LE COIN FRANCOPHONE: MICHELLE’S MINI-SERIES EP. 6: CARCASSONNE
If you want to learn how to read, write or pronounce well in French, writing about a subject you want to learn more about is a triple threat.
Michelle took on a big challenge of writing about the places she’d like to travel to in France, In one year, she finished a 17-article mini-series for our blog, which we’re thrilled to share with you.
I’ll let her words tell you the story of the evolution of her writing in French – an inspiration for your own progress – and the story of her bucket list that will give you food for thought. Today, Carcassonne.
Have you ever dreamed of living in a fairy tale?
Make your dreams come true with a trip to Carcassonne.
Carcassonne has a modern city that is a medieval castle complete with concentric walls and towers used to protect the citadel in medieval times.
It is truly a site to be experienced not just seen.
I hope to make my dreams come true by strolling the cobblestone streets of Carcassonne.
Michelle R.
(May 2023)
Ep. 6: CARCASSONNE
C’est un endroit extraordinaire, une ville médiévale parfaite avec ses fortifications massives dominant la campagne environnante.
De loin, la Carcassonne ressemble à un conte de fées. À l’intérieur, elle est encore plus magnifique.
La Carcassonne se trouve dans la vallée de l’Aude et elle est la plus grande ville médiévale fortifiée d’Europe. L’Aude divise la ville en partie : la Cité et la ville basse. C’est l’histoire de l’ancien et du nouveau.
La Cité possède les meilleurs vestiges de fortifications médiévales d’Europe et elle est l’un des monuments les plus célèbres en France. La Cité a été construite dans le 13éme siècle et restaurée par le célèbre architecte français Eugène Viollet-le-Duc dans le XIXème siècle.
La ville fortifiée a un design concentrique avec deux murs extérieurs totalisant 3 kilomètres de remparts et 52 tours.
Visitez et découvrez une grande citadelle avec un labyrinthe de rues pavées, des églises, un château, des tours et des bâtiments anciens. Lieux et choses à voir :
Après la destruction des villages au pied de la ville, le roi Saint-Louis permit aux habitants de la ville de construire une nouvelle ville en 1245 – la basse ville. La basse ville est maintenant connue sous le nom de Bastide Saint-Louis et elle a été le cœur économique de la ville pendant des siècles.
À une certaine époque, la ville basse était fortifiée mais la plupart des murs ne sont plus intacts. Ne manquez pas cette partie de la ville et ses musées, les édifices religieux, les maisons de ville et les bâtiments Art-Déco. Elle est un endroit de grande richesse architecturale.
La Carcassonne est pour l’amant médiéval en chacun de nous et un endroit que j’aimerais visiter.
France: My Written Journey
In January 2023, Llyane encouraged me to develop my French writing skills.
At the time, this seemed like an impossible request. You see, I have a hard time coming up with ideas to write or talk about in English. Figuring out what to write about AND THEN translate that into French made my head spin. However, I am not one to back down from a challenge. So, I embarked on a journey that has elicited emotions such as dread, fear, and frustration but has ultimately resulted in joy, satisfaction, and pride.
Here is my journey.
After many days of contemplation, I decided to write about the different places in France that I may someday like to visit. This seemed accessible to me and would also be beneficial later.
Llyane and I decided on a schedule that included submitting an article every three weeks. I won’t lie. I had no idea how I was going to do this. At the end, there are a total of eighteen articles, and my process has evolved over the course.
The first article – the introduction to the series – was one of the hardest. I had no idea how much research I needed to do, how to translate my written English into written French, or how many pages was adequate.
So, I closed my eyes and jumped in with both feet.
The Research
Initially, I began research for my articles the week before I submitted them to Llyane. However, I quickly realized that I needed to begin research as soon as the last one was finished which gave me three weeks from start to finish.
Since my research would determine where I wanted to visit, some articles took longer than others to research as it was easy to go down various rabbit holes!
Once I settled into a loose format for the articles, it was easier to keep the research on point.
The first few articles were three handwritten pages double spaced. By the end, the articles were six handwritten pages double spaced. I’m grateful Llyane learned to read my handwriting!
Translating the Research
When I first finished the research, I didn’t know what to do with it. So, I began each article by writing it in English. This was the easy part as I was able to use the full extent of my native language.
The hard part came next – translating into French.
The objective of this writing expedition was to learn the French language. I eventually developed my own method. I would take each English sentence that I had written from my research and simplify it into a sentence that I knew that I could construct in French. This meant one sentence became two a lot of times.
Llyane always encourages me to pretend like I was talking to my son when he was four or five. This reminder helped me simplify the sentences without feeling like I was losing the context and feel that I wanted. Once I had settled on a simplified sentence, I would write it in French.
This process included looking up words that I didn’t know or colloquial phrases in Reverso. My final step was to use Reverso in reverse. I’d type in the French sentence I had written to see how it was translated into English. This would allow me to understand where my mistakes were and to make tweaks, if needed.
The Final Product
After translating the article into French, I’d put it away for a while. A few days before I submitted the article to Llyane, I’d look over it one last time to check word agreement – subject-verb and adjective.
I would also read over it out loud to myself right before my next session with Llyane. When Llyane and I would meet, I would read the article to her, and she would provide pronunciation correction and suggestions for better ways to word some of the sentences so that they portrayed what I was trying to get across.
The final step was providing Llyane with a brief introduction in English and a typed version of the article in French.
I hope you enjoy the articles on the amazing country of France. They are truly a labor of love.
Michelle R.
(January 2024)
NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Tell us in the comments below what is YOUR list of places to discover in France?
Let me guess.
Do you constantly have the feeling that you can’t hear what the French say and you don’t know how to read all the French words because they are written so much differently than they sound?
Learn 3 secrets that will help you be self sufficient in the way you pronounce French words – even if you don’t know what they mean – so that you can read that sophisticated menu in your favorite French restaurant.
Immerse yourself as you FINALLY reach your dream of becoming bilingual, learn to speak Parisian French on Skype and BREAK your language barrier!
…and now, please SHARE this article with your friends. They’ll love you for it! : )
Always in your corner,
Llyane
Photo credit: Unesco.org
