U.S. seeks help from French

Grok Headline matches for U.S. seeks help from French

"French investigators questioned seven
men pointed out by U.S. intelligence but
found no evidence they planned to use a
Los Angeles-bound jet to launch terror
attacks against the United States,
French authorities said Thursday"

"French investigators questioned seven
men pointed out by U.S. intelligence but
found no evidence they planned to use a
Los Angeles-bound jet to launch terror
attacks against the United States,
French authorities said Thursday" 12/26/2003 09:03 PM

Soon to be even more French

Soon to be even more French 04/04/2005 08:32 AM
That thumbnail to the right is a photo of my new (er, I should say nouveau) carte d'etudiant! That's right, it's back to school for me, and starting tomorrow I will begin to study French formally so that I'll no longer have to stammer sentences like, "I look for a phone card not to put in the phone but to press the numbers on the phone to use" or "the moon, like the moon and the earth and the plane -- the Space Shuttle -- that goes there, to the space." Of course, the idea of actually speaking French properly, rather than concocting it through an assemblage of words and the application of Spanish grammar rules, saddens me a bit. I rather enjoyed walking into the pharmacy this morning (to combat my Camilla hair) with my request, "I look for the thing for the hair whose name I do not know, but it is like this," whereupon I slide two fingers into my hair to mimic a bobby pin holding it in place, "and it is not called barrette." I triumphed again! The monsieur directed me to the magasin Claire, an accessories store, where I purchased said chose.

State of French Wi-Fi

State of French Wi-Fi 12/17/2003 02:28 PM
Interview with French Wi-Fi expert (in French): Eric Montagne discusses security, wardriving, and French regulation of unlicensed spectrum. [via Thomas Gee]...

french roast

french roast 06/02/2004 11:42 AM
Anne and I have to get up at 4am on Sunday for the marathon, so all this week, we're trying to reset our internal body clocks (notice I didn't say 'circadian rhythm') a little bit earlier than normal,(so we're not in a stupor at the starting line) by getting up earlier, and walking first thing.

Oh man, it's hard. It was harder to get up this morning and walk three miles than it was to walk 13 miles on the weekend . . . but we're doing it, and it feels very good to tell myself, "Look, man, you made a commitment to this marathon, and to Kris, and to Anne, and to everyone who has supported you. Get your fat lazy ass out of bed and walk."

French Horn

French Horn 02/10/2004 04:13 PM
F rench horny — or — a man in a tricked out orange jumpsuit. [Windows Media]

The French Disconnection

The French Disconnection 03/16/2003 10:57 AM
The Internet search engine Google provides another gauge of America's unhappiness with France: On it, a search for "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" turns up ...

French MPs set to ban headscarves

French MPs set to ban headscarves 02/10/2004 02:55 AM
France's parliament is to vote on a law banning the Islamic headscarf and other religious symbols from state schools.

I'm starting to like the French - more

I'm starting to like the French - more 05/23/2004 03:19 PM
Anti-Bush film wins Cannes prize, in France, of course.

Anti-Bush film wins Cannes prize, in France, of course.

Via BBC News: Michael Moore's controversial anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes, with a 15-minute standing ovation.

There are scenes from the movie here.

Not only do the French went against Bush during the War in Iraq, now they make Anti-Bush films win in Cannes... I wonder if I will be allowed to enter the US next time...[Loic Le Meur Blog]

Loic is one of teh nicest Frenchman I have ever met.  I told JY -when I met him at the Technorati devcon - my story of getting warm Coke in Cannes - and why I didn't understand the French.

"If I want my Coke cold - and I am the customer - then I should get it!"

But now that the French are doing all the right things - I may have to live with my warm Coke.  NOTE:  Actually I am trying to ween myself of my Coke addiction.  JUST SAY NO TO CARBS!

For the French speakers

For the French speakers 04/17/2005 06:52 PM
Here's one for my foodie French-speaking soon-to-be-or-already-are-in-France friends: Les 100 meilleurs bistrots à moins de 30 €. Note: The link points to ones in Paris, see the sidebar for those outside the Île-de-France. For the non-French speakers out there, it's a list of "The 100 best 30 € and under bistros." I've been to two on the Paris list so far this visit: L'Ami Marcel (which was mentioned in the April 2005 Gourmet article "The Bistro Boom"); and L'Epi Dupin. Both were very good and I'd recommend either for a lovely meal. And see, if I were less lazy, I would have written posts about eating there! As penance, if my dinning companions post about the meals, I promise to make the appropriate links.

Learn French too

Learn French too 04/06/2005 03:41 PM
Just because you're not here in Paris with me doesn't mean you can't join along from home. You too can learn all the French you need to know from About.com's Learn French - Lessons and Classes. C'est super!

Zap French Juice

Zap French Juice 12/30/2003 12:05 AM
"Zap gets French-language attention from Paris." (5 words - posted by peter@rukavina.net) 2 replies

French Fry Freak-Out

French Fry Freak-Out 04/09/2004 10:29 PM
techtv Apr 10 2004 2:18AM GMT

RSS Intro in French

RSS Intro in French 01/11/2004 12:25 PM
Introduction à RSS en Français....

The French Celebrate Achievement

The French Celebrate Achievement 07/26/2004 05:42 AM
For French people of a certain age, Lance Armstrong is no Jacques Anquetil or Bernard Hinault, yet he is a six-time champion of a sport they love and respect.

French victim's family come to UK

French victim's family come to UK 08/22/2004 03:43 AM
The family of a French woman murdered in south-west London are travelling to the UK to meet detectives.

Serpent Isle In French

Serpent Isle In French 06/10/2004 09:52 AM
si-french: new member and new release

D-Day Britons win French honour

D-Day Britons win French honour 05/24/2004 07:30 AM
Seven Normandy veterans are to be awarded France's Legion d'Honneur at a service in London.

"French eye festive glory"

"French eye festive glory" 12/26/2003 02:57 PM

French Voters Could Cause E.U. Crisis

French Voters Could Cause E.U. Crisis 04/10/2005 12:54 PM
Free Internet Press Apr 10 2005 3:31PM GMT

French scarf ban comes into force

French scarf ban comes into force 09/01/2004 07:34 PM
A ban on religious symbols in French state schools starts on Thursday, despite Iraqi hostage takers' demands.

French PM wants new Cannes talks

French PM wants new Cannes talks 05/11/2004 05:10 AM
France's prime minister wants fresh talks with striking arts workers over fears the Cannes Film Festival could be disrupted.

A total French spazz!

A total French spazz! 06/05/2005 11:56 PM

If you've met me in person, you know I'm quite the gesticulator when I speak. And I also have a strange tendency -- which my brother has as well, so I can only imagine it's something we developed as children -- to make sound effects to accompany my actions. For example, if you and I are walking towards each other in a narrow hallway, and I skirt to the side to avoid a collision, I will also utter, "yurreeek," or some sound to approximate a skid and/or close call.

While in Paris, I added a whistle to my communication style to indicate something that I didn't have the vocabulary to express in French. For example, I'd be saying, "And then I went..." and with my hand I'll make an up-and-down-and-over-the-hill motion, and I'd make a long whistle sound to accompany it. Or if I wanted to say, "He had to go," I'd simply say, "He" and then shoot my hand out to the right and make a short whistle sound.

While this was very effective in making myself understood when French failed me, I've discovered it's permeated my English interactions as well! So now I'm eeking and whistling not matter who I'm talking to or what I'm saying. Truly I'm becoming a human beat box. Or a crazy lunatic. You decide.

Studying French in Paris

Studying French in Paris 06/05/2005 11:56 PM

As many of you know, while I was in Paris last month I took French classes. I searched online for a schools and was overwhelmed by the Google results. Then the first day I was in Paris, I was reading an ex-pat's blog (he too was in Paris) and he mentioned studying at the Alliance Française. The next day, I headed over there, took a placement test, paid my fee, and got my student id. Sure, I could have done more research, but somehow, this just felt right, so I went with it.

I signed up for two hours a day, four days a week. The off day (which is the same for all courses), the Alliance offers cultural outings for students. From the very first day, I loved my class. Our teacher (Madame was what I called her, as her last name was complicated to pronounce and using her first name seemed too casual) was wonderful. Fluent in French, English, and Spanish, she also seemed to speak Chinese and Russian when the moment arose. She spent time talking about French culture and history in addition to grammar and vocabulary.

The class size was about twenty people, but it didn't present too much of a problem, and Madame made sure we all had opportunities to speak aloud (during which time she'd correct our pronunciation) both within small groups and to the whole class.

I really enjoyed it, and my classmates, and was very sad on the last day, especially since the rest of my group was continuing together with our teacher in Paris, and I was returning to the States. I learned a lot and felt that my French really improved a great deal, to the point that I could understand a lot of what was said to me, and could (in most situations at least) make myself understood.

Based on my limited experience, I'd definitely recommend taking classes at the Paris Alliance Française. I certainly plan to return to Paris, and when I do, I'll sign up for more classes there again.

French victim's family due in UK

French victim's family due in UK 08/22/2004 12:30 AM
The family of a French woman murdered in south-west London are travelling to the UK to meet detectives.

How I Learned French in One Year

How I Learned French in One Year 12/30/2004 02:30 PM
Riding on the coat-tails of an earlier article about emigrating to other countries, I present to you a small summary of my experience rapidly learning French to pass a standardized test for Canadian immigration. Since I live in the middle of the US, far removed from anything resembling a Francophone environment, I had to resort to various online and offline resources to accomplish my goal, managing to learn enough to score as "advanced" in several categories in just 10 months. Even if you don't wish to emigrate, this article may be useful, as I go into full detail describing the techniques and methods I used. Or, at the very least, read and be amused.

Eat your fruits and french fries

Eat your fruits and french fries 06/15/2004 11:27 AM

Google falls to the French

Google falls to the French 03/22/2005 05:01 PM
Pcw.co.uk - Tue Mar 22, 11:11 am GMT

New leader for French Polynesia

New leader for French Polynesia 06/14/2004 10:51 PM
Pro-independence Oscar Temaru becomes president, but says he won't hurry to end the link with France.

Remembering the French Laundry

Remembering the French Laundry 03/28/2005 10:23 AM
Ages ago, I began the process of moving all my megnut.com entries into a new version of Movable Type, a process I never completed. There are still about seven months of entries from 2002 that never made the transition, and sit only on my hard drive. One of those entries was my tale of eating dinner at the French Laundry, and many people have emailed asking why they can't find it on my site. Well I'm happy to say I've reposted it: It's All About Finesse. All the rest of the stuff is still missing, but for all those who've asked for it, and for myself too, I've gotten it back online. I think it's one of my favorite megnut posts of all time. Every time I re-read it, it brings that magical evening rushing back. Hard to believe it was almost three years ago! Has my Keller devotion waned in that time, you ask? Hardly! I got the Bouchon cookbook for Christmas and have already tried several of the recipes. And not only that, but I've been practicing for a return to one of Mr. Keller's kitchens by eating as much yummy food as possible, including a recent superb outing to Gramercy Tavern in New York City. My hope is to visit Per Se, Thomas' New York City outpost, later this year. Belly -- and wallet -- beware!

French call for SMS boycott

French call for SMS boycott 05/12/2004 05:39 AM
Europe in Brief Too expensive by half

Speaking of French cheese

Speaking of French cheese 04/09/2005 07:53 AM
According to this article, French mobilise to save cheeses under threat of extinction France is losing cheeses as producers are dying and taking their cheese making secrets to the grave. A worrisome trend is looming in this country of cheese-lovers, where the nation's rich palette of 1,000 cheeses is being nibbled away at with the annual demise of several varieties..."The Mont-d'Or galette, which had been produced for some 400 years, disappeared this summer following the death of the last producer who knew the secret of how to make it." That does sound worrisome. What's also worrisome is the reference in this article to "National Cheese Day" on "Friday." Did I just miss National Cheese Day?!?! Why weren't there big cheese posters everywhere telling me about this? Sure, they take the time to hang a giant neon sign for the Olympics on the Hôtel de Ville, but why not a giant poster of Brique de Brebis? No wonder a disastrous cheese extinction looms!

French art thief on trial again

French art thief on trial again 01/06/2005 12:12 PM
A French art thief who stole dozens of masterpieces in several countries goes on trial in Strasbourg.

Chris Ware on French TV

Chris Ware on French TV 03/14/2005 05:28 PM
Mark Frauenfelder: Chris Ware is one of the best cartoonists around, and a French TV channel has produced a documentary about him. You can get a torrent to download a 100MB file of the documentary from Kempa.
Link (via Drawn!)

Google - The French Disconnection

Google - The French Disconnection 03/14/2005 05:16 PM
"Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads France's national library and is a noted historian, says Google's choice of works is likely to favor Anglo-Saxon ideas and the English language."

F1: Ralf to miss French GP

F1: Ralf to miss French GP 06/28/2004 04:23 PM
BBC Sport understands Ralf Schumacher will not race at Magny-Cours on Sunday.

For iTunes, it pays to be French

For iTunes, it pays to be French 09/15/2004 11:06 AM
Consumers group says Apple's iTunes overcharges British users, when compared with what it charges French and German buyers.

Yes, But John Kerry Looks French

Yes, But John Kerry Looks French 04/10/2004 03:45 AM
Bush Was Warned of Possible Attack in U.S., Official Says "President Bush was told more than a month before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that supporters of Osama bin Laden planned an attack within the United States with explosives and wanted to hijack airplanes, a government official said Friday. The warning came in a secret briefing that Mr. Bush received at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., on Aug. 6, 2001. A report by a joint Congressional committee last year alluded to a "closely held intelligence report" that month about the threat of an attack by Al Qaeda, and the official confirmed an account by The Associated Press on Friday saying that the report was in fact part of the president's briefing in Crawford." Then again, he had more important things to deal with that Summer.

Quebec is more French than France

Quebec is more French than France 07/23/2004 06:14 PM

Quebec City, despite its proximity to the U.S. and confederation with Anglophone Canada, is in many ways more authentically French than France.  Our global village of cheap jet transport and liberal immigration policies has resulted in many of the world's cities drawing their inhabitants from whatever countries are most populous and/or whichever countries have the most poverty, crime, and government oppression.  This results in enough similarity of one big city to another that some folks don't bother traveling anymore.

Quebec, by contrast, has stubbornly resisted immigration for centuries.  After the British took over in 1760 they tried desperately to get English speakers to move here to dilute the French language, culture, and loyalty.  In the 19th-century the Quebecois themselves began leaving for various New England states in which high-paying mill jobs were to be had.  Instead of the hoped-for immigration this was an outflow of roughly 1 million people.  Today Canada brings in nearly 250,000 immigrants per year but most of them want to go to Toronto, Vancouver, and other English-speaking cities.  Quebec, with 24 percent of Canada's population, is the choice of only 15 percent of immigrants and most go to Montreal where it is possible to get by with only English (Montreal was where Ah med Ressam started his life in the New World).  Some combination of cold weather, a persistently moribund economy (they've tried everything here:  big government, small government, agriculture, heavy industry, high tech, etc.), and the terror of having to learn French keeps folks from wanting to pile into Quebec City and, to an even larger extent, the small Francophone towns of Quebec.

All of the folks who work basic service jobs seem to be native-born Quebecois.  Any signs in English are directed at tourists.McDonald's has a section "reserved for smokers".  Can this island of pure French culture survive?  A schoolteacher told me "I know that the day will come when I can't speak French here anymore." At the inception of the language wars in the 18th-century the French language was holding its own quite nicely in the worlds of literature, science, and day-to-day use.  Today, however, the results of England imperialism have spread the English language far beyond what could have been foreseen 250 years ago.  The huge number of countries and people that use Spanish and Chinese have further reduced the French language to obscurity.

Henman - I can win French title

Henman - I can win French title 05/28/2004 12:41 PM
Tim Henman says he is confident he can win the French Open after making it to the fourth round for the first time.
Grok Description matches for U.S. seeks help from French
GrokA matches for U.S. seeks help from French

U.S. seeks help from French

The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: