French Word of the Day

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

le ciel

the sky, the heavens

Jean-Paul a regardé le ciel avec étonnement.
Jean-Paul looked at the sky with wonder.

THIS WEEK
Jupiter’s relative close proximity to the Earth last week and continued brightness into the fall has us thinking about the vocabulary of the heavens. This week, we’ll look up together to discover the words of the night sky.

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Vocabulary Section: Astronomy and Space, Word of the Day
Sunday, September 26, 2010

une dégustation

a wine tasting

Partout dans la campagne, nous avons vu des panneaux pour des dégustations.
All over the countryside, we saw signs for wine tastings.

TRAVEL TIP
When you travel in the wine regions of France, you will see signs for dégustations quite frequently. When you spot these, you will know you’re at a place where wine wine can be sampled.

THIS WEEK
After only having scratched the surface with vocabulary about the wine vineyards, or les vignobles, last week, we couldn’t resist spending a little more time on this topic this week to uncork some vocabulary about the wine itself.

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Vocabulary Section: Wine, Word of the Day
Thursday, September 23, 2010

une bouteille

a bottle

Nous prenons une bouteille de vin rosé, s’il vous plaît.
We’ll have a bottle of rosé, please.

THIS WEEK
After only having scratched the surface with vocabulary about the wine vineyards, or les vignobles, last week,  we couldn’t resist spending a little more time on this topic this week to uncork some vocabulary about the wine itself.

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Vocabulary Section: Wine, Word of the Day
Wednesday, September 22, 2010

un verre à vin

a wine glass

Sophie voulait un verre de vin, mais elle n’avait pas de verre à vin.
Sophie wanted a glass of wine, but she didn’t have a wine glass.

REMARQUEZ LA DIFFÉRENCE!
At first glance, you might have thought today’s word was the same as yesterday’s. But on closer inspection, you’ll see how easy it is to change a phrase’s meaning. Un verre de vin is a glass of wine, while un verre à vin is a wine glass.

THIS WEEK
After only having scratched the surface with vocabulary about the wine vineyards, or les vignobles, last week,  we couldn’t resist spending a little more time on this topic this week to uncork some vocabulary about the wine itself.

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Vocabulary Section: Wine, Word of the Day
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

un verre de vin

a glass of wine

Richard a commandé un verre de vin.
Richard ordered a glass of wine.

THIS WEEK
After only having scratched the surface with vocabulary about the wine vineyards, or les vignobles, last week,  we couldn’t resist spending a little more time on this topic this week to uncork some vocabulary about the wine itself.

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Vocabulary Section: Wine, Word of the Day
Monday, September 20, 2010

le vin rouge

red wine

Le vin rouge est le plus populaire, mais il y a d’autres types aussi:
Red wine is the most popular, but there are also other types:

  • le vin blanc (white wine)
  • le vin rosé (rosé wine)
  • le vin mousseux
    (sparkling wine when it is not from the Champagne region of France)
  • le champagne
    (sparkling wine produced from grapes in the Champagne region of France)

DID YOU KNOW?
Le vin rosé is a very popular table wine in the South of France. In every café and restaurant, it seems, a carafe or bottle accompanies meals, especially in the warmer months of the year. French rosés tend to be dryer — less sweet — than the white zinfandels of the same color. And here’s a shocking secret: You might even see a Français enjoy a glass over ice. Don’t tell anyone!

THIS WEEK
After only having scratched the surface with vocabulary about the wine vineyards, or les vignobles, last week,  we couldn’t resist spending a little more time on this topic this week to uncork some vocabulary about the wine itself.

THE LATEST QUIZ IS READY FOR OUR VOILÀ! SUBSCRIBERS
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Vocabulary Section: Wine, Word of the Day
Saturday, September 18, 2010

déboucher

to uncork

Il y a beaucoup à faire avant le jour lorsqu’on peut déboucher la bouteille.
There’s a lot to do before the day when we can uncork the bottle.

THIS WEEK
Wine and winemaking is an inextricable part of the French culture. With this year’s harvest season upon us, this week is a perfect time to discover the vocabulary of the vineyards.



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VOILÀ! SUBSCRIBERS

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Vocabulary Section: Food and Drink, Word of the Day
Friday, September 17, 2010

la vinification

winemaking

Après la récolte, la vinification commence.
After the harvest, winemaking begins.

THIS WEEK
Wine and winemaking is an inextricable part of the French culture. With this year’s harvest season upon us, this week is a perfect time to discover the vocabulary of the vineyards.

EXTRA TIP
Earlier this week, we covered the word la vendange for wine harvest. You might notice in today’s post that the word récolte also means harvest — but not specifically a wine or grape harvest.



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VOILÀ! SUBSCRIBERS

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Vocabulary Section: Agriculture, Word of the Day
Thursday, September 16, 2010

une machine à vendanger

a mechanical harvesting machine

La vendange à main cède le pas à des machines à vendanger.
The manual harvest is giving way to mechanical harvesting machines.

THIS WEEK
Wine and winemaking is an inextricable part of the French culture. With this year’s harvest season upon us, this week is a perfect time to discover the vocabulary of the vineyards.



THE LATEST QUIZ IS READY FOR OUR
VOILÀ! SUBSCRIBERS

Members of our Voilà service can go straight to this week’s quiz by clicking here.
For a sneak peek of Voilà!, click here. You’ll find ways to practice verbs, review our daily vocabulary words, search our word archives by category and more.

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Vocabulary Section: Agriculture, Word of the Day
Monday, September 13, 2010

la vendange

wine harvest

Normalement, on fait les vendanges en septembre et octobre en France.
Normally, the wine harvest is done in September and October in France.

THIS WEEK
Wine and winemaking is an inextricable part of the French culture. With this year’s harvest season upon us, this week is a perfect time to discover the vocabulary of the vineyards.



THE LATEST QUIZ IS READY FOR OUR
VOILÀ! SUBSCRIBERS

Members of our Voilà service can go straight to this week’s quiz by clicking here.
For a sneak peek of Voilà!, click here. You’ll find ways to practice verbs, review our daily vocabulary words, search our word archives by category and more.

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