french fanatic

Alternative French spelling (not necessarily accepted in dictionaries): l’Alowine

n.m., Halloween

On a récemment commencé à célébrer l’Halloween en France.
They’ve recently begun to celebrate Halloween in France.

Lire. Halloween, an Anglo-Saxon holiday, has only recently gained popularity in France. Author Peter Mayle, who wrote A Year in Provence, published this column in the New York Times on the subject this week: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/opinion/25mayle.html

Regardez. Also check out this video of a song about the holiday in French:

If you have difficulty watching the video, please visit our site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

a ghost

Les fantômes sortiront demain….mais n’ayez pas peur!
The ghosts will be out tomorrow…but don’t be afraid!

Today’s word is a clue about what we’ll have for you tomorrow. Don’t forget to look for tomorrow’s e-mail or visit us a frenchfanatic.com.

skateboarding

Il aime faire la planche à roulettes à Paris.
He loves to skateboard in Paris.

We couldn’t resist featuring a second word inspired by yesterday’s video about skateboarding and snacking in Paris.
In case you missed it, check it out:

If you have difficulty seeing the video, please visit our site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

to have a snack

Cassons la croûte avant de nous coucher.
Let’s have a snack before going to bed.

Cassez la croûte à Paris. See how to have a snack in Paris. In this video, a skateboarder shows us where he likes to enjoy the ultimate French snack — the crêpe. If you have difficulty seeing the video, please visit our site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

a windshield

Regardez pars le pare-brise pour voir l’autoroute.
Look through the windshield to see the highway.

to hurt

Ça m’a fait mal.
That hurt me.

Take your time!

Prenez votre temps! C’est dimanche.
Take your time! It’s Sunday.

As you can see, this is what we did today.

You can, of course, also say this in the informal form: Prends ton temps!

a lane (on a road or highway)

Les policiers ont fermé la voie gauche pendant deux heures.
The police closed the left lane for two hours.

a hat

Coco Chanel a commencé sa carrière en faisant des chapeaux.
Coco Chanel began her career making hats.

Regardez. For this Friday’s video, we thought we’d go for something completely different than the cartoons we’ve had the past few weeks. Below is the trailer for the French film Coco Avant Chanel, which takes a look at the life of the influential 20th century fashion designer. Accompanied by English subtitles, the film provides a great way to learn some French while enjoying learning something of the history of this iconic figure in the fashion world.

sugar-free

Elle cherche un boisson sans sucre.
She’s looking for a sugar-free drink.