NEXT MEETING

NEXT MEETING
No meeting until September


lundi 16 décembre 2013

Carols

Thursday, december the 12th, 
Francine and Michel's

-- Intro                         All work and no play make Jack a dull boy

                                            Too much hard work and not enough leisure time can be unhealthy.                                 

Carols ------- Christmas Songs


-- Vocabulary

heaven         paradis   good heavens ! mon Dieu !
echoing       raisonner, faire écho
strain           (old) chant, musique    and also tension, stress
troll             (old) chant
yule tide      (old) Noël
carol            chant de Noël
holy             saint                             but holly houx
don              vêtir
apparel        tenue
hark             attention! écouter  (terme de chasse hunting)
sinner          pécheur .... seven holy sins
joyous         joyeux, syn joyful

and more ....
predictable  prévisible and unpredictable ...
jazzed up     arrangé façon jazz

and more again ...
emploi de "for" après certains verbes:
ask for sth, look for a dress, wait for the bus, pay for a drink ...
Danielle wishes for champagne so we wish her a very Happy Christmas

-- Finally we celebrate the end of these private lessons and thank         Ruth with a gift, an I.Pad.


"I'm very touched" said Ruth, overwhelmed !
                                 to overwhelm : émouvoir, bouleverser




dimanche 8 décembre 2013

Clever Scribes

 
 
The scribes’ invention to distinguish U and V in manuscripts : replace u  with o

 The vowel in these words is pronounced like the <u> in butter, fun, summer…

 
 
above
among
another
brother
colour
come
comfort(able)
company
cover
does
done
dove
dozen
front
glove
govern(ment)
honey
London
love
Monday
money
monk
monkey
month
mother
nothing
once
one
onion
other
oven
shove
shovel
smother
some
son
sponge
stomach
ton
tongue
won
wonder(ful)
 
 
 

 

samedi 7 décembre 2013

Thursday, 28th Nov, Ruth's
Thanksgiving day

News
Danielle was at a meeting of a Bed & Breakfast owners. She hoped champagne but not this evening !
Michel is in Paris with Francine in Education to be retired. Good luck.

Thanksgiving Day
 First celebration in 1621.  Thanksgiving Day (Jour de l'Action de grâce in Canadian French) is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, and has long been celebrated in a secular manner as well.

Menu  Turkey is recommended or goose or duck, stuffy(farcie, étouffante)
Many other foods are typically served alongside the main dish(side dishes=accompagnt)
 - gravy (sauce au jus de viande), cranberry sauce, winter squash, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, nuts, bread 
Dessert : pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie ...
Beverages : apple cider (still or sparkling)... gazeux, wine (Beaujolais nouveau) sometimes.

Songs : Over the river and through the woods (cf your paper)
Invitation : opening table, persons alone are invited



Traditional Thanksgiving dinner

Recipe of the pumpkin pie














1 cup strained, cooked pumpkin (citrouille)
1 egg and 1 yolk (jaune)
3/4 cup scalded milk (ébouillanté)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground spices ( cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg) (cannelle, girofle, muscade)

Line pie pan with pastry.
combine eggs, sugar, salt and spices. Gradually stir in milk and cream, then pumpkin.
Pour (verser) three quarters of the mixture into the pie shell, place it on the oven rack, then add the rest.
Bake in hot oven (220° C) for ten minutes, reduce heat to 175° and bake for thirty minutes longer, or until a knife comes out clean.(jusque un couteau ressorte propre)



Winter Squash
At this stage, most varieties of this fruit can be stored for use during the winter


This first year of English conversation is going to finish. 
We will say a very very very big thank you to RUTH 
at the end of the next lesson






lundi 25 novembre 2013

Thursday's theme


 How much do you know about this important American holiday?
We'll discuss it on Thursday, 28th November, as all Americans sit down for their big dinner.
See you at 5:45 P.M., 4 rue de la Gare (Ruth and Max)

vendredi 8 novembre 2013

Country or City life ?

Laurence, November the 7th

News

Laurence is visited by the postman for the New Year calendars.
She chooses dogs pictures, pet animals also named Puppy. 
So we speak about diminutives of a few words :

Baby, Kitty, Pretty, Merry (christmas),  
Merry, Happy, ... drunk




Theme :  Pro's and Con's of 
                                 
                              Country     vs      City life

pro
calm, quiet                                              shopping, restaurants, pubs 
a lot of vegetation, plants, flowers         markets, culture, movies
woods, spaces, walking                           public transportation          friendly animals, cattle                          many schools, hospitals
goodneighbours
door to door merchants

*********
con                                                          
long distances of anything               air pollution, crowd foule   
no movy, no high school ...              noisy, smelly(sentir mauvais)
wasps & flies                                    speedy (everyone in a hurry)
gossip ragots                                    indifference, anonymous
                                                         small flats (apparts petits)
                                                         lack of space, too many cars    


Vocabulary    

household appliances       boutique app ménagers 
night hawk                        oiseau de nuit
car pool                             co-voiturage
swimming pool                piscine
take turns                         faire à tour de role
age well                           bien vieillir

Phonétique

wind     prononcer comme ds ail , like, wine
wind, pepper, water, flour mill  (moulins à ...) but we say ...
grind the coffee, maïs
find
kind  sorte et aussi gentil

Accent              about ity in finale

= accentuer sur la syllabe qui précède le ity
ano'nymity, but we say anonymous
aud'acity, sim'plicity, ca'pacity

Tea Time

cider and delicious cakes cooked by Laurence
authentic, genuine recipe and BONA FIDE.


The Riddle













What kind of dog is this puppy ?












dimanche 20 octobre 2013

Good and bad manners

October the 17th, Roselyne's

Good and Bad Manners   

News 

Marcelle tell us her grandson Malo, 7 years old, has broken his arm, the left wrist exactly, at school in the playground. They took an X-Ray and put him a cast.
The most fun is that father and son are in the same situation ! Both arms in a sling.


Talking about ...
Good and bad manners in different countries
that thing is polite or impolite ? 
Do's and don't.


  1. Kiss or shake hands with somebody ? never kiss in America  Both cheeks (les 2 joues) in between women.
  2. Phone at table is impolite for our ages but polite for young people (hum ...) Once times Roselyne seen a boy with two phones in his hands pushing a wheel chair ...
  3. Elbow on the table ? Not everywhere, is a sloppy behavior.
  4. to Speak to oneself (se parler à soi même)( Roselyne)
  5. to Whisper something to somebody (Max); to whisper behind our backs (chuchoter)
  6. Place of the Cutlery  in America is opposite.
                                              



Vocabulary
       reach atteindre sth, location ...
       share partpartager, action (finance), time share(holiday flat)
       show off,  se faire valoir
       Ruth is a naughty girl, (no comment)
       step, pas but also stepmother, stepson, etc (beau-fils ...) ! pas              de parent commun
       half brother, demi frère
       platter plateau plate assiette dish plat, dishwasher LV
       limp boiter, and lame pour un argument boiteux ...

The riddle
      For the previous post the answer was Abraham Lincoln well           known for this sentence :
                        "All men are created equal"

      Today here is a celebrity, WHO IS HE ?

                          


                    Answer fastest possible to win the nonnette

mardi 15 octobre 2013

Opposites

3th October 2013 
Danielle's


New: Roselyn had received her Australian friend a few days but, unfortunately she speaks French! Marie Claire has a dual citizen ship; she lived in France ... His husband was military

Laurence is tired, very busy for many reasons but she had always a nice complexion (bon teint)

Two opponents
The Opposites


First Max tells us a joke :

a soldier is on a hill, the captain says
bring him down (descendez le de la colline)
another soldier immediately ...
shoot him dead (lui a tiré dessus)



Then Ruth presents some words, we must find the opposites

           Ask                 Answer   or reply répondre
 Work               Play 
 Buy                 Sell        to buy sth from sbd      for sale = à vendre
          Give                 Take       from ...

          Lend prêter      Borrow   emprunter
     
         Right                 Left or Wrong

         Full   plein         Empty   vide

         Break casser     Fix or Repair          Crack félure, fissure

        Well                  Ill  malade       Sick  nauséeux

        Well bien fait     Badly   Poorly

        Poor                  Rich

       Light lumière    Dark
                poids        Heavy

       Wide large        Narrow étroit   
       Broad  -              Thin          The broad side of a barn  le grand coté de la grange
                                              Strong               Weak faible  
       Strength force   Weakness faiblesse

       Thin mince        Thick for sth
                                 Fat         sbd

       Clever  malin    Stupid, Silly, Fool



Some Words

       Foolish plutôt bête
       Greenish ... vert
 
       Merry gai, drunk   Merely tout simplement (Mer )





And now the riddle to win the nonnette

RSVP by mail

What is the name of this man, his work and his place in this work.

       


lundi 16 septembre 2013

Sept the 12th, M&M

Start of the new school year

News, did you speak English in Holidays ? Do you understand better ?

Rosy, with John Litler, an australian friend come at Bullecourt recently. She understands better ...

Dany, so with her guests, but more difficult to express herself .

No english contacts for the others.

vue de Bandol
Show one photography of holidays

Each one must try to guess the country, the people, and then asks :
maybe, I can see, it look as if, I think ...


  1. Dany was at the seaside, South France. They drank some claret ... (rosé)
  2. Rosy was the last week in Roma. she visited many churches very wonderful, for example "la basili di san clemente"
  3. Marcelle and Maurice in the Hautes Alpes: one photo of two grand-children during the Tour de France cycling crossing, with many gifts. Another photo at the start for an excursion, at five o'clock in the morning sunrising, to make a peak, the Obiou-3000m.
  4. Michel was in St Aygulf, near Toulon (100 km). He shows us their villa on his smartphone.There are many beautiful palm trees.



Vocabulary

Go on holiday   aller en vacances
Stay home         rester chez soi
Have a good time  passer du bon temps
Enjoy oneself / I enjoy myself ... we ... ourselves    s'amuser

Do some faire qqchose  ex: hiking randonner, swimming, gardening, reading ...
Hedgehogs hérisson  litt: cochon de haies
Landlord / landlady  propriétaire de location, sinon owner
Grown  grandir
Scarf  écharpe
Heal  cicatriser : bone won't doesn't heal . l'os ne semble pas consolider
French civil servants fonctionnaire
Mistake  erreur
Trap  piège
Drown noyé
Ceiling plafond
San Clemente








The day question : answer by mail SVP, reward for the first good answer is a nonnette. 


Why did you stick out your tongue, Mister Einstein ?


                                         



dimanche 18 août 2013

  Hi ! awake up friends

CAT et CAR ...

 ou, il est temps de réveiller votre langue ...








mardi 18 juin 2013

Chez Ruth et Max


News

Laurence saw the ARMADA in Rouen, nice Old Town, the great cathedral ...
Do you like boats in general ? There were sail boats, very old boats.

Max is very exciting about his own house; he describes the roofs with their (clark!) gables, like the steps gables in Bruges. Also tells us window spirales and walls of concrete (like stone)


Ruth at the Médiathèque read "Alice in Wonderful":
mad hatter  chapelier fou
flavour  saveur
fragrance  parfum or perfume for its name



Exercice

Each one choices a picture and describes it using the following terms :
there is/are
I can see
It looks as if
I think ...
Marcelle in Reunion Island
work in orchard
picking fruit, basket empty
nice balance between lady, men,
background and foreground
Maybe
I (don't) like this picture because ...

Maurice in mountains
bags and ski poles in foreground
a few clouds or little cloudy in the sky

NB Sorry for the other descriptions, but is difficult  remember of all ...
You can write in comments ...






































Tea Time 

lemon cake with dough, crust pie, filling ... 20 mn in the oven

mardi 4 juin 2013

Chez Marcelle et Maurice

News 

Laurence saw in Namur 
the 13th  International  WATERCOLOUR Biennale
She is very lucky ! 

Danielle went in Ault . She had walked eleven kms  in the morning 
with Michel  Guidez and their coach, and so six kms in the afternoon. They saw birds, ducks, swans

It's hilly or slopping country with slopes (sloping roof : toit en pente), cliffs (falaises), on a beach of sand or stones or gravels (galets et graviers)






On rappelle que ... en anglais, les petits enfants sont grands :

grandson/daughter/children
mais, great uncle/aunt ...

et ne pas dormir dans un cheap hotel car mal fréquenté !

Exercice       with 3 words :                                    with 2 verbs that Ruth supplies

sometimes                                                     simple present
often
usually                                                          simple past

Marcelle on Friday, usually her fish monger honks his horn at the quarter to eight- it's rather early, no possible to oversleep! (son poissonnier klaxonne à 8h moins le quart, pas question de faire la grasse mat)    à signaler aussi : rug salesman(marchand de tapis)


Maurice last Thursday plaid tennis in Arras with two substitute partners ( or fill-ins ... bouche trous)

Roseline every Thusday visits sick people (ill est toujours utilisé en attribut : all family is ill). Sick est souvent utilisé pour malade dans le sens de indigestion, nausées ...
These people are in difficult pregnant (pregnancy : état de grossesse). attention à pregnant silence  = "silence assourdissant". In a hospital : differents places = maternity's ward, children's ward, geriatric's ward. But she goes also in Croisilles at the old people's home (Ephad).
Another day she went to see chimney insert in Belgium for heating
Att à prononciation de Heat et eat : le H en position initiale ressemble un peu au H aspiré du français mais il faut expirer.


Danielle this Tuesday didn't go to English course because she had a backache (mal de dos); a sudden back pain (un tour de rein).
She took an effective medecine (and no -efficient- used for : persons, devices (mat technique)


Ruth aborde pour terminer la particularité du rythme et accent des phrases. On en reparlera  ...
car " The english people have lots of trouble with french prononciation, but the opposite is also true"

Tea Time

Very appreciate cakes of Marcelle, brown sugar and brownie cake, baked in a slow oven.
Volume measurements of recipe :
a teaspoon
one cup = about 0,23 liter
two cups = 1 pint
two pints = 1 quart
four quarts = 1 gallon

Enjoy your meal !

samedi 18 mai 2013

Chez Francine et Michel Guidez

Chez Michel et Francine

Very nice ornamental goldfish lake 

News

Roseline is every Thursday at the Maison de Retraite de Croisilles. She makes often ironing.
Saturday she's going to Calvados with Marcelle and Maurice for a week.
Ruth today at the library read The bit rabbit at children, a story with a thief ; a book fair
         On Angoulême she had seen an expo       The five senses .....

sight  hearing touch taste smell



Some words
    
     Attic     grenier  empty an attic   un vide grenier
     gobelet  gobelet   why not       pourquoi pas
     shape     texture    asparagus    asperge
     yard sale in your own property
     loft  for the hay     grenier à foin  
     barn       grange     like the guesthouse of Danielle was. 
     caster sugar   boite à sucre
     piggy bank    tirelire (enfant)

Some birds

     parrot       perroquet
     sparrow   moineau
     crow        corbeau
     wren        roitelet
     black bird  merle
     robin (redbreast) rouge gorge

et quelques mots de construction semblable (rapportés au cours CM en biblio) :

    kitty          chat
    bunny       lapin
    mummy    Mamie
    floppy       souple ... diskette
    mop          balai à franges
    elderly      viellissant  ...  Elderly people are difficult to walk


Phonétique        le son A  like APPLE                


 
    stapler       agrafeuse     staple foods     nourriture basique  like chestnuts     châtaigne
    table
    fable

                          le son WAR

   warn         avertir        warning lights (don't forget stop it)
   barn          grange
   bark          aboyer
   car                 ... devinez ?
   farm          ...

                          le son O

  born          
  torch          torche
  form          aspect mais aussi formulaire

                          le son O après un W

 worm          ver
 work         ( :3 )    weurk              
 worse         pire


Tea Time

some drinks (cider, orange juice) with chocolate chip cookies, straight from the oven
hold up the plate tenez l'assiette    
(mais attention ce n'est pas un hold-up)
sustain   soutenir son point de vue
warm   chaud   lukewarm tiède
                                                

See you soon 

vendredi 19 avril 2013

Chez Laurence

News and Events

Roselyne is back from the South of Spain, she was seeking the sun. ( to seek, sought )
It is very near France :" two-hour" flight !


In the hotel, don't leave any valuables in the room (ne pas laisser de choses de valeur)
à l'opposé : worthless- sans valeur; it's worth a lot nothing
It's worth missing an English lesson!  ça vaut la peine de rater une leçon











Then Roselyne tells about the next april 25th, commemoration Australian battles in Bullecourt in 1917.
The Centenary is near ...

You dream or your nightmare   rêve ou cauchemar

- Ruth had the nightmare of her leg covered with earth worms (ver de terre)
- After Jules mow the lawn, Rosy, the night before going to Australian VIP, dreamt (or dreamed is also correct) that the grass had grown already and it was necessary to start over (recommencer).
NB: diff move and mow(déplacer et tondre le gazon), et aussi to shave pour raser la barbe ou le mouton(sheep)
- Laurence only dreams if she is in quaint places (endroit charmant, pittoresque ...)



Anatomy

* Face

hair  ... not curly (bouclé) needs a comb ...


eyes ... two !

ear .... pierced with a earing (boucle d'oreille)
nose .... big !
cheek ... joue
mouth and lips, inside the tongue
chin ... menton (chin up : courage!)
neck ... cou
throat ... gorge



* Hand

the wrist ... poignet
thumb ... pouce
fingers .... doigts





* Arm                              shoulder (the Platters sang "put your head on my shoulder)
                                         elbow ... coude


Tea Time 

Laurence offer to us cider, grape or orange juice.
She made one pound cake (4/4) very sponge. Ruth signale l'expression figurée "the child sponges up very quickly" (l'enfant apprend vite, s'imprègne, ... éponge)

Also the time of a few words :
   mould ... moisissure, mouldy moisi
   cows graze in the meadows ... vaches paissent dans les prairies
   his marks have gone down ... ses notes ont baissé
   her eighteenth birthday celebration .. fêter son 18éme anniversaire
   mainly, chiefly .... principalement  ... main street, grand rue
   if the dog licks the candle, he will burn its tongue ... (si le chien lèche la bougie il se brulera la langue)







lundi 8 avril 2013

4 th April 2013 Mary's

News and Small talk         In a long cold winter

Suddenly Ruth sighs a few times .... no panic .... elle veut nous expliquer la prononciation du H !
Ex : happy : il faut le prononcer lors de l'expiration, hand, hunter ...

How do you say   or    What is x in English ?
Harmony, the dog, heard the bell
Easter egg hunt in the garden for children     la recherche des oeufs de Pâques
Yesterday last week
otherwise    autrement
lace             dentelle (Calais, Caudry)   for a night gown, a wedding gown
art history   histoire de l'art (est une discipline)

The conversation :  Collective story


  • with days, months, seasons .... click here for more 

http://www.anglaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-anglais-2/exercice-anglais-68389.php           

  • with  the Past   (verbe à utiliser pour une action effectuée) 

de go, went
     come, came
     see, saw
     take, took
     buy, bought
     sit, sat
     hear, heard

Exemples :Yesterday I walked my dog for two miles  
                  Wednesday, Mary helped at the library for the mother's aids

La méthode préconisée est de démarrer par fortunately, pour rebondir par unfortunately ...


Max starting :
I saw last morning a horse alone ...
the weather was foggy
the fog lifted
the horse jumped to the side of the road
he slipped on dog dirts
(other sort of droppings : horse dung, dog do)
! that stinks






Phonetic

tak(e)                     ei               sad           x et tirer les joues
lace                                         cat
came                                       bad


side                        ai              sit             I
site                                          kid
live                                         sin
time                                        live
give
fine, like


note                      ou             not            o
tone                                       dog
bone                                      fog

tune                     ju:              fun          ^
cute                                       club
                                          cut, cup

vendredi 15 mars 2013

Chez Roseline le 14 mars 2013




Malgré (in spite of) la neige abondante le groupe est au complet.

Ruth commence la séance en nous détaillant l'énorme liste des ustensiles de cuisine que se devait de posséder sa grand mère, en tant que minimum pour s'installer à cette époque ...

Interro à la prochaine séance, tout le monde a reçu le grandmother cook book.

  • What news of everyone ?
                                                                              



Laurence went in Egypt : sunbathe and snorkeling, look that!
Ruth & Max walked in Angoulême
Roseline en famille à La Roche Foucault, a visité  - a castle in ruin, restored a little each year - et vu une très belle bibliothèque - bookshelves in a library, war maps.
Marcelle et Moi : winter holidays : snow shoes for us, ski for children.

  • Mais l'heure tourne, Max s'écrie "çà devient bon" - We're getting there ... ce qui permet d'enchainer avec quelques mots sur l'usage du verbe To get

Get out of           s'échapper     s'extraire de quelque part
Get away             se sauver
Get away  with something       arriver à ne pas être puni pour un méfait, voire a murder
Get over   an illness        se remettre de maladie          
Get once's point over        communiquer, faire passer un message


  • Exercice : Questions /Answers 

Where is the nearest ---------                              
Is there a -------- nearby
How can I get to -------- from here or the ------

With the words : bakery, bookshop, pharmacy, grocery shop, hospital, hairdresser's, postoffice

Using the expressions :

stop sign                   s'arrêter au signal
straight ahead           tout droit
roundabout               rond point
crossroads                carrefour
cross over                 traverser
turn right                  tourner à D
turn left                    tourner à G
traffic lights              aux feux
follow                      suivre
                                                                                                        

Where is the postoffice nearby



near                         à côté, près de 
close to                    à côté  ( prononcer closs)
close                        fermer  (        . . .    cloz)

next to                    à côté de (+ proche)

Walk or drive along the street


in Croisilles          à Croisilles






 See you later . . .