Kristin Espinasse's Blog, page 44
October 30, 2017
Eboueurs or imposters? Door-to-door calendar sales: attention aux arnaques!
Help edit today's post by contributing corrections--in French or in English, in the comments box. Merci beaucoup!
un éboueur
: garbage collector, bin man
Audio File
Click here to listen to Jean-Marc read this sentence:
Un éboueur aussi connu comme agent de propreté urbaine ou plus familièrement comme ripeur (pour ceux à l'arrière de la benne), vidangeur (québécisme) ou poubellier, poubelleur, poubelliste (de poubelle, le récipient destiné à recevoir les déchets) est une personne empl...
Eboueurs or imposters? Door-to-door calender sales: attention aux arnaques!
Help edit today's post by contributing corrections--in French or in English, in the comments box. Merci beaucoup!
un éboueur
: garbage collector, bin man
Audio File
Click here to listen to Jean-Marc read this sentence:
Un éboueur aussi connu comme agent de propreté urbaine ou plus familièrement comme ripeur (pour ceux à l'arrière de la benne), vidangeur (québécisme) ou poubellier, poubelleur, poubelliste (de poubelle, le récipient destiné à recevoir les déchets) est une personne empl...
October 25, 2017
Broyer, Pilon + Mousse au Chocolat aux Epices - a spicy dessert to celebrate this word journal's birthday
Thank you for the wonderful profiles you are sending in, in celebration of this word journal's 15th birthday. It is a pleasure and a gift to read about you for a change, and your "bonne continuation" messages have given me an invigorating second wind! If you did not see your comment posted, scroll down to the end of the comments in the previous post and find the tiny "show more comments" link.
I told you I was celebrating this milestone and today's chocolate mousse is a festive way to do so!...
October 23, 2017
Celebrating a Milestone! Joyeuse, Joyeux
My daughter turned 5 when this word journal began. Here she is at eleven... and recently she turned 20.
joyeux, joyeuse (zhwa-yuh, zhwa-yuhz) adjective
: cheerful, merry, joyful
From the Audio archives: Listen to my daughter's me...
October 20, 2017
(Bilingual Post) Brasser & Houblon: From making rosé to making beer... winemaker gets a lesson in brewing
This time of year while scaredy-cats are talking about hobgoblins, Jean-Marc introduces us to houblons...or Humulus Lupulus. On Tuesday he saw them with his very eyes in the historic quarter of Nice, France! Read on about this bois du diable and its relation to beer, in today's column. (Thank you, Eileen deCamp, for this beautiful photo!)
un houblon
: hop, hops
: fleur qui aromatise la bière (flower that flavors beer) -wordreference.com
AUDIO FILE: listen to Jean-Marc read the foll...
October 16, 2017
Façon de Parler: L'Ecriture Inclusive & The movement to feminize French
"Languages are not neutral tools: they influence how we talk, think, and represent ourselves...."
façon de parler
: manner of speaking, way of speaking
: so to speak
Audio: listen to Jean-Marc read the opening sentence, in French:
Facon de parler manner of speaking
Façon de parler. Les langues ne sont pas des outils neutres : elles influent sur notre façon de parler, de penser, de se représenter. Davy Borde via Wikipedia
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
by Kristi Espinasse
When I read this...
October 14, 2017
Coup de Coeur: Jean-Marc talks about the wines of Mascaronne... and, for Bove, the best is yet to come
Harvesters sorting grapes at Château La Mascaronne. Though everyday life goes on, today's post being no exception, we pause to remember those who have suffered in the recent catastrophes. Jean-Marc and I join all vineyard owners in France, all who are in the wine business, all who are French, and all who are human, in extending our condoleances to those who lost loved ones in the recent California fires that have devasted wineries, neighborhoods and lives. We are deeply saddened by the ne...
October 11, 2017
Lunch at Chateau La Mascaronne with Tom Bove & La Révolution du Rosé
Yesterday, we visited Chateau La Mascaronne. The estate, acquired by an American, Tom Bove, in 1999, extends over 100 hectares at the exit of the village of Luc, of which 45 hectares of vines are planted in hills and classified in the appellation Côtes de Provence. Careful to respect the typicity of the terroir, the estate offers two ranges .... The wines, resulting from organic farming, are regularly rewarded and have won the confidence of beautiful tables in France and abroad. Listen to th...
October 6, 2017
The Metaphysics of French & how it connects us all
One of my favorite French expressions? It's mettre toutes les chances de son côte. (photo: "We are what we are taught," taken when Smokey was a babe).
Mettre toutes les chances de son côte
: to put all chances on one's side, to stack all the odds in your favor
Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc read the sentence below
Une de mes expressions favoristes en français c'est : "Mettre toutes les chances de son côté"
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE...
Ask my dog and he'll te...
October 4, 2017
Will the sun still rise tomorrow? + Le bénéfice du doute
I am busy looking up the term bénéfice du doute--all the while doubting this is the way to begin today's letter. I am numbed, saddened, and shaken by the carnage in Las Vegas, as well as by the hurricaines and earthquakes, and by more local terrorism. Two girls, cousins my daughter's age, were stabbed to death Sunday--at the Gare St Charles in Marseille. Only a few weeks before, in the same train station, 4 young girls, fellow Americans, survived an acid attack. Our thoughts go out to these v...
