LE COIN FRANCOPHONE: MICHELLE’S MINI-SERIES EP. 13: LE NORD DE LA FRANCE
If you want to learn how to read, write and converse 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, Le nord de la France.
The North of France is part of the Flanders and is a hot spot for WWI enthusiasts.
It is rich in history and the people are very welcoming.
Its main city of Lille has a strong Flemish vibe and a great cultural scene.
With beer as its beverage of choice, you may just meet a new friend or two over a glass. Come experience this magnificent French region with me.
Michelle R.
(October 2023)
Ep. 13: LE NORD DE LA FRANCE
La partie la plus au nord de la France est appelée la Flandre française. À cause de son emplacement et de son accès à la Manche, la région a été disputée pendant des siècles par les Français, les Anglais, les Autrichiens, les Espagnols et les Néerlandais. En 1917, la France a revendiqué la région avec le traité d’Utrecht.
Les gens de cette région sont très accueillants.
La ville principale de Lille est à une petite heure de train de Paris. Lille est la quatrième ville de France après Paris, Marseille et Lyon. Cependant, Lille n’a pas une ambiance française classique comme Paris.
La ville est très dynamique avec une grande scène culturelle, un vieux quartier charmant, une architecture impressionnante et une influence flamande importante.
Lille et sa région ont toujours joué un rôle industriel important. La région a commencé comme un centre de tissage et de fabrication de tapisserie et s’est transformée en une industrie textile moderne.
L’industrie était alimentée par les abondantes ressources souterraines de charbon de la région. La région était le plus grand centre industriel de France.
Malheureusement, dans les années 1970, ces types d’usines textiles ont fermé et les mines de charbon ont fermé aussi. La région a beaucoup souffert pendant cette période et a travaillé, et continue de travailler, pour créer un nouvel avenir.
Sites de la Première Guerre Mondiale
Les Flandres françaises et belges ont connu certaines des batailles les plus féroces de la Première Guerre mondiale.
En août 1914, les Allemands ont envahi la Belgique en direction de la France. À Ypres, l’avance allemande est arrêtée par des soldats de Belgique, de France et de Bretagne.
Aujourd’hui il y a de nombreux mémoriaux et cimetières en Flandre. La plupart des sites sont situés en Belgique, autour de la ville d’Ypres. Les sites importants à visiter sont la porte de Menin et le dernier message, la colline 60, le soldat qui couve, le cimetière militaire d’Allemagne, le cimetière et le mémorial de Tyne Cot, la ferme d’Essex avancée station de pansement et le cimetière, et la tranchée du Yorkshire.
La Côte d’Opale
La Côte d’Opale s’étend de Bray-Dunes dans le nord à Berck-sur-Mer dans le Pas-de-Calais. La côte est un paysage de superbes plages, dunes, falaises, côtes préservées, villages de charme et stations balnéaires. Il y a 120 kilomètres de côtes idéales pour la détente, le dépaysement, les sports sur terre et sur l’eau et la marche.
Dans le Pas-de-Calais, les plages sont des célébrités incontestées de la Côte d’Opale. Il y a de nombreuses activités à faire comme la baignade, la cueillette de crustacés ou les yachts de sable.
N’oubliez pas de lever les yeux vers le ciel et d’admirer les cerfs-volants. C’est un spectacle incontournable quand vous êtes dans la région.
Un autre site est le Grand Site des Deux Caps. C’ est un espace naturel protégé. Il englobe le Cap Blanc-Nez et le Cap Gris-Nez qui sont de majestueuses falaises s’avançant dans la mer. Promenez-vous le long de l’un des sentiers de randonnée du site et profitez d’une vue imprenable sur la côte.
La Nourriture dans le Nord
Contrairement à la majeure partie de la France, le Nord est tout sur la bière, pas le vin. Les brasseries locales sont partout. La nourriture est terreuse et sucrée. Il est approprié pour cette région plus froide : réconfortant, généreux et toujours délicieux. Un plat représentatif de cette région est la carbonade flamande qui est comme le bœuf bourguignon mail il est fait avec de la bière au lieu du vin.
La flamiche au maroilles est une quiche. Le maroilles est un fromage de spécialité de la région mais attention ! C’est délicieux mais malodorant !
Pour quelque chose de sucré, essayez les Bêtises de Cambrai qui sont des bonbons fabriqués dans la ville de Cambrai. Le mot « bêtise » signifie une erreur stupide.
On dit que le bonbon a été inventé par accident par le fils d’un fabricant de bonbons. La saveur traditionnelle est la menthe, mais il y a beaucoup de saveurs aujourd’hui.
L’histoire incroyable, l’architecture excentrique, les gens aimables, la meilleure bière et la nourriture étonnante sont assez pour m’inciter à visiter.
Vous ne trouverez pas un autre endroit comme ça en France.
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: lilletourism.com
