French Wine Takes The Summer Heat
Wine producing countries in Europe are feeling the heat just as badly…
The 2019 summer heat has been particularly devastating across the globe. While the west coast of the USA has repeatedly suffered through long droughts during the summer months, especially California, one of its fellow wine producing countries in Europe is feeling the heat just as badly. Unfortunately, it appears Global Warming is the culprit.
As of August 2019, France’s wine output was expected to fall 12% due to spring frosts that destroyed multiple vineyards and was followed by intense summer heatwaves that the land simply couldn’t handle. That harvest, the overall production was estimated to reach 1.15 billion gallons. This may sound on the surface like a decent harvest, but in actuality, it is down significantly from the 2018 harvest according to the country’s agriculture ministry.
The short harvest was born with this spring’s cold fronts that killed off young grape clusters or stunted their growth and then experienced a series of heatwaves which withered grapes on the vine, especially in the south.
European and US researchers later determined that July 2019 had been the hottest month on record, however rains in August managed to limit the losses in some areas, so while wine lovers may have to do with a limited selection this season, there are still many French wines that make its way to the market this past November.
What this means for summer 2020
With the devastating heat from the 2019 summer affecting the land, the yellow vest protests filling the streets of France since 2018 (affecting employees across France), the increased percentage in U.S.A. tariffs which caused mass orders to cancel and now the 2020 COVID-19 virus quarantine leaving vineyards sparse with employees, the wine market has been hit hard over the past year. Forging into the summer of 2020, wine owners are facing the facts that delays are inevitable, including unveiling the 2019 vintage will be on hold or delayed. People will still have access to ordering wines, having them delivered, or finding them on store shelves, but the future of the industry will be severely affected. Only time will tell just how severe and Wine Spectator has more on the topic.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about why wine lovers across the globe will be Weathering the French Wine Storm for the next season. What do you think farmers can do in the next season to mitigate their losses? Join the conversation below!
Large Scale French Graffiti
How do you put a painting on a Parisian rooftop? Start with les drones.
French graffiti artists Ella and Pitr have painted Europe's largest work of street art on a roof of a Paris convention centre. Covering 2.5 hectares, the image of an old woman intersected by the ring road around the French capital can be fully viewed only from the sky.
Only from high above can one see how it adds up to an image of an old woman, looking down at the traffic on the Périphérique, the busy ring road that surrounds the French capital. The duo stated that “Her eyes are half closed because she’s very bored by all the fast stuff around her…We wanted to find something with a lot of contrast with the geographic site,” which is full of traffic both by car and foot.
Photo: Objectif Aéro/Ludovic Delage
The duo gained access to the roof through an arrangement between city officials and Art en Ville, a group promoting urban art in public places. This isn’t the first time the duo has created projects like this. Ella + Pitr have created other large-scale works in France, Portugal, Chile, Canada and elsewhere since they met in the French city of Saint-Etienne in 2007.
The new work covers a surface equivalent to four football fields. It breaks the artists’ own record, set with a mural in Norway in 2015. Amazingly they completed the mural over eight days in June using acrylic paints diluted and loaded into spray cans.
The duo brilliantly used drones to create it while referring to aerial photos of the roof. Because of it’s location, even by standing on an adjacent rooftop, the full image is not visible and the Olivier Landes, the curator and founder of Art en Ville stated that “We’re counting on the Internet and the media to spread the aerial image, which will be viewed virtually, on a screen, like all works of urban art.”
The artwork itself will exist until 2022, when the hall is to be demolished as part of a renovation project to prepare the complex for the 2024 Olympic Games.
We hope you enjoyed learning about Large Scale French Graffiti! What are your thoughts on this new form of urban art? Does it add character to the city even though it can only be viewed online? Join the conversation below!
The Ban on Destroying Unsold Goods
The French government has decided that enough is enough when it comes to destroying unsold goods.
The French government has been making steps to become more eco-friendly, and it’s most recent proposal to cut waste is set to affect online retailers such as Amazon and large luxury brands.
The destruction of non-food items, such as clothing, household appliances, beauty and hygiene products will end in France within the next 5 years as part of an anti-waste bill which will be presented to the Council of Ministers in July and aims to instead ensure these products are given away or recycled by the end of 2023.
Today more than $600 million of new and unsold non-food products are discarded or destroyed each year, according to the government, and the prime minister, Edouard Philippe has stated that "We can avoid (...) this scandalous waste.. (&) our idea is not to constrain or impose, but to support companies (...) to ensure that we move to a new stage in our economy."
The PM's office said special arrangements are anticipated for the luxury sector to avoid allowing brands to use the excuse that they are maintaining the exclusivity and luxury mystique of the brand by destroying unsold goods.
France's junior environment minister Brune Poirson promised a law to tackle waste in January after a documentary was released showing the online retail giant, Amazon destroying products that had been returned by consumers.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about France’s new proposed Ban on Destroying Unsold Goods! Do you think this will help France’s economy make a positive impact on the environment? Join the conversation below!
3 Lesser Known Must-Try French Dishes
Move on from the ratatouille and boeuf bourgignon and impress your friends with your connaissance of French cuisine.
France’s influence on the world’s culinary industry can not be overlooked. However, there are some dishes that we think were created so perfectly, they don’t need the latest fusion to keep them relevant. While some may seem “strange” by American standards, these dishes are not only worth trying, they are a must for anyone wishing to immerse themselves in the French way of life!
ESCARGOTS A LA BOURGUIGNONNE
This dish is also known in English as herb buttered snails and no one can visit France without trying these. Snails tend to be associated with the French cuisine, and for good reason as they are a staple food of French families during the holidays.
2. STEAK TARTARE
This dish is essentially uncooked beef, that is ground up and blended with other ingredients. It may seem unappetizing or unhealthy, keep in mind that it has evolved a good bit from when the French made it with horse meat. Restaurants that serve this dish are very careful to ensure their meat is safe. and ready for any daring customer to enjoy.
3. FROG LEGS
Photo: Ruocaled
These became a French delicacy after the monks who were banned from eating meat had these qualified as fish. The peasants followed their example and ever since France has been the epicenter of frog leg cuisine. Though it may seem a bit bizarre, locals state the taste and texture are comparable to chicken, so even if you’re weary, you may still be in for a treat.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about 3 Lesser Known Must-Try French Dishes! Ready to immerse yourself in all of the wonderful culinary creations France has to offer in their native land? Our culturally immersive group classes and native instructors can put you on the path to fluency faster than you might think! Click below to learn more.
A New French Single Hits #1
Australian pop star, Kylie Minogue has released a new French language single that has already broken the charts…
Australian pop star, Kylie Minogue has released a new French language single that has already broken the charts. The song, On Oublie le Reste, is a duet with French singer Jenifer, and includes a nod to one of Kylie’s biggest hits, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. The new sure-to-hit track features lyrics sung entirely in French by both Kylie and Jenifer and incorporates the famous “la la la” refrain from Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, which reached #1 in 40 countries in 2001.
Throughout her career, Minogue has been known for reinventing herself in fashion and music. She is described as a style icon and has been recognised with several honorific nicknames, most notably the "Princess of Pop". Minogue is also recognised as the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time. In 2008, Kylie received one of France’s highest cultural awards when she was made a Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) for her contribution to French culture and for her overall love of the country. “Princess of pop, uncontested queen of the dance floors, you are a sort of Midas of the international music scene who turns everything she touches into gold, from records to micro-shorts,” said Christine Albanel, the French cultural minister at the time, when presenting the award to Kylie in Paris.
France wasn’t the only country where the song hit #1. Australia, Britain, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand all boosted the duet to the #1 spot. On Oublie le Reste, which in English means “we forget the rest”, continues Kylie’s long association with France where her music has generated twenty-four Top 40 hits, including 10 Top Ten singles and now, a chart-topping #1 single.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how A New French Single Hits #1! Ready to jam out to the newest Kylie Minogue track and understand her lyrics en Français? Our native instructors and culturally immersive classes will allow you to dive deep into the French language and improve your entire listening experience. Click below to learn more!
The Expansion of French Language Classes
Montreal offers an expansion to French education with multiple budget increases to help more people learn French.
In a new proposal by the immigration ministry of Montreal, $70.3 million will be added to the existing funding for French instruction within the ministry, bringing the total to $170 million annually. Access to the courses will be expanded to include immigrants who have been in Canada longer than 5 years.
Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette announced as well that the weekly allowance offered participants in full-time French courses will be increased to $185 from $141. And part-time participants, who received no allowance, will now receive $15 for each day of training.
Child and disability care allowances for part-time participants also rise to $9 a day from $7. The expansion of the classes will see an additional 80 French teachers hired, an increase of 17%. The additional funding is hopes to create 300 extra French-class spaces for immigrants.
The province also hopes to reach an additional 4,500 immigrants annually through the expansion and contribute to the full-time French instruction of 17,500 a year. Stéphane Forget, head of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, said he believed the measures will “permit a more rapid and easier integration of immigrant workers into businesses in all the regions of Quebec.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how Montreal is implementing The Expansion of French Language Classes! Looking to improve your own French proficiency? Our native instructors and culturally immersive classes are sure to put you on the path to fluency faster than you may have ever thought possible. Click below to learn more!
French Day of Music
A collaboration between Egyptian and French musicians for a government sponsored musical on the longest day of the year? Sign us up!
The French Institute in Egypt will hold the 2019 edition of the Music Day at Al Azhar Park on June 20th. However, if you’re looking for a lineup, you may be out of luck. The Egyptian and French artists that will partake in the festival are usually discovered on that day.
This year's edition will focus on Rai and its late iconic performer Rashid Taha while featuring a unique variety of artists including the Egyptian musical band El-dor el-Awal (First floor), French - Algerian singer Soufiane Saidi and French Mazzleda team. The closing set will be performed by DJ Countess.
Music Day is an annual music celebration that takes place on June 21 where citizens of some cities are allowed and encouraged to play music outside in their neighborhoods or in public spaces such as parks. Many free concerts are also organized, where musicians perform for fun as there is no payment involved.
Organizers ensured that Music Day takes place on the day of the summer solstice and was originated in Paris in 1982 by French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, and Maurice Fleuret, and since then, it has been celebrated in 120 countries around the world.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the French Day of Music! Want to hear some of our favorite French hits? Listen to the official JP Linguistics Spotify playlist below!
The French LGBTQ+ Reproductive Rights Debate
Women of all persuasions will soon share the same reproductive rights previously guaranteed only for those in heterosexual couples.
France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced to the National Assembly on Wednesday that by the end of September that Parliament will be reviewing a bill that will include an extension of medically assisted reproduction for all women, including those who are single and lesbian couples which was one of President Emmanuel Macron’s main campaign promises. The prime minister said that the bill was ready, but the content of it was still to be made public.
Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet spoke to French radio France Inter about the 3 options being considered: "Either we extend the current legal regime to homosexual couples and single women or we create a special status for all children born from IVF with a third donor or we create a special status only for female couples and single women."
Another major point of debate will be the children's access to their origins, thus allowing all French citizens access to records about how, when, and where they were conceived. The details of this discussion are still under wraps, but should the bill pass, it will be a milestone for the fight for reproductive rights transparency.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about The French LGBTQ+ Reproductive Rights Debate! What are your thoughts on this new bill? Join the conversation below!
Budget Friendly Luxury French Flights
Coach is cramped. Treat yourself and upgrade your flight without breaking the bank.
Looking to take a luxury trip to France this summer without breaking the budget? If you’re willing to depart from New York City, you’re in luck! La Compagnie has announced round-trip flights from New York to Paris for just $1,000 on their business-class only fleet.
The airline launched in 2014 as a business-only option for those making the trip across the Atlantic and haven’t stopped innovating since. In September 2017, the airline announced that it was offering all-you-can-fly passes for its Newark to Paris route, costing $40,000 per year. In 2018, La Compagnie relocated its Paris operations from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Orly Airport and announced a new seasonal service to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport from Newark. Most recently, in May 2019, the airline took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo which has caused quite a conversation in the airline industry.
Why the excitement about this jet? For starters, every seat on board becomes a fully lie-flat bed and free and unlimited Wi-Fi for all passengers. The deal also includes lounge access at the airports on either side, two checked bags, wine and champagne on board, noise canceling in-flight headsets, and, best of all, a Maison Kayser croissant in your sea upon arrival.
Not ready to pull the trigger just yet? Be sure to check in on their official site for more promotions!
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about Budget Friendly Luxury French Flights! Want to make sure you’re prepared to experience the culture of France when you arrive? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes will have you conversing in French in no time! Click below to learn more.
The Trouble with Teknivals
Turns out you can party too hard.
Festival-goers at an illegal rave in France have been taken to hospital after contracting hypothermia after an unexpected snow storm hit the unauthorized hill top festival at a military site in Creuse over the weekend. Hundreds of survival blankets were handed out to attendees by rescuers, with many people receiving treatment on site.
Teknival is in its 26th year and only reveals the location of each installment at the last minute. It’s estimated that 10,000 people attended this year’s edition with only 500-600 staying until the end after temperatures plummeted to nearly 20 degrees F. The festival was further dampened by more than 100 police officers made a number of seizures of drugs including cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine.
Currently French law permits free parties with 500 people or under (subject to no noise complaints), and while Prefets generally refuse the applications now required for free parties with over 500 people, through constant negotiations with the Ministry of Interior since the August 2002 teknival on the French/Italian frontier at Col de l’Arches where sound crews set up rigs inside the Italian border facing the party goers in France, the French Government have reluctantly allowed up to three large teknivals each year, even though they are technically unauthorized events.
Teknivals also take place outside legal festivals such as Printemps de Bourges, Transmusicales in Rennes or Borealis in Montpellier. Teknival negotiators deal directly with the Ministry of Interior, not the Ministry of Culture (with whom the commercial ventures seeking official status must deal) indicating that they are largely not cultural but security concerns.
We hope you’ve enjoyed The Trouble with Teknivals! What are your thoughts on these giant free festivals? Should the government allow them to continue, or are they simply too much of a public health risk? Join the conversation below!
A Brief History of The French Open
There’s more to the story than red courts.
In America, the U.S. Open brings out the best in tennis talent, however we often forget that just 10 years after the first event that across the world, a tournament that holds equal prestige would begin.
The French Open is an annual tennis tournament held over two weeks in May and June. Established in 1891, The French Open has been played since 1928 on outdoor red clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France and is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments played each year.
The first winner of the Championship was the British player H. Briggs who was a member of Club Stade Français which entitled him to compete. French players were dominant in the early stages of the tournament, in particular Max Decugis, who won eight titles before the outbreak of the First World War.[10] Once the open became viable to international challengers in 1925, France's victory in the 1927 Davis Cup increased interest in the tournament and required a new stadium to be built.
Jack Crawford's victory in 1933 was the 1st time a foreign player had won the tournament since 1891. Following his victory, no French players won the title up until 1940, when the tournament was suspended following the outbreak of the WW2, though it was held unofficially under the name: Tournoi de France. Marcel Bernard won the first event after the end of the war in 1946; he was the only Frenchman to win the event before the advent of the Open era in 1968.
No one player dominated the event during this period until in 1968, when professional players were allowed to compete with amateurs as an official “open.” Previously only amateurs could compete in the Grand Slam tournaments.
Australian Ken Rosewall, was the first Grand Slam tournament to be played in the Open era. Michael Chang later became the youngest man to win the French Open when he beat Stefan Edberg in 1989. Prolific tennis phenom, Rafael Nadal won his first open in 2005 and held a streak until 2008. After losing to Robin Söderling in 2009, he regained his title from 2011 - 2014 and was defeated in 2015 by Novak Djokovic.
2005 marked Rafael Nadal's first French Open; he won four consecutive titles from 2005 - 2008. Nadal was beaten in 2009 tournament by Robin Söderling but regained the title in 2010 and defended his crowns in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. In the 2015 event, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Novak Djokovic.
As we move into 2019, Nadal plans to continue his streak starting in 2017 to continue building on his 11 championship wins. This year’s French Open will take place May 20–Jun 9, 2019 and can be streamed via the EuroSport website.
We hope you’ve enjoyed A Brief History of The French Open! Are you looking forward to watching the open in its native language this year? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes are sure to help you celebrate with every winning announcement! Click below to learn more.
Debating The Reconstruction of Notre Dame
Can the famed cathedral be rebuilt by the 2024 Paris Olympics?
French lawmakers on are currently debating a highly controversial law for restoring Notre-Dame within 5 years. The cathedral was nearly destroyed in a fire that broke out in the cathedral in April, and French President Emmanuel Macron has set a target for the restoration to be finished by the time Paris hosts the Olympics in 2024.
The surrounding controversy is that the proposal would involve removing provisions protecting the ancient structure. Nearly one billion euros has been donated, and experts believe believe the total bill will come to between 6-700 million euros. This begs to question what will happen to leftover money? France's Observatory for Religious Heritage has found that there are between 40,000 & 60,000 churches and chapels in France with 5,000 in poor condition.
This law, should it be passed, will create a public body to oversee and carry out the work but grants the government power to override regulations on planning. Notre-Dame has become a world renowned cathedral as it has survived the peaks and valleys of the sometimes turbulent French history since construction began in the mid-12th century.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how the French government is Debating The Reconstruction of Notre Dame! What are your thoughts on the new bill? Join the conversation below.
Barreling Across The Atlantic
And you thought Niagara Falls was the it-place for aquatic barrel rides.
Some people enjoy the slower pace of boat travel compared to air travel. However, one French man in particular has decided to take a very primitive approach to cross the Atlantic.
Photo: Facebook - Jean-Jacques Savin
Jean-Jacques Savin set sail from the Canary Islands this past December in what appears to be something straight out of a cartoon - a barrel made of resin-coated plywood. The measurements worked out to 10 feet long and 6.8 feet across.
The 71 year old spent the first 4 months of 2019 inside his barrel, traveling at about 2 mph as he relied entirely on the ocean current to guide his journey with a bit of assistance from JCOMMOPS, an international marine observatory, which provided him with markers to drop off at various parts of the sea to help study ocean currents.
His epic voyage lasted 128 days, and he posted updates via social media to keep interested viewers in the loop about his adventures. He also was sure to bring treats for the various holidays he would miss celebrating on land including a bottle of Sauternes white wine and a block of foie gras for New Year's Eve.
As far as his return track to France? As one may think, he has opted for a simple plane ride to his homeland.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning how one Frenchman had the adventure of a lifetime Barreling Across The Atlantic! Would you be willing to take on a journey like the one Savin completed? Join the conversation below!
Making French Mandatory
A fight for linguistic dominance is emerging in Ghana, and French’s future in the country is at stake.
Since achieving it’s independence from the British in 1957, Ghana has had strong ties to the English language, and most of it’s citizens who’ve been through some level of formal education speak English alongside their regional language. However, Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo is now actively campaigning for Ghanaians to also learn French and one day make it the country’s official second language.
Akufo-Addo descends from a Ghanaian political aristocracy with long ties to Britain and was partly educated in England from a young age, but he also speaks French fluently which has lead him to push for French to become a requirement for high school students and in a 2018 speech which was given entirely in French.
Akufo-Addo’s support for French comes as France’s president Emmanuel Macron is also making a soft power push to raise the status of French across Africa, starting with former French colonies. In March, he stated, “As France represents only a fraction of the active French speakers, the country knows the fate of French language is not its burden alone to carry.”
While it may be obvious that the push for French in Ghana has a lot to do with the president’s personal affinity for the language, there is good reason for increasing the number of Ghanaians who can speak French. All of Ghana’s immediate neighbors use French as their official language and in the wider Ecowas regional block, eight out of 15 member countries are Francophone. A “bilingual Ghana”, strategically positioned, could stand to benefit economically from ever closer ties with her neighbors.
In recent time, teen students in Ghana have had to take a French language exam as part of a national exam that allows students to progress to high school but has failed to translate into a considerable number of citizens being able to communicate in French fluently. There is also the social aspect that is tied in with the history of colonialism in Africa., However recently, the reservations have not been about French, but instead about Mandarin and China’s increasing economic and political influence as countries including Kenya, Uganda and South Africa are all introducing Mandarin into their schools’ curriculum.
Last, there is the issue of local languages being lost forever. It is estimated that at least a dozen Ghanaian languages have been lost over the past century and about a dozen more have less than 1,000 speakers. While almost a third of Ghana’s indigenous languages have less than 20,000 speakers and rapid urbanization and global influence may mean the languages risk extinction, it will be up to the keepers of these languages to document them to allow them to continue to flourish alongside whichever foreign language may be introduced to the formal schooling system.
Revolutionary Art & Free Bitcoins
Solve a puzzle and win a crypto prize, all in the name of l’art.
A Paris based street artist has created a crypto-inspired masterpiece that has quite the hidden gift for those smart enough to find it.
Pascal Boyart has hidden $1,000 worth of Bitcoin inside a new mural in Paris. The big catch is that it’s location is undisclosed. Inspired by the famous Eugène Delacroix artwork “La Liberté guidant le peuple” (Liberty leading the people) from the 19th century, Boyart pays homage to the Gilet Jaunes, or Yellow Jackets (the French protest movement fighting for reprieve from an ever-increasing cost of living and what has been described as indifference of the current leader of France, Emmanuel Macron.
Photo: L’Express
Boyart posted to Reddit stating that in order “to solve the puzzle you must be in front of the mural,” Foreigners need not fear as he has stated that possible to solve “part” of it even if you aren’t in France.
This piece is the latest in a series of prominent Bitcoin-infused artworks from Boyart, who has said that he plans to create a new mural every six months while using BTC donations to fund his work.
Thinking of getting in on the BTC cash grab? You can track the status of the bounty through the Bitcoin address found here. As of now, the prize has yet to be claimed.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning how Boyart is creating thought provoking art while providing a monetary incentive with Revolutionary Art & Free Bitcoins! Planning to solve the puzzle yourself? Before you head to France, be sure to check out our culturally immersive group classes and private lessons to make your Bitcoin hunt as smooth as possible. Click below to learn more!
Wrangling With French Wine Consumption
Controversial new guidelines for how much, or little, alcohol one should consume in the country of vin rouge.
France has one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Europe largely attributed to wine (with just over 50% of the country’s total alcohol consumption). This past Monday, the public health agency and the National Institute of Cancer (INCa) launched a national campaign, with recommendations for the maximum daily intake of alcohol of two glasses per day on non consecutive days. Currently, alcohol is the second-biggest cause for preventable deaths in France after tobacco, killing over 40,000 people each year.
Previously, the daily limit had been set at 2 glasses per day for women and 3 glasses per day for men.
France’s relationship with alcohol has been a long embroiled one as the first-ever campaign to try to get the French to reduce their alcohol consumption in the mid-1950s and encouraged the French to “drink less than a liter of alcohol per meal.” Oddly enough, it wasn’t until 1956 that France banned the serving of alcohol to children under the age of 14 in the school canteens. Prior to that, school children had the right to drink half a liter of wine, cider or beer with their meals. It was only in 1981 that France implemented a total alcohol ban in the country’s schools.
It is safe to say, however, that this recommendation is not going over well with everyone as even France’s Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume suggested that wine “ isn’t like other alcohols” and rarely the cause of binge drinking amongst the youth. “Alcohol addiction is a real problem, notably among young people with binge drinking and so on,” Guillaume said, blaming the problem rather on hard liquor.
French President Emmanuel Macron similarly found himself a target of criticism last year after telling journalists that he drinks wine with both lunch and dinner and has announced that he had no plans to tighten the laws on alcohol advertising during his presidency.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how the public health agency and the National Institute of Cancer are Wrangling With French Wine Consumption. What are your thoughts on these new recommendations? Join the conversation below!
The Newest Language Learning App
Connect and learn 8 Romance languages at once, all from your phone!
The French Ministry of Culture has just launched its a brand new application called ‘‘Romanica’‘ that features 8 Romance languages on all mobile devices. The theme of the app includes greetings, time, travel and arts, and the central aspect of the game teaches that learning doesn’t have to be a daunting task as the languages are not very different.
The French minister of culture, Franck Riester stated that “This game is a way of bringing together languages and cultures…(&) shows everything that unites us.” Currently, the app is available for free on download platforms and partnership is expected to be formed between the game producers and the French Ministry of National Education. This would allow Romanica to be used in schools for learning languages thus making the languages more accessible to students earlier in life.
The initiative was praised by the Romanian Ambassador to France who welcomed this interest in languages via by mobile technology.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about The Newest Language Learning App! Looking to hone your linguistic skills? Our culturally immersive group classes and private lessons will put you on the path to fluency faster than you may think! Click below to learn more.
New French Feminine Lingo To Learn
New French words to finally reflect the number of women in the workplace.
The French language is set to undergo quite the transformation after the council charged with safeguarding the French language abandoned it’s opposition to the feminization of job titles.
The Academie Francaise, or “French Academy,” has declared in a new report that the 36-member body saw “no obstacle in principle” to feminine versions of French words for professional titles and that they were open to “all developments in the language aimed at recognizing the place women have in society today.”
The French Academy was established in 1635 under Louis XIII and hasn’t made any decisions regarding the matter since 2014, when it ruled that the mayor of Paris was guilty of crimes against grammar by championing a gender-neutral version of her job title. While feminine versions of job titles, although technically unofficial, are already used widely in France, and several French-speaking countries such as Canada have already embraced feminizing nouns when appropriate.
Unfortunately the proposal was not welcome news for many French language purists. MP Julien Aubert recently tweeted that "For the first time in its history, language was reshaped under the pressure of politicians and lobbies, and the Academie Francaise eventually surrendered.” While the ultimate fate of these linguistic changes are still to be determined, the cultural impact will be certain.
Looking to avoid as much confusion as possible in your French linguistics journey? Our native instructors and immersive group classes can help you make sure you are up to to date on all of the new lingo! Click below to learn more.
Financing French Food
You’ve heard of Farm-to-Table, now get ready for “field-to-fork.”
France’s agriculture minister sought to reassure households that food shopping bills would not rise dramatically as an increase in minimum food prices aimed at raising farmers’ incomes came into effect on Friday.
The government had halted the measure in December in the midst of “yellow vest” protests over high living costs. Didier Guillaume, the country’s agriculture minister, noted that prices of goods sold in supermarkets at a discount ( including Nutella, Coca-Cola) would increase a meager 5%. This all comes part of the “field-to-fork” bill introduced by President Emmanuel Macron to win support among farmers regarding their concerns of being hit by low margins and ending up the victims of retail price wars.
Michel-Edouard Leclerc, CEO of supermarket chain Leclerc, has branded the food price increases a “scam” and said farmers would not see higher prices as the chain typically makes a margin of 30-40 percent on farmers’ products.
The new legislation includes a 10% increase in the price floor for food products and curbs promotional offers so that retailers cannot discount products by more than 34% of their value which is said to bring the average household shopping bill to increase by anywhere from 50 cents to 3 euros a month.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning how customers will be Financing French Food! Do you think this bill is a good measure to protect farmers? Join the conversation below!
What You Need to Know About French Dual Citizenship
You can immigrate to France without fear of losing your stars and stripes.
It only takes one trip to France to see how so many have fallen in love with everything encompassed within it’s boarders. From Paris to Bordeaux, there is truly something for every tourist to enjoy - sometimes so much that one may wish to spend more than just 30 days. If you’re American and wish to also have French citizenship, you are in luck as it's possible to live in both by obtaining dual citizenship.
If a person is born in France to at least one French parent, he automatically gains citizenship at birth; otherwise, those born in France to foreign parents have the option of obtaining citizenship at birth or later in life. Those that have lived and worked in France for 5 years, or those who have been married to a French citizen for more than three years, can apply for naturalization. Refugees, former French military workers and people who come from a country where French is the official language are all eligible to apply immediately for French citizenship.
A word of warning, however, is that submitting an application can be a daunting and challenging process, and it is crucial to have the correct documentation available including: a valid birth certificate, proof of address, identification, evidence of employment & residence in France, and proof of marital status to name a few. As far as the wait time goes, the entire process can take up to 2 years once the official application has been submitted (the perfect time to start brushing up on your French). In general, the French are much stricter than Americans when it comes to fluency in an applicant's second language and are usually interviewed at least once in French to demonstrate a full working proficiency of the language.
If you’re worried that your newfound citizenship may put your U.S. citizenship in jeopardy, fear not! As of now, no American will forfeit citizenship by gaining citizenship in another country.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about What You Need to Know About French Dual Citizenship! Ready to brush up on your French so that your fluent for your interview? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes are sure to have you covered. Click below to learn more!