Speak Frog

Jul.14
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Happy Bastille Day!

Posted by in Blog

Aux armes, citoyens! Citizens take up arms! Formez vos bataillons! Form your battalions! Marchons, marchons! March, march! Qu’un sang impur… Let the impure blood… Abreuve nos sillons! Spill into our land! On July 14th 1848, the famous tragedy actress Rachel (see picture) sang La Marseillaise at the Comédie Française theatre, it was serious business. But in 1979, the bloody French anthem was covered by controversial Serge Gainsbourg and all of a sudden we sang to a different rhythm. Not only did Serge compose a reggae arrangement to accompany the well known lyrics, but he drastically shortened…read more

May.14
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We have moved!

Posted by in Blog, London

Speak Frog’s office is now at 144 Mare street in Hackney, just behind London Fields. It is conveniently located above of two bus stops (and a petrol station…), a stone’s throw from London fields train station (linking into Liverpool st) and a short bus ride away from Bethnal Green tube or Hackney Central overground. Book a trial class and come and visit!    

Mar.11
0

Tartuffe

Posted by in Blog, Humorous, Literature, London, Practice, Theatre

If you are looking to practice your French you could head to the French Institute and watch an original new staging of a classical French play. The French Institute’s theatre season En Scène! presents Molière’s Tartuffe in a new adaptation by actor Guillaume Baillart. Molière’s most performed play  has the double title of Tartuffe or the Impostor, it satirises self-interested hypocrisy and the power some of us hand over to gurus. Tartuffe is the name of the main character and the play made such an impression when it was first performed in 1664 that the term was quick to pass into everyday language. ‘Tartuffe’ is…read more

Nov.24
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I would like a glass of wine

Posted by in Blog, Cuisine, London

Je voudrais un verre de vin… You might find yourself forming that sentence as you come out of your French class and your head buzzes from all the things you just learnt. A nice glass of wine might be the answer to relax it all into place. We are lucky to have the lovely Winehouse just round the corner on Shacklewell lane. It’s definitely a welcome addition to the neighbourhood! Aleksic and Mortimer are wine importers specialised in artisan wines. They source their bottles from small domains, located mainly in France, and provide a…read more

Nov.03
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Made in France

Posted by in Blog, Humorous, London

Voilà! Festival, London’s French loving theatre and performance event has started with a bang! And next Friday, Nov 7th, it will welcome funny Frenchman Yacine Belhousse and his show Made in France which now comes to London after its success at this year’s Edinburgh festival. The show is in English and although it won’t directly help you with your own French language skills, it might put you in a good mood! Which in itself is useful to learning. See the logic at work here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naZjzuAPumE

Oct.16
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Voilà! London’s French theatre festival

Posted by in Blog

London’s Voila! festival is happening again at the end of the month. From October 30th to November 8th, the Cockpit will be hosting ten days of theatre, comedy, cabaret and gigs for lovers of all things French. On offer: bilingual shows merging British and French cultures, plays in French, stand-up, impro and an array of performances from London’s home-grown bicultural talent as well as from guests crossing the channel for the occasion. It could be a fun place to practice your French and mingle with London’s francophiles. Check out the program here!

Wakey wakey!

Posted by in Music

On se reveille! I hadn’t listened to Yelle’s loopy pop for a while. Not since Que veux-tu.  But I stumbled on her new album this morning on the online version of magazine Inrockuptibles. Complètement fou. Completely crazy.  It’s got a kick! It’s fun, if a bit manic. 🙂 Maybe what you need this Friday morning? Listen to it for free while it lasts. Bon weekend! http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcpN6ntPVsC1EY2xZItN9Xn3mk2vrzr1E

Sep.26
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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
0

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

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