If you love music, songs provide a wealth of language learning possibilities for you. But not only that. Each culture has its own tradition, which makes it all the more interesting.
A simple word like the English “song” is a good example of how various languages may differentiate among alternative meanings (or not) for a basic concept.
And, as you get more familiar with the culture of the language you're learning, you'll also begin to appreciate different traditions of "songs".
When you google for the translation of “song” in the four languages of our Gamesforlanguage site, you'll get the following results:
French
English “the song” translates as “la chanson” (music with words) and “le chant” (song-like piece of music, song-like poem), from “chanter” (to sing).
The English language uses “chant” as a synonym for “song” or “singing,” often in connection with spiritual or religious singing. We talk about Gregorian chants, not Gregorian songs, and it's the same in French.
France has a strong tradition of “art songs,” which include not only beloved arias from operas by Bizet, Fauré, Gounot, and Massenet, but also poems, by Hugo, Verlaine, Baudelaire, set to music by Debussy, Fauré, Ravel, and others.
While the English “song,” may or may not include any lyrics, the French “chanson” is typically a lyric-driven song.
Singers that we enjoy include Edith Piaff, Jacques Brel, Mireille Mathieu, Charles Aznavour, Joe Dassin, Georges Moustaki, and Québec's “chansonniers” Félix Leclerc, Claude Léveillé, Raymond Lévesque, and more.
The traditional French “chanson” has a long and colorful history, dating back to the Middle Ages. “Chanson” differs from other French “pop” music by reaching back to French traditions of lyrics and music (rather than following British or American trends).
Songs in French are a wonderful way to acquire the sounds and the rhythm of the French language, and to learn words and idiomatic expressions.
By listening over and over to a French song you really like, you'll even pick up some typical grammar structures.
We are especially fond of Edith Piaf's Non, je ne regrette rien, which let's you pick up a number of grammatical clues.
Check out the “Chanson française du moment” and see if you can find one that you like. If it gets into your head, your French will surely improve.
German
The German translation of “the song” is “das Lied.” This may be a little confusing as the verb “to sing” translates to “singen,” and for “the singing” and you'll get “das Singen” and “der Gesang.”
“Das Lied” is similar to the French “la chanson,” and “Gesang” is the equivalent of the French (and English) “chant.” In German, for example, we talk about the “Gregorian Gesänge” (der Gesang; pl: die Gesänge).
German music lovers will also be familiar with “Lieder” (das Lied; pl: die Lieder). These are often poems put to music by composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, etc.
An English translation for “Lieder” may be “art songs,” as these are poems set to classical music. Their tradition goes back to the 12thCentury and the German “Minnelieder” (courtly love songs).
From the 1960s on, German singer-songwriters liked to call themselves “Liedermacher” (makers of songs).
In modern German, “songs” may also translate as “Schlager,” the popular German songs of the Hit Parade.
Songs performed by Marlene Dietrich and Lale Andersen (Lili Marleen) went around the world; Peter Alexander, Catharina Valente, Freddy Quinn, Udo Jürgens, and many others all had “Schlager” hits in their time.
One of our favorites is Jürgen von der Lippe's Guten Morgen liebe Sorgen.... It topped the Hit Parade list for several weeks in the 80's.
Every week, the Offiziellen Deutschen Party & Schlager Charts are updated. Take a look and see if you can't find a song that you like, and – by memorizing the lyrics - you will improve your German.
Italian
The Italian translation of “the song,” is “la canzone.” “The singing” translates as “il canto,” derived from “cantare” (to sing). All Romance languages trace the equivalent for “song” back to the Latin word “cantio” (singing).
The Italian “canzone,” (which derived from the Provençal “canso,” a troubadour's love song) traditionally referred to a song of 5 to 7 stanzas with a particular rhyme scheme. The form was later made famous by the Italian Renaissance writers Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
Italian opera, born in the 17th century and fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries has been a rich source of “art songs” that are popular to this day.
Just think of the great Luciano Pavarotti singing exquisite arias from the operas of Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, or Puccini.
In the late 1950s and 1960s emerged the “cantautori” - the singer songwriters, who wrote and sang their own songs, often in protest against the more traditional “canzone.” This was an interesting and important development.
Starting out as an imitation of sorts of the French “chanson” at the time (Brassens, Brel, Ferré, etc.), the Italian “cantautori” soon succeeded in creating songs about Italian everyday life and reality. It's a trend that's strong even now.
A smash hit from 1962 that has 55 versions is “Quando, quando, quando.” We featured it on one of our blog posts, "Dimmi quando..." - An Italian Song for Language Learning. Italian Pop and Rock music is often characterized as “musica leggera” (light music).
Songs by contemporary singers such as Eros Ramazzotti, Mina, Ligabue, Javanotti, Laura Pausini, and many others are good for learning and practicing Italian because the lyrics are relatively simple. The music is great and many of the songs get under your skin, which boosts language learning.
Check out the Canzoni del momento and see whether there is one you can memorize. It will certainly help your Italian.
Spanish
The Spanish translation of “the song” is “la canción” (music with words, song-like music) and “el canto” (song-like poem). “To sing” translates as “cantar.” Spanish music combines a wide range of cultures that were part of Spain's past, most notably Arabic culture.
During the 17th and 18th century a Spanish form of light opera, or operetta, called “zarzuela” developed and became popular. It was a kind of music theater that combined spoken and sung storytelling, and included regional and folk elements. The Spanish full opera was much slower to develop.
Well-known Spanish “art songs” are by the composers Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Fernando Obradors, though this genre did not become quite as popular as its French and German counterparts.
After the Spanish Civil (1936-1939) and during Franco's repressive government which followed, regional culture and its music were banned. Rock and roll and pop music found its way into Spain only towards the end of Franco's regime.
After Franco's death in 1975, and as part of the new countercultural movement Movida Madrileña, there emerged a new, energized style of music. It resembled the British new wave and the Neue Deutsche Welle, but added flamenco passion and rhythms.
Since then, the Spanish music scene, with its centers in Madrid and Barcelona, has been nothing but innovative and exciting.
Latin Music opens a new world of diverse and beautiful sound. Check out this Latin Music History. Croonersinclude Jose Jose and Juan Gabriel, Mexico; Jose Feliciano, Puerto Rico; Leo Dan, Argentina; Jose Luis Rodriguez 'El Puma', Venezuela.
Maybe you'll also like “El Perdón", the subject of a recent post. And, if you like to learn Spanish with songs, Language Zen, has a number of Spanish songs with lyrics to do just that!
If music turns you on, songs are a fantastic tool for getting the sound, the rhythm, vocabulary, and grammatical structures of a new language lodged deeply in your mind. And singing along in a foreign language is just fun and a pleasure – so why don't you find one in the language you are just learning?
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Conjunctions join words, groups of words, clauses, or sentences, and show how actions, events and ideas are connected. They are essential for conversations and are the staple of any speech or argument.
Memorizing French conjunctions individually is not that difficult, but using them correctly in sentences takes some practice. Most of them occur in our French 1 travel-story course, where you can practice them in various games.
French, like English, has two types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating.
French Coordinating Conjunctions
These join words or groups of words that are of equal value. The most commonly used French coordinating conjunctions are: et (and), ou (or), mais (but), ni...ni (neither...nor), car (because, as), donc (therefore, so).
Our Quick French Language Game, Basic French Conjunctions, will let you practice the most common ones. Click on the link or one of the images below.
et (and)
• De rien, et bon voyage. (You're welcome and have a good trip.) • Il est fatigué et dort un peu. (He is tired and sleeps a little.)
ou (or)
• Vous pouvez prendre les bus 3, 4 ou 6. (You can take the buses 3, 4 or 6.) • Aller simple ou aller-retour? (One-way or return trip?)
(And don't confuse the conjunction “ou” with the acverb “où”, which is pronounced the same, but has a grave accent on the “u” and means “where” and in some cases “when.”)
mais (but)
• Oui, mais c'est mon premier voyage en France. (Yes, but it's my first trip to France.) • Je ne suis pas certain, mais je crois que c’est ça. (I'm not sure, but I think that's it.)
ni (neither... nor...)
• Je n'aime ni la glace ni le chocolat. (I like neither ice cream nor chocolate.) • Ni moi ni la police ne pouvions te joindre. (Neither I nor the police could reach you.)
car (because, for, as)
• Je suis inquiet car elle n'est pas encore rentré. (I'm worried because she isn't back yet.) • Je reste à la maison car je suis malade. (I'm staying at home because I'm sick.)
donc (therefore, so)
• Je pense, donc je suis. (I think, therefore I am.) • Je n'ai rien vu, donc je ne sais pas. (I didn't see anything, so I don't know.)
French Subordinating Conjunctions
These connect a dependent clause to a main clause, showing a relationship of time, place, or cause and effect between them. When using a subordinating conjunction, you'll have to think about which tense or mood of the verb to use.
The most commonly used French subordinating conjunctions are: quand (when), si (if), que (that), comme (as, since), quoique (although)
quand (when)
• Quand je me suis réveillé, il était midi. (When I woke up it was noon.) • Julie m'a fait visiter la ville, il ne faisait pas beau. (When Julie showed me around town, the weather wasn't nice.)
si (if)
• Tu peux leprendre si tu veux. (You can take it if you want.) • S'il fait beau, on ira se promener. (If the weather's nice, we'll go for a walk.)
que (that)
• Je crois que c’est ça. (I think that's it.) • Je suis content que tu nous rendes visite. (I'm glad that you're visiting us.) • Il faut que tu reviennes bientôt. (You have to come back soon.) • Dommage que je parte demain. (Too bad that I'm leaving tomorrow.)
Note: With expressions such as “je suis content(e) que”, “il faut que”, “dommage que”, you would use the subjunctive mood for the verb. This will be the subject of another post.
comme (as, since)
• Elle est partie comme j'arrivais. (She left as I arrived.) • Comme il arrive demain, il faut préparer une chambre. (Since he's arriving tomorrow, we have to get a room ready.)
quoique (even though, although)
• Je veux l'acheter quoique ce soit très cher. (I want to buy it even though it's very expensive.) • Quoiqu'il soit pauvre, il est très généreux. (Even though he's poor, he's very generous.)
Conjunctive Phrases
French also has a large number of phrases that function as conjunctions. They usually end with “... que” and mostly require the subjunctive. Here are just a couple of examples:
avant que (before)
• Il n’attend pas longtemps avant que le train arrive. (He doesn't wait long before the train arrives.) • Avant que la réunion ne commence, le Directeur veut vous parler. (Before the meeting starts, the manager wants to speak with you.)
parce que (because)
• D’accord, mais c’est bien parce que c’est vous. (All right, but only because it's you.) • Je suis en retard parce que mon réveil n'a pas sonné. (I'm late because my alarm didn't go off.)
jusqu’à ce que (until)
• Juste le premier chapitre, jusqu’à ce que je me souvenais. (Only the first chapter, until I remembered.) • Reste ici, jusqu'à ce que je revienne te chercher. (Stay here until I come back to get you.)
Maybe next time you read a French article or listen to a French podcast, you'll pay special attention to the conjunctions. Reading and listening to French will help to internalize how conjunctions work and how they are used by native speakers.
Our easy language games will give you a good start by teaching you the individual basic conjunctions and how to build short sentences with them.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
We are always surprised that “How to say 'song' in French?” gets so many hits on our Gamesforlanguage Dictionary! And those hits are in spite of the increased use and popularity of Google Translate, which provides the translation as well.
So we thought we would give those who are looking for the translation of 'song' a Quick French Language Game: La Chanson. Click on the link or the image above to play it. You'll learn also a bit about the Saint Bénézet bridge - which you may know under another name.
And for those who like to practice French with songs and want to learn more about the etymology of “song” and “chanson,” here are a few fun facts.
Singing the Song
It appears that the English “to sing” has its roots in the Proto-Germanic word “sengwan,” and the later old High German and Old English word “singan.” Variations in other Germanic languages over the centuries have led to today's German “singen,” Dutch “zingen,” Swedish “sjunga,” and Norwegian and Danish “synge.”
Chanter la Chanson, Cantare la Canzone, Cantar la Canción, Cantar a Canção
The roots of the French "chanson" go back to Latin. This is also true for other Romance languages: “canzone” (Italian), “canción” (Spanish), “canção” (Portuguese).
The Old French “chançon” derives from the Latin “cantionem” (song) and from the Latin verbs “cantare” and “canere.” The French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese verbs for “to sing” are all identical or close to their Latin root.
Song vs. Chanson
The words “song” and “chanson” clearly have different roots. This may not be surprising. Still, a recent article pointed out that “The English language is a lot more French than we thought,...”. What is interesting from the article's analysis and chart is the conclusion that of the first 200 most-used English words, Old Norse makes up 5-10% and Anglo-Saxon 85-90%.
Can that be the reason that the French or Latin terms never replaced the Old English?
The ear-worm quality of these songs lets you easily memorize key phrases and expressions. And when you hear them several times, you'll discover new words and grammar forms that stay with you.
But these are just two songs we like. You should find a few of your own. Listen to them, memorize and sing them, and your “chanson” (or canzone, canción, canção, etc.) will not remain just a bunch of foreign words to you!
Bio: Ulrike & Peter Rettig are co-founders of Gamesforlanguage.com. They are lifelong language learners, growing up in several European countries before moving to Canada and the United States. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Ever thought about doing some language learning in Fribourg, Switzerland?
Visiting the town in Switzerland where I spent several years working in my first job, reminded me of my French language learning days. Fribourg or in German Freiburg (im Üchtland) is a bilingual city, and not to be confused with “Freiburg im Breisgau,” which lies in the Black Forest.
Pure immersion aficionados may well scoff at this: But working and learning French in a town where my native language German was well understood, had many advantages for me.
For one, I could always revert to German when my French instructions to the draftsmen in the structural engineering firm where I worked, were met with a doubtful stare.
Also, when the rapid French in a shop or restaurant was still beyond my listening skills, I could typically get a German, or Swiss-German translation, thereby generating “comprehensible input.”
CANTON FRIBOURG'S ROAD TO OFFICAL BILINGUALISM
The canton of Fribourg is one of three Swiss cantons that are officially bilingual. The other two are the cantons of Bern and of Wallis/Valais.
Fribourg entered the Swiss Confederation in 1481. Throughout the centuries both French and German were spoken in the region. For the canton of Fribourg the road to official bilingualism was a complicated one, with plenty of detours.
Since the early days, there have been various shifts. At first, German was the language used by the government (1483-1798).
Then between 1798 and 1856,French and German alternated.
From 1857 on, both languages have had official status in Fribourg, but until 1990 only French was legally binding. Since 1991 both languages can be used for a binding contract.
Only the two north/northeast districts of the canton (of a total of seven), are predominantly German- speaking. It's more likely that residents of those districts learn and speak French, than residents of French-speaking districts learn German. (A possible reason? Many French speakers may be reluctant to learn Swiss-German.)
At this time, around 63% of the about 300,000 people in the canton of Fribourg speak French, 21% speak German, and close to 4 % speak Italian (which is not an official language in the canton).
A few years ago, the “Day of Bilingualism” (Journée du bilinguisme/Tag der Zweisprachigkeit) was set for September 26 and coincides with the European Day of Languages to foster language learning and bilingualism.
In the public schools of the canton of Fribourg, students learn a second language from grade three on. In communities where German is spoken, students are encouraged to learn French as the second language, and vice versa.
Nevertheless, in spite of such efforts and policies to foster bilingualism, language differences remain a point of discussion and sometimes also of controversy.
THE CITY OF FRIBOURG
The city of Fribourg is right on the language border between French and German. About 40,000 inhabitants live within the city proper. This number increases to 60,000, if adjacent suburbs are included and to nearly 100,000 for the larger metropolitan area.
A few years ago, the completion of a new suspension bridge and the closing of the arched Zähringer Bridge diverted traffic from the neighborhood near the Cathedral and created another Fribourg landmark. (see picture)
Official city statistics mirror the language distribution of the canton as a whole. Still, it seems that there is a greater concentration of bilinguals living in the city, which may be in part because of the university.
The University of Fribourg (created in 1889) is Switzerland's only bilingual university. Both French and German are used as languages for teaching and for the administration.
In 2009, the Institute of Multilingualism was founded, which conducts research of how multilingualism affects education, the workplace, and migration.
Because the two languages intersect throughout the city, you'll find interesting signage in French, German, and also in Swiss-German dialect (which has no standard written form).
During a visit a couple of years ago, Ulrike had a tiny cameo role in a YouTube clip "We are Happy from Fribourg" by a Fribourg film maker. He used the Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" from the movie "Despicable Me 2", similar to what other Swiss cities have done. Maybe you can spot her at ~2.36 minutes into the clip, which also shows many images of Fribourg.
In fact, she was walking through the Farmer's Market where you can always find many delightful language tidbits. This time as well.
FARMER'S MARKET
On Saturday morning, Fribourg has a farmer's market that stretches from the City Hall Plaza down the Grand Rue. Vendors from the region as far as (French-speaking) Lausanne come to sell their wares. When I'm around, I spend an hour or so poking around and I always find some language learning opportunities.
Interestingly, the vegetable and fruit stands seem mostly set up by farmers that speak Swiss German.
For the first time in all the years, I saw a stand that sells snails. The “Schneckenpark” translates into French as “Élevages d'Escargots.” The above picture on the front of the stand explains both expressions: the raised, slanted boards of the snails' park.
Anotherstand advertises in typical German compound-word fashion: “HOLZBACKOFENBROT AUS BIO GETREIDE” and with the wordier French: “PAIN FAIT AU FOURNEAU DE BOIS & CEREALES BIO.” Both translate to something like “bread made with organic flour in wood-burning oven.”
Not all stands advertise bilingually. Some have signs that are only in French or only in German. When it's Swiss German, even I sometimes need the help of a local person.
Take the sign of a Swiss-German butcher: The word “Metzger” (butcher) abbreviated to “Metzg” presents no problem. But hey, how about “gglùschtig's ù säüber gmacht's”? To decode that, I had to dig deep into my Swiss-German language memory.
The word “gglùschtig's” means “tasty, a pleasure to eat” - not to be confused with the German word “lustig” (funny). I'm not sure about the double “g” and the grave accent on the “u.” Probably, it's a way to represent Swiss-German pronunciation.
The word “säüber” is as tricky as “gglùschtig's.” One could easily confuse it with the German word “sauber” (clean). But the letter combination “äü” suggests the sound of a word closer to the German “selber” (self).
The word “gmacht's” is easy and just means “made.” The suffix “-'s” (for “Gemachtes”) adds the idea of a “made” product.
So “gglùschtig's ù säüber gmacht's” would best be translated as: “tasty andhomemade (or self-made) products.”
LANGUAGE LEARNING WITH FRENCH & GERMAN SIGNS
With its medieval town center and old ramparts, the city of Fribourg is a great place to walk around and explore. When you pay attention to street signs or signs on shops and restaurants, you'll see some interesting words and language combinations.
French sign in a restaurant window: Les croûtes auf fromage
These are bread slices dipped in white wine, topped with cheese, (often also with cornichons and tomatoes) and grilled in the oven. The advertised prices and types of preparation indicate a substantial meal.
• la croûte – the rind • le fromage – the cheese
Gothard, Vacherin, and Valaisanne are local cheeses that are very popular in the region.
Street signs combining French and German.
One of the quarters of Fribourg is called “Schoenberg,” a German word meaning “beautiful mountain.” (Note that in the French spelling, Schoenberg is spelled with an “oe”, which is also an alternate spelling in German.)
One of the roads leading up to the quarter is called “Chemin du Schoenberg” (chemin – the French word for way, path.)
Not everybody loves this French specialty: Beef Tongue
German/French sign in a restaurant window: Rindszunge/Langue de Boeuf
• la langue, die Zunge - the tongue • le boeuf, das Rind - the beef • les capres/die Kapern - the capers
German speakers may notice a spelling error on the German sign: It should say "Rindszunge IN Kapernsauce".
Strolling through the city streets you'll see many signs that make you smile.
A favorite of mine is the one above the Rue des Epouses, which I described in a previous post 11 Language Clues from German and Swiss Signs. Look for item#11, if you need a translation of the French or the German, which is on the other side of the sign.
If you ever visit Fribourg and the Cathedral, or are looking for the above sign, you'll also pass by the bookshop Librairie "Bien-être" on one side, and the modern furniture store "Forme + Confort" on the other side of la Rue des Epouses.
In "Bien-être" you'll find all kinds of books (in French) about well-being, alternative medicine, etc. And - you can say hello to my sister Ingrid.
Bio: Peter Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. He is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
The French Travel Memories expand on our GamesforLanguage travel-story based courses, which use the cities' real street names, places, restaurants, hotels, etc. We visited many of them ourselves and tell you a little more about each French city.
In future blog posts, we'll provide additional details for each of the cities our young travelers visit in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. (You'll find our first German post by clicking on: German Travel Memories 1 – Michael in Frankfurt)
Daniel's first stop is in Paris, France's cosmopolitan capital, and where his travel memories begin.
We'll follow Daniel's discoveries in Paris. For those of you who have done or are doing our French 1 course: Daniel en France, this post provides some local color. Others may discover some new things about Paris and perhaps get inspired to dig deeper.
In our travel-story course, you learn daily conversational language. The vocabulary listed here is a combination of some words taught in the course as well as other useful terms.
Visiting Paris? To many of you, Paris doesn't need much of an introduction. Besides, there are plenty of sites that can fill in any gaps. We'll just mention a few quick facts and list some basic terms in French that will help you in your travels.
A FEW QUICK FACTS ABOUT PARIS
Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by a Celtic people called the Parisii, who gave the city its name.
They settled on Île de la Cité (see photo), an island in the middle of the Seine river and located on an important north-south trade axis.(The well-known Cathédrale Notre-Dame, seen on the photo was later located there.)
In 52 BC, the Romans set up camp on the Île de la Cité and (temporarily) renamed the city Lutetia.
By the end of the 12th century, Paris had become the largest city in the western world, and the political and economic capital of France.
By the 17th century, Paris was an important center of finance, commerce, science, fashion, and the arts in Europe. It continues to play that role today.
It was interesting to read why Paris is called “The City of Light” (La Ville Lumière). For one, Paris played an important role during the Age of Enlightenment, a philosophical movement that championed the concepts of reason, liberty, and the scientific method, seeking to illuminate man’s intellect. For another, Paris and London were two of the early cities to adopt gas street lighting.
Since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam(e) (pronounced: [panam]) in French slang.
The city of Paris (also called the Commune or Department of Paris) now has a population of over 2.2 million people. The urban area of Paris is estimated to have a population of 10.5 million.
Île-de-France, also called “région parisienne” is one of the 18 regions of France. It includes Paris as well as 7 other administrative departments. The Île-de-France region has a population of over 12 million inhabitants.
1. Practical words and phrases
la capitale - the capital la ville - the city, town la lumière – the light Île de la Cité – an island in the Seine, within the city of Paris la commune - the town, municipality l'arrondissement – city district le fleuve – the river (flows into the sea) la rivière - the river (flows into a lake or another river) l'aire urbaine (f) - the urban area la banlieue – the suburbs (autonomous administrative entities outside of the city of Paris) Île-de-France – one of the 18 regions of France
PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT
Daniel is a young student who learned some French at home and later studied it in school. However, this will be his first visit to France. On his flight to Paris, Michael chats in French with the flight attendant and with the woman who's on the seat next to him.
He arrives at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is Europe's 2nd busiest airport in Europe, after London. As Daniel goes through Passport Control, he continues to speak French. Responding to the standard questions, he has to explain why he is traveling to France and how long he will stay.
2. Practical Words and Phrases
le vol - the flight l'hôtesse de l'air/le steward - the flight attendant f/m l'aéroport (m) - the airport le contrôle des passeports - the Passport Control Êtes-vous ici pour affaires? - Are you here on business? “affaires” has multiple meaning: affairs, matters, business Combien de temps? - How long? un bon séjour - a good stay
PARIS NEIGHBORHOODS
Paris is divided into 20 “arrondissements,” or administrative districts, arranged in the form of a clockwise spiral (snail shell) starting from the middle of the city, the first being on the Right bank (north bank) of the Seine, the 20th being on the outer edge. (Plan by ThePromenaderhttp://www.paris-promenades.com with numbers in map.)
Most of the districts have their particular brand of Parisian identity and atmosphere. A brief description of each arrondissement can be found HERE. You can click on the number of a particular district to see the streets, metro stops, monuments, etc.
RUE LA FAYETTE
Daniel's aunt and uncle live in the 9th arrondissement, on Rue La Fayette (which also continues through the 10th district). Rue La Fayette is two miles long and an important axis on Paris' Right Bank.
The 9th district is a lively and diverse residential area, with many boutiques, restaurants, and bars. Historically, the fashionable, the moneyed, and the artistic mingled there.
In the 9th you'll find the Paris Opera and the neighborhood of Pigalle, home of the cabaret Moulin Rouge. The painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec had his studio there, and Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh lived near Place Pigalle.
You'll also find the famous department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in the 9th.
The Galeries Lafayette are a chain of upscale department stores. The famous flagship store on 40 Boulevard Haussmann had its early beginnings in 1893 with a small fashion shop located at the corner of rue La Fayette and rue de la Chaussée-d’Antin. The shop founders were two cousins from Alsace, Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn.
In the next couple of decades, Bader and Kahn added adjacent buildings, with the goal to transform the whole complex into something of a luxury bazaar.
The architect Ferdinand Chanut “called upon great artists from the École de Nancy to decorate this magnificent building in the style of Paris Art Nouveau. ... The dome, rising to a height of 43 metres, soon became the iconic symbol of Galeries Lafayette. Master glass-maker Jacques Gruber was responsible for designing the Neo-byzantine style stained glass windows.”
The store was inaugurated in 1912. You can read more HERE.
SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS
Saint-Germain-des-Prés is an administrative quarter in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. This quarter has a large number of bookstores and publishing houses and several famous cafés including Les Deux Magots (where Daniel has “un verre” with his aunt when he returns to Paris.)
As you can see on the image, the number of the arrondissement is shown on all signs of streets and squares.
In the middle of the Twentieth century, the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter was the center of the Paris Existentialist movement (associated especially with the writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir).
The church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is one of the oldest churches in Paris. Originally a Benedictine Abbey, it was founded in the 6th century AD.
Historically, Saint-Germain-des-Prés square was an important marketplace thanks to its annual fair. The Foire Saint-Germain, which dates back to 1176, attracted merchants from all over Europe throughout the centuries. It lasted generally three to five weeks around Easter. Today, there's a covered market on the square.
3. Practical Words and Phrases
la place – the square le marché – the market la librairie – the bookstore l'éditeur – the publisher la maison d'édition – the publishing house la foire – the fair, trade fair un verre - the glass prendre l'apéritif – to have an aperitif (pre-dinner drink)
RUE DE GRENELLE
Daniel returns to Paris at the end of his trip and stays for a few days with his aunt Juliette, who lives on Rue de Grennelle, in the 6th arrondissement.
On his way to Rue de Grenelle, Daniel passes Hôtel Lutetia, located at 45 Boulevard Raspail (see picture). It was built in 1910 in the Art Nouveau style and was named after the early Roman town Lutetia.
The interiors of the hotel are in the somewhat later Art Deco style. During Nazi occupation of France, the hotel played an important role as a shelter for refugees.
Over the years, the hotel was visited by guests such as Picasso, Charles de Gaulle, James Joyce (who wrote part of his novel Ulysses here), Peggy Guggenheim, and Josefine Baker.
Rue de Grenelle is a funky street lined with stunning 17th and 18th century mansions, charming bars and restaurants, and interesting shops. Somewhat off the tourist route, rue de Grenelle is a great place for a stroll.
Nearby, on Boulevard de Grenelle, you'll find one of Paris' best street markets (Wednesdays and Sundays). The Eiffel Tower is just a short walk away, and will certainly appear in any visitor's travel memories - whether you survey the city from above or admire it from the Trocadero as on the picture below.
LE TROCADÉRO and LA TOUR EIFFEL
After dinner, Daniel and his aunt Juliette take an evening stroll to the Trocadéro, a 20-minute walk away, and located in the 16th arrondissement. A hill and esplanade with a magnificent view over theSeine to the Eiffel Tower, it's the site of Palais Chaillot, built for the 1937 Paris Expo. (For more info click HERE.)
Sloping down towards the Eiffel Tower are the Gardens of the Trocadéro, also built for the 1937 Paris Expo. The gardens are a beautiful open space with a large water basin called the Fountain of Warsaw, and lined with numerous statues and smaller fountains.
The Eiffel Tower (7th arr., on the Champ de Mars) was erected for the 1889 World's Fair on the centennial of the French Revolution.
The tower was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower (and also created, among other monuments, the metal structure of the Statue of Liberty). The Eiffel Tower continues to be the tallest structure in Paris at 324 meters (1,063 ft.). To get to the top, a visitor can take one of the 5 elevators, or walk up 1665 steps.
Every evening since 1985, the Eiffel Tower is lit up, and sparkles for five minutes at the beginning of each hour.
QUARTIER LATIN and DEUX MAGOTS
After visiting the Eiffel Tower, Daniel and his aunt Juliette walk over to the Latin Quarter (6th & 7th arr.) known for the Sorbonne and other educational institutions and lively student atmosphere.
Called “Latin” quarter because Latin was the language of learning in the Middle Ages, its winding streets are the home of quirky second-hand bookshops, and hip cafés and bars.
At the café Les Deux Magots, Daniel and his aunt enjoy a glass of wine to finish the evening. Located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, the café was a popular meeting place for intellectuals, writers, and artists.
Besides Beauvoir and Sartre, its patrons have included Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Albert Camus, Bertolt Brecht, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Julia Child, and others.
Since 1933, the Deux Magots literary prize has been awarded every year to a new French novel that is a little off-beat and non-conventional. The writer who received the prize in 2016 was Pierre Adrian for his novel La Piste Pasolini (published by Les Équateurs).
TRAVEL MEMORIES WITH A BOAT TOUR ON THE SEINE
Near the end of his visit, Daniel and his aunt take a river cruise on the Seine. It's his chance to see many of Paris' monuments one last time.
A boat tour on the Seine during a sunny day with the “Bateaux Parisiens,” “Bateaux Mouches,” or “Vedettes de Pont Neuf” is indeed a great way to enjoy many of the Paris sights and add to your travel memories. You'll glide under quite a few of the 37 bridges and learn about the Paris history.
(Click on the image of our Facebook page for our French Quick Game: Paris Quiz!) A boat tour on the Seine also passes by the new buildings of the National Library.
France's national library dates back to the 14th century. First located at the Louvre Palace, the collection of book grew dramatically over the centuries and was moved again and again into more spacious housing.
The latest expansion, which included new construction, was initiated by President François Mitterrand. The 4 angular towers of the Mitterrand Library - which suggest four open books - were built on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 13th district and opened in 1996.
A dinner cruise at night may not be the gourmet highlight of a Paris visit, but lets you experience why Paris is “la Ville Lumière.”
Daniel's travels in France take him also to Aix-en-Provence and Avignon. You'll read about these two cities in a future blog post.
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of GamesforLanguage.com. She is a lifelong language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her travel memories on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact or below.
Are you thinking “I love Paris in the springtime...”, as in one of Frank Sinatra's wonderful songs? Maybe you are traveling to France or even to Paris soon? (Picture left: Place de Vosges in spring 2008)
Then you should also know some useful French phrases with extra French pronunciation practice.
Try these fun and simple French language games. We won't promise you that you'll speak French fluently after reading this post and playing the four games. We are convinced, however, that you'll remember some of the phrases and will be able to use and pronounce them.
A Few Easy Tips
• A good way to learn phrases and expressions is to practice them as "chunks," not as a series of individual words. As we know, some phrases are idiomatic and have a meaning that's quite different from the meaning of the words in it.
• Always say phrases aloud, or if you're on a bus or in a line, mouth them to yourself, silently. Then when the coast is clear, say them OUT LOUD from memory.
• Lots of repetition is essential. We rarely learn something just by hearing and saying it once.
• Our mouth has to learn what muscles to use to make the right sounds. The particular combination of sounds that makes up a phrase has to get lodged in our brain. And, our brain has to connect sound to meaning.
1. Everyday phrases
No matter what your approach is to learning French, knowing a few conversational phrases is always useful.
Here's a French Language Game (or, just click on the picture!) to playfully learn and practice 8 conversational phrases that you're guaranteed to use often when talking in French - online, on Skype, or directly with someone at a party, at a store, on a ski-lift, in a café, etc.
2. The Verb "être" (to be)
The verb "être" is useful in many contexts. Whether you're talking about yourself, asking for information or directions, sharing stories, etc., some form of "to be" is bound to come up.
With this game you'll do a quick review of "être" as a full verb in the present, future, and conditional tenses.
(In a future game, you'll learn and review "être" as an "auxiliary" or, "helping" verb. As such, "être" is used to make compound tenses for certain verbs.)
3. Numbers make great French Language Games
Mastering the numbers in a language can be quite empowering, especially when you travel to a foreign country. But you need to be able to understand them as well as say them.
Numbers come in handy for buying at a market, paying the bill in a restaurant, buying tickets, making reservations, arranging a time to meet someone, exchanging phone numbers, giving your address, etc.
In general, knowing the numbers 1-100 will suffice. Still, French numbers from 70 to 99 are tricky and need extra attention. Here's a game to practice French numbers 21 and beyond in a fun way (with a link to numbers 1-20)
4. French sounds
When speaking English, you move your lips or tongue a certain way, for example to say "the," "he," or "rob." These are hard to pronounce for French speaker because the words contain sounds that French does not have: "th" "h" or our "r."
Similarly, French has sounds that are hard for English speakers. To produce them, you need to move your lips or tongue differently. In other words, you need to use different "mouth mechanics."
One difficulty may be that you can't really hear sounds that are not in the English language. That is because, like most people, you've gradually lost that ability in the course of growing into an adult.
However, with practice and application, you can recapture to hear and say non-English sounds, such as the French "u," French nasal vowels, and the French "r." And even if your French pronunciation won't get to perfection, it will get much better in time.
So play our French language games to practice the French "r" or "vowels and accents." You'll be amazed how a little practice will let you get the hang of it and become more comfortable in speaking.
And if you're having fun with our approach and these games, you'll find additional Quick Games for French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Inglés on our site.
Or why not try our FREE French Story: “Daniel en France”. With its 36 fifteen-minute Scenes you'll learn over 600 new words. But, even more importantly, you'll practice the phrases and sentences of a travel story – useful, real life language that you'll be able to put to use when visiting Paris or traveling around France.
And just maybe you'll also get enchanted by French songs such as Edith Piaf's “No, je ne regrette rien” or Joe Dassin's “Si tu n'existais pas...”. Both songs are topics of earlier posts for “learning French with a song”...
Bio: Ulrike Rettig is the co-founder of Gamesforlanguage.com. She has been a life-long language learner, growing up in Austria, the Netherlands, and Canada. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and leave any comments with contact.
We thought our next post would be timely for Valentine's Day by describing how you would say “loving words” in the various languages of our courses, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Inglés.
However, one of the sites we like and linked to before,TakeLessons.com, just published a post with the same topic. It also let's you learn these love phrases in a few other languages, i.e. Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean.
You never know where and when these phrases can come in handy. So instead of reinventing the wheel, you can just read on and find out How to Say “I Love You” around the World.
In the languages we know, here are a few more "love-related" terms we can think of, including terms of endearment, such as (in English), darling, honey, sweetie, sweetie pie.
German
- "Ich bin sehr in dich verliebt." - I am madly in love with you. - "Ich hab dich sehr gern." - I am very fond of you. (But "gern haben" is not yet "lieben"!) - "Ich lieb(e) dich, Schnucki." - I love you, sweetie. [Or, other endearments those "efficient" Germans use: "Schatz, Schatzi" (treasure), or "Schnuckiputzi" (sweetie pie).
French
- "Je suis fou/folle de toi." - I'm crazy about you. - "Je t'aime, mon petit chou." - I love you, sweetheart. (Literally "my little cabbage") - "Je t'aime bien." - I like you, I'm fond of you. (Note that here, "bien" tones down your emotion.)
Italian
- "Ti voglio tanto bene, tesoro." - I love you so much, darling. - "Amore a prima vista" or "un colpo di fulmine" - Love at first sight or literally, a bolt of lightning
Spanish
- "Ti quiero tanto, amorcito." - I love you so, little darling. (literally, little love) - "Ti amo, cariño." - I love you sweetheart. (Both "amorcito" and "cariño" are used for both men and women.
If you know of any others, please let us now HERE!
Disclosure: Gamesforlanguage.com has no business relationship with TakeLessons.com other than having exchanged blog posts. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for further details.
We're always looking for multiple resources for learning and practicing a foreign language. Different programs teach you different things and will often complement each other.
GamesforLanguage's mission is to find ways of making language learning both fun and effective. We've seen that games and a story will make learners come back again and again. Nothing against traditional methods. It's just that adding fun elements - and context - to language practice makes learning so much more engaging and motivating.
We've been on the lookout for other online programs with some of the above characteristics. In addition, motivated learners - perhaps after completing our free GamesforLanguage's French 1 course - may be ready for a next step: individualized lessons, more explanations, more grammar exercises, and other ways to test their language level.
From that point of view, Frantastique is definitely a winner in our eyes. Here's why this program could lift your French to another plateau.
The idea is unique: The program consists of a regular email (5 times a week), a (somewhat) crazy story or text used as a frame, a number of exercises, detailed explanations, and an immediate email back with corrections.
Frantastique provided my husband Peter and me with a free 4-month Basic subscription.
Lessons are personalized right from the beginning. After seven lessons, Frantastique assigned us a skill level. Frantastique uses the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
Mine started at 4.2-4.4 (B1-B2). After 24 lessons, I am now pegged at a straight 4.5 (B2). Peter, who speaks French more fluently than I, but is weaker in spelling and grammar, started with a 3.4 (B1) level. Now (after lesson 24), he has moved up to 3.7 (B1).
The Setup: an Email, a Brief Review, an Ongoing Story, Exercises, Correction
The Email
Five times a week early in the morning, you receive an email with your 15-minute lesson. It sits in your inbox, waiting.
Obviously, you can do it any time that's convenient for you. If you skip your lesson, you'll get a reminder after three days.
The Review
Your lesson starts with a review. If you made any mistakes in your previous lesson, the Review will cover them again with detailed explanations. To see if you've understood, you'll be asked to do another couple of related questions.
You'll then find a brief review of some grammar points or expressions for which you can get a translation.
After each of these, you have a number of options: You can click on "inutile to reviser" (don't need to review) or “je savais” (I knew), etc. When you do, these particular grammar questions won't be included in a future review. Or if you don't know or are not sure, you'll see them again. This is also a way your lessons become personalized.
The Ongoing Story
Each lesson gives you a small piece of the story, either related to the Extraterrestrials and Victor Hugo or a humorous, made-up story in the form of a newspaper article. (Clicking on the image left will let you play the beginning of the Victor Hugo story.)
The story chunk you get consists of a short article, video, cartoon, or just audio. Typically, you'll see the written dialogue of the audio or video clip when you receive your corrections.
The story itself is a little crazy: A naked, fully-bearded Victor Hugo traipses around Paris together with a couple of aliens from outer space. Hard to believe, but their conversations are eminently practical and fun.
The Exercises
These come in the form of questions about an idiom, expression, grammar point, or cultural topic.
You answer these by typing fill-ins, choosing pull-downs, or writing what you hear. Most of the questions have a small audio with it. This way you can hear French spoken at normal speed by native speakers throughout the lesson.
When you're done, you send off the email with your answers.
Correction
Before you can say “Victor Hugo,” your corrected lesson will be in your inbox. If you look at the corrections right away, everything you just wrote will still be fresh in your mind.
For each question you answered, there's a brief explanation of the rule. This is especially helpful for understanding why a guess was correct. If you've made a mistake, you'll also see why your answer is wrong. How better to learn and remember an expression, a way of spelling, or a grammar point.
There are advantages to not receiving corrections the same moment that you write them (as you do with many language programs and apps, including GamesforLanguage). By getting the corrections AFTER completing a lesson, there is no trial-and-error guessing. Also, with the accompanying explanation, you'll better remember both the correct answers as well as the corrected mistakes.
With potentially 340 lessons (at 5 lessons a week), you'll have over 1.5 years of study.
Account Settings
There are a number of settings you can chose in your account tab:
Reception Days: You can only select 5 days, which is ok if you don't want to learn during the weekend.
Vacation Days: Each subscription allows for a certain number of “vacation days” during which you postpone your lessons. (For example, a 6-month subscription allows for 4 weeks of vacation.) These days will be added automatically to the end of your subscription.
Lesson Length: Five (5) Options range from “minimum” (no story) to “maximum.” We have “standard,” which is the default.
Spicy Mode: You can opt out of receiving “spicy” content.
Low Level mode: Activating the “mode bas niveau” will give you the same modules, but they are less difficult.
Pedagogy: The Pedagogy tab lets you view your latest lessons, vocabulary, and grammar to review. It also provides various progress statistics.
Ipad & Android Apps: The iPad and Android apps are well integrated with the online version, but obviously need WiFi access to the email account.
Pricing
Frantastique has 3 different fee categories: Basic and Premium (for individuals) and Pro (for companies and institutions). Prices for individuals range from $49 - $69 for Basic, and $77 - $111 for Pro subscriptions. For further information: link to the online shop
What We Like
• The lessons are fun and immensely enjoyable because of the humorous context of the Victor Hugo story or funny, made-up newspaper articles. • The expressions and grammar points you learn or review are all practical. • Corrections arrive seconds after you've finished the lesson and reinforce your learning. • The lessons arrive five days a week, which helps you to build a learning habit. • The course lessons are indeed tailored to your skill level. Peter's are different from mine. • There are multiple short audios in the lesson. • You'll hear various voices and different accents, besides standard French. • In your “Account” you'll see all your episodes and corrections in the “cahier de cours.” • The vocab audios have Parisian French and Canadian French versions and let you hear the differences in pronunciation
Other Points to Consider
• The lessons are not for complete beginners (although you can opt for the “low level mode”). • The playful mode disguises the fact that Frantastique is a serious and effective course. • To practice your pronunciation you should repeat everything you hear and read. • The standard lessons are short – it takes me about 15 minutes for each lesson • In addition to English, Frantastique is currently fully available also for German, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese, with Chinese to be added soon. Other languages are being developed. • By trying out Frantastique for FREE for a week (or during special promotions even for a month), you can determine whether it works for you.
Final Thoughts
If you already have some basic knowledge of French, but want to get to a next level and improve your listening, reading, and writing skills, and do so with a fun and engaging course that prompts you with lessons 5 days a week – then Frantastique is your ticket.
The extra video and audio clips of “Le dessert du jour” (as this Jean Belmondo clip on the left) that accompany each lesson often make you smile. And when you are looking forward to the next lesson, it'll motivate you to learn and practice even dry French grammar points.
Frantastique's sister site Gymglish uses a very similar approach for teaching English (e.g to Spanish speakers) with a story set in San Francisco
French is the second most widespread language worldwide after English, as only these two languages are spoken on all five continents.
French is an official language in 29 countries, most of which form "la francophonie", the community of French-speaking countries.French is spoken as a first language in France, southern Belgium, western Switzerland, Monaco, and the province of Quebec. It is also an official language in the province ofNew Brunswick, and spoken in other communities in Canada.
French is also spoken in communities in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as among educated classes in North Africa, Haiti, French Polynesia and in various communities elsewhere. [Wikipedia]
While particular end-of-year traditions exist in most of these countries, we'll just focus here on France.
France
In France, huge municipal firework displays were not the customary way to usher in the New Year. This has changed however in recent years, and the Eiffel Tower fireworks and light shows in Paris have become quite spectacular.
Nevertheless, French people tend to take things more quietly and celebrate with friends at home or in a restaurant. These New Year's Eve celebrations - le réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre - traditionally are a feast that includes plenty of champagne and foie gras or oysters, symbols of prosperity and good fortune.
As in many other countries, the last day of the year in France is named after the fourth-century Catholic pope and saint. This was after the reform of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, when the last day of the year became December 31, the day of Saint Sylvestre's death in 335. [You say "la" Saint-Sylvestre because it's short for "la fête de Saint-Sylvestre."]
Paris
In Paris, the city of lights, New Year's Eve becomes a visual feast: from many vantage points in the city you can see the iconic, illuminated Eiffel Tower.
And, you'll find the biggest New Year's party on the Avenue de Champs Elysées, where hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate, wish each other "Bonne année" (Good year), and exchange "bises" (kisses on the cheeks) at the stroke of midnight.
And, you'll find the biggest New Year's party on the Avenue de Champs Elysées, where hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate, wish each other "Bonne année" (Good year), and exchange "bises" (kisses on the cheeks) at the stroke of midnight.
In 2014, Paris added a first-time spectacle before the final countdown: a 20-minute video show projected on the Arc de Triomphe, highlighting the Parisian "art of living". ThisRTL clip lets you practice your French listening skills and you'll learn that not everybody was happy with the show.
If you click on the image on the left you can watch a YouTube clip of the 2014 light show and fireworks.
Due to the recent terror attacks, there is some question about the extent of the official New Year's celebrations in Paris this year. A Less Joyous New Year Tradition...
"The infamous custom can be traced to the northeastern city of Strasbourg that straddles France’s border with Germany. Strasbourg, which hosts thousands of tourists who flock to the city for its renowned Christmas market, first began to be blighted by holiday season vehicle arson in the late 1980s. But the phenomenon exploded to alarming levels during the 1990s."
Le Réveillon du Nouvel An
Nevertheless, in spite of such statistics and recent events, I'd be very surprised if the French were not on the streets and celebrating le réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre.
Update: This France24 article of December 28, 2015 confirms that the celebrations will indeed take place in Paris, although under heightened security. The Arc de triomphe light show will be reduced to 10 minutes.
On New Year's Day, it's the tradition to have a large family dinner and to give presents to the children as a way to celebrate the arrival of the new year.
The King's Cake
The New Year holiday season comes to an official end on January 5th, Epiphany, the day when it is believed that three wise men presented their gifts to the baby Jesus.
The French celebrate by making a unique kind of cake, the "Galette des rois." In many regions the "galette des rois" is a flat layer of puff pastry filled with almond cream, in other communities, e.g. in the south of France, the "gâteau des rois" is a round brioche with candied fruits and sugar, shaped like a crown.
Common to all versions of the King's Cake, is a small trinket, a plastic or porcelain figurine of the baby Jesus hidden in the cake. The one who finds it (watch out to not swallow or bite on it!) is the king for the the day (and can wear the paper crown, often sold with the cakes).
Young kids obviously love this tradition and families use various rules to ensure a fair distribution of the cake to all.
With Black Friday, the Christmas Shopping season starts in the U.S. Many companies, including language learning sites, are offering great deals.
GamesforLanguage is a completely free site already, so we can't offer any special deals! Over the last year, we've been making a few bucks (really few!!) with Google Ads. And since this year (2016), we've been Ads-free.
We plan to partner with language learning companies we like and whose approaches and philosophy are similar to ours. These may be companies and sites that offer free and/or fee-based services or products.
When we mention, review, or recommend such a company or site, we will always let you know whether we have a financial relationship with them. Look for our disclosure at the bottom of any of our posts.
Past Reviews and Relationships
We noted in our past reviews or mentions of Rosetta Stone, Babbel, Duolingo, Linguaville, LingQ, Digital Dialects, Quizlet, Eduxeso, etc. when we either used free or purchased/subscribed courses. For the review of the book of French idioms: “Other Cats to Whip” we had received a free e-book.
We are currently working with a free 3-month subscription of LearnwithOliver.com's Dutch course, as well as a free 3-month subscription of Lingualia's Spanish course. We will continue to mention and comment on courses, apps, and sites as we learn about them and try them out ourselves.
Current Affiliations
As you've seen over the past months, we have not only mentioned some companies in posts, but also in some of our Quick Games.
Our Languages
French: We are adding links to our French Quick Games for Frantastique, a fun and very effective site for French non-Beginners. They offer a free 1-week try-out. Spanish: We have added links to our Spanish Quick Games for Lingualia, a site which we are currently using ourselves to improve our Spanish. Try it out for free and see whether you like it as much as we do. German: There are links in some of our German Quick Games for Freelanguage.org and its free Language Learning Magazine. Italian: In addition to Freelanguage.org, we also have links in our Italian Quick Games for Luana's free Italian Video Lessons Learnitalianwithme.it Inglés: We will be adding links to our Inglés Quick Games for Gymglish (a sister company of Frantastique), as well as Lingualia, both of whom provide excellent English courses for Spanish speakers.
General
Lingohut - With Lingohut, also a free language learning site, that offers brief lessons for 10 languages, and ESL (English as a Second Language) courses, we have been in a partnership for several months. We have exchanged guest blogs, information etc.
Fluent in 3 Months - We recently joined the affiliate program of Benny Lewis (whom we met during the Polyglot Conference in New York in October). His Fluent in 3 Months Premium program is being offered at a 51% discount until Monday 11/30/2015.
We admire his enthusiasm and dedication to language. We believe that anybody who wants to boost his or her motivation and language learning will greatly benefit from his method and many practical tips!
More Changes to GamesforLanguage
We continue to work on improving our courses. Starting with German, we have been streamlining the “Memory Games” and “Snap Cloud” sequencing, adjusted the Word Hero's speed, and added more Vocabulary Quizzes and Quick Games.
We also continue to publish blog posts weekly on one of our three topics: Language Learning Culture and Travel.
Disclosure: Certain links above are to partners' programs with revenue sharing, should you decide to subscribe or purchase.
If you love music, songs provide a wealth of language learning possibilities for you. But not only that. Each culture has its own tradition, which makes it all the more interesting. 
Songs in French are a wonderful way to acquire the sounds and the rhythm of the French language, and to learn words and idiomatic expressions. 
An English translation for “Lieder” may be “art songs,” as these are poems set to classical music. Their tradition goes back to the 12thCentury and the German “Minnelieder” (courtly love songs). 
Italian opera, born in the 17th century and fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries has been a rich source of “art songs” that are popular to this day. 
Latin Music opens a new world of diverse and beautiful sound. Check out this Latin Music History. Croonersinclude Jose Jose and Juan Gabriel, Mexico; Jose Feliciano, Puerto Rico; Leo Dan, Argentina; Jose Luis Rodriguez 'El Puma', Venezuela. 
of Fribourg is called “Schoenberg,” a German word meaning “beautiful mountain.” (Note that in the French spelling, Schoenberg is spelled with an “oe”, which is also an alternate spelling in German.) 
After visiting the Eiffel Tower, Daniel and his aunt Juliette walk over to the Latin Quarter (6th & 7th arr.) known for the Sorbonne and other educational institutions and lively student atmosphere.
