I came across this post. It's quite funny. See if you can read it! Written by a Quebecois with both English and French in each sentence.
His article starts off with...
Like beaucoupde Montréalais, I’m bilingual. And j’ai realisé that
there were no bilingual publications à Montréal, which means there were
never aucun bilingual articles. So j’ai décidé d’écrire the world’s
first article bilingue that you could read without stopping to think.
I just came across this video which has been doing the rounds on the internet. As of 3 March (4 days ago) I see that it has had an incredible 3,617,209 views already! That's almost 1 million views per DAY.
by Sara "smoukahontas", a 19 year old Finnish girl that speaks Finnish, Swedish and English.
I do remember coming across a similar video a while ago on YouTube but I think hers is better.
Here are the 'languages' that she speaks in the video using gibberish words.
Finnish
Swedish
Estonian
Russian/Slavic
French
Pizza (Italian)
Portuguese
UK English
Japanese
Spanish
USA English
Hindi/Tamil
Arabic
East Asian
The video is funny and I thought she did most of them pretty well except Japanese and Arabic. Also I admit I have absolutely no idea what Estonian is supposed to sound like.
She 'cheated' in many languages as I could easily hear real words in French, Italian and UK English. Oh well. It was all for a bit of fun I suppose. I bet she never expected so many views and worldwide fame to come from it!! :D
Haha. This second video she made is even funnier! and there are more languages! But I don't think the Australian one is that good. It's very hard to fake a good Australian accent ;)
Here are the list of languages:
Polish
Russian
Japanese (better!)
Something African
Something exotic - sounds like Hindi?
Jamaican with Aspergers
Brazilian?
Hebrew
Arabic
Australian English (sounds American)
Scottish
Irish (hilarious)
Chinese
Turkish
German
Then she talks about loving all the languages of the world... except Dutch. Funny girl.
I suppose you have all heard of Chinglish, if you haven't, check out this Flickr group full of funny photos of examples. It's basically bad Chinese translations of Chinese words into English (or simply typos).
But here's a new one I've never heard of before! Chinçais? I don't know if that's what it's called... but it's bad translations of French.
Check out these 27 examples of hilarity! "Les 27 pires traductions de merde"
This one I found particularly hilarious. What starts off as a simple typo in English (peed instead of peel) then gets translated into French! LOL.
A few weeks ago I discovered this app called Draw Something and downloaded it to my phone.
Immediately, I became addicted to it. Now, I don't play computer games at all ever because I'm a really impatient person. I also don't watch tv series or read novels (because I can't handle waiting hours, weeks or months to get to the end!)... however...
This is based on the boardgame Pictionary. A game I used to pay a lot at home with my sister and friends. and to be totally not modest, I am really good at this game... and I don't actually think it's got to do with drawing skills at all, it's more to do with being able to convey a message and get the meaning and context across. Once I played Cranium with a group of friends. The game lasted 3 hours and my friend and I (we played in pairs) won. A lot of that has to do with me being a jack of all trades and a master of none ;P
Anyway, so... you're wondering what does drawing cupcakes have to do with learning French? Well I'm not sure if it's because my phone is in French or because I'm in a French-speaking country... but for me, when I loaded the game, it was all in French.
And the strangest thing happened... Here I was thinking I'm pretty much fluent in French and at CEFR C1 level easily by now... BUT I didn't know any of these words! How could I draw these things if I didn't know what they were? So I had to open up wordreference.com on my computer at the same time to be able to play.
And it got me thinking about it... after a little while I realised why I didn't know these words. They were mostly nouns. If you think about it, when you're a kid you learn a ton of nouns and comparatively fewer verbs but when you learn a (second) language as an adult you learn more verbs and less nouns.
For example for those of you learning French (or any other language) - how many different types of flowers can you name in your foreign language compared to your native language? I'll bet the answer is nowhere near as many.
When you're a kid you read story books and you amasse a big vocabulary of animal types, plant types, flower types, objects and stuff like that but as an adult learning a foreign language you're more likely to learn vocabulary you actually use on a daily basis, which doesn't include things like tulips or rhinoceroses (rhinoceri?) ;)
So here are some of the words I learnt thanks to this app.
(mobile phone) app = app/appli/application
board game = jeu de société (society game)
The app matches you up with a random player (I'm guessing via GPS so it's someone quite close geographically) OR you can play against a friend. The more you play the more points or coins you collect and that allows you to get more colours to draw with (which is handy). If you guess incorrectly the game is over and you start again at round 1. I got up to round 33 with one girl and she left the game! I was hoping to break some kind of record with her. You don't have to stay permanently online, the game remembers where you last left off and there is no need to 'save' or anything which is great. There are also cheaters too and I don't like this. They write the answer on the screen instead of drawing it.
Even if you can't manage to get it in French on your phone it's a fun app anyway... but I'm kind of over it now... hahaha.
One thing I quickly noticed in France (and indeed anyone coming from a non-European country into continental Europe would notice) is that the school exercise books/notebooks were all gridded. It was impossible to find an A4 notebook that was simply ruled horizontally.
However, when I moved to Switzerland I discovered they were much easier to find. In fact, you can find both types easily.
... which begs the question: Why are notebooks in grid format instead of simply line ruled?
I couldn't really find a great deal of information. I found this post which wasn't exactly that helpful.
I found this too. Is it called a computation notebook?
A Computation notebook is a paper book that has special ruled lines of columns and rows for capturing information. This type of notebook has the appearance of graph paper and is typically used in engineering, math, and science.
The computation notebook is used in most colleges and universities in classes on multiple subjects. The format of this notebook makes delineation between topics easy to read and understand. Most math professors require their students to use a graphic format notebook to define math problems.
Many math algorithms and functions require a grid layout to plot the conditions or coordinates of an expression. A computation notebook includes a grid layout throughout the pages. This format provides a guide for documenting extensive mathematical problems. By using the grids as guidelines the problems are represented in clearly organized manner....
Finally, what spurred this post.. watch this video at point 5:05 when this French girl talks about this very issue! The fact that UNgridded notebooks are so hard to find in France.
Btw I try to listen to random stuff on Youtube to improve my French listening comprehension. It's hard to find someone who is interesting to listen to and talks for a while on a topic that isn't too boring... well obviously her channel is about makeup... but she talks soooooo fast it sure is good practice! ;)
If anybody knows the answer, please leave a comment. Thanks! :)
Vocabulary
A lined notebook - un cahier ligné A grid notebook - un cahier carreaux (image from here)
I didn't actually realise it was a French brand until I saw the language options on the website and investigated further... Also when I saw the naked breast on the women I suppose it was also a clue that it could be French as they seem to love imagery of topless women for advertising purposes! Haha.
I bought this book second hand.. It's a book of random English phrases, for French learners of English.
Here are some really lame French/English puns:
Once upon a time in winter three french cats, called Un, Deux and Trois, went skating on a pond. The ice gave way and Un, Deux, Trois cats sank.
Why does Mitterrand only have one egg for breakfast?
Because un oeuf est un oeuf.
There was a class having a lesson, and one boy said:
"Miss, can we do French now?"
The teacher replied, "Mais oui."
The boy said, "Sorry, may we do French now?"
Continuing on from my rant about babies and technology of almost 5 months ago (sheez where did the time go?!)...
here is a one-year-old who believes all media are now touchscreen-enabled. She seems not to understand that a magazine--Marie-Claire, in this example--doesn't take to pinching or prodding.
The video was posted by Jean-Louis Costanza, currently the CEO at Orange-Vallee, a subsidiary of the France Telecom brand Orange, of his daughter. He ends the video by saying, "They will nod even more sagely at the video's last words: 'Steve Jobs has coded a part of her OS.' "
For me, the most amazing part is when she thinks her finger is faulty.
Some might find this 'cute' but even though I find it funny, I also find it quite horrifying, actually... that our kids will grow up knowing nothing about print-based media and only screen-based media :(
Photo Exhibition in Sydney « Française en Australie »
I thought I'd alert you to a cool photo exhibition at the Alliance Française de Sydney coming up between 20-27 May, 2011 (opening night on 19 May).
I would love to see this!! Now that I think about, I'm the opposite... I'm an Australian woman living in France (well not so long ago I was).
If you're in Sydney, go check it out! :D
Voilà ! Je vous présente un lien à une exposition photo « Française en Australie » à l'Alliance Française de Sydney (en Australie) qui commence à partir du 20 mai, jusqu'au 27 mai
Je voudrais bien la voir ! En fait, je l'ai fait à l'envers. Je suis une Australienne en France (il n'y a pas longtemps).
Si par hasard vous vous trouvez à Sydney, allez-vite la voir ! :D
There are certain topics that stay in my head for months. I always think about doing blog posts for them and never getting around to them. Well this is one of them.
When you go to other countries you start to notice very quickly the things that are different from your own (in my case, Australia).
Windows
In all the European countries that I've visited, all the windows are pretty much the same. They are tall and narrow and have a white plastic frame and a special (plastic) handle which allows it to be opened horizontally (on a hinge from the bottom) or vertically (on a hinge from the side of the frame) depending on which way you turn it. In Australia the windows are made of aluminium and they are sliding. Of course it varies depending on the age of the house but the newer windows are all like this. In Europe nobody has flyscreens on their windows and in Australia almost everybody does. This annoys me because I hate mosquitoes (their bites specifically) and there is no way to block them out in hot weather in Europe.
I wonder who designed the windows? Why are they made of plastic? And why are they all white?
Also on European windows they always have shutters. They can be hinged and manually opened and closed or the electronic rolling kind or even a combination. When I first realised this it automatically made me think of Lego windows! Shutters are very often green too. When I played with Lego as a child it never occured to me that all the houses are based on real life houses in Europe! :)
Locks and Keys
Almost every door lock/key I have encountered has been different and there is almost always a special or tricky way to turn the key and/or door handle to open or lock the door! There are some tricky keys with small holes 'dug' out of it too which I've never seen in Australia. In Australia, often the door locks when you shut it (or by pushing a button on the handle behind the door and then closing it) but in Europe you can only lock the door with a key, which is better because it means you don't lock yourself out and you don't forget to bring your key with you!
Public toilet door locks
I noticed that in Europe they are almost always twist/turn locks whereas in Australia they are sliding locks.
Light Switches
In most apartments that I've seen in Europe (that have been renovated in the last couple of years) the light switches are these HUGE square things. As well as that, in a lot of places (including my own 'home' in France) some lights have two switches so you can turn them on/off in different parts of the room/house (usually one is by the front door so you can turn it off just as you leave). I've never seen anything like that in Australia and think it's very cool...
Lifts/Elevators
Oh I saved the best till last! These rarely exist anywhere and even if they do.... a) noone uses them or b) noone is allowed to use them (except the handicapped). It never ceases to amaze me that Europeans are blind to lifts/elevators. It's as if they just don't see them. They will always opt for the stairs. Even when they are carrying big heavy luggage (like they do at train stations). It's as if they have gotten so used to living without lifts that even where there is one available (and they need one) they don't take it!! Often when there is one available you aren't allowed to use it. But shhhhh I used one in Vatican museum to save my sanity and save myself having to go down fifty billion stairs.
In Australia it's pretty much the opposite. Even when people don't need the lift they'll take it anyway and most would would never choose the stairs over lifts if they were right next to each other.
I do find it annoying when I have luggage there aren't lifts around and I feel really bad for the handicapped people and people with prams.
In many older buildings the lifts also have two doors - a set of inner doors and outer doors and you need to open the outer ones manually. It was such a novelty to me at first but then I just found it annoying!
Apartment Addresses
They don't seem to have an apartment number! Only the building number. In Australia we would write it a 12/25 ....... street/road meaning the building is number 25, and the apartment is 12. In France and most other European countries they don't seem to do that because they rely solely on the NAME of the person on the front door or on the letterbox. That's why the name is so important.
The letterboxes are never accessible to the public. The postman must go inside (obviously he has a key) to deliver them.
Also, at the front door, often there is a pin number type code so anyone can enter if they have this code. I find this really handy as it means you don't need to have so many keys and if you have someone coming you can just give them the code and they can come in, even if you're not at home.
I found this girl on YouTube some time ago when I was looking for videos of French people talking. Unfortunately it turns out she speaks English in most of her videos and not French but anyway... this is her latest video and a detour from her usual make-up tutorials. Quite amusing to watch, I actually didn't find any of it the least bit surprising given my own experiences and stories I've heard...
How to add Subtitles to Films / Comment incruster des Sous-titres dans un film
OK it seems like recently a lot of people are coming to my blog looking for info or subtitles to Le Nom de Gens (The Names of Love) and Rien à déclarer (Nothing to declare).
Something one of my very geeky exes taught me (see, boyfriends are useful for something ;) ) is how to put subtitles onto foreign films. I was so happy when he told me about that as it basically opened up a whole new world of possibilities...
How to add subtitles to films
Steps:
Download VLC media player if you don't already have it. It plays almost any sort of media file you can imagine and it's free!
Go to allsubs.org or Open Subtitles and search for the subtitle for your movie in the language of your choice. Note that not all languages exist and the file is of type .srt
Note where you've placed the movie on your computer (I'm not going to tell you where to get the movies from, I'm sure you can figure that out yourself) and copy the filename of this file to the srt file. So now the two files have exactly the same file namewith only the 3 character extension that is different. Make sure they are placed in the same folder/directory.
Open up VLC media player and load the film.
Voilà ! It should work automatically. If not, something has gone wrong... (sometimes though, if the subtitles are not done well they are not quite in sync with the movie, maybe a few seconds ahead/behind what they are saying).
The main problem I find is that I want to watch both English and French films with French subtitles but generally it's difficult to find subtitles that's in the same language as the film is (ie French subtitles for a French film). Still, give it a try though! It's pretty easy to find English subtitles for French films.
I would say that 90% of the time I just drink water. Yeah, pretty boring huh? I actually LIKE the taste of water. However every now and then my sweet tooth gets activated and I need something sweet like a soft drink or fruit juice.
I do not like normal soft drinks (soda) and haven't since I was about 16 so I never drink them but I LOVE Orangina and Rivella! They are so different to Coca Cola, Sprite or Fanta. For one thing, they both have a lot less gas and they also seem less artificial/chemical and sweet. To me it's like they are halfway between soft drink and fruit juice.
According to Schweppes, Orangina is a French carbonated fruit drink first created in 1936. It is the largest selling carbonated fruit drink in France. It is well-known for its funny shaped bottle, the 'real fruit pulp' content, containing no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and funky advertising. It tastes halfway between Fanta and orange juice. There isn't a lot of pulp but enough to give it some 'texture' and extra flavour kick. I buy it here in 2L bottles.
The ingredients are:
• Carbonated water,
• High fructose corn syrup and/or sugar,
• Orange juice concentrate,
• Pure orange pulp,
• Tangerine juice concentrate
• Natural orange flavours.
It has no artificial coloring or flavoring, no caffeine, and is marked kosher.
Here's a video (in French) all about the history of the company and the drink. Towards the end, the actor Jamel Debbouze (featured in Amélie) is shown appearing in a tv commercial. Also there is a risqué ad featuring computer-generated humanised animals.
and one of the tv commercials featuring a laughing hyena:
Rivella is a carbonated drink from Switzerland first created in 1952. I can't quite put my finger on what flavour it is. It is sweet and fruity but also different to anything I've ever drunk before. There are three varieties but I've only ever had the original (Red).
Ingredients - The exact recipe for Rivella Red is a well kept secret, these are the known listed ingredients:
Water
Whey (35 %)
(lactose, lactic acid and minerals)
Sugar (76g of refined sugar and 14g from whey per liter)
Herbs
Fruitextract
Carbonation
Acidifier (L(+)-Lactic Acid)
Given the list of ingredients, to me it tastes like something halfway between carbonated fruit juice (with maybe a hint of strawberry flavour) and the Japanese fermented milk drink Calpis/Calpico (ingredients: Lactose, Glucose, Sugar, Skim milk powder, Lactic acid (with a lactic acid cultver), natural and artificial flavours).
In any case, all three drinks have unique flavours and I love them all! Every time I go to Switzerland I try to get me some Rivella.
Montpellier
