A to Z 2016 — Atelier des Chefs

Bonjour mes chers lecteurs ! Bienvenue sur le site “Forty, C’est Fantastique.” Qu’est-ce que c’est ? De quoi s’agit-il ? Alors, c’est mon voyage vers la langue française. Un voyage sans fin. Je l’ai commencé il y a trois ans et demi. De temps en temps, il y a des gens qui me demandent : “Comment as-tu appris la langue française ?” Je leur réponds : “Je n’ai pas appris la langue française. Je suis toujours en train de l’apprendre.”  ”

Parlez Français !

<determined sigh>  Well, welcome to A to Z 2016 at “Forty, C’est Fantastique” ! I hope you will have read my “Theme Reveal” post, so you’ll know what you are in for! If you are joining me here for the first time grâce à the A to Z sign-up list, thanks for stopping by!

Each post will be organized into three parts: the English part, the French part, and the “word of the day.” Each one will focus on one website, offline source, or trick that I have found useful in my journey to learn this beautiful language. Be aware that the French part and the English part may not always be exactly the same, that is, they won’t always just be translations of the same thing. So if you can read both languages you may just find that there is more to the post than you thought. But if you can’t, don’t worry! You will still get the important information by reading either part alone.  Ok. I have gotten the “I must do an intro” part out of my system, so…

On y va ! 

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La Partie en anglais —

I adore cooking. So what better way to improve my language skills  than by reading recipes in French ? “L’Atelier des Chefs” <—click there is a website dedicated to teaching cooking skills. As you know, the French are revered the world over for their cuisine. This website has videos for cooking classes, recipes and techniques. Also, if you happen to be in France, you can find that there are actual ateliers in various cities across the country where you can take cooking classes in person.

I have been cooking from French recipes for a while. It was actually one of the first “practical” things I tried to do in the language. I found so many good websites full of recipes in French, but one of my favorites is Clotilde Dusoulier’s  “Chocolate and Zucchini.” <– Click there for the English version Her website is available in French and in English. This beautiful lady has written a lot of wonderful books, two of which are sitting on my shelf right now! Her “Edible Adventures In Paris” book is a great way to discover great food in Paris and has several recipes as well.

So, getting back to the “L’Atelier des Chefs,”  Mme. Dusoulier was a featured chef on the site earlier this year with one of her recipes, and she had a little contest on her website at that time. One of the prizes was a subscription to “L’Atelier des chefs” website, and I actually won!  I have to say, this has been absolutely fantastic for me. This is like the French version of Craftsy online cooking courses, if you are familiar with those. In fact, if you are a French speaker wanting to practice English, I think Craftsy <–click there would be a great resource for you!

The videos are detailed, and the chefs speak clearly for the most part. You can ask questions online and they answer you very quickly! If you are lucky enough to be online at the right time, they even do “live” ones where you can type in your questions during the course itself and get your questions answered while they are filming! It’s helpful for me because many of the recipes are traditional French ones, and since they demonstrate as they talk, it is possible to understand what to do even if you don’t understand every word they say. Context is indeed everything! It’s a great illustration of how it isn’t necessary to understand every word in order to have a rewarding experience in another language. You can’t stop and worry about that word you didn’t get, because you might miss the next step! It makes me think that when we go back to France this year, I could totally take a cooking class in French!

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The Part in French

J’adore faire de la cuisine ! Quand j’ai commencé à étudier la langue française, j’étais déterminée à lire des recettes en français. C’est ainsi qu’elles ont été des premières choses “pratiques” que j’ai lues en français. J’ai trouvé beaucoup de bons sites français pour cuisiner !

“Chocolate et Zucchini” ,<–cliquez pour la version française le site de Clotilde Dusoulier est parmi mes sites favoris pour la cuisine française. Elle a écrit plusieurs livres de recettes et des astuces pour bien manger à Paris.  Il y a quelque mois, elle était l’invitée du site “L’Atelier des Chefs”  pour sa recette du “parmentier aux brocolis.” À cette même période, elle avait fait un concours sur son site avec la possibilité de gagner 50 abonnements. Alors, j’ai eu de la chance de gagner un abonnement ! C’est chouette, n’est-ce pas ?

Sur ce site, il y a des cours de cuisine en ligne avec plein de recettes, de techniques et beaucoup de vidéos. J’aime bien ces vidéos parce que les chefs parlent très clairement. C’est très bien pour une étudiante en langue française ! C’est une excellente manière de comprendre l’essentiel sans avoir à tout comprendre. Comme ils expliquent chaque étape, il est possible de faire la recette même si on ne comprend pas tous les mots.  Tout compte fait, c’est une expérience enrichissante, et on aura même quelque chose de bon à manger 🙂

 

 

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Le mot du jour from Larousse.fr : (you can click on the word to go to their site, which includes a pronunciation of the word)

Artisan – 

• Travailleur indépendant, qui justifie d’une qualification professionnelle et d’une immatriculation au répertoire des métiers pour l’exercice, à son propre compte, d’une activité manuelle.
• Personne qui pratique un métier manuel selon des normes traditionnelles.

Artisan. Larousse.fr Retrieved March 15, 2016, from http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/artisan/5579?q=artisan#5553

This word is one that is the same in French and English, meaning someone who crafts something according to traditional methods.

ex. : “Regarde cette sculpture; elle est faite par un artisan de la ville au nord d’ici.”

“Look at this sculpture; it was made by an artisan from the city just North of here.”