Our drama workshops starting soon: don't forget to enrol!!

Our popular drama wokshops will be resuming on 4th November with our dynamic and enthusiastic French tutor, Audrey.
If your French is a good GCSE standard or above and you love having fun while learning with like-minded people, this course is for you.
You'll be doing lots of role plays: being a tourist in Paris when you are actually in Marseille, going to the doctor's for a sore throat ( mal à la gorge) and not understanding why you are given suppositories ( des suppositoires) , climbing up the steps ( les marches) at the Cannes Festival to receive an award ( une récompense) for your very, very boring French film when one word is spoken every two minutes, putting together a pretend trial ( un procès)  for a well-known French actor ( who will remain nameless....), you know the one who changed his French passport.... and plenty more.

You can see some of the videos on YouTube, go to Watch our videos on our website, for more info...

There are still places available on this French drama course, but hurry up! For more info...

How playing a guitar can transform you!

Maureen, student in a French class on a Tuesday morning, describes her grandson without a guitar ( sans guitare) and with a guitar ( avec une guitare) and then again without it. The exercise was to write a portrait after studying vocabulary about appearance and personality, here is what Maureen wrote:

La guitare

Voilà un jeune homme de dix-huit ans. Mince, athlétique, fluet, son visage long et gentil, sa voix douce et mélodieuse.
Il a une guitare, une guitare lisse, brillante. Il se passionne pour cette guitare. Elle est sa copine, son âme.
Derrière cet instrument, je vois un étranger. Je vois un embryon d’Elvis Presley, qui tourne, qui bande ses muscles. Explosif, passionné, véhément, avec un message pour le monde. Paroles significatives. Bruit de vingt décibels, assourdissant.
Silence. Mon gentil petit-fils revient, il parle, voix douce et mélodieuse.
Maureen

If you too would like to write in French as well as Maureen or start from scratch, contact Alliance Française de Bristol or Bath, for more info...

The cineclub season is starting again in Bristol!

The first French film for this season is called Itinéraires ( Itineraries), at first glance it is a rather intriguing title, what kind of itineraries are we talking about? Travel ( voyage) ? Career ( carrière) ? Escape ( évasion )?
It is an action film ( un film d'action) by Christophe Otzenberger  with and Yann Trégouët, Jacques Bonnaffé, Myriam Boyer, Hélène Vincent, Céline Cuignet.
Thierry has spent a bit of time in prison. Now that he is free ( libre) he wants to lead a normal life but he happens to witness ( être témoin )  a murder ( d'un meurtre) and he is immediately considered the culprit ( le coupable).  He has no choice but to flee ( s'évader), he finds himself living a clandestine and precarious life ( une vie clandestine et précaire) …..

The cineclub is open to all students learning French with Alliance Française de Bristol but also to anyone with an interest in the French language. The film has subtitles in English.
The show is on Sunday, 19th October, 2014 at 6.30pm in The Lansdown, the entrance is free.
It is recommended to arrive early to secure a place and to get a drink in the pub before the film starts.
For more info...

Did you know that today is La journée mondiale des enseignants?

The worldwide day for teachers is organized each year by UNESCO since 1994. The aim of that day is to increase awareness of the importance and of the role of teachers.
At the moment, the world is short of 2 million teachers for the primary sector, especially in Africa.
What do you know about the French primary school system?
French children start primary school ( l'école primaire) at the age of 6 and remain there for 5 years.
The first year is called le CP ( cours préparatoire) when children learn to read and write ( lire et écrire) and then they move to le CE1 et le CE2 ( cours élémentaire première et deuxième année) and finally to le CM1 et le CM2 ( cours moyen première et deuxième année) before going to le collège for 4 years and then le lycée for 3.
School is compulsory up to the age of 16 ( jusqu'à l'âge de 16 ans).
Primary school children go to school Monday ( lundi), Tuesday ( mardi), Wednesday morning ( mercredi matin), Thursday ( jeudi) and Friday ( vendredi).
The start and the end of the school day are decided by la commune ( the local council).
The school year is divided into several breaks, two weeks in October/ November/ ( octobre/ novembre) , two weeks at Christmas ( Noël), two weeks in February/ March ( février/ mars) and two weeks in April/ May ( avril/ mai), the school year finishes early July ( début juillet) and resumes early September ( début septembre).

If you would like to find out more about French life and culture and improve your French, it is not too late to join a French class either in Bristol or in Bath. For more info...