Pretty much everyone assumes that after almost three years in Paris, all of us are fluent French speakers. And oh the disappointment when I tell them “no.” And oh the clucking when I mention that we put the kids in international school where all their courses (except of course French!) are in English. Let me [...]

You’re finally in Paris. The scenery almost feels familiar. Yet the rush of city life is disconcerting—plus, those famous restaurants seem a little . . . intimidating. If only, you think, I knew a Parisian. Well, there are actually locals who would like to meet you, share a glass of wine, a movie, even a [...]

One evening after arriving here I was told that I had a lot of hair on the back of my shirt. I tried to respond with a little humor, but it didn’t quite work. What I said was, “Je suis une chienne.” What I meant was, “I am a dog.” What I really said was, [...]

I was horrified to learn in my first French course that there existed no word for “hug.”“But embrasser?” we naively asked. “Surely that must mean to embrace?” “No,” our kind teacher informed us, “embrasser means to kiss.” “So this,” we said, wrapping our arms around ourselves. “What do you call this?”Surely a simple demonstration would quickly [...]

I heard an interview with a French person yesterday. They pronounced ”Happy” as “Appy.” Do they not have the “H” sound we have when it is at the beginning of a sentence? How do they ever say “Woo Hoo!!”?

This made me laugh. The French have adopted the English term, “brunch” but as far as I know, there’s no meal called “slunch.” Actually my favorite creative use of English by the French is “relooking” which means remodeling when applied to a building or makeover when applied to a person. Say that with your best [...]

Time magazine recently published an article about the challenge of learning English in France. Students pay high fees to private schools for English lessons after failing to learn the language despite years of studying in public schools. But what’s really interesting is the reaction of many French readers to any discussion of how to improve English learning. [...]

On one of my soujourns to Paris I sat at a cafe with my favorite book. “We would like some preservatives please,” I overheard the ladies seated next to me asking the waiter. The waiter looked more horrified with each request as their voices grew increasingly louder every time they asked for their ‘preservatives’. After [...]

Last year when I started my job with company x they paid for two weeks of intensive one on one French classes in Paris for me. The classes were good and I learned plenty but the problem with an anglophone trying to learn French in Paris is that so many people speak English it’s difficult to apply [...]

Recently my girlfriend had the idea of having a party that would allow us all to make more room in our closets while enjoying cocktails and conversation with good friends. The concept of la troc party, as they call it in French, is for everyone to bring any unwanted clothes, purses, jewelry, or shoes with the goal of [...]