LKL's Blog

So long 2008! Come on in, 2009! This was one of the best years of my life – I started out in Costa Rica and ended up – after trying to move here for almost 20 years – in France! May all your dreams come true, too.

Here’s some reading material and ideas for New Year’s Resolutions:

New Year’s in France
French New Year’s Resolutions
Veggie Table New Year’s Resolutions

I just finished watching the short-lived French series Cinq sœurs (Five Sisters), and I’m very disappointed. It was on 5 nights a week and was supposed to last for a year (260 episodes), but was cancelled after just 108. It wasn’t brilliant by any means, but it was interesting and it was also great for French listening practice, as there were a variety of formal and informal situations (though the verbs tutoyer and vouvoyer were used more than I’ve ever heard them in real life). Plus, it ended on a cliffhanger, with numerous characters in mortal danger. Very uncool!

Do you ever use any of those great Seinfeld expressions like “regift” and “low talker”? You won’t find them in the American Heritage Dictionary, but there are some websites that aim to fill this gap in our cultural lexicon.

The Jerry Seinfeld Dictionary of Terms and Phrases
(Thanks to Mike Durrett at About Humor for this one)

The Seinfeld Dictionary (searchable)

Seinfeld Dictionary (short listing but allows additions)

While I don’t recommend using online translators, sometimes you just have to – like when you don’t speak a word of the source language. However, online translators only work (as well as they can) when you can identify the source language – and I just discovered a handy little tool for this. Paste a couple of paragraphs into into the What language is this? tool, click “identify,” and it will tell you what you’re dealing with.

So many people tell me that they want to learn Spanish but that they don’t have time, or they’re too old, or there’s just too much to learn… everyone has an excuse. The trick is to start small – begin with the basics and then go from there. Here are some lessons (with sound files) to get you started.
Spanish alphabet
Spanish greetings
Spanish numbers

If you’re ready to get more serious, then my checklist of lessons is for you: Learn Spanish

Je n’habite plus à Hyères, donc plus de club.

Il n’y a pas de club de conversation française à Hyères, donc j’en crée un. Bavard’Hyères invite les Hyérois (qu’ils soient français ou étrangers) qui ont aussi de bavarder en français et de faire la connaissance d’autres amateurs de la langue française. Les sujets peuvent s’étendre des livres aux films et du voyage à la politique – la seule limitation est la langue de discussion.

Last week I subscribed to the Éco-forfait WWF illimité, a new option from French publisher Relay that allows you to download as many of their 400 French magazines as you can read, plus donates a euro a month of your 18-euro subscription to the World Wildlife Fund. I downloaded over 20 magazines on news, culture, food, wine… it’s fantastic. For info, see the bottom-left corner of the Relay site.

This movie has broken all French box office records, and with good reason – it’s hilarious, fun, and heart-warming. If you get a chance to see it, don’t miss. I can’t imagine having to watch it with subtitles though, as an important part of the story and dialogue has to do with the French dialect spoken in the north of France.

I read that Will Smith (among others) wants to do a remake. The French article said it would be Bienvenue chez les Blacks, so I’m guessing the English title would be something like Welcome to Harlem. Of course, these are very early days, but it sounds great – I can’t wait to see it!

Even if you don’t speak French, this is kind of fun. See how well you know how to use French terms like déjà vu, carte blanche, and je ne sais quoi in English with this quiz: French terms in English

Good-bye 2007 (does anyone else notice that could read Good-bye to 007 [double oh seven]? Is this a sign of James Bond’s future?) and hello 2008. It was a good year – I spent more than half of it in Costa Rica. But this year will be even better, as I’ll spend the majority of it in France. I hope you too will have some long-cherished dreams come true.

Here’s some reading material and ideas for New Year’s Resolutions for you:

New Year’s in France
French New Year’s Resolutions
Veggie Table New Year’s Resolutions