Independent publishing houses cater for all tastes. But the standard-bearers of the sector are authors who innovate in style or content. By throwing expectations off track, they create a dialogue that takes the reader out of their comfort zone and into unexplored territory.
Il y a tout un travail à faire
The transcribed and translated audio reports on this website are intended to help you bridge the gap from a learning environment to real life. They’re recordings of native-speakers talking naturally at normal speed. But with the help of the pause button, the transcript, the slow version and the translation, you have the tools to train yourself in the art of listening.
Tout le bleu du ciel
Tout le bleu du ciel by Melissa Da Costa began life as a self-published novel, before being spotted by Carnets Nord, a small independent Maison d’édition. Through word of mouth – « de bouche à oreille » – its reputation spread. The book has now been on the bestsellers list for almost two years.
Reading, fast and slow
Have you already scrolled down to the bottom of the page to check how long it’s going to take to read this article? Read the conclusion to see what can be skipped? Perhaps the whole thing. With any luck. We skim read to survive in the modern age. But it’s a skill that’s best unlearnt […]
Encore un problème de réglé
You’re in the boardroom. The CEO wants figures you haven’t got. You buy time: – Là, vous m’avez pris(e) de court. La semaine prochaine irait? The expression prendre de court means to catch someone unprepared. It comes up very frequently: À la rentrée, les collégiens et lycéens non vaccinés devront suivre les cours à distance […]
Qui vole un œuf vole un bœuf
In the same way that scientists study ice samples from glaciers to understand the climate of the past, we can learn a lot about the history of a language by reflecting on the words that make them up. Take English for example. We typically make a noun plural by adding an “s” on the end. […]
Le paon, le pont, le pain
French wouldn’t be French without its characteristic nasal sounds. They were the first thing that John Palsgrave noticed when he travelled to Paris in 1514. Henry VII’s daughter Mary Tudor was engaged to be married to the King of France, and Cambridge scholar Palsgrave’s job was to help her learn the language: “The diffyculte of […]
A method for French vocabulary building
Learning French really isn’t very complicated: Ce n’est pas sorcier. It’s not rocket science. But it is a big project and that can be daunting. So one of the main challenges can be managing your workflow. Perfect your ability to learn just one thing and you’ll unlock the ability to learn many things. An online […]
Learning to fly
Trying to learn a foreign language can be a traumatic experience for those of a sensitive nature. It’s nothing new. 140 years ago the American author Mark Twain wrote of the despair he felt trying to pick up German: Every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in the distribution; so […]