December Proverbs

Many French people believe that there is a link between the weather at Christmas and the weather at Easter. They also believe that a cold and snowy Christmas is good news. Check out the proverbs below:

Noël au balcon, Pâques au tison.
Christmas on the balcony, Easter by the himney

Blanc Noël, vertes Pâques ou vert Noël, blanches Pâques.
White Christmas, Green Easter or vice versa.

Décembre trop beau, été dans l'eau.
If December is too nice, the summer will be wet.

Noël neigeux, été merveilleux.
Snowy Christmas, wonderful summer

French Resources for Children

By 2010, all primary schools in the UK will have to offer a foreign language to pupils aged 7+. In the meantime, if you are a parent and would like to increase your child's exposure to French, here are a few ideas:

The BBC website offers interactive and printable resources for children learning French.

The momes website also has very good resources, especially French nursery rhymes.

We also strongly recommend the family programme in St Raphael for parents with children aged 5+.

Sunday Controversy

Did you know that in the last couple of years, a couple of large furniture shops have been fined for illegally opening some of their shops on Sundays?

French President Nicolas Sarkosy would like to put a law in place in early 2008 permitting shops to open on Sundays.

What do the French think? Well, according to a recent survey, only 51% of French people are in favour of supermarkets and shops opening on Sundays. Les autres? They believe that Sunday should be a family day and not a day spent grocery shopping or working in a shop.

Tout n'est pas gagné. Bonne chance Sarko!

Click here to read what Sarkosy suggests.

The France Show - It's Free

Adieu Vive la France and bienvenue the France Show. The France Show is the new name for the annual exhibition in London celebrating everything about France. The 2008 show will have five main themed areas: language and culture, travel and tourism, property, lifestyle and last but not least food and wine.

The show will take place at London Olympia on 18th to 20th January 2008. For free tickets, simply pre-register on the France Show website before 31st December 2007. Tickets after 31st December will be sold for £8.

If you can come to the show, make sure you drop by and see us at Stand G11 in the language section.