Quick Phrase of the Day -The Toast Was Burnt

Le pain grillé était brûlé (lah pahn gree yay ay tay broo lay) -the toast was burnt

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

la ville (lah veel) - the town

Tout va bien aujourd'hui dans notre ville (too vah bee yehn oh zhoor doo wee dahn noh truh veel) -All is well in our town

Pierre Boulez -French Composer

Pierre Boulez (born March 26, 1925) is a French composer ofcontemporary classical music and conductor.

Boulez is one of the leaders of the post–World War II musical modernism. His compositions have enriched musical culture, and his advocacy of modern and postmodern music has been decisive for many. Boulez continues to conduct and compose. From 1976 to 1995, Boulez held the Chair in "Invention, technique et langage en musique" at the Collège de France. In 2002 he was awarded theGlenn Gould Prize for his contributions. In 2007, Boulez finished recording the Mahler cycle for Deutsche Grammophon with his recording of Mahler's 8th Symphony with the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Berlin State Opera and Radio choruses.

Children's Word of the Day - Scale

Kids, when you see a scale, point to it and say, "une balance"

Lesson #81 -Forgiveness

Tu me pardonnes? (too meh pahr dohn) -Forgive me?
Oui, je te pardonnes (wee zhuh teh pahr dohn) -Yes, I forgive you
Non, je ne te pardonnes pas (noh, zhuh neh teh pahr dohn pah) No, I don't forgive you

Veuillez m'excuser de ne pas utiliser les accents quand j'écris en français (voo yay mex skew zay deh neh pah yoo tee lee zay layz ahk sahnt kahn zhay kreez ahn frahn say) -Forgive me for not using accents when I write in French

je suis désolée, je ne voulais pas te blesser (zheh swee day zoh lay je heh voo lay pah teh bleh say)- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you

Children's Word of the Day -Shoulder

Kids, point to your shoulder and say "mon épaule"

Children's Word of the Day - Spiderweb

Kids, when you see a spiderweb, point to it and say, "une toile d'araignée"

Quick Phrase of the Day - The Whole Family...

Toute la famille sera à l'aéroport pour nous accueillir (toot lah fah meel seh rah ah lahr oh pohr pohr nooz ah kway eer) -The whole family will be at the airport to welcome us.

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

ennemi / ennemie (eh neh mee) -enemy

il est mon ennemi (eel ay mohn eh neh mee) -He is my enemy

elle est mon ennemie (ell ay mohn eh neh mee) -She is my enemy

The Conservatoire de Paris

The Conservatoire de Paris is a music college founded in 1795, based in Paris, France. It offers instruction in music and drama of the highest standards, drawing on les traditions of the "French School."

In 1946 it was split into deux "Conservatoires," one for acting, théâtre and drama, known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique , and the other for musique et danse, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP). It is under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Communication. The origins of the Paris Conservatoire can be traced back to la création of the École Royale de Chant (Literally translated as The Royal School of Singing), by decree of Louis XIV on 28 juin 1669. It was reconstituted by the composer Gossec in 1784.

By the 1940s it had grown and become one of the biggest and most prestigious Conservatories in Europe. In 1946 the Conservatoire was split into two Conservatories; one for music and dance, and one for the dramatic arts.

les traditions (lay trah dish ee yohn) -the traditions

deux (doo) two

théâtre (tay ah truh) -theatre

musique et danse (myoo zeek ay dahnce) -music & dance

la création (lah kray ah shee yohn) -the creation

juin (zhoo ahn) June

Children's Word of the Day -Turtle

Kids, when you see a turtle, say "une tortue"

Quick Phrase of the Day - This Is A Mere Formality

Ce n'est qu'une simple formalité (seh nay koon sahm pluh fohr mahl ee tay) -This is a simple formality

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

un blouson en cuir (uhn bloo zahn  ahn kweer) -a leather jacket

Où est mon blouson en cuir? (ooh ay mohn bloo zahn ahn kweer) -Where is my leather jacket?

Jenifer Bartoli -French Singer

Jenifer Yaël Dadouche-Bartoli (born on 15 November 1982 in Nice), better known as simplyJenifer, is a pop singer who has, since 2002, had a number of hit singles in the French and Swiss charts.

Jenifer was raised with her younger brother Jonathan, by her mother and father, Michel Dadouche and Christine Bartoli. Her mother is part Corsican and part Spanish; her father is a Jewish-Algerian pied noir. She comes from a modest background. She participated in theGraines de star television broadcast in 1997, but this was a failure.

Jenifer decided to go to Paris and attend the casting for the first series of Star Academy inFrance . She was selected, and eventually won. The hit single "J'attends L'amour" (I'm waiting for love) soon followed. After the tour with her band that followed her victory, she went on the road as a solo artist from October 2002 until January 2003, and eventually performed at theParis Olympia, which she had dreamed of as a child.

Her debut self-titled album went on to sell over three quarters of a million copies. The album featured a song written by Marc Lavoine and a duet with fellow Star Academy student Mario. The second single "Au Soleil" became one of the "tubes de l'été" (Summer hits) of 2002 in France. The album was re-released later to include two new tracks: "Entre Humains" and "Des Mots Qui Résonnent". The latter became her third top ten single in France and Jenifer stated that it was more her style of music, being more pop/rock. Finally a fourth song, the ballad "Donne Moi Le Temps" was released. The re-released album sold over a million copies.

Gabrielle Réjane -Famous French Actress

Gabrielle Réjane was the stage name of Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju, (June 5, 1856 – June 14,1920), a French actress.

Born in Paris, the daughter of an actor, she became a pupil of Régnier at the Conservatoire, and took the second prize for comedy in 1874. Her debut was made the next year, during which she played attractively a number of light especially soubrette parts. Her first great success was inHenri Meilhac's Ma camarade (1883), and she soon became known as an emotional actress of rare gifts, notably in Décor, Germinie Lacerteux, Ma cousine, Amoureuse and Lysistrata.

In 1892 she married M. Paul Porel, the director of the Vaudeville Theatre, but the marriage was dissolved in 1905 following which she toured Quebec. In 1894 she appeared in London. The following year, she performed in her most famous role as Catherine in Sardou's Madame Sans-Gêne, in New York City. Her performances in Madame Sans-Gêne (1893) made her as well known in England and the United States as in Paris, and in later years she appeared in characteristic parts in both countries, being particularly successful in Zaza and La Passerelle. She opened the Théâtre Réjane in Paris in 1906.

Along with her great rival, Sarah Bernhardt, she served as the model for the character of the actress 'la Berma' in Marcel Proust's novel In Remembrance of Things Past (A la Recherche du Temps Perdu).

The essence of French vivacity and animated expression appeared to be concentrated in Madame Réjane's acting, and made her unrivalled in the parts which she had made her own.

She was awarded a knight of the Legion of Honor three months before her death. Réjane died in Paris on June 14, 1920, and was buried there in the Cimetière de Passy.

Children's Word of the Day -Purse

Kids, when you see a purse, say "un sac à main"

Quick Phrase of the Day - My Zipper Is Stuck

Ma fermeture éclair est coincée (mah fehr meh chur ay klair ay kh een say) -My zipper is stuck

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart

Vocabulary word of the day:

la diseuse de bonne aventure (lah dee sooce deh bohn ah vehn chur) -the fortune teller

laissez-nous aller à la diseuse de bonne aventure (lah say noo ah lay ah lah dee sooce deh bohn ah vehn chure)

Children's Word of the Day - Swing

Kids, when you use a swing, say "une balançoire"

Vieilles Charrues Festival

The Vieilles Charrues Festival (French: Festival des Vieilles Charrues ; Breton: Gouel an Erer Kozh ; Literally: Old Ploughs Festival) is held every year in mid-July in the city of Carhaix located in the west of Brittany.

This festival is the largest music festival in France, attracting more than 200,000 festival-goers every year. This festival was created in 1992 in Landeleau, a small village in central Finistere. At that time, less than 500 revellers attended and the festival was more like a private party. The following year, the festival welcomed more than 2000 and that was the beginning of its success story. In 1995, due to lack of space on the original site, the festival moved to Carhaix city center and in 1998, for the same reason, the festival chose a site on the outskirts of Carhaix. Now the festival welcomes more than 200,000 festival-goers every year.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will be playing there this year.

Children's Word of the Day - Turkey

Kids, when you are eating turkey, say "une dinde"

Quick Phrase of the Day- I Count You Among My Best Friends

Je te compte parmi mes meilleurs amis. (zhuh teh  kahmt pahr mee may may yurrz ah mee) -I count you among my best friends

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

le compte à rebours (leh kahmt ah reh bohr) -the countdown

commencez le compte à rebours (koh mahn say leh kahmt ah reh bohr) -Start the countdown

L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat -Urban Legend of Film

L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (US) and The Arrival of the Mail Train) is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent documentary film directed and produced by Auguste and Louis Lumière. It was first screened on December 28, 1895 in Paris, France, and was shown to a paying audienceJanuary 6, 1896.

This 50-second silent film shows the entry of a steam locomotive into a train station in the French coastal town of La Ciotat. Like most of the early Lumière films, L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat consists of a single, unedited view illustrating an aspect of everyday life.

The film is associated with an urban legend well-known in the world of cinema. The story goes that when the film was first shown, the audience was so overwhelmed by the moving image of a life-sized train coming directly at them that people screamed and ran to the back of the room.Hellmuth Karasek in the German magazine Der Spiegel wrote that the film "had a particularly lasting impact; yes, it caused fear, terror, even panic." However, some have doubted the veracity of this incident such as film scholar and historian Martin Loiperdinger in his essay, "Lumiere's Arrival of the Train: Cinema's Founding Myth". Whether or not it actually happened, the film undoubtedly astonished people in the audience who were unaccustomed to the amazingly realistic illusions created by moving pictures. The Lumière brothers clearly knew that the effect would be dramatic if they placed the camera on the platform very close to the arriving train

Children's Word of the Day -Rocket

Kids, when you see a picture of a rocket, say, "une fusée "

Children's Word of the Day - Bath Towel

Kids, when you use a bath towel say, "un serviette de bain"

Quick Phrase of the Day - He Has A Lot Of Problems

il a beaucoup de problèmes (eel ah boh koo deh prah blehm) -He has a lot of problems

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

la réunion (lah ray yoon yohn) -the meeting

La réunion s'arrêtera à midi (lah ray yoon yohn sah reht ur ah ah mee dee) -The meeting will break at noon.

Children's Word of the Day - Peanut

Kids, when you see a peanut, point to it and say, "une cacahuète"

Children's Word of the Day- Rock

Kids, when you pick up a rock, say "une pierre"

Interesting Word - Coucou

An interesting word came up the other day. The message to me started off "Coucou Roy!" I had never heard that expression before so i looked it up. It seems it's a way of starting E-mails to friends as a way of saying "Hi there!" or "Hi, I'm back" to a friend. It's also a way of calling attention to someone (example: someone who may be across the street & you are trying to get their attention. You woud shout "Coucou Pierre!"). Coucou can also mean "Peek-a Boo"

Now in English if you called someone a Cuckoo, it would mean you are saying they are crazy :)

Coucou (koo koo)

Anyone who knows more about this word let us know. 

à plus tard-Roy

Quick Phrase of the Day -I Am Making Some Bread Later

Je fais du pain plus tard (zhuh fay doo pahn ploo tahr) -I am making some bread later

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

tapette à mouches (tah peht ah moosh) -fly swatter

Je cherche une tapette à mouches (zhuh shehrsh oon tah peht ah moosh) -I'm looking for a fly swatter

Children's Word of the Day -Apron

Kids, when you see someone wearing an apron, say, "un tablier"

Children's Word of the Day - Baby Bottle

Kids, when you see a baby bottle, point to it and say, "un biberon"

Children's Word of the Day - Toy Store

Kids, when you go in a toy store, say "un magasin de jouets"

Children's Word of the Day -Brook

Kids, when you see a brook or a stream, say "un ruisseau"

Quick Phrase of the Day - He Drank A Whole Bottle of Wine

il a bu une bouteille entière de vin (eel ah boo oon boo tay ahn tee ehr deh vahn) -He drank a whole bottle of wine.

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

bas (bah) -bottom

il est en bas de ma liste (eel eht ahn bah deh mah leest) -It's at the bottom of my list 

Fantômas

Thomas Langmann's La Petite Reine is fast-tracking Fantomas, a big-screen makeover of the French fantasy detective novels, Variety reported. . Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) is writing the screenplay with David Martinez from an original story by Langmann. Gans also will direct. The 43 Fantomas novels, written by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre and first published in 1911, follow Fantomas, an ingenious but amoral master of disguise and sadistic killer. The literary franchise is also a Gallic national crime-fiction treasure, having yielded multiple big- and small-screen and comic-book adaptations.

Influenced by The Dark Knight, Gans' adaptation sees Fantomas facing off with a villain of equal or even more dastardly dimensions. The movie will shoot in French and English, and begin casting shortly.

Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1970) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).

One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11 volumes written by Allain alone after Souvestre's death. The character was also the basis of various film, television, and comic book adaptations. His importance in the history of crime fiction cannot be overestimated, as he represents a transition from Gothic novel villains of the 1800s, to modern-day serial killers.

Fantômas has no qualms about murder and is shown as a sociopath who enjoys killing in a sadistic fashion.

He is totally ruthless, gives no mercy, and is loyal to none, not even his own children. He is a master of disguise, always appearing under an assumed identity, often that of a person whom he has murdered. Fantômas makes use of bizarre and improbable techniques in his crimes, such as plague-infested rats, giant snakes, and rooms that fill with sand.

Children's Word of the Day - Jump Rope

Kids, when you use a jump rope, say "corde à sauter"

Quick Phrase of the Day -The Storage Unit Is In The Basement

L'unité de stockage est au sous-sol (loo nee tay deh stah kehzh eht oh soo sole) -The storage unit is in the basement

Repeat this phrase all day long til you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

le sous-sol (leh soo sole) -the basement

Children's Word of the Day - Merry-Go-Round

Kids, when you go on a merry-go-round, say "un manège"

Wuthering Heights Selling More In France Because Of...

Vampires!

Wuthering Heights is enjoying an unexpected renaissance in France after Stephenie Meyer fans picked up on repeated references to the novel in Eclipse, the third volume in the bestselling Twilight saga.

At one point during Eclipse, Meyer's heroine Bella quotes Cathy speaking about Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, saying of her vampire lover Edward that "if all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger". Bella is torn between her feelings for Edward and her friend Jacob, a werewolf, much as Cathy is torn between Edgar and Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's classic.

"Sales went up 50% last year and since the start of 2009 they have continued to rise," said a spokeswoman for the book's French publisher Le Livre de Poche. She added that French bookshops have been selling Wuthering Heights alongside Meyer's Eclipse, which has helped to drive sales.

Children's Word of the Day - Raindrop

Kids, when it's raining outside, say "une goutte de pluie"

French Champagne

Prestige cuvée

A cuvée de prestige is a proprietary blended wine (usually a Champagne) that is considered to be the top of a producer's range. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill. The original prestige cuvée was Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, launched in 1936 with the 1921 vintage. Until then, Champagne houses produced different cuvées of varying quality, but a top-of-the-range wine produced to the highest standards (and priced accordingly) was a new idea. In fact, Louis Roederer had been producing Cristal since 1876, but this was strictly for the private consumption of the Russian tsar. Cristal was made publicly available with the 1945 vintage. Then came Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne (first vintage 1952), and Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle 'La Cuvée' in 1960, a blend of three vintages (1952, 1953, and 1955). In the last three decades of the twentieth century, most Champagne houses followed these with their own prestige cuvées, often named after notable people with a link to that producer (Veuve Clicquot's La Grande Dame, the nickname of the widow of the house's founder's son; Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, named for the British prime minister; and Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Alexandra rosé, to name just three examples), and presented in non-standard bottle shapes (following Dom Pérignon's lead with its eighteenth-century revival design).

Blanc de noirs

A French term (literally "white of blacks") for a white wine produced entirely from black grapes. It is often encountered in Champagne, where a number of houses have followed the lead of Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises in introducing a cuvée made from either Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or a blend of the two (these being the only two black grapes permitted within the Champagne AOC appellation). Although Bollinger's wine is famed for its intense richness and full-bodied nature, this has more to do with the way the grapes are planted and when they are harvested than any intrinsic property of blanc de noirs Champagne, which is often little different from cuvées including a proportion of Chardonnay.

Blanc de blanc

A French term that means "white of whites", and is used to designate champagnes made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes. The term is occasionally used in other sparkling wine-producing regions, usually to denote Chardonnay-only wines rather than any sparkling wine made from other white grape varieties.

Rosé Champagne

The rosé wines of Champagne are produced either by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time or, more commonly, by adding a small amount of still Pinot noir red wine to the sparkling wine cuvee. Champagne is typically light in color even if it is produced with red grapes, because the juice is extracted from the grapes using a gentle process that minimizes the amount of time the juice spends in contact with the skins, which is what gives red wine its color. Rosé champagne is one of the few wines that allows the production of Rosé by the addition a small amount of red wine during blending. This ensures a predictable and reproducible color, allowing a constant Rosé color from year-to-year.

Children's Word of the Day - Comic Strip

Kids, when you read a comic strip in the newspaper, say "une bande dessinée"

Quick Phrase of the Day - It Didn't Snow Much In Paris

il n'a pas neigé beaucoup à Paris (eel nah pah nay zhay bow koo ah pah ree) -It didn't snow much in Paris.

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

un mystère (uhn mist ehr) a mystery

elle est un mystère pour moi (ell eht uhn mist ehr pore mwah) -She is a mystery to me

Children's Word of the Day - Dictionary

Kids when you use a dictionary, say, "un dictionnaire"

Viens avec moi sur la piste de danse (vee yehn ah vehk mwah soor lah peest deh dahnce) -Come with me out on the dance floor

Repeat this phrase all day long till you know it by heart.

Vocabulary word of the day:

étage (ay tahzh) -floor

J'habite au premier étage zhah beet oh preh mee yay ay tahzh) -I live on the first floor

Must See french Film -Le Dîner de Cons

Le dîner de cons (English: The Dinner Game, literally: The Dinner of Idiots) is a very funny French film directed by Francis Veber that was released in 1998. It is a cinema adaptation of the theatrical play of the same name.

I watched this last night again and fogot how really funny this film was.

Pierre Brochant (Thierry Lhermitte), a famous Parisian publisher, attends a weekly "idiots' dinner", where guests, who are prominent Parisian businessmen, must bring along an "idiot" of whom the other invitees can make fun. At the end of the dinner, the evening's champion idiot is selected.

Pierre Brochant manages, with the help of an "idiot scout", to find a "gem": François Pignon, a Finance Ministry employee who is crazy about building replicas with matchsticks. Things start to go haywire when Brochant's wife leaves him shortly before François Pignon arrives at his apartment. When Pignon arrives, he tries to help Brochant, but makes many bad mistakes. Eventually, he brings in his friend, a tax auditor, who makes an unpleasant discovery about his own wife. It is easy to pity both of the main characters, M. Pignon for being made fun of and used in such a cruel way, and M. Brochant, who has, in one night, lost his wife, suffered a wrenched back, reconciled with a former friend, been audited for tax evasion, called a raunchy sex addict named Pascal Meneaux and dumped his extra-marital girlfriend, all because of the badgering guest who won't leave.

Children's Word of the Day -Snake

Kids, when you go to the zoo and see a snake, point to it and say, "un serpent"