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 […]
La chanson de Roland
CARLES li reis, nostre emperere magnes, Set anz tuz pleins ad estet en Espaigne : Tresqu’en la mer cunquist la tere altaigne. N’i ad castel ki devant lui remaigne ; Mur ne citet n’i est remés a fraindre, Fors Sarraguce, ki est en une muntaigne. Li reis Marsilie la tient, ki Deu nen aimet. Mahumet […]
Qu’est-ce qui a provoqué l’incendie?
Often it’s our native language that leads us down the wrong path. Take, for example, the word what. What plays many roles in English. It is a word that stands for missing information in direct questions: What did you say? You said what? What is your problem? What caused the fire? What happened? What happened […]