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Dr. Dean Albert Ramser's avatar

Bonjour et Merci! Thank you. We look forward to arriving in France at the end of August, exploring Montpellier, Aix, Avignon, Marseille, Lyon, and coastal cities from our short-term rental in Toulon.

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Faith E's avatar

My son just completed his midde school language requirement, and insisted he is done with french tous les jours! Quelle dommage!

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Trudy's avatar

My current favorite French expression: jus de chaussette, referring to a subpar espresso.

Thanks for this post! I move through my small French village feeling, at times, unknowable and generally unknowing. My French friends and neighbors accept, forgive, and encourage. I pursue French doggedly with my hearing impairment. I marvel at the children I meet. Their French is so good! ;)

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Roberto and Carolyn's avatar

Hahhhaa. Great new expression. Thank you!

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Sacha Cohen's avatar

Boy oh boy can I relate! Excellent post and resources 😊

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Avram Butch Kaplan's avatar

Yas !!! Eloquent !! Thanks for the new idioms !!!

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Patricia Taylor's avatar

Merci a mille fois! Marvelous article!

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Nicola Rose's avatar

Really random, but you might enjoy this humor essay I just wrote on French cereal 🧀 and French mealtime in general… subscribed to you! Looking forward to connecting. https://substack.com/@nicolarosedirects/note/p-166239898?r=6pbrc&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

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Jeneva Patterson's avatar

As always, hilarious and spot on. My French husband has used your phrases for years and they are so interesting to translate! Perfect use of New Yorker cartoons! Thank you.

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Between Dog and Wolf's avatar

I have often wondered - but didn’t like to ask - are you deliberately using ‘jusqu’à la prochaine fois’ as your sign off knowing it is very rarely used? I have never heard anyone French say this. ‘A la prochaine’ is much more common. Sorry to be a pendant - hope you’re not offended. Bonne continuation!

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Cecile Marie's avatar

The best part of your post is the humor you convey in learning French. We must laugh at ourselves and when anyone French laughs over our bloopers. For me, making friends with French friends who are bilingual (or somewhat so), or who have lived in the US or UK has been the greatest help. Additionally, I find being good at charades (the American version) helps when the words cannot be found in my brain. The word "charades" led to an interesting lesson with my French tutor who explained the French version. Turns out it is great tool to advance learning French.

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