FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

Thank you, Kathy and Kristin, for today's perceptive and insightful story. Braille opened not only the world of knowledge but also COMMUNICATION with the outside, seeing world. An incredible and everlasting achievement.

I sometimes wish that people could be awarded a Nobel price posthumously - for their historic achievements for mankind. Louis Braille would certainly be one at the the top of the list. As would, referring to the recent inauguration of Barrack Obama, Rosa Parks. One should have reserved a chair for her next to the president, as alas she could not be there in person any more. One could have honored her bravery in the year of 1955.
Thanks - Laura

Thanks for the interesting story about Louis Braille. He has recently been honored on French postage stamps celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth.
As far as my personal experience goes, the French appear to be more advanced in use of braille to identify goods for purchase than we in the US. A good example is the well-known Rhone wine house Chapoutier who adds braille to the labels of his wine bottles. (Sorry to mention a competitor Jean-Marc, but Rouge-Bleu is better anyway.)

Hi Kristin,
Please tell Max that Jacques Brel was Belgian, not French. Thank you for sharing this wonderful information about Louis Braille. It is a very inspirational story about an amazing life!
Julie

I love these interesting and informative stories

Thank you, Kathi, for your interesting history of Louis Braille. I was happy to see that I share a birthday with him! Now I'm going to find myself searching the packages in my kitchen for Braille. I always thought it curious that they have Braille on the numbers at the drive-thru ATM at the bank....

Kristin, another great photo! I don't know the architectural lingo, but it amazes me to see that single piece of wood over the door holding up all of those stones for God only knows how many years. I picture the hands that fit all of those stones into their places.

Thank you Kathy and Kristin for a wonderful FWAD!

Great blog! I use it to refresh my high school French lessons. Thanks to Kathy for the Braille story and photos!

Another great entry, Kristin! One more interesting word that might fit into today's vocabulary section is "daltonien(ne)," the French term (adjective or noun) for color-blind. Red-green colorblindness is called "daltonisme" (daltonism in English), and they all come from the name of English physicist John Dalton, who studied and described the condition at the end of the 18th century.

what a great story! Years ago I volunteered in the Washington DC area for an organization called Volunteers for the Visually Handicapped. I assisted an amazing non-voyante woman who had her masters in social work and was a counselor at a drug rehab center. She would read her braille notes to me and I would transcribe them for her (unlike the commentor who could read braille, wow Passante!). I also helped her at home with bills and such. She was very independent, living alone with her black lab named Sunday. I was humbled by her and felt honored to help her. Years later, while working as a liaison between a county and the Disability Services Board, I had to oversee a machine at the library that you could put a sheet of regular text on the glass- like a copy machine- and it would produce sheets braille. It was very cool.

Thanks Kathi for the really interesting story. It was great to find out the background on Louis Braille, and to realise what an amazing mind he had and how much drive he must have had to be teaching at 19!

Thanks Kristin, as ever, for always coming up with new and interesting ways to talk about life. You probably know, but L'Occitane products also have Braille on the packaging.

Hello to Gretel in 42degC heat! Somewhere in the Southern Hemishpere?? Yes summer is here, although today is only 25degC but next week 39!!

all the best Chris

Southerly buster has just come through in a huge flurry and swept my 9 week old maltese puppy off her feet from one end of the deck to the other! Watch out Kristin as I think she may end up at your place...wizard of oz style!!

K--J'intende, of course "non-voyant." duh, evie

Thank you for the mini-biography of Louis Braille, which was a refresher course of sorts for me.

Years ago when I taught second grade, I read a longer biography, from a children's book club, to the class. Amazingly, after I had read the whole story, almost every child ordered a personal copy from the book club, and eagerly felt the dots of the Braille alphabet on the back cover.

I can remember 2 piano tuners I met years ago, one in France and one in England, both completely “non-voyants”, both with an amazing musical talent. I used to know an old lady who had become “malvoyante” (partially sighted) when she was in her forties. She started to learn braille a few years later. She used to say she was 'privileged', because she could remember vividly colours, seasons, birds, waves, patterns... So hard for me to imagine such a life.

Looking at the photo at the top of this newsletter, how could a “non-voyant” have any idea about the various shapes I can 'see' among the shadows on the right handside of the gate?... How could I easily describe them to a blind person?

Thank you Katie for telling us about Louis Braille. His fantastic achievements for the “non-voyants” expanded their restricted life, helped them to acquire knowledge, education, independance... The braille system is still alive today!
I knew about the story of Louis Braille but this article refreshed my memory and made me feel curious... I found this website worthwhile exploring: http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/InternetHome.hcsp
There is an interesting article about Anne Sullivan and the role she played in the extraordinary life of the deaf-blind woman, Helen Keller.
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_keller.hcsp

By the way, among the famous blind musicians, I have a preference for the romantic voice of the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Only a few extracts here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Andrea+Bocelli

Kathi, you story is terrific! And thanks for the food fotos.
dean showers

Hi Kathi, our Vietnamese piano tuner is blind. He was a bomb victim of flash bombs used in Vietnam. He is married to a Japanese girl and they now have 3 children.

Would love to hear what out of the way places you might be going to on your trip as I might get down to south of France this year to visit my elderly ex French teacher who lives in Rousillon town.

Just by the by, Kristin, your Mother Jules, is wonderful! She always writes she most championing emails and is your biggest supporter. Who/what is Newforest?

Alice Halliday

I know the L'Occitane products are all packaged with Braille type. Can't think of many others.

Great story and thank you for the pronunciation leçon!

I was emotionally moved by this powerful video!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Hzgzim5m7oU&vq=medium

Kathi, Thanks for your article on Louis Braille. My Mother was "legally blind" from the effects of diabetes and attended the Braille Institute in Los Angeles where she attended classes, painted, and created wonderful sculpture. Viva Braille!!! (a bit of Spanish!!)

I am impressed that Passant learned to transcribe Braille with a mechanical Brailler! When I worked with students with various disabilities at a community college, I had a student whose first language was not English. He took English classes in the morning for which he had a notetaker (an employee that took written notes in class for him). I read her notes to him in the afternoon while he used a mechanical Brailler to transcribe them with his one good hand! I tried to learn Braille at that time but found it challenging. Although I had health problems at that time, including severe pain, I learned not to complain because I saw severely disabled students at school every day.

I also learned that the complete absence of vision is quite rare. Most "blind" people have some bit of vision, such as being able to see tall, fuzzy images walking toward them, or being able to see out of a portion of their eyes. That is why I adopted the habit of wearing bright colors on my top half so that people can see me coming. Among professionals here, the term "blind" is discouraged while "visually impaired" is preferred (or was while I worked in that field).

Thank you, Kristin and Kathi, for the refresher course on Braille. Thank you, Max, for your alertness about the sugar box. Every time I see Braille near elevator buttons or below signs, I wonder how the totally blind know where to "look" for them.

Since I used to have a visual impairment that was corrected by surgery, I want to thank Jules for not writing in all caps. It is actually easier for me to read the mixture of caps and lower case, although I am not sure why. I enjoy her comments and appreciate being able to read them. Thank you.

Quel merveileux post! Merci Kristen et Kathi!

Ici, il ne fait pas beau. Nous avons de la neige.

Me, I'm feeding the birds and making soup. And wishing for rain.

Dorothy, in Abbotsford B.C.

I'm glad to see there's no shortage of comments on this educational and enjoyable story. Thank you!
Coconut Grove, Florida
Friday night Pizza and a movie for me.