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Tourangelle

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Everything posted by Tourangelle

  1. It is really not the Jamie Oliver whatever, because you can't say it on its own.  Before anybody tells me that you are not supposed to say whatever on its own either, that's not the point, "whatever" is said by others than J Oliver but quel que soit really can't be.
  2. [quote user="Will"]I know I make plenty of errors and can just imagine that you may be compiling a list of them from past contributions to the forum. When you find any then I will wilingly hold my hands up to my mistakes, and not justify an error by the specious argument that 'it doesn't matter on an internet forum'. I actually have many better things to do than to read through your previous posts looking for errors.  My argument is that for me, this internet forum is not a place where it is necessary to write as one would in a formal situation, and I chose, indeed, choose, to write in a more informal manner, when I wish, as one would when speaking.  That doesn't suit you, but that is your problem.  We'll just have to agree to disagree on what is appropriate here. You may, as a teacher, regard knowing the correct use of the accusative case of the personal pronoun as irrelevant and the mark of a pompous old git, and you may be right - though I can't speak for JR. It's just that I have to know about these things in the course of earning a living. No, you can't speak for JR, but you didn't need to, I quote, "go one stage further in the pedantic stakes".  Stop being so offensive and patronising, you know nothing about me as a teacher.  Edit - I wouldn't normally bother to point out errors on the forum (unlike some other users) but you did ask. JR and I were only being helpful by pointing out - as native English speakers with knowledge of correct grammar - the correct form. From what you said previously I got the impression you may not be a native English speaker, although you obviously know a lot about the language. Well you needn't bother, I am a native English speaker. [/quote]
  3. Nooooo, I love parents like you!
  4. unlikely, it is quite posh!
  5. They have a repas de classe often when they are in lycée when they all go out and drink and eat together.  Sometimes they ask the teachers.  In collège they might hire a room and have a party.  I don't know if you have noticed, but French people in general tend to dress up less, this extends to this sort of situation.
  6. [quote user="Joy1"] Perhaps we will raise it at the conseils de classe- but we don't want to make him unpopular with his classmates!! [/quote] They don't have to say who asked the question!  Are his marks ok despite this apparent lack of homework? I expect you will have a parent's evening after the conseil de classe anyway.  I do agree with the previous poster this is not a complaint I've heard of before either!!!
  7. that sounds about right for the number of hours if he is not doing any options.  It does seem like very little homework, but perhaps he has gaps in his timetable when he is getting it done.  The  conseils de classe are coming up at any moment, so you should get in touch with the parents who are délégues for this, (at least two per class) and let them know what your concerns are so they can put them to the teachers.
  8. yes it is called éducation civique juridique et sociale and it is generally taught by the history and geography teachers.  It is examined in the brevet du collège at the end of 3eme.  It is also taught in lycée, but is given much less importance.
  9. as clair has not answered il est très gourmand (mais il a très faim)
  10. I'd get off that horse if I were you, it's a bit too high.  Or start changing all your doesn'ts to does nots, as one should in proper written English. I don't agree, grammar is not static, you only have to read up on the history of language to realise that is an ever changing and evolving area.  Take the verbs learn or dream.  The correct past form used to be dreamt, learnt, now we accept dreamed, learned... So what?  People used to go on about split infinitives, nobody bothers so much these days. We don't have an equivalent of the Academie Française, thank goodness and most people manage to distinguish between a formal piece of writing or a speech and an internet forum.
  11. ahhh, but is it wrong or is it taking into account the informal oralised nature of internet forums?  Do they same rules apply here as to conventional written English?  Am I seeking to provide a model of perfect English, or rather join in with the register of the discussion?  How different is it to some authors who write would of instead of would have?  A méditer...
  12. [quote user="J.R."] Tourangelle, do you teach French or English? [/quote] English, why have I made an awful mistake somewhere? (where's the emoticon for paranoid when I need it????[:$]). My degree's an English one, in French, but my teaching qualification is French, to teach English!
  13. It depends what you mean by serious act of violence.  Obviously some just go directly to the police. But some don't especially if it is between two pupils and the parents do not wish to make a complaint. To expell a pupil there is a procedure called a conseil de discipline.  The  pupil  can be  excluded for  the time  until the conseil de discipline and only return for this. The conseil is made up of some parents, some teachers, some other staff members, some pupils and always the head who is the chair.  These are elected at the beginning of the year from among their peers.  The child can be accompanied by their parents or somebody else of their choice.  Other teachers or adults or even children can be asked to attend in order to give evidence.  The head will explain the situation, go through the child's record, but just a little, in class so and so etc, then talk about the incident.  Then, others will be asked to contribute, the members of the conseil can ask questions.  The child will have an opportunity to say what they have to say, as will their representative.  When this is all over, those who are not members of the conseil go out and there is a discussion and a vote.  After, the result is handed down, it can be a permanent exclusion or a temporary one, or a suspended exclusion meaning that if anything happens in the future the child will be expelled.  There you go, hope it helps.
  14. I'm confused by what you have not understood.  The perfect tense is called the passé composé in French. The past perfect is not the same as the perfect.  The passé composé or perfect is not the same thing as the past perfect, (despite what has been written) which is also called plus-que-parfait in French and pluperfect in English.  Passer is a verb that takes avoir or être, as does monter, for example, when it means something has risen.  eg Tous les prix ont monté, means all the prices have gone up..., but if I wanted to tell somebody, if I were really boring, that I got on the bus, I would have to say je suis montée dans le bus. You certainly are dilligent though!
  15. Me and many of my colleagues are furious Sarko said that, as teachers, how are we supposed to convince the kids that they shouldn't use that sort of language to us.  He's irresponsible, (but getting more and more unpopular)![8-|]
  16. [quote user="J.R."] I was trying to point out that in English there are 2 perfect tenses, the present perfect and the past perfect, it is the past perfect that you are referring to i.e "I had done", the present perfect would be "I have done" To me the passé composé is the equivalent of the past perfect "I had done" and the past simple "I did".   [/quote] These are not tenses, these are aspects. Present perfect means that there is the present have + the past participle.  Therefore there is no new conjugation.  It is the same for the past perfect, had is conjugated, had, + past participle.  There are only two tenses in English, the preterite and the present.  The passé composé can be translated by the past simple, however it cannot be translated by past perfect.  The past perfect is translated by ... the past perfect, le plus-que-parfait.  The past perfect is one of the easiest tenses going, you use avoir in the imperfect, and then the past participle. (for the French these are tenses, but only temps composés) It is used in the same way as the past perfect in English. Here are some examples off the top of my head. He had already started cooking when I rang Il avait déjà commencé à faire à manger quand j'ai appelé If I had known, I wouldn't have come Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venue She had already left when we got there Elle était déjà partie quand nous sommes arrivés
  17. car is more like since, or as a result of, I think, to express a consequence, whereas parce que is your common all garden because.  Personally I think parce que is used lots more, but is that just because I speak to 150 French kids a week in my job???  None of them ever say I didn't do my homework, car I forgot my book...[8-)]  Car sounds lovely and elegant to me!
  18. no, no strikes this week, as a general rule, there are never any strikes when one part of the country is on holiday.  This must be an optomistic rumour.  In any case, strikes are practically never on a Friday because then we could lose the salary for the Saturday too, even if we don't work if the recotrat is feeling particularly zelous. There will be no letter, because the headteacher does not know who is turning up and who isn't.  Generally the teachers will say if the pupils ask, but last time there was a starike I worked and I had one class that was nearly complete, and another that had two pupils in it, because one had most of their teachers coming in and the other didn't. 
  19. rébonjour isn't really good French though, however, better to say that than the occasionally to be heard "ré".  Bonne nuit (it's feminine) is just before you go to bed, you wouldn't have got strange looks if you'd just said bon soir.
  20. kind of the Berlitz approach, I do agree it important to stick to the essentials.  I know those verb tables, they are far too scary.  Another essential verb as pp suggested is faire.
  21. If you look at the prices places actually sell for, (you can see on some estate agent's websites) and the asking price it is obvious that most people accept 10% less at least than the asking price.
  22. Je les ai trouvés très utiles, because your preceeding direct object is the books, I think. I'm sure a French person will come along and correct me if I don't have it right. There are only two tenses in English, the present and the past.  We do not have a future tense.  We can talk about the future in various ways, will for example or going to but there is no tense. Will is what is called a modal rather than a tense, we use many modals in English, they are can, could will would may might should shall and so on.  They modify the verb that follows them but cannot be conjugated, (for example, she cans is obviously wrong).  It would be impossible to find an exact equivalent for the tenses in French.  Sometimes when we use a present perfect for example, your French person is going to be using a present.  Example: I have been learning French for ten years. You translate word for word and end up with something like j'ai été en train d'apprendre le français pour dix ans.  Passé composé, you say to yourself.  You get puzzled looks when you say it.  Eh non, ça ne se dit pas comme ça.  Meanwhile your average French person is tearing their hair out wondering how it can be so complicated to say something as simple as, j'apprends le français depuis dix ans.  [:(]
  23. http://www.koreus.com/media/do-you-speak-english.html have a look for yourselves
  24. ok, thanks for the thoughts, errm, how do I find out whether my area has TNT, I suppose all the TVs with the TNT integrated in my local shops might be a good clue...  I've seen some interesting offers with, just hesitating.  I'll go and look at the previous thread, thanks.
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