Recap of our French Friday

Our French Friday cooking lesson went off with only a few glitches. First we didn't have ample time to prepare because yours truly(Aaron) loves to work under the wire. Second, we had a couple new friends join and they actually remember some French!! Which helped tremendously but our esteemed friend Ben informed us that it would be best to start with learning some basics first. So we will be working on these changes and adding them in so that we can keep on learning!!

We were able to cook ratatouille and only forgot one ingredient in the process. We started the prep work trying to remember how to ask for things and direct in French. We did okay but working in a tight little apartment kitchen is hard with six people. After all was said and done and the food smelled amazing, I hear Jess say,"Wait, why is the zucchini still sitting in the corner over there?" We forgot one of the main ingredients! No worries. We improvised and sautéed them with some olive oil and added them in. It was amazing! The ratatouille and the salad, that Jess prepared, was a perfect start to our French Friday cooking lesson. Of course there was wine that was generously provided by Ben.

All in all it was a great day with friends and trying to learn another language.

Lesson 3: Our Second French Friday!

Bonjour! For those that it may concern this is Aaron.

Our next French Friday is almost here! It will be held at my humble apartment. If anyone needs directions please shoot me and email or text. Here is the list of words for you all to read and enjoy. As always, I am no French expert so feel free to correct me. I hope to see you all there for some fun cooking and language learning. We will be preparing a simple but wonderful traditional French dish, Ratatouille. I'll also have some salad and perhaps a bottle or two of wine. It is a French Friday after all. 

Please bring yourselves and a five to pitch in for the food. Also, if you could please rsvp by text or email, I am very good at both, by Tuesday so I can purchase the food and beverages.

Finally, here it is. The next list! Thank you all and keep on being your cool selfs. 

And if you think we are missing key words please add them in the comments. 

Ingredients = ingrédients

Olive Oil = huile d’olive

Onion = oignons

Garlic Cloves = gousses d’ail

Eggplant = aubergines

zucchini = zucchini

Salt & Pepper = sel et poivre

Red Bell Peppers = poivrons rouges

Tomatoes = tomates

Thyme = thym

Fresh Basil = basilic frais

salad = salade

vinaigrette = vinaigrette

Directions = instructions

Chopped = hacher

chop this = hacher cette

minced = hacher

peeled = pelées

peel this = peler cette

cut this into strips = couper ce en bandes

cut this = couper cette

remove seeds = enlever les graines

heat = chaleur

medium = moyen

simmer = mitonner

boil = bouillir

Stir this until it gets soft = remuer jusqu'à ce que ça devient douce

Add = ajouter

Measurements = mesures

1/3 = un tiers

3/4 = trois quarts

Teaspoon = cuillère à café

One = une

two = deux

three = trois

four = quatre

five = cinq

hour = heure

minutes = ?

Table Manners = les manières de table

please sit = se il vous plaît asseoir

pass = passer

Thank you = merci

please = se il vous plait 

you’re welcome = de rein 

Small talk = les banalités

How was your day? = comment était ta journée

very good, thank you. = très bon merci

Lesson 2: Cuisine

Since our next French Friday will revolve around cooking a French dish, lets dive in and find as many French dishes and drinks as you can stomach.



Homework? Have fun! Explore french cuisine. Tasty things, strange things, yuck!-I'm-not-put-that-near-my-lips things, and ooow-I-want-to-try-that-for-sure things. List them in the comments. Pin them to the "All about the French" pinterest board if you like.

French Friday: Yoga and Meditation

For our very first French Friday, we decided to do...


Une Méditation et le Yoga Chandelles



I even made a French Yoga playlist.

We practiced the vocabulary together, then proceeded to our tapis (mats).


We took turns leading the group through our favorite yoga poses. Repeating the french versions back over and over while doing the pose seemed pretty effective.



Nous avons mangé des biscuits et bu du cidre de pomme...

while planning the next French Friday and future travel.

Lesson 1: Yoga & Meditation

Our first French Friday will be held January 23rd at my place. We will have candlelight yoga and meditation.

To prepare, the following list of vocabulary words should be practiced. This list will likely be updated as each of you translate your 3 favorite yoga poses. (For those that have not yet completed your profile info with favorites, please email those to me.) After you translate your poses, please share them with us in a comment (by Monday the 19th so we have plenty of time to practice them) and I will add them to the vocab list. If you think a word or phrase should be added to the list or you spot an error in translation, please leave it in the comments as well.


Lesson 1:
 1. Translate your 3 favorite yoga poses and submit them in a comment to this post. They should be in the following format: French word = English translation. Example: arbre = tree

2. Practice saying the vocabulary words. Tool: Google has a translation tool you might like. https://translate.google.com/?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&client=tw-ob#auto/fr/ The best part, it has a "listen" button.

Vocabulary
yoga = yoga 
méditation = meditation
chandelles = candlelight
nous commençons = let us begin

aller de l'avant = go ahead

être assis = be seated
tapis = mat
fermez les yeux = close your eyes
inhaler = inhale
exhaler = exhale

ouvrez vos yeux = open your eyes

levons-nous = let us stand
aller dans... = go into...

arbre = tree
chaise torsion = chair twist
corneille = crow

Learning Tools

Aaron and I have started using Rosetta Stone. First lesson down! We also downloaded and started using the free Duolingo app on our phones. It is actually kind of fun. The best part is we get  to follow each other and see each others progress (my competitive side is pushing me to keep up with it...er him). Come follow/find us. Usernames: Spunkidoodle & AaronKRogers689

Other learning tools: I will be posting lessons here on the blog. Friends, you can submit/share your work as a post (unless we can figure out a better way to consolidate all the lessons and work on a separate page). Please tag it with the appropriate Lesson label (i.e. Lesson 1, Lesson 2, etc). And I am so excited about French Fridays!! The plan is to meet once a month (maybe more) and do French themed activities such as cook and eat French cuisine, watch French movies, etc.

Bonjour Jess, Aaron, Andrew & Fred! Il fait froid!

(Good morning! It's freaking cold today!)