Blog

“J’ai longtemps fait’ (for a long time, I did) the 1,000 mile (1,630 km) round trip by car to our home in the UK every 8 weeks – ‘en partie’ (partly) to keep my insurance valid and ‘en partie’ to ‘faire des réserves de’ (stock up on) chicken noodles, marmite and peanut butter and to ‘remplir notre cave’ (replenish our […]

Our Spanish learners asked for my French blog to be translated in to Spanish.  Have a go at translating it back in to English and then check your answers on the French blog: La Montagne et Moi: Lève-tôt Es el momento de la vuelta al cole aquí en los Pirineos, y con ello llega el despertador […]

As I said in Part 1, ‘la confianza’ means both confidence and trust. The ‘trust’ issue on my last trip to Barcelona, came upon us unexpectedly.  Mi marido y yo (my husband and I) were leaving a bar, when the man sitting next to us spotted the logo on my husband’s work jacket. ‘Trabaja en Michelin?’ he asked.  A ‘larga conversación’ (long […]

‘La confianza’ means both ‘confidence’ and ‘trust’ in Spanish – both of which I found myself in great need of on my ‘viaje reciente’ (recent trip) to Barcelona.  It isn’t easy running a language business and finding out ‘soy un desastre para aprender’ (I am rubbish at learning) a new ‘idioma’ (language).   ‘Mi problema’ (my […]

La Montagne et moi; Année sabbatique ‘Un parfait inconnu’ (a perfect stranger) has just ‘porté plainte’ (filed a complaint) regarding my blog. The essence of their ‘mécontentement’ (dissatisfaction) is that there hasn’t been one for ‘un peu plus d’un an’ (just over a year). Je suis autant flattée qu’énervée (I am equally flattered and annoyed). It can’t possibly ‘faire un an’ (be a year) […]

La Manche et Moi – Le prix d’un café Public transport where I live ‘au fin fond de nulle part’ (in the back of beyond) is non-existant. The village train station closed ‘il y a des lustres’ (many moons ago) and the 150 inhabitants don’t ‘justifient’ (warrant) a bus service. I have no car at […]

So we’ve had the Montagne, then the Métro, but why the Manche et moi? I am not begging (faire la manche) – nor am I living by the sea (la Manche = the Channel) – but as I am going to be cross-channel commuting ‘dans l’immédiat’ (for the time being), it seems like a title […]

Jessica reading her blog – in case you don’t know how to pronounce some of the words. ‘Depuis bien des années‘ (for many years) I’ve squeezed myself in to my ‘combinaison’ (ski-suit), and braved ridicule (you have to SHOUT your weight out in the ski shop so that they can ‘régler‘ (adjust) the skis), sarcastic […]

If you have been thinking of learning a language but keep putting it off, join me as we overcome our fears ! Week by week, I will share my experiences as I join a class, find suitable resources and start to learn. It doesn’t matter which language you’ve decided to learn or improve, the process […]