🇫🇷 Unique French Tips by Camille - Dec 19th 2019 🇫🇷🎄🎄🎄

Bonjour mes chers étudiants de français,

Noël est une fête importante en France, qui est célébrée par les personnes religieuses mais aussi par les Français en général. Plus qu'une fête religieuse, Noël est devenue l'occasion d'une réunion familiale.  

Christmas is an important holiday in France, celebrated by religious people but also by the French in general. More than a religious holiday, Christmas has become the reason for a family reunion.

 Bien sûr, il y a beaucoup de traditions françaises associées à Noël, de vocabulaire etc... Donc cette lettre d'info ce concentrera sur cette période spéciale en France.  

Of course, there are many French traditions associated with Christmas, vocabulary etc... So this newsletter will focus on this special time in France.  

Comme petit cadeau : Olivier et moi avons enregistré un dialogue de Noël... à deux vitesses comme dans notre méthode "À Moi Paris" : 
- français clairement énoncé... comme vous l'avez probablement étudié à l'école, et comme on continu à l'enseigner aujourd'hui dans les méthodes traditionnelles, - français moderne, avec les enchaînements et les petits mots qui disparaissent, comme tous les Français le parlent aujourd'hui dans la vraie vie.  

As a small gift, Olivier and I recorded a Christmas dialogue: at two speeds, like in our À Moi Paris method:
- clear enunciated French... such as the one you probably studied in school, and like it's still taught in traditional methods, 
- modern French, with glidings and disappearing small words, as all French people speak it today in real life.  

Nous vous souhaitons à tous d'excellentes fêtes de fin d'année, et beaucoup de progrès en français.  

We wish you all happy holidays and lots of progress in French.

À bientôt.

Camille Chevalier Karfis
Founder of French Today

Christmas Meal in France: December 24th or 25th?

Should you be invited for a Christmas meal in France (called "le Réveillon de Noël"), the first thing to check is… the date! It could very much be on December 24th or December 25th.

On the 24th

Very religious family may actually fast on that day to remember that Jesus was born in poverty.

Traditionally, families would gather for the Christmas mass and feast, before or after the mass - so this often meant a very late dinner - hence the name "Le Réveillon" which has to do with "réveiller": to wake up (maybe because for many it meant waking up after the 'doze off' of the Christmas mass to feast and celebrate !)

Because of that tradition, many people still do hold the traditional Christmas meal on the 24th - mass or no mass. You may be in for a late dinner that would extend till midnight to celebrate Christmas day.

On the 25th

Christmas day, December 25th is now an official public holiday in France.

Which means time to travel to your family, time to cook, time to enjoy the day.

So more and more, French people celebrate Christmas on the 25th, with a late lunch (kind of like Thanksgiving in the US).

Our family's tradition

In Olivier's family, we do both... No kidding!!

December 24th is usually a simpler meal: finger food such as foie-gras and salmon on toast, maybe some fancy French charcuterie… But still rather simple. And we usually open the presents that evening too. It’s not typical, but it works better for us this way.

Then we have the fancier Christmas meal for late lunch or early dinner on December 25th.

So, in case you are wondering, we do usually take on a few pounds over Christmas…

If you've taken our new unique French level test you noticed that at the end, we offer the option to get additional free French lessons via mail based on your level.

If you are interested in receiving these emails without having to take the test, you can click on one of the levels below and we'll start sending you these lessons (one every 2 to 3 days). You can stop these lessons at any time by clicking on the link at the bottom of each lesson email.

Noël – Christmas. Note we usually don’t use any article with the word “Noël” but it’s a masculine word
La veille de Noël – Christmas Eve
Le jour de Noël – Christmas day
Joyeux Noël – Merry Christmas
Joyeuses fêtes de fin d’année – Happy [end of the year] Holidays
Le Réveillon de Noël – Christmas eve meal
S’embrasser sous le gui – To kiss under the mistletoe
Décorer la maison – To decorate the house
Passer Noël en famille – To spend Christmas with your family
Faire des cadeaux – Give away gifts
Ouvrir des cadeaux – To open presents
Envoyer ses voeux de Noël – To send out Christmas wishes
Je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël et d’excellentes fêtes de fin d’année – I wish you a merry Christmas and excellent [end of the year] holidays
Joyeuse fête d'Hanoucca !

Click here for a list of 100 French Christmas terms on French Today.

À Moi Paris Method - Intermediate

"I have been thoroughly enjoying the Audio books for nearly 2 years now. This method makes it so interesting does not feel like a course at all or you are under any pressure. My compliments to Camille & Oliver for a creative work of making it FUN !! I plan to spend more time every day to make progress. I never thought I could ever write or speak French at my age of 62. A breath of fresh air really !! This has give me a good hobby and to learn something something very interesting for many more years."
-- Nallan Rangesh, Midhurst, UK (December 2019)

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