French Word-A-Day

Sur la production de la passion

In pursuit of one's shadow... read on. (P.S.: ever seen the shadow of a tongue?)
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Sur La Production de La Passion
(On Manufacturing Passion)

During a telephone conversation last night, Mom and I talked about passion and peace (a dichotomy?) On the one hand, our passions drive us... and yet we are always looking for the road to La Paix.

"I spent several hours cruising the internet yesterday," Mom tells me. "I navigate from one creative site to the next." It is all overwhelming in the end. Finally, Mom concludes:

Perhaps I need to manufacture my own passion!

...Maybe I'll go out and buy some paint thinner... but then, I am so happy here (away from the blank canvas), resting quietly by the window, sharing this chocolate-chip cookie with Breezy!

Some say peace is what happens when we give up our passions. Just a thought and, along with Mom's cookie, quelque chose to snack on today....
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Le Coin Commentaires
Your thoughts are welcome here, in the comments box.

 
Mustard-flower passion beneath still-sleeping vines.

Some are passionate about orchids... here's a wild one for you.

redoubler

My daughter Jackie (7-years-old) has updated her column this week. Don't miss these "Thoughts of a Little Girl from France." (The English version follows the French.)

redoubler (ruh-doo-blay) verb
1. to increase, to intensify, to step up, to redouble
2. to repeat a year (school)

Also:
un redoublant (une redoublante) = a student who repeats a grade.

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Expressions:

redoubler d'efforts = to strive harder than ever
redoubler une classe = to repeat a year or a grade, to be held back
redoubler de prudence/de vigilance = to be extra careful/vigilant
redoubler le chagrin de quelqu'un = to add to someone's grief

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Citation du Jour:

C'est le naturel du coeur humain de redoubler ses efforts pour retenir le bien qu'on lui ôte.

It is natural for the human heart to strive to keep the good that has been taken away from it. --Bossuet

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Pensées d'une Petite Fille de France...

Il y a une fille à mon école qui est méchante. Elle est plus grande que moi et elle est dans ma classe. Normalement, elle va au CE2, mais cette année elle redouble.

Cette fille, elle nous pousse et elle nous dit des gros mots. Quand je joue avec sa petite protégée, et que je coiffe ses cheveux, elle n'aime pas ça et elle lui dit:

"Ce soir tu auras les cheveux tout embrouillés."

Moi je ne dis rien mais elle, elle est toujours méchante. Quand les gens sont méchants avec nous, il faut courir et s'en aller.

In English:

There is a girl at my school who is mean. She is bigger than me and she's in my class. Normally, she goes to 3rd Grade, but this year she's repeating 2nd Grade.

This girl pushes us and says cusswords. When I play with her favorite friend, styling her hair, she doesn't like that and she tells her:

"Tonight your hair will be all tangled up!"

As for me, I say nothing, but she is still mean. When people are mean to us, we must run, and go away.

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Post Note: Re-reading Jackie's story aloud to her, she stopped me on a few words. Here follows that episode:

Moi: (encountering the word "redoubler") "ray doo blay"...
Jackie: "C'est 'ruh' pas 'ray'.* Je te dis mille fois!* 'Ruh' et pas 'ray'!"
Moi: (moving on to paragraph two) "em bree yay"...
Jackie: BROO! BROO! C'est 'em broo yay'. Tu l'as presque eu, maman.*

*References: C'est = it's; Je te dis mille fois = I've told you a thousand times; Tu l'as presque eu, maman = You almost had it, mom

un arc

Jackie's column "Pensées d'une Petite Fille de France" (Thoughts of a Little Girl from France) is back. My seven-year-old talks about rainbows, or "les arcs-en-ciel." The English translation follows.

un arc (ark) noun, masculine
1. bow, arc, curve, arch

Also:
le tir à l'arc = archery
un arc-en-ciel = a rainbow
une scie à l'arc = a bow saw
l'arc des sourcils = the arch of the eyebrows
un arc roman/brisé, aigu = a semicircular/gothic arc
l'Arc de Triomphe = The Arch of Triumph

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Expressions:
avoir plus d'une corde à son arc = to have more than one solution; to have many resources to succeed

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French Proverb:

Il faut avoir plusieurs cordes à son arc.
One must have more than one string to one's bow.

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Pensées d'une Petite Fille de France

As-tu jamais vu un arc-en-ciel? Il y a presque toutes les couleurs dans l'arc-en-ciel.

As-tu vu les couleurs dans un arc-en-ciel? Il y a le bleu, le jaune, le rose, le rouge, le vert et le violet....

Les arcs-en-ciel viennent après la pluie, je pense.

Des fois je m'amuse à dessiner les arcs-en-ciel. Ce n'est pas difficile de les dessiner. On fait un pont et c'est tout!

* * In English * *

Have you ever seen a rainbow? There are almost all the colors in the rainbow.

Have you seen the colors in a rainbow? There is blue, yellow, pink, red, green and purple...

Rainbows come after the rain, I think.

Sometimes I like to draw rainbows. It isn't hard to draw them. You make a bridge and that's all!

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Post Note: More pronunciation soucis* for Jackie's mom. Here's what happened this week when I reread Jackie's story aloud, for her to edit:

Moi: un 'ark en syel'
Jackie: Non! It's 'ar KON syel'
Moi: (reading last paragraph) "difficile de dessiner...."
Jackie: "Not 'DE dessiner'! Ça ne veut rien dire! (That doesn't mean anything!) C'est: 'A dessiner'!"

*References: un soucis (m) = a worry

un écart

My daughter Jackie turned seven ("l'âge de raison") on Saturday. She is back today with her column "Thoughts of a Little Girl from France" (in French and English).

un écart (ay-kar) noun, masculine
1. distance apart, gap

Expressions:
faire le grand écart = to do the splits
faire un écart = to step aside
un écart de conduite = a lapse of conduct, misdemeanor
écarts de jeunesse = youthful indiscretions
un écart de l'imagination = a flight of the imagination
se tenir à l'écart = to keep oneself apart, aloof
habiter à l'écart = to live in a remote, lonely area
un écart d'âge = an age gap
un grand écart = (fig) a balancing act
un écart de langage = a rude or offensive word or phrase = a "gap" in language

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French Proverb:

Ecarte-toi des lieux où l'on parle ou trop fort ou trop bas.
Distance yourself from places where people talk too loud or too low.

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Pensées d'une Petite Fille de France

"Le Grand Ecart"

L'autre jour dans la salle de gym on a fait la danse et on a fait le grand écart.

Pour faire le grand écart il faut toucher par terre tout la longueur des jambes. Ce n'est pas du tout facile car ça tire dans les jambes.

Dans mon cours de danse, il y a Juliette qui le fait bien le grand écart mais aussi Bérénice. Pour certains, ce n'est pas évident de faire le grand écart. (Par exemple, pour moi et pour Cassandra, ce n'est pas encore ça.)

* * * In English * * *

The other day in the gym we danced and did the splits.

To do the splits, the length of one's legs must touch the ground. It isn't easy at all because it really pulls (with)in the legs.

In my dance class, there's Juliette who does the splits well, but so does Bérénice. For certain people, it isn't easy to do the splits. (For example, for me and for Cassandra. We're not there yet.)

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Post note: Jackie became flustered while dictating today's story to me. Apparently my French pronunciation, for even the simplest of phrases, is ultra null. The following scene took place:

Me: (reading back story, and the phrase 'un grand écart') "Ewn grahnd ay kart"
Jackie: "Ça veut rien dire!" (that doesn't mean anything!) "It's 'uhn grah taykar'!"
Me (re-reading story) "Ewn grahnd ay kart"
Jackie: "Oh la la!!!! C'est "uhn grah TAYKAR!"

Read more about my daughter, Jackie, in the book Words in a French Life