quelle occasion de recréer les conditions qui vont leur permettre de le ressentir à nouveau. Comme ils ont une meilleure santé émotionnelle (Amherdt, 2004), ils sont dans des dispositions qui les rendent souvent beaucoup plus créatifs que leurs collègues. Ils innovent parfois sans même s’en rendre compte, presque malgré eux. Selon Csikszentmihalyi (2006), l’engagement dans un processus créatif donne la sensation de vivre plus intensément, permet de ressentir un « sentiment de plénitude que nous attendons de la vie et qui nous est si peu souvent offert. Seuls la sexualité, les sports, la musique et l’extase religieuse [...] nous confèrent un sentiment aussi profond d’appartenance à un tout plus vaste que nous-mêmes. » (Csiksentmihalyi, 2006).

'French Gender' App Tutorial (V. 3.20)

2011-01-09T01:28:00.000-08:00

Another of those crappy crap stuff about gender.

Nice piece of technology but nonsense content as usual.

Good resolution for the NEW YEAR...

2011-01-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

READ a French story each night before going to bed

BY LeCoqHopeful

I used to study French when I was in school, and thought that I’d keep it on in college, however I fell in love with a different subject just before applying to college and decided the language could be dropped. Basically I traded French for Drama [...]

Now [...] colleges do include things like bouffon/comedie de l’arte/physical/clowning etc within the courses they offer- but for me, the cream of the crop for physical theatre is the Jacques LeCoq school in Paris. Of course to attend college in Paris I need a degree of French, and hence my resolution. The subject I dropped in order to follow the path I love is now the subject I need most in order to keep going on the path.

How to make language teaching in the U.S. dramatically more effective

2011-01-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

by Philip Yaffe

I graduated with a bad taste in my mouth for German or any other language. The proof that the time spent in the class was largely wasted occurred about a year later when I was confronted with a German. I could still say “Guten Morgan” (good morning), but that was about all. To communicate, we resorted to grunts, groans, and sign language.

I have since become fluent in two languages and have a working knowledge of three others. So what changed? Two things;

1. I got over my ingrained distaste for language learning.

2. I discovered a much more efficient way of going about it than what I had been subjected to as an adolescent.

I would therefore like to make a modest proposal: Language teaching in the United States should be completely overhauled. In particular, in the early stages the virtually unattainable objective of learning to speak a language should be scrapped.

Clearly, if students never have any opportunity to speak the language outside the classroom, then the chances of their learning to do so become infinitely slim. On the other hand, the same time and effort could be profitably turned to learning to reading and understand it.

Philip Yaffe is a former writer with The Wall Street Journal and international marketing communication consultant. Now semi-retired, he teaches courses in persuasive communication in Brussels, Belgium. Because his clients use English as a second or third language, his approach to writing and public speaking is somewhat different from other communication coaches. He is the author of In the “I” of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional.

2011-01-01T00:27:00.000-08:00

Colloque International 2010

Mondialisation universitaire et Plurilinguisme

Gérer des identités complexes

Le rôle des langues et des cultures dans les stratégies internationales des universités.

Conférence plénière

Michael KELLY (University of Southampton)

"Il est un paradoxe que nos universités se ressemblent de plus en plus au moment même ou leur personnel et leurs étudiants se diversifient toujours plus rapidement."

Mondialisation universitaire et Plurilinguisme Michael KELLY

2011-01-01T00:23:00.000-08:00

Colloque International 2010

Mondialisation universitaire et Plurilinguisme

Gérer des identités complexes

Le rôle des langues et des cultures dans les stratégies internationales des universités.

Conférence plénière (5novembre 2010)

Michael KELLY (University of Southampton)

"Il est un paradoxe que nos universités se ressemblent de plus en plus au moment même ou leur personnel et leurs étudiants se diversifient toujours plus rapidement."

Micro-reading-lesson

2010-12-12T00:57:00.000-08:00

Après 13 jours de discussions, les quelque 200 pays réunis au sommet de Cancun, au Mexique, ont adopté un accord international sur le climat. Le texte prévoit notamment la création d'un "fonds vert" pour soutenir les pays en développement.

VOCABULAIRE

Yellow light words (translucent)

jour = day (journal = daily paper)

réunis [re-united] = meeting

ont adopté = have adopted

accord = agreement

fonds = fund

soutenir = to sustain (support)

notamment = notably, among others

Red light words (opaque)

prévoit [for see] = holds / contains / includes

vert = green

pays = country

les pays en développement = developing countries

GRAMMAIRE

le / la / les = the

les quelque = some

un = a/an

après = after

pour = for

au = at the

d’ /de = of

en = in

sur = on, about

STRUCTURE

LES 200 PAYS ont adopté un accord.

LES 200 PAYS ont adopté un accord international.

LES 200 PAYS ont adopté un accord international sur le climat.

LES quelque 200 PAYS ont adopté un accord international sur le climat.

LES quelque 200 PAYS réunis au sommet de Cancun, au Mexique, ont adopté un accord international sur le climat.

Après 13 jours de discussions, LES quelque 200 PAYS réunis au sommet de Cancun, au Mexique, ont adopté un accord international sur le climat.

LE TEXTE prévoit la création d'un "fonds vert".

LE TEXTE prévoit la création d'un "fonds vert" pour soutenir les pays en développement.

LE TEXTE prévoit notamment la création d'un "fonds vert" pour soutenir les pays en développement.

2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

2010-12-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

Mario Vargas Llosa, the 74 year old Peruvian writer, delivered the following remarks accepting the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature in Sweden.

Latin American Herald Tribune

By Mario Vargas Llosa

" As a boy I dreamed of coming some day to Paris because, dazzled by French literature, I believed that living there and breathing the air breathed by Balzac, Stendhal, Baudelaire, and Proust would help transform me into a real writer, and if I did not leave Peru I would be only a pseudo Sundays-and-holidays writer. And the truth is I owe to France and French culture unforgettable lessons, for example that literature is as much a calling as it is a discipline, a job, an obstinacy. I lived there when Sartre and Camus were alive and writing, in the years of Ionesco, Beckett, Bataille, and Cioran, the discovery of the theater of Brecht and the films of Ingmar Bergman, the Theatre National Populaire of Jean Vilar and the Odéon of Jean-Louis Barrault, of the Nouvelle Vague and the Nouveau Roman and the speeches, beautiful literary pieces, of André Malraux, and what may have been the most theatrical spectacle in Europe during that time, the press conferences and Olympic thunderings of General de Gaulle. But perhaps I am most grateful to France for the discovery of Latin America. There I learned that Peru was part of a vast community united by history, geography, social and political problems, a certain mode of being, and the delicious language it spoke and wrote. And in those same years, it was producing a new, forceful literature. There I read Borges, Octavio Paz, Cortázar, García Márquez, Fuentes, Cabrera Infante, Rulfo, Onetti, Carpentier, Edwards, Donoso, and many others whose writings were revolutionizing narrative in the Spanish language, and thanks to whom Europe and a good part of the world discovered that Latin America was not the continent only of coups, operetta despots, bearded guerrillas, and the maracas of the mambo and the cha-cha-cha but of ideas, artistic forms, and literary fantasies that transcended the picturesque and spoke a universal language."

Thais spend 94 minutes a day on average in reading: Research

2010-11-16T00:59:00.000-08:00

Thais spend 94 minutes a day on average in reading: Research

BANGKOK, Nov 12 -- Thai people read an average of 94 minutes daily, but mainly among the young and government workers, according to academic research by Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Education and state-operated Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park).

According to the survey, young people and government officials were those spending their time on reading the most, whereas adults aged over 49 were found spending their time on doing so the least. Persons under 20 years old were found reading less with an average of reading habits on three to four days weekly.

The research on the reading situation and reading index in 2009 released Friday was conducted in 13 provinces.

Quelle didactique du plurilinguisme ?

2010-11-10T03:31:00.000-08:00

DOSSIER francparler.org

Au cours de ces dernières années, des approches méthodologiques innovantes ont été expérimentées, qui visent à développer l’éducation au plurilinguisme. Le CARAP* et l’Association pour le développement de l’enseignement bi/purilingue (ADEB), dans sesPropositions pour une éducation au plurilinguisme en contexte scolaire, en recensent quatre types :

Cette fiche a pour ambition de vous présenter en quelques mots ces différentes approches et de vous faire découvrir, par des exemples concrets, la manière dont elles peuvent être intégrées dans la classe de langue.

En direct avec le linguiste Louis-Jean Calvet

2010-11-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Chat en direct avec le linguiste Louis-Jean Calvet sur le thème du plurilinguisme.

francparler.org

EXTRAITS

................................................................

[Question] Y 'a-til un ou des plurilinguisme(s)?

[Louis-Jean Calvet ] Un ou des plurilinguismes? Il y a, bien sûr, des typologies. Mais tout d'abord il faut savoir de quoi nous parlons: plurilinguisme individuel ou social. Le premier relève de la psycholinguistique: un individu parle deux ou plus de deux langues. Le second relève de la sociolinguistique: on parle, dans une société, plusieurs langues. Reste alors à savoir si, dans cette société, les individus sont plurilingues ou pas. Si nous avions le temps, je vous donnerais des exemples concrets de pays plurilingues dans lesquels les individus sont ou non eux-mêmes plurilingues.

................................................................

[Question] .....vous ne voyez pas que le multiliguisme gène et ralentit l'apprentissage de la langue maternelle ?

[Louis-Jean Calvet ]

Nous sommes encore dans les rapports de force. Si un anglophone apprend une autre langue, son anglais n'est pas menacé. En revanche le français peut être une menace pour des enfants qui parleraient chez eux corse ou breton.

................................................................

[Question] Comment voyez-vous le breton en france et la politique française via à vis des ses langues régionales?

[Louis-Jean Calvet ] Le problème que vous posez ne concerne pas que le breton mais l'ensemble des langues régionales de France. Leur enseignement est assuré (pas seulement dans des écoles du type Diwan: il y a des CAPES de langues régionales) mais la France n'a pas ratifié la charte européenne. C'est un vieux débat, sur lequel nous pourrions faire un colloque. Disons qu'il y a un paradoxe: la Francophonie défend la diversité (qui protège le français) mais la France ne défend pas vraiment la diversité linguistique sur son territoire.

Dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf

2010-10-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

Excellente page sur " Pourquoi les nombres de 11 à 16 semblent simples mais deviennent composés à partir de 17 ? Seize, mais dix-sept ? Ah ! ah ! cruelle énigme...

En latin, les nombres étaient composés de 11 à 19, et c'est toujours le cas du roumain qui possède un système de formation unique parmi les langues néo-latines. Mais la plupart des langues romanes ont contracté les formes latines et elles ne laissent plus voir exactement le nombre 10 dans ses dérivés. En français, en occitan, en italien et en catalan, on voit une transition entre 16 et 17, mais en espagnol, en galicien et en portugais c'est entre 15 et 16. À noter que le latin avait aussi des formes soustractives pour 18 et 19, équivalents de « deux de vingt » et « un de vingt ». Comparons les langues romanes.

LE CABINET DES CURIOSITES

Atelier d'intercompréhension

2010-10-17T20:42:00.001-07:00

atelier d'intercompréhension : les réactions
Uploaded by rue89. - More video blogs and vloggers.

French for reading book REVIEW

2010-09-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

French for Reading

Karl C. Sandberg, Eddison C. Tatham

1997

By	Maria B (Seattle, WA)

This review is from: French for Reading (Paperback)

Regarding using this book to help with speaking: This book has nothing about pronunciation, so if you care about speaking I recommend learning general spelling and pronunciation rules beforehand, so you have an idea of how to read this stuff aloud properly in case you find yourself inadvertently doing so. I had had some French in school, but I also listened to all three levels of Pimsleur French, which I found helpful for pronunciation practice. I would also recommend Pronounce It Perfectly in French for good spelling/pronunciation instruction.

But that's a different matter from how great this book is. I found it particularly wonderful because of the little guarantee on the back--that it covers all aspects of French grammar as required for overseas French schools. I got the feeling that after I had mastered this book, I wouldn't have to worry about running across some huge and surprising gap in my body of French knowledge. So far, that has held true.

This book is pretty hardcore, and I found it hard to be motivated to study it without having some concrete goal--mine was a trip to France. I had always eschewed reading, claiming I only cared about speaking--but I have realized that as an adult, it's much easier to pick up grammar quickly by reading, and since reading is easier than speaking/understanding, it gives you an early basis for general confidence in the language.

So, with a goal in mind, I painstakingly went through this book in (I think it was) about two months, making sure I knew all covered vocabulary and grammar before moving on, and then reviewing earlier chapters as suggested in the book. I also used it in conjunction with Mastering French Vocabulary: A Thematic Approach, another book which I have greatly appreciated. I made (electronic) flashcards with vocabulary from both books, which I found to be exceedingly helpful. (I used the program SuperMemo with a PDA--I highly recommend it.) I think I probably spent about 10-12 hours per week on it.

After you're done with this book, you can check out other grammar books to review and clarify points that you need extra help with. The book is organized in an order that I guess was best for learning, but there is no good summary of verb endings, for example, so I especially liked the Schaum's Easy Outline for this type of thing.

I'm not a graduate student and I don't need to pass any exams, so I can't vouch for the book's capabilities in that area, but I can say it gave me confidence in reading, and in conjunction with the vocabulary book I was using, gave me confidence in understanding the spoken word, which is a first step toward confidence in speaking. There are lots of other things to do to improve one's speaking skills, but I think a big component is confidence, and this book was really helpful. Not to mention it's nice to be able to read things in French and not feel like it's "foreign" and that there are more things in each sentence that I don't know than that I do.

One final thing I can say about this book is that it is definitely not a waste of time! If you already know the material covered in a certain chapter, you can move through it quickly, and it's probably a good review, but if you don't already know it, you'll learn essential information. I highly recommend this for anyone with a low level of French who wants to make a concerted effort to greatly improve in a condensed period of time--which is how I was--and I'm sure it's useful for others, too.

Who still wants to learn languages?

2010-09-03T22:07:00.000-07:00

- Aida Edemariam
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 August 2010 21.00 BST

The new GCSE results show foreign languages are in severe decline – with the number of children learning French and German falling most dramatically of all. Aida Edemariam asks what this means for our universities, our economy, and the future of Britain

[...] Ever since the previous government decided, in 2004, to make language learning optional after the age of 14, the numbers have been dropping.

[...] Making languages optional was, O'Neill says, partly about improving access to education for the less able. Unfortunately, this was founded on "an illusion that a good education for children of fewer advantages is to introduce more choice, and introduce subjects where it's easier to get As and Bs. It's such a silly take on improving access."

[...] Of all the usual languages offered in schools, German suffers most. If only one language is offered, it is, for historical reasons, usually French. And if two languages are offered, German is increasingly pipped to the post by Spanish.

[...] Teachers of German are also increasingly competing with other influences — Japanese, for example. [...] Mandarin Chinese is also among the fastest growing languages in schools, with GCSE entries up 5% on last year, and the number of pupils taking a GCSE in Arabic has almost doubled since 2002.

[...] Managements across the spectrum, from primary school to postgraduate study, seem to see cutting languages as the obvious way reduce their costs. Language classes are intensive, requiring small class sizes, so, as Sarah Colvin, Mason chair of German at the University of Edinburgh, recently told the Guardian, "at a time when university funding is being severely reduced, languages look like an easy way to save money."

"I did French until year two," says Philippa Grogan, now 15, "but then the school couldn't afford to have a French teacher any more, so I stopped.

[...] German is spoken by 101 million people worldwide, and Germany is, says Finlay, "our single most important trading partner. It's one of the world's largest exporters. It's an economic giant, a key player in the European union." German is, as O'Neill puts it, "the language the employers say they most want to have." It is true, says Kelly, that many Germans speak English – "but they are proud of their own language and are pleased if potential partners can make a gesture towards it. And it's easier to buy things in English than to sell them." He quotes Willy Brandt: "If I'm selling to you, I speak your language. But if I'm buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen." The impact on British exports is obvious.

FULL ARTICLE

Learning Italian through French, or a Third Language through a Second

2010-09-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

BLOG "Jennie en France"

August 17th 2010

I’ve mentioned before that I find learning a third language using my second language much easier than using my native language. Currently, I am improving my Italian by using resources written in French rather than English. Switching from French to Italian takes much less effort than switching from English to Italian, and the same is true regarding German, so I’m reluctant to say it’s merely because of the genetic relatedness between French and Italian. Granted, learning two Romance languages together is probably easier than learning two unrelated languages for most people, but for me it’s more of a question of my second language having priority over my native language when other foreignlanguages are involved.

I found these two comments from Jennie's post interesting:

Sashimi
I would like to share my experience in learning foreign languages too as I do think languages from the same family can help understand the other better.
I am a Chinese, graduated with a Japanese major in college. My best friend is Korean so I started self-learning Korean a while ago. I do find out that the books written in Japanese are easier to understand than those written in Chinese or English.
Right now, I'm working in an European company which most staff speak either French or German. As I am going to a company training in Luxembourg soon, I just started learning French. I feel lucky that I took an elementary Spanish class in college, which does help me a lot in learning French! The concept of masculine and feminine word, the conjugation in verbs, and the use of pronouns are quite similar between the two. Although French is still very hard for me, I am doing better than most of my classmates.

Shanna

I'm currently learning Japanese, which will be (hopefully) my 4th language. I'm mainly using resources in L3 (Korean) and I find that it makes learning Japanese more interesting! Also, Korean and Japanese have alot of similarities in terms of language and using Korean resources does help. At the same time, I can also improve and make use of my L3.

Free VAK learning styles test

2010-08-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

How about taking a self assessment learning style test before starting a new course? This might help you and your teacher to find out what is the best way for you to learn.

-------------------------------------------------------------

By businessballs.com

The VAK (Visual-Auditory-Kinesthetic) learning styles model and related VAK learning styles tests offer a relatively simple methodology. Therefore it is important to remember that these concepts and tools are aids to understanding overall personality, preferences and strengths - which is always a mixture in each individual person.

As with any methodology or tool, use VAK and other learning styles ideas with care and interpretation according to the needs of the situation. They are guide as to the mixture of preferences, strengths and learning styles in an individual, not a basis for deciding on one exclusive preference or approach to the exclusion of everything else.

In addition to the VAK materials and tests below, further VAK (and VARK and VACT) explanation is on the page dealing with Multiple Intelligences and VAK.

self-test pdf file

Should British pupils give up studying French?

2010-08-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

By Will Smale

BBC News 27 August 2010

The sudden decline in French-speaking could mark the end of a long-held attachment the British have felt to the language.

For nearly 400 years when the country was ruled by Norman kings, it was the language of the ruling class, says Jonnie Robinson, co-curator of a forthcoming exhibition, Evolving English, at the British Library in London. So the nobility spoke French, like everyone at the royal palaces and in the judiciary.

"After the Norman Conquest [in 1066], Norman French became the language of power, although English remained the language of the people. And official documents were written either in Latin, the language of the church, or in French."

There is evidence that its grip on power had loosened a little by 1362, when the opening of Parliament was conducted in English for the first time since 1066, says Mr Robinson. And the Library has a document dating to 1419, written in English by King Henry V, who was fighting a prolonged war with the French and was probably making a statement about English nationality.

In the centuries that followed, French travelled around the world as a colonial language, he says, and played a key part in the founding of the United Nations, the Olympic movement and the European Common Market, hence its status, alongside English, as the language of diplomacy.

For a monolingual country like England (there are generations of bilingual families in Wales, for example), says Mr Robinson, people were impressed to see Tony Blair speaking French in Paris when prime minister, and more recently hear Nick Clegg speaking French, Spanish or Dutch.

But despite the prowess of the deputy prime minister, a spokesman for the Department for Education said the coalition government currently has no plans to make languages compulsory again for 14 to 16 year olds in England.

An American Climbs a Tree, a French Person Checks the Soil

2010-08-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Text by Corey Amaro

Someone once told me that the difference between a French person and an American person could be summarized like this:

"If you put a French person and an American person in the middle of a dense jungle and asked them to find their way out, the French person would bend down and look at the soil for clues, look up to see which way the wind blew the trees and which way the sun was moving across the sky... in other words the French person would study the situation at hand before making a move. On the other hand, the American would climb up the nearest tree, look around and holler, "HEY Anyone out there?"

In general, because thankfully we cannot put a label on a whole country let alone a single person, the French are more methodical in their approach, trusting that they can find their way by themselves, whereas the Americans look at team work, and will go out on a limb to find a new way.

Why? READ MORE

L'intercompréhension dans tous ses états

Les Mots d'Or et l'intercomprehension

CINCO – Training Intercomprehension for Cooperation

DISCOVER INTERCOMPREHENSION

Le journal en français facile de RFI

Le colloque de Grenoble

Articles de la revue LIDIL

Plus d'une langue

Yet Another Reason to Learn READING French

Instructional modification of Spanish and Italian to facilitate intercomprehension

Try intercomprehension between languages

French-English Bilingual Reading Practice

French-English Bilingual Reading Practice

The story of English in 100 words

Young polyglot

GRASP Method for Acquiring Latin

L'approche progressive de l'activité de traduction autonome

Interesting English-French pairs (5)

Interesting English-French pairs (4)

Interesting English/French pairs (3)

Interesting English-French pairs (2)

Interesting English-French pairs...(1)

From French...to much amasement (2)

From French... to much amazement

How to Read French Nutrition Labels

Exploring some aspects of Frenchness in English.

By DR LIM CHIN LAM

Tour de France 2011

French easy-to-read version of the UNCRPD

Jobs requiring French reading knowledge

Harvard Summer School: 2011

Quand la langue française régnait en Angleterre

Intercompréhension et langue unique

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS: A CROSS-LANGUAGE PERSPECTIVE

Historical accident

Reading Resources

Reading French.. How? and how long?

By Hashimi

Hashimi

How long it would take to learn how to read French?

The Polyglot Project

Read. Translate. Get Fluent.

Pour des modes d’enseignement différenciés

Flow et santé émotionnelle : comprendre, faire comprendre, être compris... c’est jubilatoire.

'French Gender' App Tutorial (V. 3.20)

Good resolution for the NEW YEAR...

How to make language teaching in the U.S. dramatically more effective

Colloque International 2010

Mondialisation universitaire et Plurilinguisme

Gérer des identités complexes

Michael KELLY (University of Southampton)

Mondialisation universitaire et Plurilinguisme Michael KELLY

Colloque International 2010

Mondialisation universitaire et Plurilinguisme

Gérer des identités complexes

Michael KELLY (University of Southampton)

Micro-reading-lesson

2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

Thais spend 94 minutes a day on average in reading: Research

Quelle didactique du plurilinguisme ?

En direct avec le linguiste Louis-Jean Calvet

Dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf

Atelier d'intercompréhension

French for reading book REVIEW

French for Reading

Who still wants to learn languages?

Learning Italian through French, or a Third Language through a Second

Free VAK learning styles test

Should British pupils give up studying French?

An American Climbs a Tree, a French Person Checks the Soil

Text by Corey Amaro