French Language
Connected Through French Language
Meet Jin Jin, better known by her family and friends as Kitty! When she first stepped into the Alliance Française de Chicago four years ago she didn’t know any French, not even “bonjour.” She had just quit her job and moved to Chicago where she knew no one. Now she is an accomplished French speaker who wants to continue to perfect her skills and share her love of the language.
Read more »
"Ça va ?" : A conversation
Salut tout le monde, ça va? Have you ever noticed how much francophones use the phrase ça va? Yeah, a lot. Like a lot, a lot. It feels like you and I could have an entire conversation using different variations of ça va! Let’s highlight ways to use this simple phrase to expand our vocabulary and converse more naturally. I took the liberty of coming up with a little made-up conversation between two imaginary friends to start us off on our ça va journey. On y va !
Read more »Verlan your French! How can your French sound more like a native speaker?
If you have ever learned a second language you probably have had the experience realizing that the language you are working so hard to learn might be very different from the way that language is actually spoken. Think of how in the English language, numerous words become trendy and other words fall out of fashion. Sometimes rather than a few single words changing, an entire separate grammar structure is born within a language. You may be familiar with pig-latin or cockney rhyming slang but did you know that there is a secret language that has become a big part of everyday spoken French? It’s called verlan!
Read more »The romance between French and English
No language is a completely static thing. In a way, a language breathes and grows, similar to a living organism. Over time, words are gained and words are lost. [caption id=“attachment_3328” align=“alignright” width=“339”] A language tree of Proto-Indo-European language relationships. The dotted line shows the influence of French on Middle English.[/caption]
Read more »Learning a new language makes you a better person
Imagine that you are on the train. You’re sitting down and trying to read an Alliance Française blog post on your phone but you can’t help but get distracted by those around you. The man across from you is loudly eating a ham sandwich. The woman next to you yawns and suddenly it strikes you how you also need to yawn.
Read more »Dolphins become bilingual in their sleep. What does that mean for us humans?
At the Planète Sauvage in Port-Saint-Père, France in 2011 it was observed that captive dolphins were talking in their sleep. While sleep-talking in general can be rather alarming, what made this even stranger was that they weren’t speaking the same dolphin language they speak during their waking hours. Instead they the sounds were closer to a whale language!
Read more »
French Language Recommendation Spotlights
AF Student Spotlight: Dennis Smithenry
AF Student Spotlight: Dennis Smithenry When Dennis Smithenry learned that his ancestors were from Alsace, France, he became motivated to learn French in honor of his family heritage. His journey at the Alliance Française de Chicago began in 2012 when he became a member and started taking French classes.
Read more »
Yet another reason why French is great...or 5 actually!
‘‘There are good reasons for learning other languages. As scientists unlock more of the neurological secrets of the brain, they’re learning that speaking more than one language may have cognitive benefits that extend from childhood into old age. In business, knowing the language of the team on the other side of the table can make a huge difference. Diplomacy work claims capable linguists. In fact, virtually any career, public or private, is given a boost with knowledge of a foreign language.
Read more »