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Le Journal - French North African Film

Difficulty: Beginner

France, Morocco

Opening night in Casablanca for the movie Indigènes (English title "Days of Glory") provided a special opportunity for some of the subjects of the film to reflect upon their past, and for Moroccans and the French to talk about their future.

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Le saviez-vous? - Nice et son héritage italien

Difficulty: Beginner

France

In this video on Nice, Patricia explains the history of the city, its Italian heritage, and its typically French atmosphere.

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Le saviez-vous? - L'histoire de la dictée - Part 2

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Patricia explains the importance of dictation exercises for learning French. Now an essential teaching tool in the classroom, dictation was originally a pastime for French nobility. The author Prosper Mérimée created a dictation exercise for Empress Eugénie that stumped even the brightest intellectuals. Think you can beat them? Try it yourself here.

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Le saviez-vous? - L'histoire de la dictée - Part 1

Difficulty: Beginner

France

It took two hundred years to standardize French spelling before it could be taught in schools using a method called la dictée (dictation), in which a student writes out the words he or she hears. As a matter of fact, this is the exact same principle behind Yabla's Scribe game!

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Le saviez-vous? - Mener une vie de bâton de chaise

Difficulty: Beginner

France

This video takes an in-depth look at the curious French idiom mener une vie de bâton de chaise (to lead a chair-pole life). Though the life of a chair pole might not seem very interesting, the history behind the idiom certainly is!

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Le Journal - La vie dans les tranchées

Difficulty: Beginner

France

What was life like for the poilus, the French soldiers of World War I? In sum, much, much harder than our lives. Subjected to bullets, bombs, death, and all the atrocities of war, these soldiers fought bitterly to protect their homeland, and one another.

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Français avec Nelly - L'histoire de Notre-Dame de Paris - Part 1

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Nelly remembers vividly what she was doing on the day she learned that Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris had gone up in flames.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 34 [en]: I was studying to become a French teacher in the master's program.
Caption 34 [fr]: J'étudiais pour devenir professeur de français en master.

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Le saviez-vous? - L'utilité des zeppelins français

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Patricia discusses the various ways zeppelins were used in the twentieth century, as well as what led to their downfall.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 1 [en]: Another quality of French zeppelins
Caption 1 [fr]: Une autre qualité des zeppelins français

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Le saviez-vous? - Le zeppelin français et le rêve de voler

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Humanity has always dreamed of flying through the air. That dream was made possible with the arrival of the zeppelin at the end of the nineteenth century.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 47 [en]: Several French engineers and inventors
Caption 47 [fr]: Plusieurs ingénieurs et inventeurs français

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Le saviez-vous? - Le dernier duel à l'épée pour l'honneur en France

Difficulty: Beginner

France

In centuries past, when a person's honor was offended, he would challenge the culprit to a duel. The last duel in France took place as recently as 1967, between two respected politicians!

Matches in Transcript

Caption 13 [en]: They were two French politicians.
Caption 13 [fr]: Il s'agissait de deux hommes politiques français.

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Le saviez-vous? - Le casino ou la guerre

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Nice's Jetée-Promenade is the site of a former casino by that name. Built on pilings over the sea, the original building was once a thriving casino attracting many tourists, especially British tourists who flocked to the Riviera.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 40 [en]: to the French Riviera and especially to Nice.
Caption 40 [fr]: sur la Côte d'Azur et particulièrement à Nice.

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Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la Chandeleur - Part 2

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Patricia continues her series on the feast of Candlemas, which in France is centered around the crêpe. Due to its round shape and golden color, the crêpe was a symbol of the sun in pagan times.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 3 [en]: for the French people,
Caption 3 [fr]: pour le peuple français,

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Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la Chandeleur - Part 1

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Patricia delves into the festival of la Chandeleur, or Candlemas, which takes place on the second of February. In France, la Chandeleur is traditionally celebrated by eating crêpes.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 1 [en]: There is a French tradition that I particularly like,
Caption 1 [fr]: Il y a une tradition française que j'aime particulièrement,

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Le saviez-vous? - La tradition de la galette des rois - Part 1

Difficulty: Beginner

France

Patricia discusses the galette des rois (kings' cake), a classic holiday delicacy associated with the festival of Epiphany. A small figurine is placed inside the cake, and whoever finds it in his or her slice is crowned "king" or "queen" for the day.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 23 [en]: This old French tradition
Caption 23 [fr]: Cette vieille tradition française

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Le saviez-vous? - Le romantisme français

Difficulty: Beginner

France

It's been said that Paris is the most romantic city in the world. In this video, you will discover the origin of the word "romantic" and learn about the romanticism movement, which originated not from France as one might expect, but from England and Germany and later took hold in France.

Matches in Transcript

Caption 2 [en]: French romanticism: what is it?
Caption 2 [fr]: Le romantisme français, c'est quoi?

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