Quoi de neuf: BONNES FETES, "Foux du Fafa" Grammar Point, and More

Quoi de neuf / Infolettre

Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année

Tous nos meilleurs voeux pour une bonne et heureuse année 2015, from all of us at the Alliance Française. This has been an eventful year for French-connected events in Portland. Thanks to our region's very engaged and active Francophile public, Oregon's Alliance Française remains the 8th largest in the United States with close to 2,000 student enrollments and 6,300 e-newsletter readers. Merci to all for an exceptional year and bonnes fêtes de fin d'année.

Grammar via "Foux du fafa"

The "Foux du fafa" skit by Flight of the Conchords is known to many Francophiles. It's an amusing spoof of the 196 baguette

0s in France and at the same time, a celebration of the language. Click here to enjoy an online version (just over two minutes) that has subtitles. Note, at the end of clip, a character makes a grammar mistake that we'd recommend our students avoid - the actress says, "Parlez-vous le français?" Click here to review the mistake she made, and related grammar points. Want to know more? Come take a class with us.

French Classes in the New Year

The Alliance's Winter term, beginning the week of January 5, offers close to 50 classes at all levels, for adults, as well as several classes for children. Accents

Alliance classes are small; some classes will have as few as 5 students, others will max out at 10. Classes are held in the daytime, evenings and weekends - check the website listings and call 503.223.8388 if you need assistance in determining the right class for you. The Alliance also offers Saturday morning and weekday afternoon classes for children by age group and level, for Anglophones and for children with previous immersion backgrounds. Visit the website for those offerings as well as the popular Parent-Child class for even younger students.

Escadrille Lafayette Memorial in the News

Alliance Française de Portland member and student Merrill McPeak is the Chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission which

oversees American cemeteries, military memorials and monuments where American armed forces have served abroad. On Dec. 2, the newspaper Le Parisien reported on the signing of an agreement with the French Ministry of Defense, whereby the French have committed 300,000 euros for the maintenance of the Escadrille Lafayette memorial to the American aviators who lost their lives in France early in WWI. Click here for the Le Parisien article; we've added vocabulary at the bottom of the page, to aid with reading comprehension. The public is encouraged to visit the memorial in Marnes-la-Coquette, just 8 miles from the center of Paris.

Culture Clip: Cyprien

Cyprien Iov is a 25 year-0ld blogger and humorist from Nice who has built up a large following on Youtube (6 million subscribers). Learners of French can give their listening comprehension a very good work-out by watching h

is 4-minute video entitled Les vieux et la technologie (click here), in which he lovingly and humorously mocks his parents and grandfather for their attempts to use and understand computers and cell phones. Even if the speed of delivery is fast, the visual contexts and occasional on-screen text will help in comprehension. Challenged? Watch it a couple times over; each time you'll understand more. Merci to Alliance teachers Francine and Akissi for circulating the link.

Dates to Remember

Dec. 17: Meriem's Going-Away Party at Cerulean Wine Bar & Bistro

Jan. 5: The Winter Term Begins

Jan. 23: Boating in France

Feb. 25: French Night at the Blazers

Apr. 25: Annual SOIREE GALA at the Multnomah Athletic Club

Quick Web Links

Enrolling now

for the Alliance's

Winter (Jan-March) term.

Conversation

Groups

Some are hosted by Alliance staff, board members or other volunteers. Drop-ins welcome; membership is encouraged but not required.

NW, N, or Central

St Honoré on NW Thurman on

Wed., 6pm, Dec. 17

C'est Si Bon on NE 7th on Tuesdays @ 6pm

Philippe's Bread on N. Williams on Sat., Jan. 3. for B2/C1 levels (advanced, fluent)

SE Portland

At Chez Machin, Mon., Jan. 12, at 7p.m.

At Vie de Bohème weekly on Sundays, 4-5:30 p.m.

Vancouver

At Gustav's in Vancouver, Tues., Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m.

In-Kind Sponsors

Perrier

Holiday Yule Logs, Entertainment and More

Slate Magazine and Yule Logs: Click here for a fascinating article about the seasonal competition in France to create tantalizing and unique, contemporary versions of the traditional yule log. Readers will be very impressed by the amazing photos of France's top bûches de Noël, in the article which is headlined, "These Redesigns of a French Christmas Dessert Will Make You Salivate." The photo here at left is courtesy of St Honoré Boulangerie, which offers three flavors of bûches this season.

Highlights of the Canals and Rivers of France: Slated for January 23, this presentation has just 10 seats left. Click here for more information and reserve online.

Jet Black Pearl : Jet Black Pearl will play at Vie de Bohème on Sunday, December 28 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Called the "World Wild Woman of the Accordion," the trilingual performer from Amsterdam has performed on more than a thousand stages in Europe and the US; in Portland she'll sing about half her songs in French.

Chocolates for the Holidays: Alliance member Cristina Yen provides the perfect gifts in her new holiday collection of chocolates, including salted caramel with brandy & cardamom, candied ginger in dark chocolate, Gianduja - hazelnut cream combined with a blend of milk and dark chocolate, holiday spices (dark chocolate ganache with vanilla, mace, nutmeg and cinnamon). Click here for more info and consider popping by her workshop in Northwest, located at 915 NW 19th Ave., Suite B.

Proofreaders Sought: The editor is seeking volunteer proofreaders and link-testers for this bulletin. Must be a frequent email user with strong attention to detail and good mastery of English. French fluency is a plus but is not required. Email linda.witt@comcast.net.

French Night at the Blazers: Many bulletin readers are already snapping up Batum

their tickets for the 7th Annual French Night with the Blazers (at the Moda Center) set for Feb. 25. For each ticket sold through the group sales link (or directly with the Group Sales Manager) the Blazers make a donation to the Alliance education mission. And of course the big draw is that purchasers of the group-night tickets are invited to a post-game chat with Nic Batum. Click here for details and tickets. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

FAIS Open Houses: The French America FAIS 3line

n International school will have open houses as follows: 1) French American Lower School Open House on Thursday, January 15; 9:00 - 11:00 am, and 2) Gilkey International Middle School Info Session on Thursday, January 29; 6:30 - 8:00 pm. Visit www.faispdx.org for details.
Alliance holiday closures: The Alliance will be closed for the holidays, Dec. 24, 25, 26, & 31 of 2014, and Jan. 1, 2015.

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