sample nr20 aug sept09

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Interactive e-magazine for French learners

6August September 2009 Issue Number 20


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Page 2 French Accent, August-September 2009 Issue Number 20

Cest la rentre ! At the end of August, foreigners living in France will hear that expres-sion so often that we thought it useful to offer a brief explanation of what the French meanby it, and how important it is for them. It is so important that the rentre de septembre,

which means the resumption of all activity after the long summer break, is very compara-

ble to January 1stas the first day of a new year, or of a new era. Even for those Frenchwho havent taken a real vacation because of la crise, this summer hiatus was felt to be a

necessary pause, at least for the brain, and la rentre will unleash the same reactions as itdoes every year. A sense of anger when they realize what the Sarkozy administration has

prepared for them, for example within its environment programmes, as we explain in ourarticle on Politics in France. A taste of bitterness at the idea of going back to work,

school, or unemployment. A lingering fear when faced with a future of uncertainty. All ofthis might very well lead to a set of strikes, a national sport that the French are so good at

it!

But, at the same time, la rentrealso triggers a taste of something much more positive: the

real pleasure of seeing the country spring to life again, in particular in the areas of art, cul-

ture, TV and sports. This is part of the way the French tackle la rentre, with a set ofmixed feelings, one of them being this sense of a new beginning, or even a boost, no mat-

ter how differently it may occur or manifest itself from one person to another.

To give to those of our readers who are looking to improve their French another type of

boost, we have continued in this issue to provide in-depth analyses of several expressions,such as the difference between on and nous in everyday spoken language, or other trendy

words which are very much tendance or improbables these days in France. And we alsowant to encourage them to discover the best of the French, and Belgian, culture, through a

few suggestions of things to see, visit or read.

Larentre is a very interesting time of the year to observe these and many other aspects ofFrench culture. Dont miss out on the many ramifications of this phenomenon, which is an

integral part of the French experience, with all of its sometimes very strange peculiarities.

E-magazine, published every two months.Educational purposes. Printable.

Editorial team: Cline and Vincent Anthonioz, Annick and RogerStevenson.

Copyright: Reprints of the articles are permitted only with full men-tion of the title, the date and the web site address.

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Photo de couverture : La rentre des classes lcole de Rumigny

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ditorial

French Accent Magazine


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On, Friendler than Nous Page 4- Basic French Scenario Page 4

- Deux exercices Page 5

- Intermediate French Scenario Page 6

Le coin des branchs : Quelques expressions courantes Page 7Deux dictes Page 7Media Wordplay: Cest tendance... Page 8Le franais rend intelligent ! Page 8

Mots croiss Page 9

La rentre Page 10-Version anglaise : La rentre: the Autumn return to normal Page 11

Scnario : Paris, au mois daot Page 12

Scnario : Retour au travail Page 13

Le vocabulairedes mots en re Page 14

Le Grenelle dune nuit dt Page 15-Version anglaise : A Midsummer Nights Grenelle Page 17Improbable... Page 19

Une chanson dcoder :Rue des souvenirs,des Cowboys Fringants Page 20

Nouveau en Belgique: le muse Magritte Page 22

La petite histoire :Les premires vacances Page 23Un texte littraire :Le Petit Nicolas : La visite(3epartie) Page 24Livres et DVD : Nos coups de cur Page 25Un conte denfant : Y a une pie Page 27

Gratin de pommes de terre au crabe Page 28

Page 3

Le franais interactif

Sur la scne franaise

Vivre en France

La politique franaise

la librairie

Sommaire

French Accent, August-September 2009Issue Number 20

La recette de cuisine


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stand that its also an alter-

native to using nous hesitate

to use it because of the false

belief that its more formal.

To make matters worse,

French grammar books sel-

dom deal with this issue.

In this article and the sce-

narios that follow, I wouldlike to clarify the usage of

on and to encourage you to

use it as frequently as the

French do.

On, the personal pronounexpressing We:

Contrary to what many

French learners think, us-

ing ondoes not carry a for-mal or even pompous con-

TThe tiny word on carriesgreat importance in every-

day spoken French. For

Anglophones learning

French, on is frequently

misunderstood or ignored

because many think that on

only expresses its English

equivalent of one, whilemany of those who under-

French Basic Scenario

(Contd page 5)

notation, as is sometimes

the case with the English

one. In fact, its a very

convivial word. If you say

on prfre le th que le

caf, youre not actually

saying one prefers tea to

coffee, but youre simply

saying we prefer tea to

Le franais interactif

On: Friendlier than Nous

Page 4 Issue Number 20

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French Accent, August-September 2009

Julie et son mari sont en vacances chez des amis enArdche pendant deux semaines. Julie et Carine, lamaitresse de maison, font un plan dactivits pour au-

jourdhui.

Julie : Aujourdhui, on peut peut-tre aller voir les Gor-ges de lArdche. Tu aimes aller l-bas ?

Carine : Avec mon mari et les enfants, on y est alls lasemaine dernire. Et les grottes ? On a de belles grottes

en Ardche !

Julie : Ah oui, pourquoi pas ? Il ne fait pas trs beau au-jourdhui. On peut passer la journe dans les grottes !

Carine : Oui, elles sont vraiment magnifiques. On pour-ra djeuner dans un restaurant sur place. En fin daprs-

midi, on ira faire les courses pour le repas du soir.

Julie : Quest-ce quon mange ce soir ?

Carine: On pense faire un barbecue !Julie : Ah sympa ! On taidera. On achtera la bire

Carine : En gnral, ici, avec les barbecues, on boit duRos de Provence. Est-ce que vous laimez ?

Julie : Mais bien sr ! On aime tout, on nest pas diffi-cile et surtout, on ne veut pas changer vos habitudes!

Carine : Oh, on peut faire diffremment maisle petit ros est un dlice. On va parler avec les

hommes et voir ce quils pensent de notre

plan ?

Julie : On y va !

Julie and her husband are on holiday at theirfriends place in Ardche for 2 weeks. Julie andCarine, the hostess of the house, are planning theactivities for today.

Julie: Today, perhaps we can go see the Grand Canyonof Ardche. Do you like going there?

Carine: With my husband and the children, we wentthere last week. How about the caves? We have beau-

tiful caves in Ardche!

Julie: Oh yes, why not? Its not a very nice day outtoday. We can spend the day in the caves!

Carine: Yes, they are really beautiful. We will be ableto eat lunch in a restaurant on site. At the end of the

afternoon, we will go food shopping for the evening

meal.

Julie: What are we eating this evening?

Carine: Were thinking of having a barbecue!Julie: Oh nice! We will help you. We will buy some

beer

Carine: Generally, here, with barbecues, we drinkRos de Provence. Do you like it?

Julie: But of course! We like everything, were notfussy and especially, we dont want to change your

habits!

Carine: Well, we can always do somethingdifferent, but this ros is a real treat. Were

going to speak with the men and see what

they think about our plan?

Julie: Lets go!

sample nr20 aug sept09

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