(Le) Touchdown!

I keep waiting until I have time to finish writing longer posts and meanwhile weeks go by and I panic because the blog looks so lifeless.  I did begin to post things on Facebook (bonjour mama DC) and Twitter (bonjourmamadc) but there are only so many things you can say in a tweet. So this will be short and sweet, but not as short and sweet as a tweet (sorry). 

Anyway, this is what I wanted to post:  I found a basic list of French vocabulary for what we Americans call Football (the Super Bowl, hand-held, helmet-wearing kind -- not the rest-of-the-world's oddly named game, mostly played with the foot.) 

[By the way, most of this list came from Foreign Language House - a site maintained by teachers where they post lots of awesome low-cost teaching materials;  they evidently made a cheat sheet in honor Sunday's big game]

français	anglais
le ballon	the ball
le terrain de sport	the field
la zone dʼen-but	end zone
le casque	the helmet
bloquer	to block
attraper	to catch
courir	to run
plaquer	to tackle
lancer	to throw
le stade	the stadium
le touchdown	touchdown
jouer	to play
lʼéquipe	the team
lʼarbitre	the referee
Le fan	The fan
Crowded	Bondé
Marquer	Score
Chicken wings	Aile de poulet

Pretty basic, but it's a start. Now let’s see what fun we can have in French with this.

Regarde, le stade est bondé!

Look the stadium is packed!

Il va marquer un touchdown!

He’s going to score a touchdown!

[Now, because, knowing my child, the naughtier and funnier the dialog the more likely we are to sustain it en francais]:

Arbitre, tu es nul! Qu’est ce que tu racontes?

Ref, you're an idiot! What are you talking about?

Qui va gagner le match? Ben, c’est evident – les 49ers (quadrant-neuf-ers?)

Who is going to win the game? It’s obvious – the 49ers!

-Quoi? Tu rigoles! Les Ravens vont gagner les doigts dans le nez!

-What? You can’t be serious!  The Ravens are going to win hands down!

And last but not least: 

Please pass the chicken wings!  

S’il te plait, passé-moi les ailes de poulet.

[Because in the end it's really about the food, n'est-ce pas?]

Happy Superbowl Dimanche!

P.S. If there are any French-speaking Superbowl fans out there (and for that matter, English-speaking-- I have no clue how to do game commentary) please correct my mistakes and/or help ADD to the dialog! Comment here or post something on Facebook – we will definitely need more words to shout out at the TV!

P.S.#2: let me know it this frequent use of italics annoys you. I read someone's blog lately and they used them a lot, but I really like it. However, I realize not everyone might. Let me know.

Bonjour Books!

I have French-language children's books for sale!

For now, I am only selling in person and at local markets, but I hope to make them available online, with shipping options for those of you farther afield soon. Scroll down for list of titles currently in stock. I also hope to offer many more titles soon, including some for Maman et Papa!

To browse and/or purchase, contact me at 240.383.9163 or via email: bonjourmamadc@gmail.com.   Also feel free to drop by my first official book sale on Sunday, January 13th in Bethesda:

French and English Children's Book Sale!

Sunday, January 13th

10am-4pm

Bethesda Women's Cooperative Market

7155 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814

(corner of Wisconsin and Willow, across from Starbucks)

I also have a large selection of English-language Usborne books -- beautifully written and illustrated books for children of all ages! The complete catalog can be viewed at:  www.zachsbookstore.com

I'll share more on what prompted me to try this in another post (it has to do with the Usborne books, Zach's allergy to libraries and obsession with Barnes and Noble, and my dependence on books for French language-learning at home). 

In the meantime, bonne lecture!

FRENCH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN (currently in stock):

TITRE	PRIX	TRANCHE D'AGE	EDITEUR	COLLECTION
Caillou: dans mon petit lit	$13.95	0-3 ans	Chouette	Caillou
A Table! Binou et M. Mou	$8.50	0-3 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Binou Tout Doux
Ou est mon ours?	$13.95	0-3 ans	Usborne	tout doux
Un caillou dans la soupe	$5.25	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	A pas de souris - lis et raconte
Des taches	$5.25	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	A pas de souris - lis et raconte
C'est un vrai zoo	$11.50	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Autrement dit
Atchoum	$7.50	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Binou
Stella, princesse de la nuit	$11.50	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Broche
Galette et ses amis fêtent Noël!	$8.50	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Galette
Bouge avec Galette!	$8.50	0-4 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Galette
Le train a vapeur	$36.95	0-4 ans	Usborne	JOUET/LIVRE
Caillou: ma boite a histoires	$13.95	3-6 ans	Chouette	Caillou
Caillou range ses jouets	$5.25	3-6 ans	Chouette	Caillou
Caillou et le bonhomme de neige	$5.25	3-6 ans	Chouette	Caillou
Alex et la belle sarah	$8.50	6-9 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Roman - A pas de loup
Alex et l'incroyable secret	$8.50	6-9 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Roman - A pas de loup
Lorina et le monstre de jalousie	$9.50	6-9 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Roman Rouge
Planete Terre	$9.50	6-9 ans	Usborne	Doc a Doc
Les dechets et recyclage	$9.50	6-9 ans	Usborne	Doc a Doc
Le soleil, la une et lesplanetes	$8.50	6-9 ans	Usborne	Doc a Doc
Les egyptiens	$9.50	6-9 ans	Usborne	Doc a Doc
Pourquoi faut-il manger?	$9.50	6-9 ans	Usborne	Doc a Doc
Le journal d'Alice - Big Bang	$15.95	9-11 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Grands romans
Nuit noir	$15.95	9-11 ans	Dominique et Compagnie	Grands romans
J'habille mes amies les danseuses	$11.50		Usborne	jeux educatifs/ stickers
Activites avec les chevaliers	$12.50		Usborne	jeux educatifs / stickers

French Storytime at the Cleveland Park Library

A few weeks ago I took Zach to a French story time at the Cleveland Park library in D.C. I had been meaning to try this one in particular because, at 4pm on Thursdays, it fits very well with our schedule. Most of the story times I am aware of in D.C. and MD (Alliance Française, Takoma Park Library) are on either weekday mornings when Zach has preschool or Saturday mornings, and in our house we're lucky if we can get out by noon on weekends.

The storyteller, a woman from Madagascar named Ms. Jackie, was very energetic and friendly. She began by reading a Mercer Mayer book, Il y a un alligator sous mon lit, and then sang a French version of “If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands: Si vous avez de la joie au coeur, tape les mains (tire ton oreille, touche ta tete, sauté gres haut, et cetera) which was also great for keeping the kids energized.

This was followed by another two or three stories (I forget the titles, but there was one about exploring the jungle, another about a little mouse who was looking for friends), interspersed with active songs like Savez-vous planter les choux. She would tell a story, then sing a song, go back to a story, etc. ending with La Ferme de mon Voisin for which she used big animal puppets to make it even more fun for the kids. 

After story time was over they played the French version of Disney's Brothers Bear. I didn’t time it but we must have been there for at least 1 hour, and if we’d stayed for the movie it would have been at least 2 hours. I’m not sure if they do the movie every time, but regardless, the whole experience highly exceeded my expectations for story time!

I would have preferred a bit more chance for Zach to engage and interact during the readings– there was very little speaking solicited from the kids. However, to be fair, the audience consisted mostly of toddlers and even some babies so if this is the typical crowd I think the one-sidedness was probably appropriate.  It was not as engaging as a class like Language Stars. Then again, it was FREE!

Instead of watching the film, I looked at the French book collection at the library. It was quite substantial – it looked to be about the size of the Bethesda library – maybe six shelves? And I definitely saw titles I hadn't seen at Bethesda library, so it was a refreshing change. 

Last but not least, the library does not charge for overdue books!  Let me say that again for all the other delinquent people like me (please tell me I'm not the only one) who can't manage to return library books on time and rack up fees: THERE ARE NO LATE CHARGES FOR BOOKS AT THE CLEVELAND PARK LIBRARY!  Despite confirmation of this from two library staff members, please double check for yourself as I haven't actually tested this yet as we are still within the due date. And I really don't plan to let them expire, but it is a relief to know that if something comes up I won't be racking up high fees because I have 20 books out at a time!

For storytime, and for the books, we will definitely be back.

Not stressing over little language "holidays"

We recently came back after spending a week at my Mom’s house.  Zach and I usually take a “holiday” from French when we visit because in order to get him to speak to me, I first need his attention, which is next to impossible at “Granny’s” house. There, I become virtually invisible: he sees only his doting grandmother who indulges his every whim from morning till night. They are inseparable, and even though she speaks a tiny bit of French (and helps me on occasion by asking him to teach her words), he is all about English on visits to Granny.

Until very recently, I would stress out over this, thinking that if I let more than a day or two go by without speaking French he would lose it all. Then at some point in the past year, I gave up trying to be their third wheel -- let alone in French -- and for the first time, just let it go altogether while we were there. When we returned to our daily French routines at home, I noticed the gaps in speaking didn’t seem to have been detrimental to Zach’s French, or at least not irrevocably.  He was a little rusty on a few words here and there, but overall retained what he knew despite not having spoken for several days.  In fact, I think we both felt more positive about French time for having had the rest.  

I suppose I’m learning that my work of bilingual parenting is ongoing, day after day, week after week, year after year.   I still try to maintain “discipline” while spending time with family members who do not speak the language, but I am also trying to remember to let us both relax and enjoy our time with them.   Because taking a break -- especially to spend low-stress time with people we love – doesn’t seem to hurt our language learning process. In fact, it helps us start fresh when we get back to our “regular” bilingual life. 

This visit drove that point home to me precisely because of how much more French we spoke than usual. My mom dislocated her shoulder in a horrible fall after the power (and heat) went out because of Hurricane Sandy. Already suffering from various health issues, my normally vibrant, funny, mother was so debilitated with pain that she really couldn’t engage with Zach. I spent much more time alone with him than usual, and we spoke more French. But I would have easily traded the language practice for an all-English visit with a healthy Granny!  Even if it meant it would set him back, which as I already learned, isn’t the case. 

Thankfully, my Mom is on the mend. But I am grateful for this humbling reminder not to sweat these gaps in language practice, especially when I’m tempted to interrupt quality time with family because we haven’t filled our quota of French for the day.