My adventure with French started very early. I  (Mirek Nowak) started to be interested in foreign languages in third or fourth form of primary school. It was very popular then to write simple letters in Polish to some foreign companies asking for some promo materials and believe me usually they sent something. Volvo was known for beautiful posters of cars, Champion for different stickers of sparking plugs etc.

French learning resources accumulated

As the result of such mailing I had obtained many labels and stickers, rarely T-shirts, with writing on them – in foreign languages. First nobody cared about these writings but once my friend checked some sentence offering “lucky drawers” and he found it was about pants   So then it started to be simply improper not to understand what I had on my chest (I mean T-shirt of course) or on any of many stickers on my bicycle. The only solution was to have dictionary or – more difficult – to learn a language.

Help with French from above

We started to ask parents to let us learn languages. Here I must mention, in Poland Russian was obligatory from the fifth form of primary school but it was not so easy with so called “western” languages. Sometimes it was just the question of finding a teacher. My parents were always ready to invest in my education so they discussed this subject during the parents meeting at school. As other parents were motivated too, soon we started to learn French because such teacher was available.

My love of French

I started to love French from the very beginning of our lessons but the reason was quite different than you could expect – communication in French became to be some kind of secret among those who attended classes.
We asked each other about time or something to eat or drink and it sounded as magic, no outsider could understand us. And French sounded so nice and soft. It is necessary to note that we owe much to our teacher, he was preparing interesting lessons, thought us nice songs and poems, which I still remember.

French a higher learning

Soon French was more important for me than math or physics. And again I was surprised that motivation came from quite unexpected side – culture. Being a teen I started to be more and more interested in culture and especially songs. Formerly I didn’t care, I had heard music but I was not listening to it. But as I had been learning more and more, known words appeared as shapes from a fog. First song that shocked me was of course “Je t’aime (moi non plus)” by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, then many songs by Joe Dassin or later more difficult and sad songs of Edith Piaf (Je ne regrete rien). I must say I really became to understand them after many many years. You may check it by yourself as very interesting movie about Edith Piaf life has been shown for some months lately.
French live
After a few years of learning I decided to practise on live material, as I called it for myself. I went to big city not far from my home town and  started to look for foreigners looking for a way or any special place. Unfortunately most of them used English. So this experiment was not succesfull. Then I have noticed that the doors to French culture open more and more to me but I cannot limit to one language. In fact, as I have mentioned, I have been learning Russian for at least ten years then but soon I made the decision to extend my interest. Close to the French Embassy in Cracow (where I liked to visit their library) was the American Embassy having much bigger library with cinema!  A little further was also German library but German is the fourth language I have tried.

French today and beyond

So even  today I practice a little French watching movies with Louis deFunes starring or Jean Paul Belmondo, I still like to listen to French music, some say their language is so nice as created for the words of love and affection. And my interest is continued by my oldest daughter, French is the first foreign language for her, she is really good in it and she dreams of going to Paris to get to know France and French people much better.
From my point of view, French people I know are fantastic friends, but not known for business.

I remember when I was learning French in junior high, my French teacher was telling us about a new method for learning French I thought was interesting. It was the humiliation method. They were doing it in Paris and some people said it was very effective. It involved doing things like breaking an egg over you head for example every time you make a mistake in French. They had several dozen harmless but humiliating such techniques to learn French. I do not know about the effectiveness or if this program still exists, however, it was so interesting I remember all these years.

Once in a great while people that have had a traumatic injury to the brain, thank God recover, however, with one small quirk.  They develop a foreign accent.  There are many parts of the brain which are involved in speech.  It is not merely a matter of alterations of the part of the brain which control the muscles that produce sounds, something else happens.   Some cases have been an English country side boy who developed a posh accent, an American who developed a British Yorkshire accent and a Norwegian lady that developed a German accent.   But perhaps one of the most common is English speakers who develop a French accent.  In fact it is also referred to the French accent syndrome.

One of the reasons I like to learn Love phrases in other languages is, you will use it. Guaranteed if you learn an another language you will use love phrases or at least the words associated with love phrases.

Love phrases in several languages

Most of the most famous love phrases can be translated to any language and used. For example if you learn Love phrases in French or Love phrases in Spanish you will be able to use them in English in translation.

And the converse is true, if you learn love phrases in English if you know a little Italian or French you can use those love phrases in these languages.

Love phrases in French, Love phrases in Spanish and more.

Learn Love phrases with my page or an with my language learning program, the easy way.

Origin of the term French kiss

The term French kiss dates back at least to the 1920s. I think it has something to do with the specific culture of France in the roaring 20s. The States had the Great Gatsby and decadence expressed in materialism, while the French had a decadence expressed as a culture of passion, during the 1920s. To be French was to be passionate, oh la la etc. French kiss.

The above is the popular idea of how French kiss was started. However, I have another theory about the term French Kiss. The term might have started during the colonial wars of the 1700s when many idioms and expressions like French kiss, came about as the English looked for ways to put down the French.

In the book ‘Last of the Mohegans’ during the French and Indian war of the 1750s the English commander makes a put down of the French courage by saying “the French would rather make love with their face than make war” This book was written in the 1800s. So I believe ironically, French Kiss could come from this time of French and English anomosity. Why else would a classic book make sure a reference.

Why French kiss

If you want to French Kiss, then French kissing is highly recommended for those who want intimate passion while waiting for marriage for everything. 

How to French kiss

The best way to French kiss is not going in like a shark attack, rather it should be slow and more exploratory.   You should lead with our lips not your tongue, you do not want too much cream not enought milk. Oh and close your eyes.  Also try Eskimo kissing with your nose as a variation during a French kiss. Now Americans have a low tolerance for public displays of affection. In fact if we see people doing a French kiss in public, we say, they must be Europeans, as it makes us feel uncomfortable. Which I find silly because a French kiss is really innocent compared to the movies we have.

French kiss as a gift

No money, or not time, or no interest in a commercial Valentines present. The give your girl a French Kiss for say 1/2 an hour. Or give her a French Kiss 1 minute for every month you have been together for a Valentines day gift. I think no women in the world would be unhappy about 30 minutes, nothing else but a French Kiss. I think a French Kiss is better than any money or commerical gift. It sounds corny but give her the gift of a French Kiss.

Who are the French foreign legion and do they still exist

Origin of the French foreign legion

The French foreign legion was formed after the revolution of 1830. The purpose of the French foreign legion was to defend the colonies. They are composed of foreigners which can obtain French citizenship in three years of loyal service. Many joined the French foreign legion to obtain flee legal or other entanglements in their own country. However, to obtain citizenship from French foreign legion service you need serve under your real name and not have any illegalities chasing you.

Purpose of the French foreign legion

The French foreign legion is an elite force and was based in Algeria until Algeria’s independence. Now it is based in Marseilles, in southern France. Their purpose is to defend the ideal of the French nation.

Where is the French foreign legion

I can not detail all the actions of the legion as there are too many but they are as 2007 they are in Iraq.

French foreign legion and romantic notions

Many people have images of the French foreign legion from movies and stylish blue uniforms. But the biggest romantic notion is the ideal that you can start a new life. You can join the French foreign legion and leave your problem, your mistakes, and your old life behind.

Easiest language

English- no cases, no gender, no word agreement, arguably no grammar. The language is everywhere and can be heard, absorbed and used anywhere.  Short words, verbs change only in the third person. Native speakers are very forgiving of mistakes as so many people speak it as a second language. This makes English the easiest foreign language to learn.

Easy to learn

Italian-No cases, easy clear pronunciation, vocabulary of derivative of Latin, therefore the vocabulary has congruencies through out the Indo-European Latin influenced world.

Spanish – similar to Italian in that the grammar and pronunciation is easy, also ubiquitous, everywhere, but Spanish people talk fast and you can get lost when trying to understand.

German- logical grammar but does have cases and long words as word building is important.

French – sixteen tenses and some grammar twist and a specific pronunciation that makes it a little harder the Spanish.

Esperanto – Although I respect the people who created this, I do not consider this a living language and should not be considered when ranking the Easiest language to learn.

This is in contrast to the hardest language to learn

French truly became a unified country during the first world war aruges Eugene Weber in ‘Peasants into Frenchmen’ as there were so many reagional dialects and varried customs and provinces, with Occiatan being the classic example, that during the war all the French found themselves togeter for the first time.  There were even cases where French soldiers from varrious regions like Occitanian land were wrongly accuseted of being foreign spies.
 

The French who speak Occitan and the French who speak French can kind of understand each other, but it is a very different language.

 Learn French

Salut can be used for bye also.
 

If you want to learn more uses of the word salut or other French expressions and phrases try my LearnFast language learning software. Salut.