Cours d'anglais articles et videos

Art historians claim Van Gogh's ear cut off by Gaugin

The 1 millionth English word to be announced in June will it be "defriend" or "noob"

Belgium City Plans Veggie Days - The Town of Ghent is going Vegetarian once a week

British Millionaire is giving away his fortune - "I want to die penniless" he says

Obama goes for a hamburger with VP Biden. The President prefers mustard to ketchup.

Stephen Fry's letter

British actor, comedian, writer and presenter Stephen Fry. Led a troubled life as a young man. An arrogant youth, confused and trying to come to terms with his sexuality (he is gay) the angry 16 year old was out of control.

35 years later Stephen has written a heartfelt letter to his 16 year old self. Moving and beautifully written you can find it here on The Guardian's website.

Stephen Fry's letter to himself as a 16 year old.

If you're unfamiliar with Stephen Fry here's a sketch he made with his comedy partner Hugh Laurie (Dr House) in the 1980s. From "A Bit of Fry and Laurie"

The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square

In London's Trafalgar square there are 3 statues a fourth statue was intended on the site but was never completed. The plinth however still remains. This is the famous "fourth plinth". Since 1999 a series of temporary works have occupied the plinth. From July to October 2009 a remarkable now work by Anthony Gormley.

For 100 days 2400 people will occupy the plinth for one hour. It's part of a living artwork. Anthony Gormley himself describes the artwork in this video




Antony Gormley on the Fourth Plinth from One & Other on Vimeo.

More information on these websites including how to register..
http://www.oneandother.co.uk/

http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/

What is English Food?

This is one of the most common questions I get asked in Paris (or indeed anywhere).



Of course you can treat your self to great English delicacies like Marmite.



Or squirrel flavour crisps.

Perhaps you'd prefer an English breakfast.




(photo by Francisco Antunes on flickr)

But did you know that what Britain's national dish is? Fish and chips? Steak and Kidney pie? You might be surprised to learn that it is (according to a survey in 2000) Chicken Tikka Massala A dish invented in Glasgow in the 1960s using a mix of Indian spices.

At the recent G20 summit in London Chef Jamie Oliver provided a menu for the visiting dignatiries made from all British ingredients (except soda bread which is Irish) Full story here - Jamie Oliver's G20 menu

The most surprising thing about the G20 dinner was the choice of drink - London tap water.

Website of the week - en francais

If your looking for some inspiring ideas on interior design then you should definitely look at a new blog written by LetThemTalk's very own Jo. Vracajo Follow her blow and learn everything you always wanted to know about brico and deco. Which I think translates as DIY and decoration.

Cours d'anglais articles et video

Brain starts to decline at 27 (yes I'm afraid so)

First pizzeria opens in North Korea

Girls do better without boys at school

Maldives plans to be the first country to go carbon neutral

Civet coffee - the best (and most expensive) coffee in the world. Coffee beans are removed from civet droppings. From Al Jezeera TV

How wrong they were!

This is John Stewart from The Daily Show's brilliant and hilarous demolition of financial journalists and particularly CNBC who time and time again not only predicted things wrongly but also gave bad advice during the current financial crisis. Video is especially for Marie. Thanks for the fridge magnet.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
CNBC Financial Advice
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Don't forget your homework!

Here is something to discuss at the class. It is a test taken from The Times that determines your "Brain sex" which may not be the same as your biogogical sex. Do the test here.

Find out your Brain sex

New French Conversation course this Sunday

LetThemTalk are starting a French conversation group on Sundays in a cafe. More details here.

French language conversation course Paris

If you are French and would like to become a group leader (animateur) for the group then please contact me.

New Soiree this Saturday

Ivan has organised another amazing LetThemTalk soirée this Saturday night (you should have received his email). It'll take place in the Oberkampf neighbourhood of Paris.

This is also the last chance to bid farewell to 2 participants of the English courses
who are moving on to new challenges far away from Paris. Estelle has taken a position in Lyon while Takeshi will be representing the Japanese government in Haiti. Good luck to both of them. If you find yourself in Port au Prince in the near future Takeshi has promised to show you round.

See you on Saturday!

Common mistakes in English by the French

I regurlarly receive emails from students that are sometimes confusing. Here are a few examples of mistakes in English often made by French learners.

1. "Next Saturday". Today is Wednesday 18th so when is next Saturday? The answer is Saturday the 28th. Saturday 21st would normally be referred to as this Saturday.

2. There are only 7 days in a week. To my knowledge, there is no such day as "Thuesday". Perhaps you mean Tuesday or Thursday? Almost every week I get a Thuesday reservation and have to write back for more information.

3. Further to point 2 the days of the week in English have capital letters. So it's Tuesday and not tuesday so do months and adjectives of countries.

4. We do not use "normally" to talk about future events. Normally has a similar meaning to usually. So do not say "normally I will be there next Wednesday". Say "I should be able to be there next Wednesday"

5. Similarly we do not use "could" to talk able future ability. Do not say "I don't think I could come tomorrow" do say "I think I will be able to come tomorrow".

6. The word assist in English is not the same as assister in French. They are false friends. Do not say "I will assist at the class". Do say "I wil attend the class". The English word "assist means to help.

7. The preposition "to" is used to talk about going to destinations. Do say "next week I will go to London" (not in London).

There are many, many more such cases but that's the end of today's lesson.

cours anglais paris articles et videos

Police admit "teenage fake cop fooled us"

Prince Charles is crowned best dressed man in the world by Esquire magazine

William Shakespeare portrait is unique

Chimp who threw stones at zoo visitors showed human trait, says scientist

Turkish man cheats death as he survives an incredible crash

cours d'anglais articles et videos

Nicolas Sarkozy is a stamp collector

The slow death of handwriting

Yves Saint Laurent's art sells for €206 at a Paris auction. (article and video)

The Fat Duck voted the best restaurant in the world in 2005 has closed due to a health scare

The Specials, one of the greatest bands from the late 1970s and early 80s have reformed. They played Ska music a blend of rock and reggae. Their song Ghost Town written in 1981 is about high unemployment during the financial crisis which devastated towns and communities troughout Britain. Sound familiar?

Some Chinese Proverbs

Here are a few Chinese proverbs that I paticularly like.

You don’t climb a tree to catch a fish

Those who do not study are only cattle dressed up in men's clothes.

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

A cloth is not woven from a single thread.

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.

A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.

An ignorant doctor is no better than a murderer.

Behind an able man there are always other able men.

Do not employ handsome servants.

Do not insult the crocodile until you've crossed the river.

When embarking on a journey of revenge dig two graves.

If you want an audience, start a fight.

Cours d'anglais Paris articles and videos

Eating dirt is good for you and especially children

Half of Paris rental bikes (velibs) have been stolen from the original fleet

Beijing blanketed by snow after they seed clouds to end drought

The mystery of Ireland's worst driver

The top 5 laziest


Random Hilarity:The Top 5 Laziest Inventions

Cours d'anglais Paris videos et articles

Thank you everyone who came to the LetThemTalk soirée on Saturday at the pub St Hilaire. Special thanks to Ivan for organising it. Next soirée coming up in March.


The theme of this week's articles is food.

Eat cauliflower! Don't be swayed by phoney Broccoli claims

Little Bay restaurant in London lets customers choose how much they pay

It's not true what they say eggs are good for you after all. You can eat as many as you want!


Insects, are they the new superfood?

A Tokyo Christmas dinner with insects on the menu

Soirée LetThemTalk samedi 14/02/09

The next soirée LetThemTalk is this Saturday evening. All the participants at the LetThemTalk conversation workshops are welcome and their friends.

Ivan will send you an email with the time and place of the café to....

"...boire un verre, discuter en anglais, français (ou autre ?) "