French Language Workshop: Let's Go Food Shopping!

I noticed that a lot of people in this meetup group joined because they would like to make progress on their French language skills. I happen to be the sort of person who loves foreign languages and finds the rules, the grammar, and the phonetics fascinating. Seriously: ever met anyone else who put the Encyclopedia of Linguistics on their Christmas list??

At this meetup, let's meet at Trader Joes and go food shopping. This will be a great way for you to learn and practice common vocabulary and will help you speak more fluently. I like to teach by using games or doing real life activities like cooking, shopping, wine tasting, or hiking. (I use the Total Physical Response teaching method quite a bit.)

Goals for this workshop:Practice speaking and listening skills
Review vocabulary for common grocery items (baked goods, fruits/vegetables, meat etc.)
Write your grocery list en français
Learn a French recipe - maybe even shop for the ingredients?

Who should come:People who want to brush up on their French language skills
Adventurous people who are starting from scratch
People who plan to travel to French-speaking countries
J'aimerais bien avoir les francophones pour aider les étudiants

Logistics:
To RSVP yes, you'll need to make a payment of $2. If you come to the meeting I will give you your $2 back in cash! If you cancel at least 2 days in advance, you will be refunded via PayPal. As a group, we decided on this method to ensure that people who RSVP yes would be more likely to come and not cancel at the last moment. (This is not a money making scheme!)

Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, based on the play of Friedrich Schiller and on the text Turandot by Carlo Gozzi.
Story:
Princess Turandot will consent to marry only if her prospective suitor can answer three riddles. The penalty for failure is death. While concealing his identity, Prince Calaf competes for Turandot’s hand and correctly answers all the riddles. Turandot still scorns him so Calaf allows her an opportunity to avoid the marriage if she can discover his name. Turandot’s guards scour Peking looking for clues to the Unknown Prince’s identity.
The soldiers find Liú, a young slave who knows Calaf’s true identity. Liú loves Calaf and kills herself to avoid revealing his name under torture. Calaf angrily confronts Turandot and breaches her defenses by kissing her. She is stunned and confesses her fear of him. In response to her honesty, Calaf reveals his name. The true meaning of Liú’s sacrifice and Calaf’s trust in her becomes clear to Turandot. She accepts Calaf by telling her people that the name of the Unknown Prince is Love

http://www.fandango.com/regalhaciendacrossingsstadium2126imax_aaopk/theaterpage?date=11%2f7%2f2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turandot

You can join us at 9:45am in front of the Regal Cinema at Dublin. The broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera will start at 10:00am (1:00pm ET).

Is your French rusty?

Come to a workshop where you can HAVE anything (or at least learn how to say as much in French)

Avoir is the verb "to have" and of course is really useful. But it's also the basis for a lot of the past tense and other French shenanigans. This is an important verb to get right so let's focus on this one and hey, throw in a bit 'o vocab too!

I noticed that a lot of people in this meetup group joined because they would like to make progress on their French language skills. I happen to be the sort of person who loves foreign languages and finds the rules, the grammar, and the phonetics fascinating. Seriously: ever met anyone else who put the Encyclopedia of Linguistics on their Christmas list??

Goals for this workshop:
Be conjugatin' fools by the end of the night
Play with dice (oh YOU'LL see)
Learn some new vocabulary

Who should come:
People who want to brush up on their French language skills
Adventurous people who are starting from scratch
People who plan to travel to French-speaking countries
J'aimerais avoir un francophone pour nous aider

Logistics:
To RSVP yes, you'll need to make a payment of $2. If you come to the meeting I will give you your $2 back! If you cancel at least 2 days in advance, you will be refunded. As a group, we decided on this method to ensure that people who RSVP yes would be more likely to come and not cancel at the last moment. (This is not a money making scheme!)
The meeting location is TBA but it will be somewhere in downtown Livermore for sure. We will either have it at a coffee shop, my house, or the Livermore library.

Aïda is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi based on a scenario written by Auguste Mariette. Aida is an Ethiopian princess, who is captured and brought into slavery in Egypt. A military commander, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. Radames is loved by the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris, although he does not return her feelings.

http://www.fandango.com/regalhaciendacrossingsstadium2126imax_aaopk/theaterpage?date=10/24/2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida

You can join us at 9:45am in front of the Regal Cinema at Dublin. The broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera will start at 10:00am (1:00pm ET).