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)

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 ?

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 part, partager, 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

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.

       

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 ?

                                         

  Hi ! awake up friends

CAT et CAR ...

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

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