Rouen, my city!
by joon
View of the cathedrale from my room!
Rouen has two names : the 100 bell tower or church tower city. It's amazing how many churches there is in this small city! (106560 inhabitants)
Explanation: Rouen during the middle age was one of the biggest and first city in the kingdom of France.
The other is the hole of normandy or more used...chamber pot.
Nice!
If you want to visit my city, click
here and go everywhere you want on this site. I like "aitre de saint maclou" and "streets"!
Have a good visit!
Posted on June 25, 2004 | Comments (5)
Things I miss from USA / Trucs amerloques qui me manquent!
by joon
The list is open but this is a sample of some stuffs I miss from USA:
- Coffee shop actually the size and price of the "café au lait" which are closer than what I drink everyday. Also because we can explain what we want exactly and they do it!
- Nice people in supermarket. Except for one in Fred & Meyer. He is nice but he can't stop talking and you don't even understand about what or why. And it's not only because I am foreigner that I don't understand everything! I have a witness!
- Movies in english (I can see some movies in the actual language but I have to go in Paris!) Harry Potter in French sucks! And like I read it in english, I don't the french names they gave to the characters! Snape is Rogue... no idee why, it doesn't make any sense!
- Saying "checkers" or "damn it" ( with french accent: "dameat") without people looking at me like I would be a strange thing coming from the space! Ok even in usa not everyone understands when I say "checkers" (private joke)
- True hamburger homemade! For example from this great restaurant on mississipi ("looloosomething"!?... you know pink restaurant?)
- Chamallows of course! I try deseperatly to convince my father to make a BBQ ...
- Cinnamon..chewing gum, etc...
La liste des choses qui me manquent des Etats unis est ouverte mais en voici un échantillon:
- Leur coffeeshop parceque question "café au lait" ce sont les rois! Tu peux leur expliquer ce que tu veux et ils te le font si ce que tu veux n'est pas proposé. Et c'est pas servi dans une pauv'tasse à 2,50 euros!
- Les gentils caissiers dans les supermarchés. Sauf un du Fred & Meyer parce que il parle et parle et parle et parle et c'est un peu pénible.
- Films en VO. A Paris oui mais à Rouen, c'est la galère!
- Dire "checkers" ou "damn it" sans que tout le monde me regarde comme si j'étais un peu bizarre!
- Les super hamburges maison ou du restaurant sur Mississipi avenue!
- les chamallows au BBQ mais papa ne retrouve pas son barbecue fabriqué avec le tambour d'une machine à laver. Tant qu'il n'a pas de tambour, pas de barbecue! Vous comprenez quelque chose, vous?
- Et les chewing gum à la cannelle entre autres car y a pleins de trucs à la cannelle!
Posted on June 19, 2004 | Comments (0)
kokikoko...[fone:tik] & animals(aux)
by joon
When we study phonetic, we learn that until around ten years old, everyone is able to hear all the sounds that a human being can produce and there is a lot !
After this age, little by little, we are becoming deaf to the foreign languages, or rather to the sounds which don’t exist in our own language... Our ears and brain programmed everything to recognize and use the sounds you have heard since your birth ... your parents’ language(s).
Of course, it depends also on people. But this phenomenon is the same for everyone. Basically, when it’s hard to pronounce something, or when we don’t make the difference between two apparently differents sounds and (damn it) we are sure it’s the same so we think we pronounce it well and it’s wrong... no panic, it’s normal, it’s because of your ears, or your brain or this weird stuff.
I think teachers should say that to children. It can explain some of the difficulties and could help a little! At least, it could avoid the loss of self-confidence we can feel sometimes!
Now I try to really care when I speak in english because I noticed several of my problems of pronounciation few months ago.
Example: there are three kind of sound close to [i] in english.
- One is pronounced as in french: “flea, sea...”
- The other is the hardest because the sound doesn’t exist in french but it is written like our“i” (which is pronounced like “ea”). This sound is more between the french [i] and “é ”. It is necessary to transform the mechanic of our jaw, how we use our lips, tongue, teeth... And of course, this one is current: “it, is, if, in...”
- The third is as the first but longer. Even if you don’t pronounce it correctly, it doesn’t really matter. It won’t change the sense of the words! Rather until now, I didn’t noticed any problem.
Anyway...
All this to say that all the sounds we hear in our lives are not exactly like what we think they are. We always transform them to be able to pronounce them according to the sounds of our language.
Do you follow me? If you have any question or even better some stuffs about what you disagree or more precisions, I will be happy to chat about it! I love it!
For the fun animals sounds...see the bottom of the french part.
Quand vous étudiez la phonétique, vous apprenez que jusqu’à l’âge de 10 ans à peu près, vous êtes capable d’entendre tous les sons que l’humain peut produire et dieu sait s’il y en a !
Après çà, eh bien peu à peu on devient sourd aux langues étrangères ou plutôt aux sons qui n’existent pas dans notre propre langue. En gros, nos oreilles et notre cerveau se basent sur les sons entendus dans notre enfance.
Je suppose aussi que tout cela dépend des gens puis que certains sont plus ou moins doués mais il n’empêche que personne n’échappe à ce phénomène.
Ce serait bien que les profs expliquent çà. Je suis sûre que cela peut aider.
Bref, quand tu prononces quelque chose et que c’est difficile ou que tu crois que tu prononces correctement et que tu t’aperçois que c’est faux, eh bien, c’est normal !
Maintenant en anglais j’essaie de faire attention et notamment l’histoire des [i]. Car en anglais y en a trois…
- le « ea » prononcé comme chez nous,
- le « i » prononcé entre notre « i » et « é » et là tu t’amuses parce que ce son n’existe absolument pas en français et tu dois transformer la manière dont tu utilises ta mâchoire…Et en plus c’est le plus courant puisque tu le trouves partout : « it, if, in… », tout ce qui s’écrit avec un «i » !
- le [i] légèrement plus long, le plus difficile à cerner finalement mais pas de panique peu à peu il disparaît et en plus n’occasionne pas de difficultés à vous faire comprendre si vous le faîtes mal !
Bref, tout çà pour vous dire que tous les sons que vous entendez ne sont pas tout à fait comme vous le pensez ou devrais-je dire comme vous croyez les entendre. Notre oreille va entreprendre quelques adaptations du son entendu afin de pouvoir prononcer le son.
Exemple… « I love him » comme « I love eam »…
Good and fun examples are sounds of animal...I asked a japanese girl some of them...
Bons exemples et amusants ...
French/Français: (f)... Japanese/Japonais: (j)
cock / coq ...(f) Cocorico (j) Kokikoko
cat / chat.... (f) Miaou (j) Niao
dog / chien ... (f) Ouaf ouaf (j) Ouin ouin
frog / grenouille... (f) Croâ croâ (j) Kero Kero
pig / cochon... (f) (unwritable) (j) Bu bu
cow / vache... (f) Meuh (j) Mo
goat / chèvre... (f) Bêêê (j) Mêêê
duck / canard... (f) Coin coin (j) Goua Goua
In japanese, I wrote with my abc that is to say how I heard the sound so of course “goua” in english should be something like “gwa” .
But “euh”, sorry uuuhhh, the most important is the cock! Isn’t that great?
And please note that it’s closer to the french one so the truth...cocorico, kokikoko... (I have a proof, I knew I was sure our “coq’s sound” is the real one!) though “cockduldoo” even if it’s cute (my parents thought it was cute!), come on...
Oh my god, I have just remembered why our mascot, symbol is the cock...because we say “proud like a cock”. I am so french... Ok I like cockduldoo... just impossible to write!
By the way, I discovered that my father can imitate the turkey!
Au fait, j’ai découvert que mon père sait imiter le dindon!
Please can you complete my repertory of sounds. English, spanish...everything...I love them!
Allez si vous connaissez d’autres sons d’autres langues...,je les adore!
Posted on June 18, 2004 | Comments (5)
tarte praline attacked by a cow and a cell phone
by joon
What haaaapenned? a cow is eating my "tarte praline"! Checkers!
Posted on June 6, 2004 | Comments (7)
Pralines in Lyon
by joon
I love to visit new places... here special dessert with pralines (kind of nuts with red sweet stuff around!) Great...
Posted on June 6, 2004 | Comments (2)
D-Day
by joon
Tomorrow will be the 60th anniversary of the landing in Normandy by some 150 000 allied soldiers.
Canadians, australians, english and american soldiers landed on several beaches by sea and others by air.
When you grew up in Normandy, you go with school to visit the big memorial in Caen and often when you go on the beaches with your family, you can still see some bunkers. In Arromanches and other places, the floating ports are still visible on the sea.
6 june 1944 ... terrible day but the beginning of the end of the war.
This year a lot of people came to see the giantic american, english, canadian, etc ... cemetaries you can find all over the north of france.
When I talked about this time with my grand father, he remembers the american soldier with their "sumsumgum", he is not very good at english... "sumsumgum" was chewing gum. It was new like black soldiers!
I don't know how to say that, most of them died ... but thank you guys!
Posted on June 5, 2004 | Comments (0)
Art of chamallows
by joon
Time to tell more about chamallows. I know I should have told you this story two months ago.
If you remember, last time, I was telling you that the first time I tasted BBQ chamallows was with my sister in France.
In march, I went on the coast of Oregon for a great week end. And like in France, you buy the things you like to eat. In France we would have brought baguette, chocolate, pâté, chips...
In USA, popcorn, hot dogs and marshmallows ... to make “s’mores”
I don’t have to say that “s’mores” was totally unknown and mysterious for me.
The art of marshmallows!
Here are some rules:
- Never roast a marshmallows for someone else. I learned that from Josh. He said something like “A marshmallow, it’s personal.” He said that better but I forgot. (checkers!)
Why ? Because there is not one way to eat them. There are as many ways as human beings on this earth!
Roasting a marshmallow is a little bit like Life finally, you have to find your own way.
Now I know myself better because I know how I like my chamallows (french names of marshmallows). I like them raw (it’s cultural) and brown but not too much, just crunchy and liquid inside.
- You have first to be sure your marshmallow will not fall in the fire. Even if it’s fun to watch them burning.
- Don’t use a flame to roast it but an ember. It’s better to control the roasting. The danger with the flame it’s that it’s gonna burn...bad, very bad! Fun but bad!
Don’t worry, at the beginning you make a lot of mistakes and it’s terrible. You swear never you are going to eat this stupid stuff again and after you are addict.
There is more...
Because roasted marshmallows are not enough, someone introduced to the world the “s’more”!
Buy honey crackers (not only honey but they are good), chocolate (for that don’t buy ghillardelly, it’s criminal) and of course the chamallows.
You roast your chamallows exactly like you like it and before that you had prepared a piece of chocolate and two crackers. When your chamallows is perfect...you put it between two crackers with the chocolate inside and you have a “s’more”!!!
Ok, the first time honestly, you are very impressed and even scared. And after you just eat because it’s a tradition.
An other way to eat chamallows and actually, I really appreciate it ... babies chamallows.
You buy the tiny chamallows you put in hot chocolate.
You have to roast them by five at least. They are so cut in the fire. They are less fun than their parents when they fall in the fire, they just melt but they are good and cute to eat. It’s a little bit crual but it’s the game!
I LOVE BABIES CHAMALLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In France we have green, and pink chamallows, I have to try with them! And this summer when I will introduce the s’mores to the french people, I will take so many pictures!!!
Last recommandation, pay attention not to leave the pack of crackers on your chair because “oh, oh I just sat on the crackers!”
Guys, I miss eating smores with you!
Posted on June 2, 2004 | Comments (3)