Mes chansons des fêtes préférées ♪

Bonjour mes enfants! Je n'aime pas beaucoup de musique de Noël, mais il y a quelques chansons qui me plaisent.  Les voilà, profitez-en bien!

Alan Mann's "Christmas on the Block" performed by Philadelphia musicians

"2000 Miles" by the Pretenders

"I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake

"Little Saint Nick" by The Beach Boys

"So this is Christmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon

Personal Portfolio: la photographie - Dora Maar

Dora Maar est née Henriette Theodora Markovitch le 22 novembre 1907 à Paris.  Son père était croate et sa mère était française.  Maar était photographe et peintre mais elle est connue comme la muse et l’amante de Pablo Picasso.  Malheureusement, ce statut dans le contexte de Picasso a éclipsé son propre œuvre.

Maar était une photographe surréaliste. Elle est devenue photographe en 1930 et elle a fait la connaissance de beaucoup d’écrivains, d’artistes, et de photographes célèbres, comme Brassaï, Jacques Prévert, Simone Weil, André Breton, Jean Renoir, et Paul Éluard.  C’était Éluard qui lui a fait la connaissance de Picasso.

Bien qu’elle ait suivi son propre chemin, elle a fait aussi beaucoup de choses pour Picasso.  Elle a documenté son progrès et son travail pendant qu’il créait Guernica, son chef d’œuvre.

Les photos de Maar m’intéressent beaucoup. Elles sont énigmes, un peu déroutantes.  Elles me font penser et réfléchir.

Voilà quelques images de Dora Maar.

La Baigneuse, 1931

Fashion photo. Date unknown

Untitled, 1934

Éluard et Nusch à Mengins, été 1937

The Years Lie In Wait For You, 1936

Marionnette accrochée à une palissade, 1934

French III - Final project information

Bonjour mes enfants!  I wanted to post some things here regarding the final project for French III.

General information:

• The presentation must be written in French.
• You must present it in French.
• You must have some sort of visual: a PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, a tri-fold poster, something to show me and your classmates.  This is up to you.  Be creative!
• I will begin scheduling your presentations before Winter Break, but you will not have to present until after Winter Break (unless you choose to go before).
• Remember that most, if not all, place names have a French name.  Look it up on Wikipedia France.
• Same thing with famous works of art, like the Mona Lisa and the Winged Victory of Samothrace and whatnot.
• VISIT PLACES THAT INTEREST YOU.

Specific information:

• The first five place you visit in Paris will be the following:
• La Tour Eiffel
• Le Sacré Cœur
• L’Arc de Triomphe
• Notre Dame de Paris
• Les Bateaux Mouches
• For these five places, all I want is the metro stop or stops, the metro line or lines, and the arrondissement in which it is located.  You can find a metro map online.  Make sure it is the PARIS METRO.
• You will then choose ten (10) places to visit in or around Paris.  Make sure they are accessible by public transportation.  Choose places that INTEREST you.  When you talk about them, make them sound like a place that I would like to visit!
• For these ten places, I want the following information:
• Metro stop or stops
• Metro line or lines
• Arrondissement (if it is in the actual city of Paris)
• I also want this information:
• Give me some history about the place
• Why should I visit it?
• Why did you choose it?
• Don’t visit places that you think are boring!  Have fun with this!!

After you are done in Paris you are going to do one of the following things:

• You are going to ‘visit’ five (5) francophone countries or regions and find as many artifacts as you can that make that country or region special or unique

OR

• You are going to ‘visit’ ten (10) francophone countries or regions and find several interesting artifacts that make that country or region special or unique.

Here are some things to consider when choosing the places you would like to visit:

• Why did you choose this country or region?
• Does it have an interesting history?
• What makes it unique?

And so on…

Please remember: IF YOU DO THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF WORK, YOU WILL GET A MINIMAL GRADE.  Those who go above and beyond will get good grades. I want to see that you are interested in this, that you chose things carefully, that you put some thought into this. I want lots of photographs. Make your presentation attractive.

Above all, practice your presentation before you do it in class.  I cannot emphasize this enough.

You may practice with me, you can practice with your friends, you can practice in front of the mirror at home, you can record yourself practicing.  Do whatever will help you.

Do not wait until the last minute to complete this. You will not do well.

And, as always, if you need help - ask me.  I am your teacher. I am here to teach you and guide you and help you.

Bruxelles, la Belgique

L'île de Djerba, la Tunisie

Le château de Chillon, la Suisse 

Les Seychelles

Some changes, tips, and tricks

Bonjour mes enfants! I've noticed some people struggling with the listening assignment.  Here are some things that might help.

Listening

1. Find a video that is shorter than two minutes.  Anything else will be too overwhelming.
2. Watch it repeatedly. Not once or twice, but maybe five or six times. At least. And really watch it, don't just listen. The video is there to help with your comprehension.
3. Find a video that is part of an article so you can read as well as listen. I like TV5 Monde because their videos almost always include a direct transcription of what is being said.
4. Look up things you don't understand.
5. What kind of questions do you think I'll ask you? Think about this as you watch and listen to the videos.
6. Use the links in the left hand column, especially Symbaloo, to help you find videos that are both interesting and comprehensible.

Frequency of posts

I've also noticed that some people haven't posted anything on their blogs in over a month.  This is not good. You should be writing and publishing a MINIMUM of one post per week.  And I cannot say this enough:

If you need help, please ask me.

I won't be mad.

I won't yell.

I will help you.

I am here to guide you and teach you and help you become independent young adults, but this does not mean that you have to do everything yourself!!

Are you having trouble finding articles or videos? Do this. Let's say the topic you want to know about is endangered species.  Look up that term and learn how to say it in French (espèce menacée). Go to Google France and type that in and voilà! A whole bunch of links will appear and there will likely be some links that will be useful to you! Don't be afraid to explore!

BE CURIOUS

I cannot emphasize this enough! Look at stuff! There is so much information available to you! Whoa! I had to go to a real library and look at books and stuff when I was your age! And globes! And maps! And they were all outdated but it was still super cool!  Go discover things!

I shall now descend from my soapbox. If you've read this far, come and get a sticker from me or something.

A market place in Tunisia