Speaking French is Always Cool

When was it seen as a bad thing to speak another foreign language? When was speaking French seen as non cool? Any ad that is promoting the dumbing down of America is not cool.

In an attack ad released by the New Gingrich's campaign, millionaire businessman and former Chief Executive of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is criticized by fellow Republican Newt Gingrich for being able to read and speak French fluently.

The backers of these ad attacks seem to have forgotten that Newt Gingrich has a doctorate in European History. Back in 1971, he submitted a dissertation, Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945-1960. The dissertation had a lot of French sources in its bibliography. How can those who prepared the ad miss such an important fact? Even Newt must have known some French to be able to conduct all his research for his dissertation. Otherwise, how else would he have made reference to all these French sources?

Speaking another language should be applauded by whoever has the means and intelligence to acquire it. Mitt Romney learned French when he was a Mormon missionary in Paris and Bordeaux in the 1960s. In business and in culture, the language has served Mitt Romney well. Releasing such a video attack ad will not encourage American students to learn a foreign language.

The ad attackers are linking Sen. John Kerry who speaks French fluently and lost to George Bush to Mitt Romney's French Connection. The message they are conveying is that French-speaking Romney will lose to President Obama just like Kerry lost to George Bush.

Let's not mingle politics with culture and intelligence. There is no reason to criticize somebody for knowing French. The attack ad may not sit well with the reality of the country. Most Americans like French. They would like to learn and speak French. French may be one of the languages that most of them would like to learn if they could.

Do not pay attention to the attack ad video that comes to discourage you and keep you away from meeting your linguistic goals. Speaking French is cool. Students should learn the language.

French Lesson Episode #3: Articles Indefini et Defini; Learn New French Words; Find French Exercises

The following is an excerpt from "Free French Lesson MP3 for English Speakers: La Baguette French Lesson Textbook and Podcast"

The following is only a sample, a preview of the upcoming textbook, ""Free French MP3 for English Speakers: La Baguette French Lesson - Le Francais en Amerique,"

Pre-order your copy so you can learn with us at http://frenchlessonpodcast.libsyn.com

 

 

In this episode, you are going to learn the definite and indefinite articles.

L'article défini (Le, La, L', Les). Learn when to use and which one to place before masculine and feminine nouns.

Download the new episode right here from FrenchLessonPodcast.libsyn.com

L'article indéfini (Un, Une, Des): Find out which one to place in front of masculine or feminine nouns. When do we use "de" instead "des"?

In this episode, you will also learn how to count from zero to 100 in French.

This episode contains two free lessons.

If you want to pre-order the textbook, "Free French MP3 for English Speakers: La Baguette French Lesson - Le Francais en Amerique," go ahead and order your copy below.

 

"French for English and Haitian Creole Speakers !
La Baguette French Lesson Textbook and Podcast:
Le Français en Amérique
Free French Words and MP3 Lesson Plans; Free French MP3 Online;

L’article Défini : (Le, La, L’, Les)
The definite article precedes the nouns indicating particular persons, places or things. It also precedes nouns used abstractly or in a general sense.
Par example: le chat est sur la chaise – the cat is on the chair. L’ordinateur est sur le lit – the computer is on the bed. Les livres sont dans le sac à dos – the books are in the backpack.
1. Le: Use le before a masculine singular noun that begins with a consonant
Par exemple: Le cahier – the notebook; le chien – the dog; le chat – the cat
2. La: Use la before a feminine singular noun or adjective beginning with a consonant
Par exemple: La chaise – the chair; la machine à écrire ; la fille – the girl, daughter ; la belle femme – the beautiful woman
3. L’ : Use l’ before a masculine or feminine singular noun or adjective beginning with a vowel sound or a silent h
Par exemple: l’homme – the man; l’habit – the clothes; l’autre avion – the other airplane
4. Les: Use les before all plural nouns or adjectives
Par exemple: les hommes, les nouveaux livres ; les oiseaux, les disques, les feuilles de papier ; les fenêtres ; les ordinateurs
Notes : Always place the definite article even before abstract nouns in French :
Par Exemple: L’espagnol est facile – Spanish is easy. Le français est plus difficile que l’italien – French is more difficult than Italian. Le ciel est bleu - the sky is blue

Revision de l’article Indéfini : Un, une, des
Un : In French, the indefinite article, un is masculine and matches the gender of the noun it precedes
Par Exemple: Un homme – a man; un garçon – a boy ; un livre – a book ; un cahier – a notebook, un stylo – a pen
Une : Une is feminine.
Par exmple : Une femme – a woman ; une chaise – a chair
Des : is the plural form of the indefinite article in French. It is used for both masculine and feminine nouns which it precedes. Unlike in English, Des can not be omitted as in I like apples; She ate apples. We have to say J’aime des pommes. Elle a mange des pommes
Par exemple: Des savons – some soaps; Des crayons – some pencils

Exercices, Exercices, Exercices, Exercices, Exercices, Exercices : Répétez ces mots premièrement. Mettez un ou une devant chague mot. Puis, répétez cet exercice au pluriel.
1. -------- Lampe
2. --------- occasion
3. ---------- bureau
4. ----------- fenêtre
5. ---------- journal
6. ------------- porte
7. ---------- parade
8. ------------ animal
9. -------------- Chose
10. ------------- chaise
11. ------------- siège
12. ----------- rideau
13. ----------- frère
14. ----------- Sœur
15. --------- oncle
16. ---------- tante


Qu’est-ce que c’est?
Répondez avec:
C’est un/une….
Ce sont des / Ce sont de….
Qu’est-ce que c’est ?
C’est un livre – this is a book
Ce sont des journaux – These are newspapers
C’est une chaise – It is a chair
Ce sont de nouvelles chaises – These are new chairs
Qu’est-ce que c’est ?
C’est une lampe – This is a lamp

Numbers – Les Nombres

1 un
2 deux
3 trois
4 quatre
5 cinq
6 six
7 sept
8 huit
9 neuf
10 dix
11 onze
12 douze
13 treize
14 quatorze
15 quinze
16 seize
17 dix-sept
18 dix-huit
19 dix-neuf
20 vingt
21 vingt et un
22 vingt-deux
23 vingt-trois
24 vingt-quatre
25 vingt-cinq
26 vingt-six
27 vingt-sept
28 vingt-huit
29 vingt-neuf
30 Trente
31 trente et un
32 trente-deux
33 trente-trois
34 trente-quatre
35 trente-cinq
36 trente-six
37 trente-sept
38 trente-huit
39 trente-neuf
40 quarante
50 Cinquante
60 soisante
70 soisante dix
80 quatrevingt
90 quatrevingt dix
100 cent

Mettez à la forme negative
The negative form is as follows : Ne + Verbe + Pas or Ne + Verb + Pas
Par exemple: Je n’ai pas de temps – I do not have time
Notes : In a negative sentence (Ne + Verbe + Pas + de), de is used in place of ‘un, une, des.’
Exercices, Exercices, Exercices, Exercices, Exercices, Exercices
1. Jeanne et Marie ont des lampes
2. 2. Toi et moi allons au cinéma aujourd’hui
3. Martine et son ami ont des affiches
4. J’ai des livres
5. Ils ont des photos
6. Elles ont des chaises

FrenchLessonPodcast.libsyn.com is helping People Learn French: More and More Americans are Learning French

With FrenchLessonPodcast.libsyn.com, you have a possibility to learn French.  More and more people living in the Americas are learning French.  Americans are interested in learning the language of Boliere.  After all, French is a beautiful language that is spoken not only in the Americas, Europe but also Africa and Asia.  It is one of the languages of the United Nations.

Francophonie: Where is French Spoken? L'alphabet Francais and More

Le Français en Amérique et Ailleurs

Le Français en Amérique : Quand on parle de Francophonie, on parle des pays où on parle Français.  Dans le contexte des Amériques, il s’agit du Canada, spécifiquement le Québec, le Nouveau-Brunswick, Manitoba, Ile-du-Prince-Edouard, Nouvelle-Ecosse, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest etc, Haïti et les territoires d’outre mer Français tels que la Guadeloupe et la Martinique. La Francophonie va plus loin de ça.  Quand on parle de Francophonie, on voit l’Europe, le Moyen Orient, et l’Afrique.  Sur le continent Européen, les pays Francophones sont la France, la Belgique, et la Suisse.  En Afrique, on trouve le Sénégal, le Maroc, le Mali, la Côte d’Ivoire, La République du Congo, le Rwanda, le Niger, le Tchad, l’Algérie, la Tunisie et le Cameroun.  Un francophone est une personne qui parle Français.  Un pays Francophone, c’est un pays où on parle Français. Mais il y beaucoup plus de personnes qui utilisent le Français quotidiennement. En tant qu’une langue officielle, le Français est la langue de l’éducation et du gouvernement.  Il est aussi une langue maternelle, a lingua franca.  C’est aussi une langue du commerce et de la diplomatie.  C’est la deuxième langue la plus enseignée après l’Anglais.  On estime que plus de 115 million de personnes parlent Français chaque jour et dans leurs activités personnelles et quotidiennes.

French in the Americas and Beyond

French in the Americas:  When we speak about Francophonie, we speak about countries where French is spoken.  In the context of the Americas, we are talking about Canada or specially Quebec, le New Brunswick, Manitoba, Prince Edouard Island, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories etc (Le Pays, Statistique Canada 93-102).1986 census).,  Haiti, and the French Overseas territories such as Guadeloupe and Martinique.  Francophonie goes beyond that.  When we speak about Francophonie, we see Europe, Middle East and Africa.  On the European continent, the Francophone countries are France, Belgium, and Switzerland.  In Africa, we find Senegal, Maroc, Mali, Ivory Coast, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Niger, Tchad, Algeria, Tunisia, and Cameroun. A Francophone is somebody who speaks French.  A Francophone country is a nation where French is spoken.  But there are many more people who use French on a daily basis.  As an official language, French is the second most taught second language after English.  They estimate that more than 115 million people speak French every day and in their daily personal activities. 

L’Alphabet Français d’après L’Association Phonétique Internationale (API) or IPA, International Phonetic Association :

L’alphabet francais (French Alphabet)

a [a]     h [aS]   o [o]    v [ve]
b [be]   i [i]       p [pe]   w [du bl@ ve]
c [se]    j [Zi]     q [ky]   x [iks]
d [de]   k [ka]    r [Er]    y [i grEk]
e [@]    l [El]     s [Es]   z [zEd]
f [Ef]    m [Em]  t [te]
g [Ze]   n [En]   u [y]