L assaut du beffroi. Tackling the belfry

Transcription

1 frenchetc.org phone tutorial L assaut du beffroi skype tutorial Bonjour et bienvenue to FRENCH ETC. French As Is C est la tradition, dans le Nord de la France. Le Père Noël descend du beffroi avant Noël. Allons à Lille aujourd hui pour le voir descendre. It s the tradition in Northern France for Santa to slide down the town belfry before Christmas. Let s go to Lille today and see him slide down. In this worksheet 10 pages script translation Rudolph, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in French French Christmas traditions what s up with these bi-verbs in the passé composé, those that go either way, using être or avoir? practice on all of the above Visit us at frenchetc.org anne@frenchetc.org Tackling the belfry Le Français Tel Quel - French As Is View this video (copy paste) or listen to FRENCH ETC. audio Chanson. Rodolphe, le renne au nez rouge - Traduit par Anne Guével 2009 FRENCH ETC. Voyez Fonceur et Danseur et Sauteur et Friponne Comète, Cupidonne Tonnerre, Éclair, mais Vous souvenez-vous Du plus célèbre de tous? Rodolphe, le renne au nez rouge Avait un nez rutilant Et si vous l voyiez un jour Vous diriez qu il est luisant Et tous les autres rennes Toujours de lui se moquaient Ils ne le laissaient jamais Jouer à tous leurs jeux de rennes Rudolph, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Johnny Marks (1949?) You know Dasher and Dancer And Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid And Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall The most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer Had a very shiny nose And if you ever saw it You would even say it glows All of the other reindeer Used to laugh and call him names They never let poor Rudolph Join in any reindeer games. You can now give FRENCH ETC. as a gift for the holidays and get your French fan to receive weekly updates on French and France. membership/

2 Culture Capsule The celebration of Noël Christmas in French varies from region to region and from one family to another. However, I can single out three big moments most French families celebrate on Noël: le réveillon and its meal, la messe de minuit, le matin de noël. First, let s start by saying the Noël is definitely a family gathering, and a national holiday. The Christmas spirit starts with the lighting of the city lights. It has become a big deal in Paris. Every year, a famous star une Marraine or un Parrain - switches on the Champs-Elysées Avenue Christmas Lights in Paris. The marchés de Noël are becoming more and more popular. Actually, in Northern and Eastern France, la saint Nicolas (December 6) Saint Nick is still going strong. People also enjoy strolling along the store window displays and sipping vin chaud to warm themselves up. However, chore celebrations really tart on December 24 for everyone. le réveillon The origin the word réveillon is unknown. It seems that it should come from réveil (wakening), but there is no certainty of that etymology. France celebrates only two réveillons, a special word for these two party evenings: le réveillon de Noël Christmas eve, and le réveillon du nouvel an new year s eve. People party and eat a lot, on and off for hours. Often, during the appetizer apéro, children will go and shine their best soulier shoe and display it in front of the fireplace or more and more around the Christmas tree, so Santa can deliver the presents. The fireplace used to be more important than the tree in France. A log was placed in the hearth and according to the region s belief, was to burn or not to burn as a sign of good fortune. Nowadays, the Yule log symbolizes this wooden log from the ancient times.

3 le repas du réveillon Here again, traditions vary with each family, and each region. However, the réveillon meal is unmistakably the most important meal of the year, and it s on Dec. 24, not Dec 25. It starts at around 8 pm with an apéro. People adults and children alike gather around the living room to enjoy finger food and fancy drink. Eggnog called lait de poule is not really part of a traditional French menu. Verrines - small glasses with three layers of delicious colorful foods are the rage these days. Caviar and saumon fumé, when you can afford it, are also part of your ideal French Christmas réveillon apéro. Truffles are rarer, but well appreciated. Oysters often begin the festivities. You get them fresh at the local store, shuck them with your guests as a convivial activity, and let them sit for an hour before you eat them. They are traditionally served with a light vinegar and shallot sauce. Then comes the duck or goose liver foie gras and white sausage boudin blanc. It is followed by the queen of the meal, la reine du repas, la dinde the turkey, although other popular entrees may include goose and wild boar. The turkey is often served with a chestnut stuffing. For dessert, there is the traditional bûche de noël a Christmas Yule log cake. It s a sponge cake rolled to form a cylinder stuffed with chocolate or mocha cream. It symbolizes the wooden log that used to burn in the hearth of European families at the beginning of the 20 th century as part of the Twelve Days of Christmas or Winter Solstice celebrations. la messe de minuit Believers display a home crèche, a Nativity scene with great creativity. The crèche can be really basic, made out of paper figurines. Santons, terracotta figurines from the South of France are becoming more and more popular to add to home crèches. The Nativity scene rests at the bottom of the Christmas tree or in front of the fireplace. Then, they go to la messe de minuit, to celebrate the birth of Jesus-Christ. La messe de minuit rarely happens at midnight anymore. It is often planned more friendlily between 7 and 10 that night. Sometimes, the church has a live crèche, for viewers delights. le matin de Noël On the morning of Christmas, children waken to find presents in their soulier a shoe, traditionally a clog gathered in front of the fireplace or around the Christmas tree. Note that reindeer aren t really part of the French Christmas folklore. Le père Noël carries a hotte a back sack and walks down chimneys on foot. In Alsace, Le père Noël, or Saint Nicolas in all of Northern France and Europe, only goes to nice children s homes. His partner, le père fouettard the whipping father goes around and distributes whippings to naughty children. After having unwrapped déballé the presents, families visit one another and celebrate with yet another meal, or more quietly.

4 Vocabulary in context Écoutez la baladodiffusion /frenchetc.org/ et répétez m/f festif/ve about the holidays, happy m beffroi belfry bell and clock tower ø pris d assaut tackled m Père Noël Santa Claus m lutin elf m bonhomme nice fellow ø en rappel abseiling ø malgré despite ø nombreux numerous m événement event

5 text Écoutez la baladodiffusion /frenchetc.org/ et répétez While the next paragraph looks a bit choppy. we have captured the reality of the pauses and repetition inherent in unrehearsed speech. L assaut du beffroi text translation Listen to the Podcast /frenchetc.org/ and repeat While the next paragraph looks a bit choppy. we have attempted to capture the reality of the pauses and repetition inherent in unrehearsed speech. Tackling the Belfry Bon et c est l image festive du weekend: le beffroi de la chambre de commerce pris d assaut par le Père Noël et ses lutins. Le bonhomme rouge - version sportive - a descendu en rappel samedi le monument. Une tradition. Avec ses lutins, ils ont ensuite distribué aux nombreux enfants présents des bonbons. Et malgré le froid, vous étiez nombreux, Place du Théâtre, pour cet événement. Okay, and it the holiday image of the week end: the belfry of the chamber of commerce tackled by Santa Claus and his elves. The jolly red fellow - athletic version - went down abseiling on Saturday the monument. A tradition. With his elves, they then distributed candy to the numerous children there. And despite the cold, you were numerous, on the Theater Plaza, for the event..

6 Mots croisés Vocabulaire de la vidéo Définitions Across Down 5. belfry 1. fellow 6. monument 2. elf 7. numerous 3. event 4. tradition 5. candy 6. despite 8. red Solution en dernière page

7 Grammar Point Le bonhomme rouge a descendu le monument samedi. AVOIR or ÊTRE in the passé composé The words passé and composé mean compound past. The passé composé always has two parts: 1. the helping verb, also called auxiliary 2. the past participle There are only two possible auxiliaries in French ÊTRE or AVOIR. They are the ones carrying the conjugation. The second part of the compound past is the past participle. This one stays more steady in its form. The French passé composé most often is an English simple past (I played), but it can also be a present perfect (I have played) or an emphatic past (I did play). The literary equivalent of the passé composé is the passé simple. AVOIR or ÊTRE? THREE RULES 1. Most French verbs take AVOIR when they are conjugated in a compound form 1. So when in doubt, pick AVOIR. AVOIR is the most common helping verb for French compound tenses. 2. All pronominal 2 verbs use SE or S in their infinitive form use ÊTRE. se lever, se parler, se voir, s aimer, se promener to get up, to talk to one another, to see each other, to love each other, to take a stroll 3. There are 17 verbs that also use ÊTRE as a helping verb (see Dr & Mrs Van der Trampp below). However, 8 of them may use AVOIR (see below). 1 mostly passé composé, pluperfect and future perfect 2 pronominal verbs use a pronoun. Reflexive pronouns are used when the action is done onto oneself. Reciprocal pronouns are used the action is done onto one another.

8 Pronominal Verbs There are two kinds of pronominal verbs 1. reflexive verbs where the action is done onto self 2. reciprocal verbs where the action is done onto one another Pronominal verbs all use the pronoun SE. I sometimes call them SE verbs to make it simple. se lever se laver se promener se parler s appeler se rencontrer s acheter se passer s amuser to raise oneself = to get/stand up to wash oneself to walk oneself = to take a stroll to talk to oneself or to each other to call oneself or each other to meet each other to buy for oneself or one another to pass itself = to happen to amuse oneself = to have fun Note that most of these verbs have a non-pronominal form as well. Good news! Every single reflexive verb always uses ÊTRE as a helping verb. Dr Mrs Van der Trampp - ÊTRE There are 17 verbs that also use ÊTRE as a helping verb. Grammar books have different ways of organizing them. I find the simplest way is to decline them as Dr & Mrs Van der Trampp as the acronym for this list of verbs: devenir, revenir, monter, rentrer, sortir, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, retourner, tomber, rester, arriver, mourir, passer, partir

9 However, when these verbs have a direct object (transitive form), they use AVOIR as a helping verb. In this case, they have a different meaning: sortir (être) sortir un objet (avoir) passer (être) passer du temps passer un examen (avoir) rentrer (être) rentrer un objet (avoir) monter (être) monter un objet (avoir) descendre (être) descendre un objet (avoir) entrer (être) entrer un code (avoir) retourner (être) retourner sa veste (avoir) tomber (être) tomber quelqu un (avoir) to go out to take/get an object out to drop by to spend time to take an exam to come back, to go in to take/get an object in to go up to take/get an object up to go down to take/get an object down to come in to punch in a code to go back to switch sides to fall to score with someone To practice, translate into French. I went out last night. I took the trash out. I dropped by to see you. I took an exam. I came back late. I took the chairs in. I went upstairs quickly. I took the suitcase up/stairs. I came downstairs at 9:00. I took the blanket down/stairs.

10 LE FRANÇAIS TEL QUEL - PODCAST Réponses Mots croisés Solution Horizontal 5. beffroi 6. monument 7. nombreux Vertical 1. bonhomme 2. lutin 3. évènement 4. tradition 5. bonbon 6. malgré 8. rouge ÊTRE ou AVOIR au passé composé? Je suis sorti/e hier soir. J ai sorti la poubelle. Je suis passé/e te voir. J ai passé un examen. Je suis rentré/e tard. J ai rentré les chaises. Je suis monté/e rapidement. J ai monté ma valise. Je suis descendu/e à 9h00. J ai descendu la couverture.