Bonjour Bébé!

Week of May 27-June 2:  Ideas to help us all promote French language learning this week, including Washington, D.C. area French-language and cultural events for kids and families.  Please share any other ideas by commenting below or posting to Bonjour Mama's Facebook page!  Bonne semaine! (Scroll down to FRENCH THIS WEEK for the list )

I usually try to get posts out by Sunday night or latest Monday morning--- Désolée pour le retard!  

By way of explanation, I am in the middle of a move and still surrounded by unpacked boxes. In fact, for this week's post I had planned to do a little mini-glossary on homeowner terminology (asphalt slate, reverse polarity, drywall installation...). Riveting stuff;-)

But last night there was a comment on the Bonjour Mama Facebook page from a new mother requesting newborn terminology like "swaddle" and "burp".  So I was inspired to produce a little glossary of terms related to the nouveau-nés.

To come up with words, I reflected on my early days of motherhood and some of the first words I learned when Zach was a baby. 

I had decided to speak to Zach in French and began seeking out as much time as possible with French speakers.  I started attending an English-French conversation group when he was about two months old and distinctly remember learning the words for diaper (couche) and wipes (lingettes) and breastfeed (allaiter), my only really essential vocabulary then!

It's been more than five years since Zach was a newborn, so to jog my memory of the essentials I went on BabyCenter.Fr and Babiesrus.fr.  I wish I had done this back then as I would have known how to say so much more. Just by looking through the photos and descriptions of items you recognize you can acquire French vocabulary to describe everything in your nursery!

Actually, this exercise comes at a fitting time as I leave the place where I first became a mother, choosing at the last second to not part with way too many things from that amazing first year. Thank you to Sylvia for prompting this post and giving me reason to relive all the exciting moments you are going through now. Felicitations pour votre petit bout de chou!!!!

This list is limited so anyone please feel free to add more in the comments section! As always, if anyone notices errors or has alternative translations, please share!    

   

English	French
Nursing / Breastfeeding	Allaitement Allaiter, as in “est=ce que tu allaites?”
Breast pump	Tire-lait (m)
Nursing pillow	Coussin de maternité (m)
Nursing bra	Soutien gorge d’allaitment (m)
Formula (baby)	Lait maternisé (k)
To burp	Aider bebe a faire son rot
Bottle	Biberon (m)
At room temperature	À temperature ambiante
No-spill cup / Sippy cup (like Nuby brand)	Tasse anti-goutte / tasse à bec (f)
Bib -drool	Bavoir (m) -baver
Diaper -change the diaper	couche f) -changer la couche
Wipe	Lingette (f)
Diaper Rash	Érythème fessier / fesses rouges
Diaper bag	Sac à  langer (m)
Changing table	Table à langer (f)
Changing pad	Matelas à langer (m)
Onesie	Un body (m)
Baby carrier / Baby Bjorn	Porte-bebe  (m)
Baby Bath	Baignoire pour bebe (f)
Pacifier	Sucette / tétine (f)
Stroller	Poussette (f)
Carseat	Siege auto (m)
Pram	Landau (m)
Bassinet	Couffin (m)
Crib	Lit pour bébé (m)
Sleep sack	Gigoteuse/turbulette (f)
Swaddle	Emmailloter
Baby bouncer	Sauteur pour bébé (m)
Walker	Trotteur (m)
Baby swing	Balançoire bébé (m)
Rattle	Hochet (m)
Playpen	Parc (m)
Playmat & Activity Gym	Tapis d’eveil avec portique  d’actvité (m)

FRENCH THIS WEEK

At Home

Read: J'aime Dormir and J'aime Manger. They are trilingual (English-French-Spanish) touchy-feely books for tiny fingers and extremely cute (available on the Bookstore!). To this day, Zach likes to "read" his old baby books. Depending on the difficulty of the words, they can actually work quite well as early readers since there is so little text and the images and textures are so engaging. 

Play "This little piggy" in French. Lots of versions exist-- I found this one on word reference: 

Un petit cochon est allé au marché 
This little piggy went to market [A little piggy went to market]

Ce petit cochon est allé au marché,
This little piggy went to market [same as English]

Ce petit cochon à la maison est resté,
This little piggy stayed home [same as English]

Ce petit cochon a eu du rôti,
This little piggy had roast beef [roast meat]

Ce petit cochon n'en a pas eu mie,
This little piggy had none [at all]

Et ce petit cochon n'eut plus, pete-petit,
And this little piggy went wee-wee-wee [had nothing more to do "pete-petit"]

Qu'à s'en retourner chez lui.
All the way home [Except to go back home]

Really, you can make up anything with little fingers and toes. I remember Zach loving "This little piggy said 'Bonjour'! This little piggy said "Hola!"...(Guten Tag!, Hello!, Ni Hao!). I can't remember how I used to finish it but I just thought of a way: the last little piggy could say "Au Revoir!" and run all the way home!"

Plan a playdate with other French-speaking parents and kids!  If you are in the DC Metro area, join or suggest an event on Bonjour Mama’s facebook page, Le Petit Groupe Français, or Les Mamans Autour de DC!

Out and About

Saturday, June 1 

1:30pm - 3pm: Meet a French Astronaut at the Alliance Francaise!  Ages 10+ ($)

11am -4pm - Language Stars and Bonjour Mama will be at the Imagination Bethesda festival - stop by and say "Salut!"

11am-5pm - Fete du Lycée at the Lycée Rochambeau 

See the calendar for full view of events this week, including regularly scheduled events and storytimes. Looking for adult events en francais? Check the following calendars: 

Alliance Francaise DC

Maison de France

French American Chamber of Commerce

DC French Meetup Group