Speak Frog

Apr.11
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Pericles, Prince of Tyr

Posted by in Blog, Language, London, News, Theatre

Cheek by Jowl is a multilingual theatre company with a truly international reach and three companies of actors  (UK, France and Russia). I first discovered them in France in 2004. The play was Othello, the place : the Theatre de l’Odéon at their ‘ateliers Berthier’ venue. I was so impressed by the level of acting and the vitality of the staging… and also struck by Nonso Anozie in the title role. He was extraordinary. Back then, I was a first year acting student at the Central School of Speech and Drama and had heard about Nonso, who had…read more

Nov.02
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Suzy Storck

Posted by in Blog, Language, Literature, London, News, Theatre

Suzy Storck, by French playwright Magali Mougel, directed by Jean-Pierre Baro, recently opened at the Gate Theatre. The play plunges us into the title characte’s life. Literally. Watch your step as you make your way through the toy-littered floor of Cecile Tremolière’s set. Performed by the magnetic Caoilfhinion Dunne, Suzy Storck carries the weight of the world. She lives with a man (Jonah Russel is utterly believable as Hans Vasilly Kruez) who doesn’t take ‘NO’ for an answer when she claims not to want children. He makes her give up her…read more

Mar.10
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Francophonie

Posted by in Language, London, Theatre

The French are so passionate about their language that they have made up a word  to describe the act of speaking it: ‘francophonie‘. Made up of the word ‘Franc’ (the ancient tribe that gave its name to modern France) and the greek ‘phono’  (meaning ‘sound’ or ‘voice’), francophonie is a non-exclusive club open to any country or person who speaks French. As every year, London will join the French-speaking world in celebrating the week of francophonie. And on this occasion, we will be heading to the fourth edition of the International Improvisation Match on March 22nd in the beautiful Clapham Grand, just across from Clapham junction. Last…read more

Jun.14
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Haim – In The Light Of A Violin

Posted by in Blog, Language, London, Music, Theatre

Last night, I was lucky to see Haim – In The Light Of A Violin (or Haim – A La Lumiere d’un Violon, as it is known in French). The true story of violinist prodigy and Holocaust survivor Haïm Lipsky is written and directed with great sensibility by Gérald Garutti and performed in French with English surtitles in a new translation by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons, Atonement). The UK premiere opened last weekend at the gorgeous Coronet on Notting Hill Gate. This was the first great discovery of the evening. Built…read more

Mar.08
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Le Français dans tous ses états!

Posted by in Blog, Language, London, Theatre

Prepare to experience the French language in all its accents! Actors from France, Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland meet in a wild improvisation match to celebrate the week of the French Language. It’s hosted by the FBI, not the US secret services, but the friendlier French British Improvisation league, in the beautiful Clapham Grand, on March 16th at 7pm. If you don’t know much about improvisation, you can read about it here, in French: Né au Québec, ce genre théâtral se veut un mélange entre l’improvisation théâtrale et le hockey sur…read more

Language of the suburbs

Posted by in Blog, Language

Je viens de la banlieue: I come from the suburbs. In this song French slammer Grand Corps Malade celebrates his roots and the parisian suburbs. If we take Paris, a banlieue is technically any council that surrounds the city within the region of Ile de France. However banlieue has a rougher connotation to it and is often used in everyday language to refer to poorer suburbs. The ones that house the majority of Paris’, mostly muslim, migrant population. It has in a way become synonymous of ‘ghetto’. Funny how in…read more

Sep.25
1

Body and soul

Posted by in Language, Literature

Le bonheur est salutaire pour le corps, mais c’est le chagrin qui développe les forces de l’esprit. Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is sorrow that develops the powers of the mind -Marcel Proust in Le Temps Retrouvé

Sep.09
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Sep.02
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François means French

Posted by in Blog, History, Language

The newspaper L’Express ran an interesting series of summer articles about the history of the French language. In short: When the territory was still know as Gaul, a Celtic language was in place. After Julius Caesar conquered the land of Asterix, Latin imposed itself as the dominant language, slowly eradicating the initial Celtic culture whose traces are now only to be found in the language still spoken in Britanny: Breton. The Franks later took over from the Romans, but they didn’t impose their own Germanic language (although they contributed a lot of vocabulary) instead they blended…read more

Become fluent in 6 months

Posted by in Art, Blog, Language, Practice

Thanks to Mike (currently on the advanced course) for sharing this! If you want to learn fast, I will teach you  the essential grammar you need to speak French. Nothing less, nothing more. You will then start practising and building on what you have learnt. Follow Chris Lonsdale’s 5 principals and you will become fluent in 6 months. 1)  Focus on language content that is relevant to you: 2) Use your language to communicate from day 1! 3) Focus on the message that is delivered through the language 4) Physicalise the language. Be aware…read more

Jun.28
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Jun.20
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Love letter

Posted by in Art, Cinema, History, Language, Literature

Most of my students learn French because they have a French speaking partner. So, as the weekend begins, here is the ultimate French love letter. Je suis perdu, vois-tu, je suis noyé, inondé d’amour: ‘I am lost you see, I am drowned, flooded with love’… Romantic poet and playwright Alfred de Musset writes to his lover George Sand (aka Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin), another prominent 19th century writer. Their passionate and tumultuous relationship is also the subject of a 1999 film with Juliette Binoche: Les Enfants du Siècle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFwSYTLHEjE Baden, 1834 Voilà…read more

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