Language
Classes Frenchness French Language
5 Reasons to Join AF Chicago this Fall!
Jess from Scotch & the Fox is one of our students! 1: It’s the place for all things French in Chicago! The Alliance Française de Chicago is the place for all things French in the city! It was established in 1897 and is part of an international network of over 1,100 Alliances and affiliated cultural centers worldwide. It is the second oldest Alliance Française in the U.S. and second largest after the one in New York City.
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Francophone Vacation Spots
Qui veut voyager ? Now that many countries are loosening their COVID restrictions, we can turn our travel daydreams into travel plans! We’ve compiled a list of some great vacation spots in Francophone countries and cities to get your planning started. Make sure to prepare for your trip with some French classes here at the Alliance Française!
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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.
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Grammar with Elodie — "U" vs. "OU"
Bonjour à tous! Elodie Kaplan, our wonderful co-director of the learning center sits down with us and gives us grammar and pronunciation tips when learning French. In this series of the Mais Oui! Podcast, get to know her and improve your French!
Read more »Grammar with Elodie — the ins and outs of H's and S's
Bonjour à tous! Elodie Kaplan, our wonderful co-director of the learning center sits down with us and gives us grammar and pronunciation tips when learning French. In this series of the Mais Oui! Podcast, get to know her and improve your French!
Read more »Grammar with Elodie — intonation and vowels
Bonjour tout le monde! Elodie Kaplan, our wonderful co-director of the learning center sits down with us and gives us grammar and pronunciation tips when learning French. In this series of the Mais Oui! Podcast, get to know her and improve your French!
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 »La francophonie behind the scenes
During the entire month of March, we at the Alliance Française de Chicago have hosted a variety of events as part of our Festival de Francophonie. By the end of the month you’ll have had the opportunity to learn about Russian and French cultures influencing each other, hear about books from around the world, eat amazing food, and see films that explore a variety of Francophonie experiences. While we have a lot of fun presenting you with these events and we hope you have fun attending, we thought it would be good to also give you a little bit of background on why exactly we celebrate Francophone cultures and International Francophone day beyond just the fun of experiencing new cultures.
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