19-12-07
232. Serenity
@Serendipity: Indeed, money is the main key, you're right.
@Agnès: Wise answer. And very true if I decide to shorten myself the experience...
@Grillon: You make me laugh, thanks! You have to know that the boss of the department is very good looking, yummy...!
I really would like not to further the trial period... I have to decide it quickly, because tomorrow will be the last day within the trial period. Stopping during my trial period is a right, I can apply it provided I can mention relevant and justified reasons (anyway, I had never did it before that company). Relationship with my main temp' agency is good and I enough trust my connections over there, I mean I know they will take my decision easy and keep on promoting my job profile with other companies.
28-11-07
213. Fred Chichin
Agnès asked me (a long time ago) to translate these sentences into English: (in French we say "prise de tête", I get a headache! phew...!! Hehe!) 'ssssssshhhhhh... Moreover, another "sssh" sound (sorry, it may seem bad taste within this post but it's only a sincere tribute from me): Fred Chichin From the great Rita Mitsouko band passed away today.
Official website
Song YouTube: Marcia Baila
The first sentence is easy (finally I hope so! I would be upset to have made any mistake LOL!)
- "de 1H58 à 2H02 : une heure cinquante-huit à deux heures deux."
--->> from 1:58 to 2:02 am: from two to two, to two two
That one is funny but really tricky!
- "Trois sorcières suédoises et transsexuelles regardent les boutons de trois montres Swatch suisses. Quelle sorcière suédoise transsexuelle regarde quel bouton de quelle montre Swatch suisse?"
--->> Three Swedish transsexual witches watch three Swiss Swatch buttons. Wich Swedish transsexual witch watch which button of which Swiss Swatch watch?
If Agnès hasn't told me it was an alliteration exercice, I'd write "are watching" instead of "watch" (present simple). I wonder if I'm right, grammatically speaking. Oddly, I had many troubles between "what" and "which". I must review this lesson.
I'm waiting for the correction, dear Agnès...
26-11-07
211. Web paths
@Grillon: Thank you for your sweet comments and your challenging list of words (your choice is very inspiring). :)
Regarding "vive la technologie", you can say in English "long live to technology" or even "long life to technology". ;)
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Blog stats:
My anwser to a frequent request from anonymous people coming in via an engine search (mainly Google and Yahoo) :
"être attaché à quelqu'un in english": to be attached to somebody; beware of "attached" alone: it can mean someone who is not single, "this man is attached",in French we would say "Cet homme est déjà pris"
But for people whos earch a way to "learn english by sexual story", I cannot do nothing for you LOL
09-11-07
194. Chatroom
Here is a part of a chat I had tonight, since I followed the suggestion of Grillon.
<London-Man> I also was into education for a year a couple of years ago
<London-Man> learning never stops till u die
<Hana> it's true!
<Hana> you might have a lot of courage to put yourself into question like that
<London-Man> which question?
<Hana> to put into question: when you admitted you had to learn at your age
<Hana> I ‘m afraid my straight translation doesn't make sense in English lol, how do you say in proper English
<London-Man> u still have good English
<Hana> thank you! I’ve checked in my dictionary: to have the capacity to question oneself! but my dictionary offers also ‘to put oneself into question’. seemingly, I was right ?!
<London-Man> got it
<London-Man> I do have the capacity to question myself… do u?
29-10-07
183. imposed words - 5 - The French cover book illustration of the seventh Harry Potter
Agnès challenged me to write a text from this list: Ad break - Ally - Astounding - Bake- Be lag behind - Black-tie - Blunt - Brushstroke - Cheating on an exam - Comic book/comic strip/cartoon (from my VOCABULARY list)
Click on the picture to enlarge it - Move your mouse over the underlined words to see the translation into French.
Harry Potter is not something you can read during ad breaks for example, not even while a cake baked for children's four o'clock is quietly cooking: when you get the novel, you can't drop it easily, the rythm is so absorbing and the adventures are so astounding that you wouldn't notice the cake is burning, or that the TV movie is on again. (Be eased: I don't wear any black-tie to read it but... I wash my hands, as for any book...)
Nonetheless, you - French readers - will easily notice the illustration on the cover book: how can one avoid to notice that Harry Potter is alone for the first time on a French cover book... But even if he feels lonely at that moment, he doesn't seem to be lag behind: yes, I reckon his deep glance towards the sea is full of sadness and of his usual seriousness, though the chin conveys determination and justice. Look at the simple short thick line which represents his mouth: closed mouth, tight jaw. Again determination, revenge and courage are all in there. His inner look is also a look towards the outer, maybe towards the main spot of his adventures (could it be the creek, the inlet where are hidden secrets of Voldemort? Certainly).
The brustrokes of the cover designer - Jean-Claude Götting - include little red touches all aroung angles, as if he and all things were under Voldemort's flaming snaky eyes and as if the meaning of this last novel announces a lot of poured blood shed blood and death, a big iron will.
This paint would be a good way to reconciliate youngers attached to comic strips and cartoons with pictorial art. They would also learn that painting a close face-to-face between sea and humans belongs to the high pictorial tradition (mainly in Romantics paints) and can convey all kind of feelings linked to inner torments.
Well, Harry is not exactly alone on the back cover but the message and the mood converge to the same idea: the young heroes are alone in front of them themselves and life but not alone to face world's blunt attacks. Three teenagers facing loneliness of their own initiation and own fears but three allies together who share their courage, ideas and heart (even from Ron who is the kind of people to cheat on an exam).
In the end of the sixth novel, Dumbledore dies and I unexpectedly felt hurt by this death and deeply saddened by how Harry felt so lonely: I knew the symbolic meaning, I knew it was time for Harry to say goodbye to the adult's protection in the aim to become an adult at his turn. The same for his friends who go from adventures to adventures without their parents in this last novel). Since then, I also understood that the author wouldn't pursue the series beyond the seventh book: the story of a child was coming to his ending because the child will soon be an adult.
And everything in this novel, in each page, deals with the idea of death and definitive denouement.The back cover resume the whole idea of the ultimate goodbye to the past, of an adieu to childhood, above the grave.
27-10-07
181. We've got the last Harry Potter
...In French. ("The deathly hallows", faifhtfully translated into french)
The book has been released since yesterday, and since this afternoon I and my teenager-monster kindly quarrel over who will start off the reading when the book is available while each other hurry to swallow the meal. We can say anything about the book of JK Rowling, one thing is sure: it enables a close relationship between readers even within family. At these moments, I and my monster get along together.
I'd like to thank you, Agnès and Grillon. Human warmth is all, even through internet, even among strangers. And don't worry, I'm fine.
25-10-07
179. My blog statistics
How most of my visitors come accross my blog?
Everybody uses Google or another search engine. You type your request and... here you are on my blog. Google works well but doesn't make any difference from a post to another: Google pastes a whole series of words belonging to one blog and sends you anywhere... That probably explains why many visitors don't stay in a my blog more than a minute (in the same time, nothing can take them away from their search)
My statistics show me everyday that most typed key words are relative to French Nouvelle Star (even if the previous season finished many months ago!). Don't believe the winner is the most typed, not even a contestant: "Joseph beatbox" is the real one who interested English-speaking people. This boy makes the most amazing musical sounds with his mouth, but don't ask him to sing, he doesn't know at all. Thanks to my statistics, I can follow his history. Last June, I worried when I noticed many key words as "joseph french star dead" but it's merely a false rumour.
The second-ranked regards the topic itself, the aim of my blog: learning English (logical). So visitors come from all around the world but the most regular are with no doubt
The third most popular is "El desdichado" Gérard de Nerval (please, don't hesitate to use the blogbar, on the left sidebar, if you want to find the posts). I'm quite proud of the post about "El desdichado": I've listed and gathered in my blog the several translations into English of the French poem that does exist on line (please, help me to complete the collecting).
From India, somebody searched "illeteracy as a challenge". So odd.
People from Asia are the keenest in English language.
And finally, there is somebody from France who have been visiting me many times with the sentence "spare time vocabulary". I'm amused to see he/she didn't find yet what he/she wanted... Maybe he/she waits for me to make this inventory in my blog :)
22-10-07
176. Translation of one French blog: Grillon
Rare are blogs where people don't only speak about them; here is one of them. This blog gathers full sympathetic sense, culture, poetic sight on things, and mainly on paintings and landscapes, intimism, warm. Often moving and kindly funny, the posts of Grillon du foyer, proudly described as a housewife far from being desperate, are always written with style elegance and a slight touch of mischief (malice).
I wanted to translate this post -- ending a whole thematic series -- because it's short so it's easier (I'm kidding -- or not even!), also because I wanted to try to render an impressive metaphor related to brass/brass band. Grillon is used to such beautiful vibrant sentences. I was curious to check if I could translate it faithfully. I don't know if it sounds properly English but IMHO I find I've made a good work -- please, English-speaking people, tell me... (Nevertheless, I encountered another unexpected trouble: the very last sentence. Contrary to the translation I made of Agnès' post, I couldn't get the Reverso-Collins version this time because of so many troubles with my Internet. I'll pick up it later, but for the moment I've worked with my irreplaceable dictionary online WordReference.
Grillon, please forgive me in advance for any misanderstanding and/or mistake.
"Autumnal still life, the end"
"After the predominant black colour of Boldini's paintings, here is the brightness of an unexpected facet of Mondrian... But his painted work of art was so diversified that you are required to expect everything!
Piet Mondrian drew so often chrysanthemum, signed his sheets and hanged them in his atelier, beside his abstract paintings.
Isn't it a very good exercice of colour? Why was Mondrian particularly interested in chrysanthemums? Perhaps because this autumnal flower can take different colours, from delicate rose like here, to brass tones that resound like brass bands within bedding plants.
In ancient Greek, "chrysanthemum" means "golden flower" and Mondrian emphazised his little golden ring.
Well, as everywhere was celebrated "the taste week", I've built my own week devoted to still life with an autumn touch, sometimes with an allusion to taste. Hope this thema delighted you."
09-10-07
163. "Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4." Write it down.
Take the book the closest from you, go straight to page 18 and write the fourth line. Hand over the chain from your blog without forgetting to copy-paste all the previous contributions with the bloggers links. (Prenez le livre le plus proche de vous, allez page 18 et recopiez la ligne 4. Toutes les langues sont autorisées. Relayez la chaîne à partir de votre blog en pensant à reprendre toutes les précédentes contributions avec les liens.)
Copy/paste all the following lines with links and add yours in your own blog.
Hana from LearningEnglish
"something else -- loitering with intent, learning about mushrooms"
"An Englishman in Paris" Michael Sadler, page 18, line 4
Serendipity from NotAPieceofCake
"white gardenia flowers : wit-katjekrulkopkinders."
The strange-sounding word must be Afrikaans, it's taken from a South African novel by Mark Behr : The smell of apples.
Grillon du Foyer
” de ce qui est accompli, réalisé => couronnement, ”
Dictionnaire de la langue française, Le Petit Robert, édition 2003, page 18, ligne 4, du mot ” accomplissement ”
Le Petit Robert est toujours le livre à la portée de ma main hésitante. J’ai de ces trous de mémoire par moment, il m’arrive souvent de ne plus savoir écrire un mot !
Je ne sais pas où mènera ce jeu multilingue au bout du compte, si l’on boira le vin nouveau fin novembre comme le cadavre des surréalistes.
Wait and see , ou puisqu’on parle de vin, Moët Hennessy !
03-10-07
157. You challenge me and I adore that!
Thank you Agnès and Grillon, I really do appreciate that you play the game and you have chosen plenty interesting words -- normal: I first chose them LOL --, I've now a lot of English homework in the same time thanks to you :) I've already be challenged by FloNature here but I've never been asked twice in the same time! -- It's a quite hard exercice and my first try was curious even to my eyes! Really! But I couldn't write anything else, I was always coming back to the initial idea, exactly like tonight with the words of Agnès -- I didn't read more than once your list, Grillon, in order not to confuse my mental images from Agnès' words.
But it's very challenging, very constructive and I ask you to be frank about what I will produce -- I trust you, you will be harsh and without mercy! ;)
Well, that's good! It squeezes me a little bit but in a positive way. I think I'll be able to produce a story from now to tomorrow night.
It's magic to follow your words as a lane leading to a final result that I have to put into words and called "story".
About doggedly: I really don't know the origin of this word and I haven't any clue. But of course, I include the word in your list Grillon. :)
I've made a mistake: it's not baker but bake, baker is "boulanger".
