oats Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hello: I am putting together a lesson plan on France - lifestyle, language, culture, manners, arts, food (recipes), etc....I have read a number of books on France, but all with the same stereotypical "textbook" version of France. I'm interested in hearing from French people as to what is dear to your culture. This is for school age children. This is a hugely vague question so hopefully I'll get a multitude of inputs on what you think the kids might get excited to know about France and its culture -- just point me in the right direction (such as a specific traditional craft, food dish, etc.) and than I can do the follow up research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hello oats and welcome to the forum.If ALL the books you have read have the same view of France, maybe you have the wrong idea? [;-)][Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="oats"]I'm interested in hearing from French people as to what is dear to your culture. [/quote]There are very very few French people here... The vast majority is British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 A few titles you may wish to consider:How to stay calm in the Supermarket Queue.Don't worry, he's only 1 metre from my bumper.Guarantee, What Guarantee.Buying One Tyre in France. (part of the How-to Series)Hiding in france.How to Master Andouillette.Gary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Bugsy, you forgot....Hello I'm from the customer service dept, how Can I help you?[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 How to live in France and not speak a word of FrenchHow to live in France and pay no taxes and keep your UK numberplatesHow to attract beaver in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 oats- it is not an easy question. France is made up of so many different regions, with different geography, cultures, foods, traditions. Like Yorkshire and Cornwall - or Maine and New Mexico. this is why most books for kids just aim at the common bits, and all end up with the same cliches. If you want to ask specific questions, I'll try and help. think about most kids books on England or the royaume-uni for French/foreign kids- they all contain the same cliches too. Most still say that business men wear striped suit and carry an umbrella - just like dutch people wear clogs, or the Swiss make coocoo clocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Obviously the first replies, which weren't very helpful, are based on the fact that this is a ridiculous place to ask that question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterG Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="Bugsy"]A few titles you may wish to consider:How to Master Andouillette.Gary.[/quote]Come on Bugsy....................You know that one is impossible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hubby mastered andouillettes - and pronounced them gorgeous [blink] - despite not knowing what they were (or maybe because??) Hadn't the heart to tell him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassis Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 To master andouillettes all you need are a peg for your nose, a set of long handled tongs and a bin that can be sealed air-tight. Simple with the right tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterG Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="Scooby"]Hubby mastered andouillettes - and pronounced them gorgeous [blink] [/quote]What the hell else do you feed him the rest of the time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassis Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="PeterG"][quote user="Scooby"]Hubby mastered andouillettes - and pronounced them gorgeous [blink] [/quote]What the hell else do you feed him the rest of the time?[/quote]Anyway, it's pronounced "ahn-doo-wee-yets". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 [quote user="PeterG"][quote user="Scooby"]Hubby mastered andouillettes - and pronounced them gorgeous [blink] [/quote]What the hell else do you feed him the rest of the time?[/quote]Now that's not nice PeterG [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 How old are the children? My school age grandchildren in the UK are between 5 and 10yrs old but even one who is 3 is keen to speak a few French phrases. I've explained how children and adults greet each other, some of the differences between French and UK eating habits, different landscapes etc. As has been pointed out it is a big country!If they are older you could look up the tourist offices of the different departments - or get the students to!Good luck. Hope it's a start but keep asking more specific questions and I'm sure someone will help. I had a teacher (I'm assuming you're a teacher!) like you and she started my interest in France. Look where it got me - living in France in my old age!PS Sorry - I'm not French Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 [quote user="Scooby"]Hubby mastered andouillettes - and pronounced them gorgeous [blink] - despite not knowing what they were (or maybe because??) [/quote] My OH has also mastered andouillettes and does know what they are. He only eats them when we're eating out, though - mostly because I've concluded there is not a domestic hotte strong enough to effectively extract the stench from a kitchen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 To date andouilletes are the only thing that will not go down and/or stay down, yet I regularly eat horse, rabbit, steak tartare etc and absolutely love tripe.I shall take a clothes peg with me to the next barbecue and see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 True, France is a big country and you people are very different from region to region. My mother is from Lorraine, but the people there are very different people in the Var, where I live. For instance, people in the Var find it normal that shops are closed between 12 and 3 to 3.30 pm, but people in Lorraine only close their shops for about 1 hour at lunch time. Time keeping is also different : people in the North of France tend to be more precise about their time-keeping than people in the South. I myself am Franco-Belgian, married to an Englishman and I find that the main differences between the English and the French are that the English are in general more practical and precise than the French (especially regarding respecting schedules), and the French are a bit more open to other cultures (e.g.you see more films in foreign languages in France than in England for instance in my opinion, though I've got the feeling this is changing a bit) but less open to foreign cuisine than the English (though I'd say that's changing too).I have always found the food in England delicious, but I remember being shocked when we were invited by friends who served a lovely tiramisu for desert but put smelly cheese on the table at the same time. That really disturbed me and prevented me from fully enjoying my desert, yet to my husband this was completely normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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