Celine

March 8th is International Women's Day and it is lamentable how uninterested the UK is in this event. France leads the way with discussions on the Muslim veil banning, The French Justice Minister defends her decision to return to work 5 days after giving birth and la parité au travail is a another. In the UK most women are more interested in make up and hair extensions, whereas in France employers allow women time off to take part in various meetings. Why the difference?

Frenchie Am I right thinking you leave the "s" off the verb in the tu form when it's a command? ne t'inquiete pas. Do you do the same for -ir verbs: "fini tes devoirs." Thank you

Mme poivre. In addition to a good dictionary, if you are studying for GCSE French may I recommend the CGP books which will give you all the vocabulary you need to get a top grade. If you work through The Revision Guide and the Workbook, you cannot go wrong. I can give you the ISBNs if you like. Sorry, these books wont be for everyone because they are written in a very chatty, dare I say slang, manner for the average 16 year old student.

How common is the reflexive verb se doucher and is prendre une douche a better alternative? Thank you.

PS Well the bed itself isn't exactly on the tube line! Celine

I see she has friends in London, but to anyone in a desperate situation I can offer a bed in London Mon., or Tues., night on the tube line. Family arriving to stay after that date.

Simon Cowell is talking to Kirsty Wark on Newsnight tonight about his plans to launch an X-Factor style political show before the next general election. Judging by last night's pull of 20 million viewers maybe he can at least get more people to come out of the woodwork and vote by using the medium of television.

It's the end of term, and I too, like Panda, would like to report that Christmas is thriving in multi cultural East London. Not only have we had the traditional Nativity play and the carol concert, but the children have been singing at Old Folks' Homes and in the foyer of Tescos. Surely it is the Christian ethos which is important - do unto others etc. - not the actual practice and dogma. Banning nativity plays in schools is very rare and if you believe we are all being forced to modify our teaching of Great Britain's history and culture then you are wrong, we are just being asked to encompass and respect more faiths and cultures in order to give the children a fairer picture. Colour in our school has more to do with one's sports kit.

Today's shop assistants in the UK have been taught to chat to the customer, saying "ooo, this is a nice product etc." when you pass through the till. My daughter was short changed by £3 in M & S yesterday as the till lady was so busy trying to be friendly. Maybe the sullen French cashier is a better bet!

Too right, Clair! What I want to know is where all these teenagers get their money from to indulge in these activities?

How funny, Clair, I read your list last night, then a Year 10 today came out with, "Je pense que mon look c'est le top." I had to let it go as being current French.

Thanks cooperlola. We're trying to use the shop names, so would it be right to say "je vais aller le manacurist?"

I always like my GCSE candidates to impress with their extensive French vocabulary, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the correct translation. Today asking them what they are doing this weekend I heard ''je vais visiter le nail bar," and wondered what a French person might make of this. Images of sipping a glass of wine or downing a pastis while having one's nails painted sprang to mind. Anyone know a better translation?

But if you give these families additional financial support will they spend it on their children's education, clean clothes, fresh fruit and vegetables etc.? What children need is love, time with their parents and good role models. You can provide all of these even if you fall below the poverty line.

I am certainly not worked by Simon Cowell, but if my attention has been brought to other people's suffering through this medium, then job done. If the life of only one child, one parent/carer, one nurse is made easier through the donations, then I am happy. And actually, Simon is selling me a download single, so I am actually acquiring something tangible too. I agree, Quillan, if anyone gets in such a tizzy over this subject then it proves he/she is indirectly being manipulated by the Simon machine too.

http://www.roquefort-societe.com/ I understood it that the penicillin was made from the mouldy bread.

buelligan, you can't argue with the fact that a tv programme which has over 16 million viewers is a brilliant medium to encourage people to donate to a worthwhile cause.

True to some extent, cooperlola, and no row brewing, but when pupils in my class bring in their £1 donations for charity it makes them think about giving to others less fortunate. Any extra support for any good cause has to be a good thing and I guess the revenue from our taxes is not a bottomless pit.

I have just read the story about how Roquefort cheese was discovered. Does this mean that those with celiac cannot tolerate such cheese due to the bread content or is the present day stuff made differently?

....... not wishing to brag ......., re-reading my predictions of 12/10/09, my two choices are now in the final six!! However, I do take back my later comment that the oldies who perform are past their sell-by date. That rendition of the Queen song was brilliant and Brian May was outstanding on guitar. The Great Ormond Street single brought a tear to the eye. Proud to be British if we can raise over a million for such a good cause. Maybe we shouldn't beat ourselves up quite so much about our country.

Thanks, I'm hoping it's equivalent to D & T.

Can someone tell me what the subject EMT is and what it equates to in English in the school curriculum, please.

Is it the hair he's barking at? My dog barks at anyone with a hat or an afro.

I come very close to redkite's feelings on home being where I started out and grew up. I have returned to live there after a few decades, unintentionally and against my will in some respects, but I have never felt so comfortable and so happy. It's the smells and the sounds and an indefinable buzz. I do however think I had to go away from it for a length of time to really appreciate it though.

I think Maricopa is right, it is something we can't do anything about and if we cry for a month it wont change things. We regularly visit our French property, but there's no way we could be bothered to time visits and crossings to coincide with a drop of a few cents here or there. We will continue with our trips regardless: the ups and downs of exchange rates is actually one of things you factor in when buying a property abroad, n'est-ce pas? I can see however that those Sprogster mentioned would be constantly preoccupied with the exchange rate because it greatly affects their lifestyle. I always adopt the attitude easy come, easy go, so when times are hard it must be more difficult and time consuming to juggle your budget.