Author Archives: Susan

Duras Retrospective – cinematic and personal

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Susan

To celebrate Marguerite Duras’ centennial, Lincoln Center is showing a retrospective of her films. It was also 45 years ago  last month that Lincoln Center presented the first of her films ever to be shown in America. The film was … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Perspectives, Films, French culture, French-American politics | Leave a comment

Has Wrong become Right?

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Susan

This is the Teachers’ Dilemma that’s been bothering me for years now: which form do I teach my students? Our grammar books give the definitions of to remember as: se rappeler and se souvenir de.  Current language has merged the … Continue reading →

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Word of the Month, August

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Susan

I love French verbs that have no direct English translations. We can tell what they mean, but they are so concise, we have no one-word equivalents: fragiliser, relativiser, positiver, responsabiliser. A weird one that’s not even in the dictionary: dérembourser! … Continue reading →

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Middle-agers: Study a Language !

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Susan

You must read the July 15, 2014 Opinion by William Alexander in the New York Times: “The benefits of failing at French” ” Last year researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Northwestern University in Illinois hypothesized that … Continue reading →

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Attention: Fans de Duras !

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Susan

La Voleuse, le film sur lequel je viens d’écrire va être retransmis une 4e fois en 2 mois ce vendredi, 18/7, à 3h30 du matin (c.à.d, jeudi après minuit). Une occasion de voir un film de Duras pas connu par … Continue reading →

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Perils of Mixing up “Tu” with “Vous”

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Susan

Carolyn V. sent the following wink at the perils of confusing Tu and Vous: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-og-bastile-vous-tu-20140711-htmlstory.html The dangers are serious! Already at 21, I made a peer feel that I was presumptuous when I said “tu” to a good friend of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Perspectives, French culture, French versus English, Language Tips, Only in France ! | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Duras’s ‘stolen’ movie

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Susan

Why did Marguerite Duras not get more credit for having written La Voleuse? TV5 Monde has broadcast the otherwise ordinary-looking 1966 black and white film 3 times recently without advertising or mentioning ahead that it’s a film by Duras. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Perspectives, Films, News from France | Leave a comment

Words of the month, July 3

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Susan

I love French verbs that have no direct English translations. We can tell what they mean, but they are so concise, we have no one-word equivalents: fragiliser, relativiser, positiver, responsabiliser. A weird one that’s not even in the dictionary: dérembourser! … Continue reading →

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New word: Europhobes

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Susan

Ta Da! New Feature of Back Bay Français: Language Tip of the Month! Two new French words have sprung from the recent victory of the Front National (far right) in the election for the European Parlement: “europhobes” et “eurosceptiques.” It … Continue reading →

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New French Words Bring French Alive

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Susan

La Semaine de la langue française et de la francophonie s’est passé en mars mais son action continue jusqu’en juin. So you can still check out the new vocabulary, play with the words, and add them to your own conversation. … Continue reading →

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