FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

Hi Kristin - really enjoy your blog and happy to sign your livre d'or. Has anyone told you that you bear quite a resemblance to an English actress called Amanda Holden - see picture here.

http://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Holden,_Amanda/gallery/SPX-016035/

Anyway - happy new year to you and your family.

Bonnee Annee, Good to see you back. Holidays are good. this is Joyce at Buckroe Beach house on the Chesapeake Bay in Va.

Bonjour et bonne annee. I enjoy your website a lot. Thanks for a very interesting and informative site.

Bonjour Kristin,
I found your site after I read your book. I enjoy both! My partner is French Canadian and we are raising our 4 year old daughter to be bilingual. Not an easy task in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Western Canada is English for all you non-Canadians). I go to this site to learn new words, read about your family adventures, look at the great pictures (and paintings). We are returning to France this summer, Gabrielle's 3rd trip. Hope to have some of your wine!
Merci et au revoir.

HAPPY NEW YEAR KRISTI

I am so happy you are back to work - I love
each little word that processes from your beautiful mind into your blog. Please don't retire this year - I am sure I'm not the only one who relies on your post to brighten their day. I hope all of your friends at French-Word-A-Day will take the time today to REALLY tell you what you mean to them. You are a bright star in my life and of course always MY ANGEL. In real life you are the only person who has ever made me laugh until I cried.

Your writing last year touched my heart, I can't imagine what lies ahead for your number one fan. Will you forge ahead into gardening (if only your friends at FWAD could have seen that pathetic photo of your little garden - maybe I will post it on my blog. Will you turn your vineyard into a little farm full of chickens and goats? Will you allow a select few of your fans the joy of renting your little "Jules Studio" for a real taste of French Word A Day?

Thank you for introducing us to the wonderful characters that live in your world - I wonder who will wander into your life this year? I must say you really lucked out when you were blessed with Newforest, what a gift she has been to you.

XOXO

JULES

Bonne Annee! Merci for sharing your French words with us.
A mot-du-jour from Blacksburg, Virginia: Hokie, defined here: http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie.html.
Cheers and Go Hokies!

Bonjour et Bon Année, Kristin.

I'm a student majoring in English and minoring in French. My dream is to teach English at a college level in French-speaking areas worldwide, until I get tired of traveling and find myself a tenure-track job stateside. (I'm not sure the latter will be possible, since I seem to have an insatiable wanderlust, but we'll see!)

I have been near-obsessed with all things French since the first time I took a class in the language, back in middle school. (I don't want to tell you how long ago that was! Yikes!) I found your site ages ago when I was actually looking for a reliable French-English dictionary online. I have been a loyal fan ever since. I think your stories are delightful and you really brighten my day each time you post a new one. :)

Bonjour, Kristin! Merci beaucoup for your blog and bringing a touch of France to our lives. I was a student there, in Angers, many years ago. My wife Mary and I now live in South Pasadena where we run a small, professional theater company bringing one hour adapatations of the classics, especially Moliere, to family audiences. So far we've done "L'Ecole de Femmes","L'Avare", Les Fourbieres de Scapin", and this spring bringing back "L'Invalide Imaginaire".Audiences love his comedy. Please include any info you can about everyday life in 17th Century France if you get a chance. Love your work.

Bonjour! I love your sight and have had it linked on my blog for a long time. Thank you for this sight - I just love it. As I try to teach my kids French (hopefully they will speak better than I!) your sight is very useful and I LOVE the book selections. I would love to live in France so live vicariously through you! Bonne Année.

i don't know if you will remember bill and me, but we told you about how we got a couple of bottles of rouge et bleu and had our son and wife over for a festive dungeness crab, san francisco sourdough bread, avocado and papaya dinner. brian and sally did come to france to the dordogne but were too far away to visit you. they had a magnificent time and were hoping to come again this summer, but economics got in the way so they will have to wait a bit. bill and i just hit 90 and are celebrating our 68th anniversary. i love your column = it's the highlight of my day. happy new year to all of you and do keep up your good work, love, muriel and bill

Bonjour et bonne année, Kristen!

Form a fellow expat, fellow blogger, fellow house restorer (Arrgghhh!) and fellow wine maker (amatuer)...
Bonne Chance!
(I hope I spelled that right.....)

Bonjour an Happy New Year to you! Thank you for keeping me smiling with your wonderful newsletter. May 2009 be good to you.

:)

Bonne Annee, Kristin et Jean Marc - Meilleurs souhaits pour 2009! Nancy and I enjoyed your wine over the holidays and we wish we were going to be in France again this January! It seems impossible that it has been a year since we met you - the time flies so quickly. It's great to be able to keep up with you and the family through the blog, and we toast you every time we open a bottle of Rouge-Bleu. Warm thoughts for an uneventful winter and an early spring. A bientot, Linda & Nancy

Kristin-

Congratulations on another successful year. I so enjoy your words and photos!

From sunny Las Vegas,
Nsncy Allf

Bonjour et Bonne Année from Austin, TX!!!
I’ve been reading your blog for a year or so. I’m a 36 years old Mexican woman married to an amazing 36 years old French man living in the US. Most of my friends here in Austin are also foreigners from Europe or Latin America and Americans married to them. So my regular life is pretty much trilingual on daily basis. All the wives of French men here are always struggling to learn the language... thru one of them is how I learn about your blog.

I’ve been taking private French lessons for also a year, once a week... ay, ay, ay! Sometimes I feel I’m having a short circuit in my brain between the 3 languages! For me is easier to think in Spanish when I’m learning French (since it is more similar than English) but for some reason that I can’t understand, every time I have my lesson... I’m thinking in English!!!

At some point I was feeling I wasn’t learning anything at all because I still can not speak properly... THE PRONUNCIATION, OMG!!! But until our last trip to France (May 2008) for my own surprise I just realize I can understand a lot more... so I got a second fresh air of motivation and I’m trying harder.

My main motivation is to learn the language of my husband so I can speak into his heart in his own language (we usually speak to each other in our second language –English- and it can be frustrating sometimes because of the misunderstandings) and since we are planning to start a family soon, we want our children to be trilingual too. Suggestions are welcome!

Receive blessings and my best wishes for you and your lovely family in 2009!

XOXO
Andrea

Joyeuse annee Kristin...
Je vous souhaite une tres bonne et heureuse annee 2009 ! J'espere que votre nouvelle annee sera pleine de bonheur et de sante pour vous et vos proches.
Merci infiniment pour votre site "French-word-a-day".
Tom Mundis, Portola Valley, CA

Happy New Year, Kristin! I've been a subscriber to your French-Word-a-Day for years--keep up the great work. Best wishes for a great 2009!

Happy New Year Kristin! I am American, have always loved France and not too long ago met my second husband - the love of my life - who is French native. We split our time between NYC and France and I am working to improve my French beyond the tourist level. I love what you do - thank you!

Bonne Annee Kristin! I happened upon your website after finding your book and Barnes and Noble at Kierland Commons in Scottsdale, Arizona. I am a Phoenician. I understand you are from Arizona as well.

My love of French began at Greenway High School(Phoenix, Arizona) with Mr. Krietzman in the late 1980's. Living in Arizona, I was encouraged to take Spanish, but I love everythng French - the language, the food, the wine, the people, the lifestyle. In the next several years, my husband and I would like to visit France which would be our first trip to Europe. And while I never did quite master my French, but I am hoping your book and website help me before we visit France.

I adore your blog. The pictures are amazing. I am a elementary school teacher and share some simple words with my first grade students; they love it!

Thank you for sharing your love of the language with all of us.

-Jennifer Burcham, Arizona

Like so many others, your French Word-a-Day, consistently brings rays of sunshine into my day. I still have some criticism about the written pronunciation of the words you choose to discuss, as in "poule" = pewel?, which I think is better pronounced in English as "pool". As one who travelled (and worked) in France extensively, and who, at a ripe age, struggles to maintain oral French, I appreciate your sometime struggles, your delights, and your tales about your life in semi-rural France.

I visit France annually for the general assembly of les Amis du Monde Diplomatique, a monthly periodical with a unique outlook on world affairs, which I cherish for its points of view.

J'ai l'espoir que les années qui viennent seront meilleurs que l'année derniere, pour vous et pour tout le monde.

Amicalement, Morton B.

Bonjour, Kristin
Je suis bibliotecaire scolaire comme travail, et francophile apassionée depuis longtemps. Quand votre livre a apparu, j'en ai lu une très bonne critique dans le journal Booklist. Je l'ai acheté, j'ai adoré, et dès ce jour-là, je lis votre blog avec beaucoup de plaisir.
Merci !

I'm a retired electrical engineer, who studies French, Spanish, and Italian. I can't remember where I first heard of French Word-A-Day, as it was long ago. One of my favorite French words is "un vasistas", a small window over a door. The word comes from the Alsace-Lorraine section of France, where such windows are popular, and a lot of German is spoken. When you knock on the door, someone appears at the window, and says, "Was ist das?" ("What is it?"). The French phonetic rendition of that phrase, /vass-iss-tass/, is what produced this curious French word.

I have been reading this website for so long, I don't remember how I found it. But I feel as if the Espinasse family are related to me. I enjoy hearing about their lives. I live in Georgia (USA) and the site carries me away to a beautiful country I have always loved. Went in 1982 and in 2005 (Paris both times and also La Rochelle). Love to learn as much as I can about France.
Debbie

Hi Kristin,
Happy New Year! We've shared coffee, a lunch, and now hope to try Jean-Marc's wines. We missed getting together last year when we were in Mirabel. We'll be back this year in the south of France, so save some wine for us! And keep writing the Word!
All the best to you all,
Annabelle and Bill, in snowy Ontario, Canada

Bonne année, Kristin et famille et tous mes meilleurs voeux pour 2009! I fell into your blog over a year ago and remain a faithful reader. A Francophile for over half of my life, I always have felt a connection to the language and the culture that naturally has strengthened since marrying a St. Quentin-born but Basque Country-raised Frenchman who is the love of my life. Fifteen years together and two kids later, we can't always visit France as often as we'd like, so your blog has been a welcomed addition to my repertoire--plus it makes the task of checking e-mail so much more enjoyable! Thank you so much for sharing of yourself and regailing your readers with the fascinating ins and outs of your French life. I sincerely hope to meet all of you one day!

Hi Kristin,

I found your book or should I say it found me while waiting for my flight to the south of France in Logan airport in Boston. I read the and re-read your book while lounging around the beaches of Cannes and hanging out in my favorite cafes. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift you give to us all. It brings so much happiness and lovely memories of my time spent in my beloved France.

Bonne Annee a tous! Merci, Kristin, pour un mot francais chaque jour. J'aime aussi chaque mot dans une phrase. Merci beaucoup!

I'm brushing up my French after many dusty years. My family and I were in France last summer and I have fallen in love with French language and culture again. My daughter will be studying in France next year so I want to continue my French practice for when I visit her.

Donna, Tucson, Arizona

Love your messages. Working for a French company allows me to test some out on locals and natives. Thanks.

Bob Irwin

Bonjour et bonne année. Une aimee told me about your website. I joined some time ago--and have not delelted one French - Word -A- Day e-mail since I joined. My New Year's Resolution, is to learn the best way to fully use your website--AND keep up. Even though I am so busy, I want to learn French and French culture. Merci beaucoup!

Bonjour Kristin..........I have been reading your blog for about 2 years now. I lived in the "banlieu de Paris" for about 4 years before returning to Brooklyn, New York. My husband is French and we hope to return to France someday. It was just easier to find jobs here. We have TV5 which keeps us in touch with everything.

My dream is to live in the south of France...so you let me live vicariously through you for the time being. I am also very eager to try your wine, I'll have to make sure I find a place in Manhattan that has it.

I also appreciate your blogs because, having lived in France, I can appreciate all the little nuances of daily life in France. My husband has little different ways of looking at things and I call them "Frenchisms" (like, he must have gotten sick because he did not have a scarf on!!!) LOL

Anyway, I am going to sign off with my favorite word......which I use in my daily conversations because I have to search for the English word (yes, that does happen when you live in another country for those who think it's crazy!)...Quincaillerie - hardware store!

A+

Bonne annee aussi! Je suis desolee mais mon francais n'est pas trop bon. Ce message est ma premiere. Merci beaucoup. Bonne journee pour tout!

Hi Kristi, thanks for battling on with thrice-word-a-week as well as creating a whole new life and hopefully "living your dream". It is great to read your words and picture everything in your part of France. One of my new years resolutions is to really concentrate on my French and your blog is a lovely way to help ..... keep up the wonderful work. Michele xx

Better late than never! I absolutely LOVE the photo for this post and I'm happy to sign your livre d'or. May you have a very blessed new year!

Bonne annee ! I found one of your books in one of my favorite bookstores in Asheville, NC, several years ago and from there, I found your blog. I studied in France when I was in college, and I have missed it ever since! Your weekly doses of insights about life and your experiences in France are such a pleasure. Thank you for your courage in sharing those with all of us.

Bonjour, Kristin. I've only just now noticed the guestbook while searching for your archive link. I first encountered you when I grabbed your book to help prepare me for an extended stay in France while my husband did university research. I enjoyed it because it educated me about idioms and the French character -- both important for anyone visiting as more than a tourist. It wasn't until a year later that I realized you had a website to go with the book! So I signed up immediately and have also talked others into signing up even though they have absolutely no need to know French (they love your photos and dogs).

Your blog has inspired me to start mine about my travels (hopelessly behind schedule because of life interference).

I sit at a laptop in St. Louis, MO, planning my next adventure. My favorite French word is "doucement." I love the sound of it and all the contexts in which I've heard it used. It seems to define so much of French life and attitude.

Salut Kristen,

Enchanté de vous connaître. Je m'appelle Herm.

I've been studing French for about 6 months and I'm looking forward to your "daily trice a week" letters.

I live in Phoenix, Az and I'm an oldtimer... 80 years old in May.

Stayed in Fontainebleu, France many years ago and went to Paris many to see my petite copine.

À bientôt

Hi Kristin,
Am a retired elementary teacher from California. Got to your blog from the link on the French Genealogy Blog. Am just beginning to do research on my family in France-Paris, Cervon, Pour-aux-bois, Escombres-so far. Not knowing French has kept me from plunging into the french side of my family history. Learned some Spanish in high school (long ago) and am trying to use my little computer desktop translator to help with some of the words. I remember my dad speaking french occasionally around his brothers when I was little but he wouldn't teach me so I opted for Spanish. I believe he was of the generation where foreign speaking was not encouraged. Not sure where my genealogical journey may lead me but have picked up a few words such as naissances, deces, mariages & arrondisements, although the pronunciation is lacking, of course. I was ecstatic when I discovered my dad's naissance record in Sedan and my grandparents mariage record in Paris. I'm looking forward to the opportunity of picking up more french in an easy, fun way. Thanks for your efforts on behalf of us all.

Hi Kristen,

I just purchased your book. I cannot believe that I never knew about this site. I want to learn French so badly. I am going to purchase Rosetta Stone with the hopes of just that. I'm not the quickest learner of a foreigner language, but I am bound and determined to move to France once I retire which is in 8 years. So I figure I now have 8 years to learn the language, it will be like taking an 8 year course. I have signed up for your emails and hope that they will help in my quest. My first trip to France was in 2004 to Paris, Normandy and the Loire Valley. I fell in love then and in 2006 went to the French Riviera, Lake Como and the Alps. I LOVED the French Riviera and now I am convinced even more that I have to live in France one day. I love taking photos (although I cannot call myself a photographer, even though I like to think that I am)! On my first trip to France I took a wonderful picture in Calavados of wine bottles in a wine cellar that have one me many 1st place and "Best in Show" ribbons which I am so proud of and love to brag were taken in France!!!! If you would ever like to see it, let me know and I will try to send it! I have a website too if you are ever interested in browsing. Unfortunately it has not been updated in a while. My sister is the computer wiz and has literally NO time for that now!!! I'm not very saavy with the computer either! I LOVE that you do this for you job, how awesome. I'm very happy for your life. Good luck to you in all your ventures. Kim

Hi Kristin,
Just ordered your books and can hardly wait to receive. I love French, but cannot speak it and also love learning new words in French. So enjoy your website (just discovered this a.m.). I look forward to daily words and inspiration.

Judy Truex
Jackson, TN

This is the most delightful, fresh blog! So happy to find you!!!
I did find you through GuilaGeranium..
Another lovely place to stop and vist and learn.. ..
xo,
Penney

Bon jour Kristin! Thank you for your lovely, enlightening blog! Perhaps you have already discussed Marguerite Duras, but if not, I look forward to your comments! I read The Lover in English in my 20s and many years later, tried to read L'Amant in French without sufficient understanding of the language, but still loved even just looking at the words. The movie is quite good as well, and the best part to me is Marguerite's narration at the end, herself then an old woman reflecting on the memories of her youthful love affair. It is hard to describe why French is such a beautiful language, but it is! Marguerite Duras wrote the screenplay for Hiroshima, Mon Amour, one of my favorite films of all time. The narration and dialogue is exquisitely spoken and a great tool for developing one's ear for French! xoxo, Lydia in Phoenix :-)

Hi Kristen,
I am an Arizona girl, too, though a transplanted one, and a fellow francophile since my highschool years. I read your book years ago and have enjoyed your blog ever since. I just couldn't resist sending a note to you after today's post to say that I particularly loved it because I have found myself in similar scenarios with my fiancee a number of times over the years we've been together. It made me laugh, really laugh. And I needed that! Blessings to you and your family.

your blog is wonderfull .Iwill come to France.Please visit my web page www.huysepralinee.com It is a house in Belgium .Brugge is lovely

Hi Kristin,
I can see why someone thinks you look like Amanda Holden, but I think you look much better - and your blog is great fun.

Hi Kristin. I believe you are sometimes called Kristi --(my daughters name)
I am a transplanted Canadian --married to a Kiwi and living in New zealand for the past 36 yrs. We made our first trip to Paris 3 yrs ago and I was completely smitten---so went back the following year for more. Would dearly love to live there and love all about it including the language--which I know only a few words of ---so --was thrilled to find your blog about 6 mos ago and learning as much as a 70 plus yr old brain will allow. Love your blog and photos and your life sounds so lovely. Thank you for "sharing" with so many of us . My dream is to maybe return just one more time ....

Suggestions anyone? I would like to enrol in a french imersion course for 2 weeks in late May. I don't mind WHERE - excpety not Paris or riviera.
Can any of you subscribers recommend a language school for an Intermediate (mature-age)student?
Thanks Joy - en Australie.

Seisme is topical, however, the word used in Haiti, where French is spoken by all people who have had an opportunity to go to school and by all the Kreyol speakers is “tramblaman”  (probably Kreyol spelling)  I like the onomatopoeia.  Goudou goudou is also used.  It was coined after the EQ – it was pretty much what everyone heard during the 35 seconds of the EQ.  I enjoy your Word-a-Day.  Jenifer Grant

April 4 - I love your photos today - well done! The story was great, too. :O)

Avez-vous un bon site! Je vous souhaite succès et prospérité!

salut. Tous mes souhaits pour une reussite et des photos encore plus belles.

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