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Welcome to the French Today Blog

When you need a little break from learning with our French audiobooks and French audio lessons, come here to find news and interesting tidbits on French culture, travel, language and even cooking. We usually have a new post at least once a week.

Many of our blog posts have audio and can easily be accessed via the tags (look for the "Filed Under:" header). Blog posts are categorized under tags such as audio, Learn French , Travel, Food, French Culture, Humor, etc...
If you like a post from a particular author, make sure to click on their name to see more posts they have written.

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Filed Under:

Tabeetousa ? tufaykwa ? The modern French language

13 Aug 2012 Written by Camille Chevalier-Karfis

French is an evolving language. You know it, and you've been warned. Yet when you walk the streets of Paris, it can be quite a shock... On top of the "parler d'jeunes" (generation Y new slang), the verlan (common French practice consisting of inverting the order of syllables in a word), and the traditional slang, you are going to encounter many grammatical constructions and glidings that are quite far from your textbook French: welcome to the world of modern spoken French!

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Chaud and froid - hot and cold in French

07 Aug 2012 Written by Camille Chevalier-Karfis

In French, when using the word "cold" or "hot," you have to be careful because there are different constructions: c'est froid, elle est froide, j'ai chaud, il fait chaud... This lesson will explain which expression to use in what condition, and whether the adjectives "froid" and "chaud" change to agree with the subject.

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Food

Little green pearls - to eat

31 Jul 2012 Written by Kathy Morton

People are clamoring for the green pearls of Le Puy. Not pearls of haute couture, but pearls of haute cuisine, known as la lentille verte du Puy (pronounced pwee), the green lentils of Le Puy in the Auvergne region of France.

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The Monuments of Paris — La Madeleine

23 Jul 2012 Written by Christopher Measom

Turning north off the Place de la Concorde (onto the rue Royal) we soon come to an ancient Roman-temple-ish church that often plays host to Paris's most fashionable weddings.

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Bayonne, ville gastronomique

17 Jul 2012 Written by Myriam Rolando

La cuisine ici est très variée. Les plats basques traditionnels sont très appréciés. Je ferai un post spécial pour vous parler des recettes les plus typiques. A cette cuisine ancestrale s'ajoutent l'influence de la cuisine espagnole et l'inventivité des chefs des nombreux restaurants gastronomiques...

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The hidden secret to Paris' fireworks

10 Jul 2012 Written by Olivier Karfis

So against my advice, you decided to go to Paris to see the July 14th fireworks and now you are left with five options:

1. You watch the Bastille's day fireworks on TV

You go about enjoying your day in the City of Lights, take a long bath, have a nice relaxing dinner with friends/family, sit down on a comfy couch and tune in to TF1 at 10:30PM to watch it like millions of French do... but then, why did you come to Paris, you could have just tuned in to TV5 International from your home in Springfield.