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Mar 27

50 Shades of Green

Le printemps (spring) has officially sprung —  La nature et vos allergies sont revenues à la vie (Nature and your allergies have come back to life). Flowers are blooming, bees are hard at work, and all that was brown has become green.

Le vert (green) is often associated l’argent et les finances (money and finances), l’avidité (greed), la jalousie (jealousy), l’ambition (ambition), la stabilité (stability), and la renaissance (rebirth).

Along with their many associations, colors play an important role in language. When you’re sad, you’re blue. You can be tickled pink. You can be in the red with the bank. If you’re scared, you’re yellow bellied.

To celebrate the return of Spring, we’re going to focus on the use of vert in French. En plus, c’est ma couleur préférée (plus, it’s my favorite color).

Cle France ltd

Image courtesy of Crafthubs

Noun

Let’s start with the word as a noun. Le vert means green, green light (in traffic), vegetation, and the countryside.

As a proper noun, les Verts is referring to The Greens, a green-ecologist political group that dissolved in 2010.

Have you ever had a penny that had a green spot on it? This is called le vert-de-gris, and it’s just a green tinge that forms on copper. The same thing can be found on The Statue of Liberty in New York.

Verb

Vert” by itself isn’t a verb, but it’s used in some verbs.

Être au vert has 2 meanings. The first refers to being out in the country. The other is when you’re watching your diet. Both are referring to la verdure (the greenery) – either outside or on your plate.

Se mettre au vert also has 2 meanings. The first is to go out into the countryside for a relaxing rest. The other meaning is less literal: it means to go on the run (from the police, for example).

Mettre au vert without the reflexive pronoun is often presented in the past tense: mis au vert and means put out to pasture. The idea comes from the idea that once a horse is finished with a racing career, he’s put out to pasture (retired). This can be used for humans, though.

Couper en vert means to harvest a plant before it’s ready.

En voir des vertes et des pas mures is an expression that means someone has said something pretty spicy things to someone.

Être vert(e) de rage is used when you’re very, very mad. You can also simply just use vert. (Elle est verte!) Think of The Incredible Hulk, we say purple with rage in English.

Être vert(e) de peur means you are very scared. I think this is interesting because this idea is associated with yellow in English.

Être au temps de sa verte jesunesse and être encore vert(e) both refer to being in the bloom of your youth.

Donner le feu vert à quelque chose/quelqu’un means the same as it does in English: to give someone the green light to do something (to give permission)

Prendre quelqu’un sans vert means to catch somebody unaware.

Adjective

Le numéro vert is a toll-free number. These are nice because in France if you need to call your internet provider, for example, you are charged by the minute.

Thé vert is the same in English: green tea.

Un haricot vert is a green bean, un légume vert refers to a green vegetable in general,    i is a green pepper, and un citron vert is a lime. Are you a successful gardener who can plant all these fruits and vegetables by yourself? You have  i (a green thumb). In France, you have the green hand, but in Canada, you have le pouce vert.

50 Shades of Green

Despite the post’s title, I’m not going to give you 50 shades of green, but here are 19 different shades of green. Below the image, I’ve included the translations.

Understanding Green in French

vert pré/vert gazon – grass green

vert citron – lime green

vert pistache – pistachio

vert bouteille – refers to the color of a standard green bottle

vert mousse – moss green

vert céladon – celadon green

vert methe – mint green

vert émeraude – emerald

vert pâle – pale green

vert sapin – pine green

vert trèfle – shamrock green

vert jade – jade

vert malachite – malachite green

vert printemps – spring green

vert sauge – sage green

vert chartreuse – chartreuse

vert d’eau – sea green

vert olive – olive green

vert caca d’oie – this isn’t in the graphic because nobody wants to see this. It literally means “goose poop green,” and is used to describe a color between yellow and green.

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Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

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Mar 3

France’s Wine Regions and Terroir

One of the best (and most fun!) ways of getting to know France is through learning about its terroirs. Terroir is a French loanword in English that you might already be familiar with — especially if you are an oenophile — that loosely translates to a “sense of place”. In other words, terroir is the special characteristics of a particular place that allows it to produce agricultural products like wine, cheese, tea, coffee, etc.

Of course, the term terroir isn’t only applicable to France. But France’s various terroirs are so distinct from one another and so culturally rich that understanding all of its geographical and agricultural diversity will only make you fall more in love with the country.

French Wine, Cle France

Image From Uncalno Tekno at Flickr.com 

So today, I’ll be taking you on an introductory tour of some of the most important terroirs in France. And, as an oenophile myself, we will be focusing on the different appellations, or controlled regions, for wine production.

1. Languedoc and Roussillon

These two beautiful regions are on the Mediterranean coast and extend down to the border between France and Spain. Languedoc and Roussillon have been important winemaking centers for centuries, and the region has three times the area of vineyards in Bordeaux! In fact, there is evidence of grapevines in the region that date to the prehistoric era. This region is most famous for its reds and rosés and Roussillon in particular is known for its fortified sweet wines from areas such as Rivesaltes and Banyuls.

Property for sale in Languedoc Roussillon

2. Alsace

Unlike in most other regions in France, wines made in Alsace (on France’s eastern border with Germany) do have the grape on the label rather than just the region. The most famous grapes in the region are Muscat, Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewurtztraminer. Most of the grapes grown in this region are white, although there is some delicious Pinot Noir.

Property for sale near the Alsace region

3. Rhone

This region is situated in the Rhone River valley in southern France and is divided into the Northern Rhône and the Southern Rhone. Syrah is the grape of choice in the Northern Rhone, while the sunny Southern Rhone section is more about blends of grapes, usually including Grenache. If you’ve heard of the appellations Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Hermitage, these are both in the Rhone region.

Property for sale in Rhone Alpes

4. Champagne

Need I say more? Not all sparkling wine is Champagne, only the sparkling wine produced in the region of Champagne in the northeast of France. Winemakers in this region use the traditional method, called la methode champenoise, that is pretty labor intense and uses two fermentation processes to create delicious Champagne.

Property for sale near Champagne

5. Loire

The Loire region follows the Loire River from Nantes on the Atlantic coast to Orléans in northcentral France. Near Nantes, Muscadet is the star of the show, a refreshing white wine. The Central Vineyards of the region are known for their Sauvignon Blanc and Sancerre is the most well-known and expensive appellation in the region.

Property for sale in Pays de la Loire

6. Burgundy

To make it simple: “Red Burgundy” means Pinot Noir and “White Burgundy” means Chardonnay. Burgundy has had vineyards for centuries and the label on a bottle of Burgundy is inextricably linked with a particular piece of land in the region. This means that the land is split up into tiny parcels, owned by separate producers, and that this is reflected in the various labels of Burgundy.

Property for sale in Burgundy

7. Bordeaux

Did I save the best for last? Perhaps. The Bordeaux region  is known for producing the fanciest, most expensive, and (yes) most tasty wines in France (although this is debatable to some!). Why? Because Bordeaux first started classifying its wine estates in the region back in 1855 and all “growths” are tied back to this historical moment. This means that the grapevines in Burgundy are old…and expensive. Wine from Bordeaux is almost always made of blends of grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec.

Property for sale in Bordeaux region

"Be a champion, Drink Responsibly"

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Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Add CommentViews: 204
Feb 26

Les Bilingues - A funny look at Bilingual people

French Youtube Stars: Norman Thavaud

Bilingual people

Photo by Stéphane Peres on Flickr.

In the modern era of content creation there are many new names coming out of the Internet. A big platform for these new stars is Youtube with many people now creating leurs propres séries (their own shows) on the website.

En France many of these youtubeurs have strated breaking into the mainstream. One of the biggest being Norman Thavaud, a 27 year old comedian who started making short web videos on sa chaine Youtube (his Youtube channel), Norman fait des videos (Norman makes videos), in 2010 and is now un nom connu (a househeld name).

Une vidéo typique de Norman (A typical Norman video) is a comical sketch with Norman speaking to the camera and then cutting to scenes acting out what he is talking about in a very comical way.

Norman has more than 5 million subscribers sur sa chaîne Youtube (on his Youtube channel) and has even picked up roles in television and film. Pushing the boundaries even farther he started doing live spectacles (shows) that have been wildly successful.

For a French learner, les vidéos de Norman sont une source merveilleuse (Norman’s videos are a wonderful source). They provide unique insights into la culture française (French culture) and provide examples of everyday French and everyday French humor. Some of it might be hard to follow, but petit à petit (slowly) you’ll be able to keep up and start laughing!

To start your journey through des videos de Norman (Norman’s videos) check out sa vidéo qui s’appelle (his video called) Les Bilingues (bilingual people), an amazing short with many jokes about French people who also speak English. Heureusement (luckily), la vidéo has English subtitles!

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Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Add CommentViews: 287
Feb 19

French Jokes: “Where is Brian?”

Having a good private joke (especially an in-joke) is a great way to open the door to a new culture and break the ice. For many learners of a foreign language humour is not always the easiest thing to understand, and it can be a rather large cultural hurdle.

In my experience, I found it difficult to capter des blagues françaises (get French jokes), until I heard one that played into how the French learned English.

Recently I was in France on business with Ben Amrany of FC Exchange, we were seeking out new Cle France agents and meeting old friends at the same time. Talking about the buying process and how to sell French Houses to non-French speaking clients can be a trial so from time to time I tried a little humour to lighten the load.

At one point I was introduced to a member of the team in a local French estate agents office, we shall call him Ernest, he was in his 30s and I was told he was the member of staff learning English but had only just started, so I said "was he attending a CP class cour preparatoire at the local school?" I then went on to mime trying to get in and out of the small chairs they had in the lobby for children to sit on whilst waiting for Mum and Dad who were viewing property for sale.

Everyone thought it was funny except Ernest who probably thought I was saying he had a mental age of a 6 year old rather than just making light of learning English as a beginner!

So I brought out the default blague “Where is Brian?” to rescue the situation!

Where is Brian

Photo by Elliott Brown on Flickr.

La blague (the joke) comes from the famous comedian, Gad Elmaleh, and the joke plays on the teaching method used in French schools for learning English throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.

La blague from his sketch (routine) goes like this:

En Francais...

Parce que j’ai quelques notions d’anglais quand même, j’ai appris l’anglais comme vous à l’école quand on était petit.

On a tous eu les même cours débiles !

Avec cette fameuse question existentielle à laquelle il fallait trouver absolument une réponse: “Where is Brian?”

Il vous a traumatisé aussi ce Brian…

On savait pas qui c’était ce Brian, on s’en foutait, mais il fallait le localiser dans la maison pour apprendre l’anglais, c’était ça.

Il fallait trouver les gens de la famille Brian pour apprendre l’anglais, qu’est-ce qui s’passe ?

“Where is Brian?” et toi comme un idiot tu répondais sagement : “Brian is in the kitchen”…

In English...

Because I know a little English too, I learned English in school when I was little like all of you.

We all had the same dumb class!

With that famous existential question that you just had to find an answer to: “Where is Brian?”

Brian traumatized all of you as well…

You didn’t know who Brian was, you didn’t care, but you had to find out where he was in the house in order to learn English, that was it.

You had to find the members of Brian’s family in order to learn English, and what happened?

“Where is Brian?” and like an idiot you calmly responded: “Brian is in the kitchen”…

Insert laughter here...

I know it is not that funny on paper but the result of his wildly successful standup show is now a common joke among French people. “Where is Brian?” leads almost immediately to the response, “Brian is in the kitchen.”

If you can learn this simple blague, tes amis français (your French friends) will be surprised that you know la blague and feel more comfortable sharing French culture with you.

Next time you meet with tes amis français, try askng them:

“Where is Brian?”

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Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Add CommentViews: 334
Feb 12

Do You Know How To Toast in French

Learning a little French etiquette can go a long ay to help you intergrate when living in France or indeed just when visiting the many regions of France.

You never know if your next viewing trip with us could turn into a glass clincking success! so if you do make an offer on a French property for sale and the offer is accepted then how would you 'toast' the occaision? 

Or you are out with some friends about to take your first sip and everyone raises their glasses to toast...

How to toast the French

Photo by Omar G! on Flickr.

Qu’est-ce que tu fais en-suite ? (What do you do next?)

En France, you have to regarder dans les yeux (look in the eyes) of the person you’re clincking glasses with. Ce qui est important (what’s important) is bearing in mind that by NOT remembering to regarder dans les yeux is seen as rude or simply une maladresse (a faux pas).

I did not know all this when I first visited France, the first time I went out with des amis français (some French friends) is un bon exemple (a good example); after we found a good place to sit and had placed our orders, we all went to lever nos verres (raise our glasses)....

We toasted and then I took a drink. Much to my surprise, mes amis français (my French friends) were still looking at me after I had finished swallowing. One of my friends then said to me:

“Non, il faut que tu me regardes dans les yeux !” (No, you have to look at me in the eyes!)

Confused, I tried again, but my eyes darted away before our glasses met and on m’a dit (I was told).

“Non, dans mes yeux !” (No, in my eyes!)

I slowly raised my glass and went in again. This time I made sure to keep un contact visuel (eye contact). After a very intense few seconds it was over and shouts of “santé” (cheers) were passed around.

I had successfully learned how to toast in French!

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Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Add CommentViews: 307

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