French I, Semester I; Le Temps

Sections:

Introduction  |   Section 1  |  Section 2  |   Section 3   |  Dictionaries

Section Three:

Part A |   Part B  |  Part C  |   Part D

Section Three: Part B Skiing in Switzerland Skiing goes back a long way. Archeologists have found a carving in Norway dating back some 4,000 years that depicts a person skiing! As you probably know, Switzerland is one of the most popular winter sports destinations of the world. The best known resorts in Switzerland are Zermatt, St. Moritz, Verbier, and Davos, but there are many more. In addition to Alpine or Nordic skiing, you can snowboard, bobsled, skate, snow-bike... Est-ce que tu aimes faire du ski? Est-ce que tu fais du snowboard?   Thanks to goski.com for the map!   Answering Questions There are a few different ways to make questions in French. Est-ce que tu aimes faire du ski? Oui, j'aime faire du ski. Aimes-tu faire du ski? Oui, j'aime faire du ski. What's the pattern here? If you use est-ce que the subject (here tu) comes first and then comes the verb (here aimes). If you don't want to use est-ce que, the verb comes first with the subject pronoun hyphenated on to the end. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Even though it may look easier not to use est-ce que because it's long and weird, it's actually a lot easier! Why? Reversing the verb and subject can only be done if the subject is a pronoun, like tu, je, nous, etc. It sounds really formal. So just learn est-ce que and start using it right away. It actually will keep things a lot easier! Au Travail! Write this exercise in your notebook. Click on the phrase after you've filled in the blank to see sample answers. If you are having any problems, ask your teacher for help. Answer the questions: Est-ce que Paul porte un imperméable? Oui, Paul porte un imperméable. Portez-vous des chaussures ou des sandales? Nous portons des sandales. Est-ce que les étudiants portent des chemises ou des T-shirts? Les étudiants portent des T-shirts. Parlent-ils anglais ou français? Ils parlent français.  Fondue or Raclette? The Swiss are known for two types of dishes made of melted cheese - la fondue and la raclette. While you've probably heard of cheese fondue, do you know what a raclette is? The word raclette come from racler, which means "to scrape." At the dinner table, each person scapes melted cheese off of a slab that is over a fire onto his/her place over boiled potatoes. Fondue means "melted." In the middle of the winter in isolated Swiss villages food was scarce. Lots of stale cheese and bread! So someone came up with the idea of using the left-over dry cheeses to eat them with stale bread. Here's a recipe for Swiss fondue. Ingredients: • 1 pound Emmenthaler cheese, shredded • 3 tablespoons flour • Garlic clove, halved • 1 1/2 cups white wine, preferably Swiss Neuchatel or other dry, delicate white such as Chablis • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 3 tablespoons Kirsch • Salt, pepper and nutmeg In a bowl dredge the cheese in flour. Rub the inside of a fondue pot with halved garlic clove and add wine. Heat on stovetop until warm but not boiling. Add a little lemon juice. Begin to add cheese by handfuls, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until cheese melts to a creamy sauce consistency. Add Kirsch and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Let mixture come to a boil, then take to table and set over a lighted burner. Serve with toasted bread cubes, either Swiss peasant bread or French or Italian. (Thanks to http://www.culinarycafe.com/Eggs-Dairy/Swiss_Fondue.html for the recipe.)     Practice Activity Write this exercise in your notebook. Click on the phrase after you've filled in the blank to check your answers. As we begin to wind down the unit, let's see how we are doing on these areas: clothing, seasons, and weather expressions. Answer the questions in complete sentences in French and then click on each one to see a sample correct answer. Your answers may vary some. If you have problems in some of these, you will want to go back through the unit to find that section to get some additional practice.   1. Qu'est-ce que tu portes aujourd'hui? Je porte un T-shirt et des jeans. 2. Est-ce que tu nages en décembre? Non. Je ne nage pas en décembre. Il fait froid en décembre. 3. Est-ce que tu patines en juin? Oui, je patine en juin. 4. Est-ce que tu étudies beaucoup ou un peu? J'étudie beaucoup . 5. Est-ce que tu parles anglais ? Oui, je parle anglais et aussi français. 6. Quel temps fait-il en juillet? Il fait très chaud. 7. Quel temps fait-il au printemps? Il pleut beaucoup au printemps. 8. Quel temps fait-il en septembre? Il fait frais . 9. Quels sont les mois de l'automne? Ce sont les mois de septembre, octobre et novembre. 10. Quels sont les mois de l'été? Ce sont les mois de juin, juillet et août. 11. Quels sont les mois de l'hiver? Ces sont les mois de décembre, janvier et février. 12. Quels sont les mois du printemps? Ce sont les mois de mars, avril et mai.   Discussion Assignment Go to the Discussion 3b and submit a posting asking at least four questions using your new skills in French. While you are there, take time to respond to two posts by some other student. If there are no other posts at this point, visit the area later to respond to two questions. This assignment is worth 16 points. Va à 3c.

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