Saturday, August 24, 2013

I learned a new French word today:
 
 
espalier
 
 
meaning:
 
A tree or shrub that is trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall, often in a symmetrical pattern.
 
 
I think this is a beautiful word and definition.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

The Hummingbird

Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Hummingbirds open our eyes to the wonder of the world and inspire us to open our hearts to loved ones and friends. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and to savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.
 
Les légendes disent que les colibris flottant de temps, porter nos espoirs pour l'amour, de la joie et de célébration. Colibris ouvrir les yeux sur les merveilles du monde et de nous inciter à ouvrir nos cœurs à leurs proches et amis. Comme un colibri, nous aspirons à planer et de savourer chaque instant qui passe, embrasser tout ce que la vie a à offrir et à célébrer la joie de tous les jours. Grâce délicate du colibri nous rappelle que la vie est riche, la beauté est partout, chaque lien personnel a un sens et que le rire est la création de la vie plus douce.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Black Patent Leather Shoes

Ever since I saw the French phrase book yesterday I've been thinking about translating some of the poems I've written into French.  I forgot my poems ... I meant to bring them today and try that, but here is a title of one of my poems that I thought I would translate here.

Chaussures noires en cuir verni

Black patent leather shoes



More to come later!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

French Verse

I work in an academic library and today I noticed a new book that we have just received titled Understanding French Verse: A Guide for Singers.  I love French phrases; I think they are beautiful and I just wanted to share a few of them here:

Les jasmins de Mossoul les fleurs de l'oranger

The jasmines of Mosul, the orange blossom


Tu reclamais le Soir; il descend; le voici

You longed for Evening; it is falling; now

If I can have access to this book for awhile, I will post some more of these lovely lines.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Learning French

I've been thinking about learning the French language for a really long time.  Yesterday I found some nice CD's called Rush Hour French.  You listen to the tapes during your commute to work or running errands.  It seems to be a nice way to learn beginning French.  So far, I've learned the following:


Bonjour (Hello)
Oui (Yes)
Francais (French)
J em'appelle (My name is)
Enchantee (It's nice to meet you)
Merci (Thank you)
Merci beaucoup (Thank you very much)
De rien (You're welcome)
Tres bien (Very good)
D'ou venez-vous? (Where do you come from?)
Je viens de ... (I come from)

And I've also learned some of the numbers:

One (un)
Two (deux)
Three (trois)
Four (quatre)
Five (cinq)
Six (six)
Seven (sept)
Eight (huit)
Nine (neuf)
Ten (dix)

It's a beautiful language.  My Huguenot ancestors on my mother's side came from France to the United States to escape religious persecution.  When she was a young woman in school, my mother took French.  She said that she loved it.  I imagine at the time, the she didn't even know where her ancestors came from.  She just knew that she loved the French language and it came naturally to her.  Only after I began to research her father's side of the family, did she learn that her 5 times great grandfather came to America in the 1700's.

I created this blog because I wanted to somehow document my journey into learning the French language.  My goal is to try to post here often and to keep a record of what I'm learning.