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2019
Bonne Annee ! Happy New Year!
The French Class team wishes you a very Happy New Year! We hope you’ll continue speaking French with us in 2019 before and after your next trip to France. We are looking forward to seeing you for another year of fun classes!
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Student Quote of the Month
"My teacher is really engaging and passionate.
I love my class!"
- Juan L.
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How the French Class Became the Largest French Language School in California
The basic principle is simple: offer a well-organized and totally non-intimidating space where students feel comfortable speaking French. This has always been the priority at The French Class. All you need is a pen and a smile. If you forget the pen, we’ll give you one. If you’ve had a stressful day, we’ll do everything we can to redirect your mind toward joyful thoughts. How about a week in Paris or Provence with enough confidence to ask for what you need or start a conversation, in French, with your French neighbors? Our French classes will point you in this direction: everybody speaks, everybody sits back and relaxes, everybody learns at their own pace. We keep our groups small because the only way to learn a language efficiently is to have enough time to talk. Learning how to speak a foreign language by listening to others or playing with an app can take a very long time. At The French Class, after 8 weeks, we give our students the opportunity and the ease to use at least 30 verbs in the present, past and future tenses. How much can you say in your own language with that much information? A lot!
Our hands-on approach quickly turns a foreign language into a familiar one. The more you speak, the more you make the language your own.
Being available to all has also been one of the strongest points of The French Class. We’re not just about teaching French. Over the years, we’ve connected people, supported our students with their goals, helped them solve France related issues, advised them on trips to take and schools to attend in France, sat with them to catch up on missed lessons, addressed particular learning challenges each time they reached out... The secret to success is that there is no secret, just one golden rule: we’re here to do our best to help one another. Thank you for being a part of The French Class community, and if you aren’t yet, we hope to welcome you in 2019.
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Enjoy 30% off Frantastique online lessons during a two-week promotion starting on the 29th of January. Don’t miss it!
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Les Gilets Jaunes for Beginners
 The appropriation of natural resources by the few, thanks to the work of the many, goes way back to the beginning of social order on earth, and continues to be common practice in capitalist, socialist and communist countries indifferently.
Particularly since the Revolution of 1789, the French have fought again and again for equality of rights: equality in education, in health, in job opportunities, retirement and right to rest.
Two factors played a major role in the current protest lead by les gilets jaunes (By the way, un gilet is a vest. By law, all French motorists must carry a yellow vest in the trunk of their car.): the growing awareness of the inequalities that comes with a higher level of education and a frustrated middle class, tired of being overtaxed.
Two World Wars destroyed the economy of major European countries and erased from the planet a total of about 80 million people, almost the population of the three most populated states in this country: California, Texas and Florida combined.
The first World War started when the assassination of the heir of the Austria-Hungary Empire by a Serb triggered a fight between the Allies (England, France, Russia, Italy and the United States) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire).
Then, the Second World War was driven by another aggressive bout of nationalism in Germany, encouraged by its infamous demented leader with a weird hairstyle.
The story sounds familiar? It is, because History does nothing else but repeat itself.
August 14, 1945 was the end of the war in Europe. The next 10 years were dedicated to rebuilding the infrastructure and cities. The French who actively participated in the reconstruction of the economy, worked hard and did very well in the late 50’s, early 60’s. They were able to save money, buy a home, sometimes a vacation residence and enjoy good food.
But, a generation later, their children, the Baby Boomers, were already hearing a different sound of music. The very economy that promoted entrepreneurship had gradually been stalled by a much tighter bureaucracy. By the end of the 60’s, overpopulated colleges and the threat of unemployment after graduation lead to the revolution of May 1968, when workers, teachers and students initiated major strikes that ended eventually with a change of government.
Jump in time and add about two decades, here come the 80’s, when unemployment seemed to be the fate of the average French graduate.
The point is, like in the United States, every new generation since the end of the war had to work harder to get less. Meanwhile, on every continent, the gaps between the poor, the middle-class and the wealthy has become wider and wider. All the natural resources and other key money producing goods have fallen into the hands of a few corporations, as billions accumulated into the safes of a very limited number of people.
Make a long story short and here we are. The workers and the middle class are tired of being taxed right and left while the super wealthy get away with so much.
In France, people don’t operate based on a French version of the American dream. Most French people don’t dream of being rich. They simply want to be comfortable, healthy and happy. They want fairness. They don’t go out to destroy property. They want to be able to afford property. Does this seem over simplified? It is.
After the 2017 French election, the far right declared victory over... their defeat (!) with 33.90% of the 74.56% voters. It was the best they’d ever done. The map of France looked terribly dark after the first round of elections. So, the French voters rallied around Macron for the second round, the only choice left to avoid the return of the brown shirts. After all, the specter of the Nazis marching down the Champs-Elysées is still very vivid in the minds of most French people over a certain age. Truth be told, only about 24 % of the voters wanted Macron for president. That’s 24% when the far-right got almost 34%. Scary times!
Time to say no to fascism. So, for the second round of the elections, 66% voted for Macron; however, roughly 42% did not vote for him, but against Le Pen.
In the meantime, over 10 million French people refused to cast a vote and stayed home while over half a million placed un vote blanc, a blank ballot in the urn, both to protest against a system that no longer represents them. Add just over a million votes declared invalid for various reasons like people scribbling comments and insults on their ballot, and we have almost 12 millions voters who said they were fed up with a political system they no longer trust. So much for the vote of confidence!
So, in the end, who won this election? Frankly, nobody knows for sure.
Macron, with his 24% of French supporters, made the same error H. Clinton did. He "forgot" to talk to the people. His youth and energy were invigorating to the young French entrepreneur. Everybody knew he would represent the establishment, but there was a feeling of hope and change in the air: What if Macron were to be a French version of a young and charismatic Obama?
But Macron made his second mistake: he continued to overtax the people in a stagnant economy where families witnessed their purchasing power shrinking year after year.
Today, the real change is the spontaneous movement of the gilets jaunes with its different factions: people asking for social justice, members of the right-wing party trying to gain momentum, casseurs promoting violence (the usual heterogeneous group of young protesters, right-wing supporters, cops in plain clothes and opportunistic vandals).
A third mistake could be fatal to Macron, if he decides to ignore the gilets jaunes.
Remember what happened to Louis XVI when he decided to ignore the people gathered in front of the Tuileries? Many believe the king could have avoided the Revolution by listening to the people whose only wish was to live a decent life with more opportunities.
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Dites-le parfaitement / Say it perfectly
Je voudrais m’inscrire à un cours de français
I would like to register for a French class
Je ne sais pas quel est le meilleur niveau pour moi
I don’t know what the best level is for me
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A Special Thank You
To the businesses who sponsor our annual Holiday Party:
Arlequin wines - Aquitaine Restaurant - Boudin Bakery - Buena Vista Winery - Calmart – Chouquet’s - Le Colonial Restaurant - Chrissa Import - Fabrique Délices - Fatted Calf Charcuterie - Fillmore Bake Shop - France-Amérique Magazine - Jeanne d’Arc Restaurant/Hôtel Cornell - Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant - Mathilde Restaurant - Monsieur Benjamin - Piperade Restaurant - Rigolo Cafe - Safeway - San Francisco Wine Trading Company - Sweet Things Bakery - Trader Joe’s - Zuni Café.
Thank you so much! We could not do this without you.
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IN PARIS NOW:
Caravaggio in Rome, Friends & Enemies
Musée Jacquemart Andrée
Through January 28, 2019
By Karen Marin
 Italian painter Caravaggio was undoubtedly the resident bad boy of Baroque art. A frequent brawler, he was known to pick fights and wander the streets of Rome while brandishing a sword – an illegal offense at the time. Nevertheless, what lurks behind the feisty behavior is an artistic genius who left a lasting influence on Western painting. The temporary exhibit, Caravaggio in Rome, Friends and Enemies, brings together ten key works from the master and several contemporaries who were inspired by him.
Upon entering the first room of the exhibit, one is immediately thrust into the dramatic. Here is a collection of violent tableaux, all inspired by biblical stories including Judith beheading Holofernes and David battling the giant Goliath. Caravaggio depicted Judith in the act – a drastic departure since until that time, she is typically shown holding the severed head or after the fact. Here, she is the clear protagonist, focused on the task at hand. This same flair for the dramatic can be seen later in the show with Supper at Emmaus, which depicts Christ with arm extended, blessing the bread. In this painting Caravaggio also used light and shadow to intensify the scene, shining the light on Christ and obscuring the apostle on his right. He was a master of the chiaroscuro technique, using light to draw the eye to action and allowing secondary subjects to recede into the shadows.
Caravaggio used live models and painted them as he saw them. His emphasis on reality became the naturalism style: people have wrinkles, flaws and dirty skin; they are not perfected or deified. This is very interesting when you consider modern advertising and the movement away from airbrushing and cropping. Clearly Caravaggio was way ahead of his time and is still influencing us now!
Caravaggio also pioneered the concept of making the observer a participant in the painting: the height of the action is taking place and often the subjects look directly at us. Two paintings clearly exemplify this style; The Lute Player and Saint John the Baptist with a Ram. In both cases, the central figure almost brazenly stares out from the canvas, and we make eye contact. In Ecce Homo, we are front and center as Pontius Pilate presents Christ to the people.
Born Michelangelo Merisi in 1571 in the town of Caravaggio east of Milan, the artist set off for Rome at a young age after having apprenticed under a student of Titian’s. He succeeded in securing commissions from both the clergy and the nobility who indulged his volatile temperament and embraced his innovative style. Caravaggio was emulated by his contemporaries and it so infuriated him that he accused them of plagiarism! Throughout the exhibit, you will see comparative works from Jose de Ribera, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi among others, leaving you to decide, which is the superior painting.
Do reserve your ticket online to avoid the line. The exhibit rooms are quite small and tend to be crowded so try to go early in the morning or towards the end of the day.
Karen Marin is a freelance writer living in Paris and former student of The French Class.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AT
The French Class
Don’t miss our great events in French at The French Class!
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Belgian Symbolism
The Uncanny world of Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946)
A conference in French presented by Renée Morel. $25
The same conference will be offered three times.
Thursday, January 3, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, January 8, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
As a sickly and reclusive youth, the Belgian painter Léon Spilliaert admired the work of Edgar Allan Poe, which later led him to embrace Symbolism. His themes echo those of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and of Edward Hopper, both contemporaries of his.
Please REGISTER AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Call (415) 362-3666.
Go to our Workshops & Conferences page for details of this and other events.
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Paris Under the Occupation
The Controversial Pictures of André Zucca (1897-1973)
A conference in French presented by Renée Morel. $25
The same conference will be offered three times.
Thursday, January 10, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 15, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
French photographer André Zucca was hired by the Germans to capture propagandistic scenes of Paris flourishing under the Nazi rule for their glossy magazine, Signal. His images from the early 1940s show Paris as sunny, airy, and bursting with color: life in the Nazi-controlled capital doesn’t seem that bad, after all. Of course, we know that these tranches de vie only tell part of the story.
Please REGISTER AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Call (415) 362-3666.
Go to our Workshops & Conferences page for details of this and other events.
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Paysages Français
France off the Beaten Tracks
A conference in French presented by Laurence Delahaye. $29
The same conference will be offered twice.
Wednesday, January 16, from 12:30 to 2 pm
Saturday, January 19, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Discover new aspects of France, and French territories through its geography: rivers, mountains, volcanoes, islands, vegetation, borders and cities affected by their landscape.
Please REGISTER AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Call (415) 362-3666.
Go to our Workshops & Conferences page for details of this and other events.
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A French Painter at the Time of Proust
Jacques Émile Blanche (1861-1942)
A conference in French presented by Renée Morel. $25
The same conference will be offered three times.
Tuesday, January 22, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 26, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The son of a successful psychiatrist, Jacques-Émile Blanche became a very successful portraitist, with a style reminiscent of 18th-Century English painters such as Thomas Gainsborough, revisited by Ingres, Manet and John Singer Sargent. The fascinating gallery of portraits he left includes Proust, the chanteuse Yvette Guilbert, the Countess of Castiglione (a patient of his father), James Joyce, Degas, Debussy, Rodin, Colette, and John Singer Sargent.
Please REGISTER AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Call (415) 362-3666.
Go to our Workshops & Conferences page for details of this and other events.
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Serge Gainsbourg
Poet and Agent Provocateur
A conference in French presented by Laurence Delahaye. $29
The same conference will be offered twice.
Saturday, January 26 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 30 from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Discover the immense work and the many songs deeply rooted in the French cultural heritage of singer-songwriter-poet Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1992). Agent provocateur, Gainsbourg had a huge impact on a whole generation in France.
Please REGISTER AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Call (415) 362-3666.
Go to our Workshops & Conferences page for details of this and other events.
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Au Bonheur des Dames
The Rise of a Parisian Department Store
A conference in French presented by Renée Morel. $25
The same conference will be offered three times.
Monday, January 28, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 31, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 2, from 10:30 a.m to 12:00 p.m.
Let’s go shopping! As illustrated by Zola’s fictitious Au Bonheur des Dames (1883), the birth of department stores created a retail revolution nearly as important as the Industrial Revolution that fostered it. In Paris, the fabled Grands Magasins Dufayel (18e arrondissement) offered fixed prices and allowed exchanges and refunds, and a much wider variety of merchandise like other department stores, but, because it catered to the middle-class and even workers by being its own bank and offering payment on credit, it quickly became the biggest in the capital if not in the world.
Please REGISTER AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Call (415) 362-3666.
Go to our Workshops & Conferences page for details of this and other events.
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PURCHASE AN APPARTMENT IN PARIS
If you are interested in learning more about turn-key acquisition and renovation services in Paris, contact Catherine Aubale Epstein at Platinum South Real Estate: www.Platinumsouth.com
Email: CaubaleEpstein@gmail.com
RENT AN APARTMENT IN PARIS
Great locations, rates and management. The French Class students get a discount.
Reserve early and contact: rothray@rothray.com
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Un verbe à la fois! / One verb at a time!
remettre = to put back, to postpone
See what you can say with a very simple verb…
Présent
Je ne remets pas au lendemain ce que je peux faire le jour même.
I don’t postpone to the next day what I can do today.
Imparfait
Il remettait souvent nos rendez-vous.
He was often postponing our meetings.
Passé composé
J’ai remis mon pull parce que j’avais froid.
I put my sweater back on because I was cold.
Futur
Quelques jours de congé et ça le remettra en moins de deux.
A few days off, and he’ll be back on his feet in no time.
Conditionnel présent
Si j’avais le temps, je remettrais mes papiers en ordre.
If I had time, I’d sort out my papers.
Subjonctif présent
Il faut que je remette le chauffage en route, il fait froid.
I have to turn the heater back on; it’s cold.
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Speak French at Home with
the French Class
 You can learn or practice your French face to face with one of our teachers on SKYPE or FACETIME, just like in our classroom. Skype is FREE and VERY easy to install and use.
Visit www.frenchclass.com for more details and rates on Private and Online classes, or call us at (415) 362-3666 to schedule a free session on Skype or Facetime.
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Trouvez la préposition correcte
1. J’aimerais essayer _____ cette chemise.
2. J’ai essayé _____ faire une réservation.
3. Je me suis essayé _____ golf mais ça ne m’a pas plu.
4. Elle m’a autorisé(e) _____ en parler.
5. Maintenant, c’est le moment _____ aller à Paris.
6. _____ quoi consiste votre travail?
7. _____ quoi sert cet outil?
8. _____ quoi parlez-vous?
Faites défiler le texte vers le bas ou cliquez sur la clé pour voir les réponses.
Scroll down or click the key to see the answers.
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A Simple Fact To Learn More French
 If you learn one simple sentence in French every day,
you will learn 365 French expressions in a year.
For example:
J’ai eu la chance de passer trois semaines en France.
I was lucky enough to spend three week in France
Read The French Class Newsletter and learn hundreds of expressions per year, for free! Keep reading! Keep learning!
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Quelques phrases utiles /
A few useful sentences
Pourriez-vous me dire où se trouve la station de métro?
Could you tell me where the metro station is?
Est-ce que c’est trop loin pour y aller à pied?
Is it too far to walk?
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Un petit peu de grammaire /
A little bit of grammar
Le subjonctif
Je suis content(e) que vous soyez retourné(e)(s) en France.
I am glad that you went back to France.
Nous partirons avant que la circulation devienne impossible.
We’ll leave before traffic becomes really bad.
C’est dommage que vous ne puissiez pas nous rejoindre à Paris pour quelques jours.
It’s too bad you can’t meet us in Paris for a few days.
J’aimerais bien que tu me rejoignes à Paris et que tu restes une semaine.
I’d like it if you met me in Paris and stayed for a week.
Visit our the Courses webpage to find a class for your level. Call us at (415) 362-3666 if you have any questions regarding the appropriate level for you or if you would like a free assessment.
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Un autre / D’autres / Des autres
Tu veux un autre morceau de chocolat?
Do you want another piece of chocolate?
D’une part, elle aime son travail, d’autre part, elle n’a pas envie d’en chercher un autre.
On the one hand, she likes her job, on the other hand, she doesn’t feel like looking for another one.
Il n’y en a pas d’autres comme celui-ci.
There aren’t any others like this one.
Pourrais-tu mettre ce verre à côté des autres?
Could you put this glass next to the others?
Still not clear? Have your own French tutor for 2 cents per day ($7.30 for a whole year). See information about My French 2 cents in this newsletter or call us at (415) 362-3666.
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Your Victory of the Month
Keeping a positive attitude while learning will help you learn faster and will also make learning so much more pleasant! Save a few minutes every day to open you French book and review what you just learned. Set small goals. For example, learn how to say one sentence:
J’ai passé une très bonne semaine.
I had a very good week.
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Your Own French Tutor for
2 Cents per Day: $7:30 per Year
 During the course of your studies in French, you often have questions such as: why is this article used, which pronoun is correct or should I use the subjunctive in this sentence? The French Class created an easy and very cheap program to answer your questions. We call it: My French 2 cents.
Here is how it works in 4 easy steps:
1. pay $7.30 (2¢ per day!) for a one-year subscription to this amazing program
2. receive a welcome email
3. send your questions to the email address you are given
4. receive a prompt and personal detailed answer.
It is that easy!
Please note that "My French 2 Cents" is not a translation service.
To subscribe: Call us at 415.362.3666 or send an e-mail to info@frenchclass.com. Contact us to subscribe.
FREE WITH THE FRENCH CLASS MEMBERSHIP.
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The French Class BOOK CLUB
 The French Class book club meets once a month, on Mondays, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Books are chosen by the members of the book club, and it takes one or two months to read and discuss a book, depending on the length. We have read many authors, classics as well as contemporary, such as Balzac, Colette, Marguerite Yourcenar, Marcel Proust, Irène Nemirovski, Patrick Modiano, Amélie Nothomb, Franck Thilliez or Tatiana de Rosnay.
Please call us at (415) 362-3666 or send a message to dominiquebremond@aol.com if you would like to join our book club.
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Les réponses:
Trouvez la préposition correcte
1. J’aimerais essayer cette chemise.
I’d like to try on this shirt.
2. J’ai essayé de faire une réservation.
I tried to make a reservation.
3. Je me suis essayé au golf mais ça ne m’a pas plu.
I tried my hand at golf, but I didn’t like it.
4. Elle m’a autorisé(e) à en parler.
She gave me permission to talk about it.
5. Maintenant, c’est le moment d’aller à Paris.
Now is a good time to go to Paris.
6. En quoi consiste votre travail?
What does your job involve?
7. A quoi sert cet outil?
What’s the purpose of this tool?
8. De quoi parlez-vous?
What are you talking about?
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EIGHT-WEEK SESSIONS
in 2019
1. January 7 to March 2
2. March 4 to April 27
3. April 29 to June 22
4. July 1 to August 24
5. September 3 to October 26
6. October 28 to December 21
Click here for current sessions.
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INTENSIVE COURSES
in 2019
June 24 to June 28 – 5 days
Saturday, June 29 – All day: 10:30 to 4:30
August 26 to August 30 – 5 days
August 31 – All day: 10:30 to 4:30
Friday, December 27 – All day: 10:30 to 4:30
Saturday, December 28 – All day: 10:30 to 4:30
Click here for details on Intensive Courses.
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You moved away?
Please keep in touch, keep speaking French!
Here are ways you can do that with The French Class...
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Study French with us online.
Click for details and rates.
Subscribe here to receive our monthly newsletter.
Visit The French Class facebook page.
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 Go here to access our free audio library.
Click Past Issues here for our newsletter archive.
Sign up for "My French 2 cents." Details here.
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Merci d'avoir lu notre bulletin électronique!
Thank you for reading The French Class Newsletter! Please stay in touch!
Visit us at www.frenchclass.com.
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