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Let's be sérieux! Can't quite come up with the right French quip or four-letter word? With Talk Dirty: French, you'll be able to put your (middle) finger on it. Each entry provides an individual foreign gem, a useful French sentence employing the word, the expression's English counterpart, and its literal translation. Whether you're a native-speaker, world traveler, or just looking to tell off those brash Parisians, these naughty words and risqué slang will surely give your tongue a French twist. Les couilles: the balls French Expression: Je l'ai avertie-elle ne m'a pas écoute alors maintenant je m'en bats les couilles. Translation: I warned her--she didn't listen to me so now I'm washing my hands of it. Literal Translation: I warned her--she didn't listen to me so now I'm flapping my balls of it.
Sacre bleu! Even though your French teachers stuffed the subjunctive down your throat, they failed to give you all the necessary tools to communicate like a native. French argot (slang) is more than just dirty words, it's an immensely rich language with its own words for very ordinary things, words that are in constant use. Here is a survival guide to the real French, from body parts and bodily functions to epithets for every occasion. As an added treat, Genevieve gives instructions in the correct use of gestures--those silent but expressive signals so beloved by French motorists and shopkeepers. Most important, she reveals how the French language is a key to the spirit and character of the people who use it.--From publisher description.
A Year in the Merde is the almost-true account of the author's adventures as an expat in Paris. Based on his own experiences and with names changed to "avoid embarrassment, possible legal action-and to prevent the author's legs being broken by someone in a Yves Saint Laurent suit", the book is narrated by Paul West, a twenty-seven-year-old Brit who is brought to Paris by a French company to open a chain of British "tea rooms." He must manage of a group of lazy, grumbling French employees, maneuver around a treacherous Parisian boss, while lucking into a succession of lusty girlfriends (one of whom happens to be the boss's morally challenged daughter). He soon becomes immersed in the contradictions of French culture: the French are not all cheese-eating surrender monkeys, though they do eat a lot of smelly cheese, and they are still in shock at being stupid enough to sell Louisiana, thus losing the chance to make French the global language. The book will also tell you how to get the best out of the grumpiest Parisian waiter, how to survive a French business meeting, and how not to buy a house in the French countryside. The author originally wrote A Year in the Merde just for fun and self-published it in France in an English-language edition. Weeks later, it had become a word-of-mouth hit for expats and the French alike. With translation rights now sold in eleven countries and already a bestseller in the UK and France, Stephen Clarke is clearly a Bill Bryson (or a Peter Mayle...) for a whole new generation of readers who can never quite decide whether they love-or love to hate-the French.
This book should be the second novel you read in French, right after you read "Merde, It's Not Easy to Learn French", volume 1 in this series! Reading a book in French can be difficult, even for advanced students. French novels are usually full of idiomatic expressions. They use complicated tenses, complex sentence structures, and often slang. The books in this series are in simple French. They tell of the joys and the frustrations of an adult learning French. You'll find a good dose of humor, exercises, and illustrations. Note: this book contains adult language. The book has two sections, allowing more levels of French students to enjoy it. Section 1 has the story written completely in French, and includes grammar exercises. Section 2 contains the complete translation in English and the answers to the exercises.
Have you ever walked into a half-empty Parisian restaurant, only to be told that it's "complet"? Attempted to say "merci beaucoup" and accidentally complimented someone's physique? Been overlooked at the boulangerie due to your adherence to the bizarre foreign custom of waiting in line? Well, you're not alone. The internationally bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and In the Merde for Love has been there too, and he is here to help. In Talk to the Snail, Stephen Clarke distills the fruits of years spent in the French trenches into a truly handy (and hilarious) book of advice. Read this book, and find out how to get good service from the grumpiest waiter; be exquisitely polite and brutally rude at the same time; and employ the language of l'amour and le sexe. Everything you need is here in this funny, informative, and seriously useful guide to getting what you really want from the French.
This book, the first in a series, should be the first novel you read in French! Reading a book in French can be difficult, even for advanced students. French novels are usually full of idiomatic expressions. They use complicated tenses, complex sentence structures, and often slang. This book is in simple French. It's about the joys and the frustrations of an adult learning French. It includes a good dose of humor, a few exercises, and illustrations. Note: this book contains adult language. A school edition of the book without adult language entitled Oh Là Là, It's Not Easy Learning French is also available on Amazon. The book has two sections, allowing more levels of French students to enjoy it. Section 1 has the story written completely in French, and includes grammar exercises. Section 2 contains a list of the more difficult vocabulary translated into English and the complete text in English so students can check their comprehension.
"A brilliant account of the politics of shit. It will leave you speechless." Written in Paris after the heady days of student revolt in May 1968 and before the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, History of Shit is emblematic of a wild and adventurous strain of 1970s' theoretical writing that attempted to marry theory, politics, sexuality, pleasure, experimentation, and humor. Radically redefining dialectical thought and post-Marxist politics, it takes an important—and irreverent—position alongside the works of such postmodern thinkers as Foucault, Deleuze, Guattari, and Lyotard. Laporte's eccentric style and ironic sensibility combine in an inquiry that is provocative, humorous, and intellectually exhilarating. Debunking all humanist mythology about the grandeur of civilization, History of Shit suggests instead that the management of human waste is crucial to our identities as modern individuals—including the organization of the city, the rise of the nation-state, the development of capitalism, and the mandate for clean and proper language. Far from rising above the muck, Laporte argues, we are thoroughly mired in it, particularly when we appear our most clean and hygienic. Laporte's style of writing is itself an attack on our desire for "clean language." Littered with lengthy quotations and obscure allusions, and adamantly refusing to follow a linear argument, History of Shit breaks the rules and challenges the conventions of "proper" academic discourse.
John and Becky, two American grandparents from Texas, are visiting their son Joshua, who lives in France with Caroline, his French wife, and their son Guillaume. After a few fun days in a typical small French village with their son's family, Becky and John are ready to do some sightseeing. They can't wait to visit antique shops, a few old castles and a lot of wineries. Unfortunately, their son has another plan for his parents... The book, written in easy French, has two sections, allowing more levels of French students to enjoy it. Section 1 has the story written completely in French, and includes exercises at the end of each chapter. Section 2 contains a full English translation so students can check their comprehension.
