As a follow up to my post on Subject Pronouns in Textbooks: Written vs. Spoken French and how French textbooks do not include the spoken meanings of the pronouns, I came across a few examples of the use of ils in the indefinite sense while preparing transcripts to use in class.

Textbooks still teach that on is the indefinite pronoun that means one / they / the people in a general sense when not referring to anyone in specific; however, this is not actually the case. Just like in English, French uses ils to mean they in both a specific and indefinite sense while on, instead of nous, is used much more often to mean we - which most textbooks do acknowledge, though it is usually classified as only being used in “casual conversation.”

• From the film L’auberge espagnole:

Moi, par exemple, je suis wallonne, je ne parle pas le flamand. Quand je vais en Flandre, je me fais passer pour une française. Alors, ils me parlent en français… S’ils comprennent que je suis wallonne…

• From the series Bref on Canal+:

Sur la notice, ils indiquaient qu’il fallait être deux pour monter ce meuble.

For advanced levels, all of the episodes of Bref are available online for free – though many of them probably cannot be used in American classrooms. For self-study and learning slang vocabulary, they are extremely useful. There are no subtitles for the online videos, but the DVD does have closed captioning (of course, it is not the transcript but more of a summary.) The opening screen even includes more examples of using ils in the indefinite sense:

Ils m’expliquent que c’est pas bien de télécharger, mais comme ils me disent sur un DVD que je viens d’acheter, j’ai l’impression que je me fais engueuler à cause des autres.

Finally, Institut Français Deutschland has several great dossiers pédagogiques to use in class on many French films, including L’auberge espagnole, Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Astérix et Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre, Ma Vie en Rose, etc.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French, Teaching French

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April 25 is the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand forces landing on Gallipoli in 1915. Now it is a day of national remembrance to honour those who died in military operations and wars.

Learn more about the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day tradition at the Australian War Memorial site.

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Post categories: Australia

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The conference I attended in Perth at the beginning of April was The Federation of Australian Teachers of French Associations Biennial Conference and the Teachers of  French Association of Western Australia Annual Stage. I presented my research on the gap between what applied linguists recommend for inclusion in textbooks and what is actually in the textbooks regarding vocabulary (more on that later), but for now here are some links from presenters/sponsors/speakers:

• Frenchteachers – new blog for Australian teachers of French by l’Ambassade de France en Australie
• Hearsay Language Learning Downunder – using the Accelerative Integrated Method or AIM to teach languages with gestures, plays, songs, etc.
• Le Forum – French bookshop in Fremantle
• The Language Centre Bookshop - lots of language learning and teaching resources in Leederville
• Joe Dale - creating a Personal Learning Network using social media, such as Twitter, to connect with other educators
• Shay Stafford – former dancer at the Moulin Rouge and author of Memoirs of a Showgirl

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Post categories: Teaching French

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I fly to Perth, Western Australia, tomorrow to present at the Teachers of French Association Conference. My presentation on the vocabulary coverage of French textbooks will include the beginning stages of my PhD project. I will report back on all of the presentations and everything new I learn about teaching and learning French in Australia next week.

Then thanks to the Easter holiday, I have a few days to explore the Perth region, including Fremantle and Rottnest Island. La vie est belle, n’est-ce pas ?

Beach on Rottnest Island

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: PhD Research, Travelling

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More French songs for beginners! I like quirky (ok, weird) repetitive songs that make the vocabulary stick.

L’alphabet

Comment tu t’appelles ?

Les prénoms

Ça va (there is no actual video for this song but I love the Muppets!)

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Post categories: Learning French, Teaching French

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If you use Google Chrome as your web browser, Mind the Word is a useful extension to help you learn vocabulary in another language while you browse the web.

From the description: “In every webpage visited, it randomly translates a few words into the language that you would like to learn. By exposing you to only a few new words at a time and keeping them within context, it makes it easy for you to infer and memorize their meaning. If you need, you can hover the mouse over the translated word and the original word will be shown to you.”

Here’s my last blog post with the extension set to translate to Dutch and with the cursor hovering over meer:

Obviously it doesn’t do idioms well since it simply offers translation of single words, and you can’t really choose which words it will translate or not, but it is an easy way to make sure you integrate some language learning into your everyday internet routine.

Thanks to pagef30.com for bringing this to my attention.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French, Learning Other Languages

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International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

Improving the lives of women is very important to me, especially since women continue to be oppressed all over the world – including in my own country. I truly believe education is the key to empowerment and equality for all human beings, but more specifically, the knowledge of foreign languages is essential.

So how can we encourage more women to not only learn foreign languages, but also to show their skills to the rest of the world in order to encourage even more women to learn? Here is a conversation among three female polyglots, Susanna, Jana and Fasulye on this topic. I wasn’t able to participate, but I did send some research on the issue of gender in language learning which Susanna mentions, though sadly there is very little to no research on gender in language learning in independent settings, i.e. self-study instead of classes.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French, Learning Other Languages

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I am teaching beginning French this semester and since all of the classrooms are equipped with computers and projectors, I have been delighting my students with weird songs and videos to reinforce the vocabulary they are learning. So for beginning learners of French or other French teachers who want to use videos in class, here are some examples of what I’ve been using:

Alphabet

A bonus in this video is showing how the French count on their hands, starting with the thumb.

What is your name?

Français Interactif’s chansons français has PDF exercises you can download.

I believe I will also introduce them to the love of my life, Pierre Capretz.

But I haven’t decided yet if I will terrify them with Téléfrançais or not.

I use the site www.keepvid.com to download the videos so I don’t have to rely on a working internet connection in the classroom. Windows Live Movie Maker and VirtualDub are free and easy to use programs for editing the videos if you want to cut some parts out or repeat certain sections.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French, Teaching French

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Around the world, there is a conventional thought that foreign languages should only be taught by native speakers and that the students’ native language should be banned from the classroom. This is especially commonplace among English as a Second or Foreign Language schools which tend to exclusively employ native speakers of English, even if they have absolutely no experience or training in language teaching. However, this is mostly done for reasons related to money, prestige and prejudice and it is not, in fact, supported by linguistic research. Imagine any other business where you could teach someone else to do something in which you have absolutely no knowledge or success. How can you teach someone to speak a second or additional language when you do not speak a second or additional language yourself?

Or knowledge, or expertise, or degrees…

Only hiring native speakers and denying use of the native/first language (L1) only serves to undermine (and insult) multilingual local teachers and contradicts numerous studies showing the benefits of using the native language to learn a second or subsequent language. I certainly feel insulted when people say they will not learn languages from non-native speaking teachers because I am a non-native teacher of French. I am fluent in the language and have years of teaching experience, as well as several degrees and publications, and yet because my native language is not French that somehow makes me inferior to native speakers with no experience or education in teaching. In many ways, I actually prefer non-native speakers as teachers because then I know they have gone through the same experience as me in learning the language and they know the mistakes that I am likely to make and how to avoid them. Many people do not want to learn from non-native speakers because of their accent or the fear that the teacher will make mistakes, but many native speaker teachers make mistakes in the language as well. More importantly, most of the input in the foreign language needs to come from authentic sources of language use rather than from the teacher anyway.

This problem is more rampant among English classes since English is taught much more often across the globe, but the prejudice remains for all languages. And it leads into the second issue of banning the L1, because if the teacher is monolingual then he or she cannot resort to another language in the classroom. Yet second language acquisition research provides no reason to ban the L1 completely from the classroom, and there certainly exists research to support that using the L1 is more effective for certain aspects of language learning – such as explaining grammar or tasks, disciplining students, translations for ambiguous words, etc. Of course, there are limits to how much the L1 should be used as the amount of input in the second language (L2) is extremely important. But the L1 does indeed help in learning the L2 and creating connections between the two languages. As there is some overlap among languages in the brain, it can be impossible to “turn off” the L1 when using the L2. Code-switching and constantly moving between languages and cultures is entirely normal – it is not something to be banned or looked down upon.

The success of immersion programs has been used as the rationale to support banning the L1, and even though teaching non-language courses in a foreign language can improve language learning, many immersion programs do not ban the L1 completely. In fact, much of the research on immersion programs show the importance of adding an L2 to an L1 instead of replacing the L1 by an L2. Unfortunately it happens all too often that the opposite of research reported in the popular press immediately becomes wrong. We are too quick to assume that evidence for an idea also means evidence against the competing idea. Yet nothing is ever that black and white. The success of a few immersion programs should in no way imply that non-immersion programs are a failure, especially when there is no evidence for it. And thanks to research on code-switching, the cognitive benefits of L1 use, and L2 language exposure (input alone does not suffice – it must become intake), many scholars have softened their position to agree that the L1 should not be banned completely.

Code-switching makes me smile

Language students should always be thought of as developing bilinguals or multilinguals, rather than two or more monolinguals. The monolingual native speaker model that is portrayed in essentially all pedagogical materials (as well as by hiring monolingual teachers) presents an unattainable and impossible goal for language learners. When you learn a second language, you are no longer monolingual and by definition, you will never be a native speaker of another language. So why is that the model that we teach to students?  I completely agree with Carl Blyth when he notes the irony of “using monolingual speakers as role models for learners striving to overcome their own monolingualism.” We need non-native and multilingual models and teachers of the language because that is exactly what the students are and what they will become: non-native and multilingual.

Students should never be denied the opportunity to use their L1 in any type of learning, especially young students who haven’t even completely acquired their native language yet. Allowing the native language in school has many benefits, yet there still exists “English Only” attitudes that only help to deteriorate students’ cognitive abilities. Recent reports of students being punished for speaking their native language – such as Menominee in the US or French in northern Belgium – are worrying because they bring back horrible reminders of Native American boarding schools and the Stolen Generation. Students should certainly never be made to feel as though their language is bad or wrong, because if their language is undesirable, then what about the culture linked to the language or the people themselves who speak the language? Are they undesirable as human beings as well?

Just say NO to lack of empirical evidence!

Fortunately researchers have started calling for a more bilingual or lingua franca approach to teaching English which focuses on context and learner needs, which really should be applied to all languages. Ideally the teachers are multilingual and multicultural, who know the language of their students and have some knowledge of the particularities of the varieties of the language used throughout the world. When talking about world languages, we tend to think of English, Spanish, French, Arabic, etc. but every language consists of varieties depending on where and how it is used. For more information on lingua franca teaching, World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching by Andy Kirkpatrick is a great introduction.

Other books I like to re-read on this topic include:

Australia’s Language Potential by Michael Clyne

Second Language Learning and Language Teaching by Vivian Cook

First Language Use in Second and Foreign Language Learning edited by Miles Turnbull and Jennifer Dailey-O’Cain (especially chapter 9 by Carl Blyth)

For anyone who will be in Melbourne on Thursday, February 23, there is a free colloquium and lecture on Challenging the Monolingual Mindset at the University of Melbourne. You just need to register beforehand.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning Other Languages, PhD Research

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Post categories: PhD Research, Random

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Anna Wierzbicka is a Polish-Australian linguist who has extensively researched intercultural linguistics, semantics and pragmatics. I have been reading many of her books and articles for my PhD research because she is interested in how language reflects ways of living and thinking, and more specifically, how the lexicon or words of a language can provide valuable clues to understanding culture.

Linguistic relativity, better known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, has been debated for quite a while by certain researchers who argue that human thought and language are completely separate and independent. Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct, is probably the most popular denier. However, Pinker was attempting to describe human thought and cognition on the basis of English alone.  Wierzbicka, among others, has rightly criticized Pinker for his views on the link between language and thought. Here are a few quotes from the introduction to her book, Understanding Cultures through their Key Words:

“To people with an intimate knowledge of two (or more) different languages and cultures, it is usually self-evident that language and patterns of thought are interlinked… Monolingual popular opinion, as well as the opinion of some cognitive scientists with little interest in languages and cultures, can be quite emphatic in their denial of the existence of such links and differences.”

“The grip of people’s native language on their thinking habits is so strong that they are no more aware of the conventions to which they are party than they are of the air they breathe; and when others try to draw attention to these conventions they may even go on with a seemingly unshakable self-assurance to deny their existence.”

“The conviction that one can understand human cognition, and human psychology in general, on the basis of English alone seems shortsighted, if not downright ethnocentric.”

The strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis – that language constrains thought and prevents users of a language from thinking about certain concepts – is indeed wrong. The weak version of the hypothesis, which Guy Deutscher attempted to explain in his popular article Does Your Language Shape How You Think? and his book, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages, is generally accepted by most linguists. Deutscher, however, insists on stating that language creates thought when in fact it may be more accurate to say that culture influences thought, which is then expressed through language. Personally, I believe that language reflects and describes ways of living and thinking, but it does not necessarily shape or determine how you live or think.

This is precisely John McWhorter’s criticism of Deutscher’s book, though I do have to disagree with his assertion that color perception as evidence of linguistic relativity is “dull.” If someone does not think cultural elaboration through the lexicon, such as the famous words for snow example, is interesting or relevant, then why does that person bother researching languages and cultures in the first place? Besides, as Wierzbicka explains, “once the principle of cultural elaboration has been established as valid on the basis of ‘boring’ examples, it can then be applied to areas whose patterning is less obvious to the naked eye.”

Here’s an interesting experiment you can try with color perception. It will be very easy to choose which square is a different color in the image below.

However, it will probably be a tiny bit harder to find which square is different in the second image. (If you’ve seen these circles before, beware that I did change the location of the different square!)

Yet the Himba of northern Namibia have the exact opposite problem. They are able to detect the different square quite easily in the second image, but took longer for the first image, because their culture, and therefore language, has a different way of categorizing shades of colors. Not every human being thinks in terms of  ROYGBIV. Because English speakers do not normally classify colors based on slightly different shades (or at least what we perceive as slightly different shades) of green in the second image, it is harder for English speakers to see it at first glance, but the absence of that word does not mean that English speakers cannot see it at all or do not have the ability to form the concept in their minds.

My native language does not have a word for Schadenfreude but I certainly know what it is and can understand the concept. The fact that German has one word for this concept and English does not simply means that the concept is perhaps more salient for users of German, but it does not mean that users of other languages cannot conceive of what it is. There are countless “untranslatable” words such as saudade, hyggelig, or litost that express the values and thoughts of the people who use these words. They provide insights into the life of the society and culture to which the language belongs. We cannot even begin to understand a different culture if we do not know the words because it is through language that culture and ways of living and thinking are expressed.

Another book by Wierzbicka I recommend, Translating Lives: Living with Two Languages and Cultures, includes the experiences of twelve Australians who speak more than one language. Their stories and their lives show how language, culture and identity cannot be separated and what it is like to live with, and between, multiple languages and cultures. For anyone who is a speaker of another language, the idea that you are a different person and that you interact with other human beings in a different way when using different languages seems a bit obvious. But most monolinguals are not aware that their worldview is shaped by their native, and only, culture and language. They tend to assume that the every human being thinks in the same way but simply uses different words for concepts, objects, ideas, etc. Even if they know a few words in another language, they believe that translations found in dictionaries are sufficient. Dictionaries may list freedom as the translation for French liberté, but are they really the same thing? How about truth and Russian pravda? Anger and Italian rabbia?

To quote Sapir: “The fact of the matter is that the ‘real world’ is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached.”

When I speak French, I am fully aware that I am not the same person as when I speak English. I do not interact with other French speakers in the same manner as I do with English speakers while I’m speaking English. There are certain concepts that I find easier to express in French, and yet others that do not have a strong enough emphasis or connotation for me if I use French rather than English. When I hear the word milk in English, I have a different concept of what it is compared to when I hear lait in French. I’ve explored some of these cultural differences before (Cultural Differences in Photos & Culturally Relevant Photos), but they are not limited to separate languages. There are, of course, differences among dialects of the same language. Whenever Australians say the word thongs, I picture a very different article of clothing than they do!

That is not to say that all words in a language are culture-specific. If they were, cultural differences couldn’t really be explored. Linguistic relativity is actually combined with linguistic universality. Wierzbicka is also the lead researcher on Natural Semantic Metalanguage, an approach to cultural analysis that is based on the idea that there are, in fact, a few universal meanings expressed by words (semantic primes) shared by all human languages and that using these primes can help eliminate cross-cultural miscommunication. Listen to/read her interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for more information.

I’d love to hear your opinions on this! Do you believe that how we speak shapes how we think OR that how we think shapes how we speak? Or are language and thought so interlinked that we cannot separate them?

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French, Learning Other Languages, PhD Research

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Happy Australia Day to my Aussie friends!

Australia Day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788. The Commonwealth of Australia was officially formed on January 1, 1901, when the colonies federated but this date is not widely known as Commonwealth Day since it is already a public holiday (New Year’s Day) and Australia Day had already been established on January 26.

Though it does not celebrate independence from Britain after a bloody war as the American national holiday does, Australia Day traditions are quite similar: barbecues, beaches, parades and fireworks. However, today I will be participating in another British/Australian tradition which I know nothing about. I will be attending a cricket match at the Adelaide Oval!

In any case, to celebrate all things Australian, I give you a commercial that will seem oddly familiar to Americans:

 Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroos and Holden cars
They go together underneath the Southern stars

 It is the Australian version of the famous American jingle by Chevrolet! (Chevrolet is called Holden in Australia.)

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet
They go together in the good ol’ USA

I hope everyone has a great Australia Day!

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Post categories: Australia

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I was warned about the high cost of living in Australia before moving here, though luckily it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Perhaps it is because I came directly from France rather than the US, but I feel as though the only expense that is very high in Australia is rent. Yet keeping in mind that there are only 20 million people in this entire country (roughly the size of the US minus Alaska) and that most of them live in the big cities near the coasts, it’s understandable that the rents would be higher in a city of millions of people compared to 50 thousand, which was the average size of cities where I’ve previously lived.

Rents have also increased in recent years due to the mining boom and the strength of the Australian dollar, which is now a few cents stronger than the US dollar. For comparison, it was 1 USD = 1.50 AUD ten years ago. Once you leave the large cities and head to the countryside, prices are much cheaper and similar to what I’ve found in the Midwest. Yet living in the countryside in Australia is a bit harder than in the US because of the lack of people, which means a lack of certain infrastructure facilities and services. Many of the small towns only have populations in the hundreds.

However, cost of living is only half the story. Incomes also need to be taken into account. It doesn’t really matter what the cost of living is or how much you make; what matters most is how much money you have left over each month. In France, my bills were high but my salary was incredibly low. In Australia, my bills are still high but my salary is 50% more than what I made in France – and keep in mind that my income in Australia is a living stipend that is just above poverty level, whereas my income in France was for a full-time job that required a Master’s degree. So I am much better off financially in Australia.

For anyone who is interested in living in Australia, here is what I currently pay living close to Adelaide (only about 5 miles/ 8 kms from the city center):

Monthly Bills

Rent (includes water): $1300

- two-bedroom, furnished 60 M2 apartment run by a student housing company that is 2 minutes from campus so I can walk to my office. Obviously I could cut this in half if I had a roommate but I quite enjoy having the whole place to myself. In 6 months I plan to move to a house in the suburbs, which run about $1000-1100 a month. (Other big cities have higher rents; luckily Adelaide is not as expensive as everywhere else. Less than an hour outside of Adelaide, rents for houses are around $800 a month.)

Electricity: $50 for most of the year; $100 during “winter”

- there is no actual heating system in the apartment so I have electric heaters, which means that this bill is higher in the winter months but I do not have air conditioning because 35° C / 95° F is the perfect temperature to me. No gas in this apartment (only electric stove/oven), but I have heard it is cheaper.

Internet: $30 (but will be reimbursed)

- for 10 GB of data per month, but you can definitely find cheaper/more data. Since I’m in student housing, it was just easier to use their pre-paid internet. Some companies do offer unlimited ADSL internet (no data caps) for about $60 a month. Home internet costs will be reimbursed by the research degree fund at my university so technically internet is free for me!

Cell phone: $25 (pre-paid, which I rarely use)

Groceries: $150

Transportation: $15 (about half off normal fares thanks to my student ID)

Laundry: $8

Renter’s insurance: $14

I have no telephone line, cable TV, car or car insurance/maintenance costs and my university scholarship pays for my health insurance (and I could get extra coverage for optical, dental, etc. for $25 a month). I may eventually get a car when I move further away from campus, but for now I can get by without one.

• Total monthly bills: about $1600

Yearly Bills

No residency card because my visa is valid for the duration of my PhD.

No income taxes because my living stipend is tax-free.

No occupancy tax on my apartment.

• Total yearly bills: $0

Prices for other things such as clothes, books, electronics, etc. are more expensive than in the US but it is quite easy to find sales and discounts. Some stores such as Kmart and The Reject Shop have more “normal” prices as well. Telecommunications are more expensive than France but comparable to the US. Bundles for home phone/TV/internet are around $100-150 a month. Food items can be hit or miss, especially fruits and vegetables, depending on the weather. Bananas were $15 a kilo when I first arrived because the crops had been wiped out by cyclone Yasi in Queensland, but now the prices are back down to less than $2 a kilo.

Staples such as bread, milk, and pasta are quite cheap but cereal, yogurt and cheese are more expensive than I would have expected. Gas is just over $5 a gallon ($1.33 a liter) while eating at restaurants and going to the movies are pretty much New York prices. Since Australia is an island that is rather far from everywhere and has strict import and quarantine rules (to protect from diseases or pests further destroying the native populations), higher prices are reasonable for some things. But with the strength of the Aussie dollar and the ease of shopping online nowadays especially at US stores, there is more competition for local stores to lower prices.

If anyone would like specific prices for certain things, let me know.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Australia

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My second book published by Dover Publications, Great French Short Stories of the Twentieth Century: A Dual-Language Book, is now available!

The original French stories are on the left page and literal English translations are on the right page. There are 15 stories representing authors and settings from France and other French-speaking areas such as Quebec, Guadeloupe, Mauritius and Senegal. This book is designed for intermediate/advanced learners of French to increase their vocabulary and learn more about the literature of the Francophone world.

For beginners of French or those interested in traveling to a French-speaking country, my Say it in French phrasebook (+ Food and Wine supplement and 2,500 English-French dictionary) is also available.

To celebrate the release of my second book, I’m doing another giveaway! If you would like a FREE autographed copy of either my Say it in French phrasebook OR my Great French Short Stories dual-language book, all you need to do is:

• send me an e-mail at ielanguages (at) gmail (dot) com or comment on this blog post,
• let me know which book you would like,
• and what country you are located in (I will send it from either the US or Australia depending on where you are located)

BY SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, AT 9:00 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME (NEW YORK TIME)

I will choose two winners at random; one for each book. Giveaway is open to residents of planet Earth. One entry per book per human being.

Good luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to the four winners! The books have been sent to you!

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | 44 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French

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Traveling by train is still a pretty nice experience in France, and even though Australia is just as big as the US, long-distance train travel across the continent is quite enjoyable Down Under too. I have taken the high-speed TGV and slower regional TER trains in France numerous times, and when I first arrived in Australia, I took The Overland train from Melbourne to Adelaide. I don’t have much experience with trains in the US, though I would love to hear some opinions on Amtrak.

Most areas of France are well-linked by trains and the TGV routes lead to the major cities. Annecy is only 3.5 hours from Paris on a direct TGV line and tickets can be as low as 17€ or 22€ if you buy early enough. The TER ticket prices never change and you can buy them right before getting on the train. The convenience of being able to hop on a train and get to where you want to go without having to drive (especially if the weather is bad) was always a nice possibility in France. I took the TER to Grenoble last week from Annecy and while it cost 37€, it was probably only slightly more expensive that paying for gas and tolls – which are rather expensive in France – and knowing that I didn’t have to drive through the snow or while tired from traveling/jet lag was worth it.

Even though Australian trains are not high-speed and the journey from Adelaide to Melbourne took 10.5 hours, I would gladly do the trip again to see more of the countryside between the large cities. Australia has fewer major cities (and people! there are only 20 million people in the entire country after all) but they are all linked by railways and tickets can be as low as $50 for some routes. Taking luggage is free though sometimes there are restrictions. For example, the Overland allows 2 checked suitcases at 20 kg each.

I traveled a lot by plane while living in France, but mostly to other countries since France is rather small and taking the train is usually easier. Flying in Europe tended to be a hassle because of the ridiculous liquid ban and always having to go through security at every stopover if you didn’t have a direct flight. Luckily with the Schengen Space nowadays most airports don’t require you to go through security as often as long as you are traveling completely within the borders (similar to flying domestic in the US), and even though you can at least lock your bags (unlike in the US where TSA gets to steal your stuff), friends and family still cannot accompany you to the gate. Plus the US continues to use irradiating body scanners, while they have been recently banned in Europe where they only use non-irradiating scanners. You only have to face the dilemma of get cancer or get groped in North America. So I have never liked flying because of the unpleasant ambiance I find at airports, especially American airports.

And then I flew on a domestic flight in Australia.

What a world of difference:

•  ANYONE can go through security to get to the gates.

• You can lock your bags.
• You don’t have to take off your shoes.
• THERE IS NO LIQUID BAN ON DOMESTIC FLIGHTS.
• The security agents are actually nice!
• Qantas still provides free food and free checked luggage.
• Even though Virgin Australia (on a Saver fare) and Jetstar (the low-cost offshoot of Qantas) make you pay extra for food and luggage, it’s still rather affordable to fly across the country.
• DID I MENTION THERE IS NO LIQUID BAN AND ANYONE CAN GO TO THE GATE???

The only thing that I didn’t like was that no one checked my ID at any point so I could have used someone else’s boarding pass to get on a plane. But overall flying in Australia is a very pleasant experience and a thousand times better than flying in the US.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Australia, French Culture, Travelling

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Traveling from Australia to France always involves a lot of flying (ok, Australia to Anywhere involves a lot of flying), but changing seasons is another big shock that is hard to get used to. I spent Christmas in summer with temps in the 30s C / 90s F and then I came back to the Alps where it is snowing and barely above freezing.

I went from this:

to this:

and on Sunday I will be heading to Michigan where it is even colder and more snow is in the forecast.

I am enjoying my time in France even though this trip is rather short (only 4 days). I went to Grenoble yesterday to meet up with Crystal (Crystal goes to Europe) and Dana (grenobloise) and today I am spending New Year’s Eve in Annecy. Actually, I’m spending most of my time with this furball since I haven’t seen him in nearly six months:

He hasn’t changed at all.

Bonne année à tous et à toutes !

Happy New Year everyone!

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2011. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Annecy, Chambéry & France, Australia

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In honor of my first Australian Christmas:

Aussie Jingle Bells by Bucko & Champs (they have quite a few funny songs, such as Deck the Shed with Bits of Wattle and Australians Let Us Barbecue)

Christmas in Australia by Brian Sutton

Six White Boomers by Rolf Harris

Christmas Day the Australian Way by Angry Anderson (nice geography lesson of Australian places)

White Wine in the Sun by Tim Minchin

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Australia

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Some of these are obviously rather comédique rather than folklorique. Enjoy!

23 décembre by Beau Dommage

La valse de Noël by Fernand Gignac

La toune de Noël by Crampe en Masse

C’est Noël, il neige dans ma tête by Paul et Paul

Le père noel s’t'un québecois by Les Cowboys Fringants

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French

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More Christmas songs in French! Most of these videos have lyrics so you can learn the words and all of them are French versions of English songs you probably already know. Don’t forget the five songs I posted two years ago: French Christmas Songs

La Promenade en Traîneau (Sleigh ride)

Le Petit Renne au nez rouge (Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer)

Le Père Noël arrive ce soir (Santa Claus is comin’ to town)

Les anges dans nos campagnes (Angels we have heard on high)

C’est l’hiver (Let it snow)

Quebecois French and Australian Christmas songs to come!

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Learning French

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A linguistic analysis of language and identity of LOLcats. Isn’t linguistics the best thing ever? (And aren’t Lauren & Jill awesome!?)

I can has language play: Construction of Language and Identity in LOLspeak from Lauren Gawne on Vimeo.

Follow Lauren and Georgia (yet another adorable Aussie linguist) on Twitter @Superlinguo and on Tumblr.

© Jennifer Wagner for Jennie n'est plus en France, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Who is linking?
Post categories: Random

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