All posts by SurfAnglet64

Towards an Eco-Friendly School

Our PDF guide to our eco-friendly French school

Our Sustainable Journey

At SOFI 64, we make ecological management a priority in our daily practices. This choice illustrates our commitment to sustainable living and the preservation of our planet.

We are delighted to announce that we have recently been awarded the prestigious Green Standard Schools label. This recognition underlines our commitment to environmental sustainability and to creating a healthy, planet-friendly learning environment for our students.

The Green Standard Schools label is awarded to schools that adopt sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. As a school, we are committed to following their recommendations and encourage environmentally friendly behaviour among our staff and students.

To find out more about our ecological management practices, we invite you to consult our PDF document detailing our sustainable initiatives. By adopting these measures, we actively participate in reducing our ecological footprint while providing a healthy and responsible environment for our students and our community.

Reading in French

If you want to improve your French, you can always join us and study with us, of course. 🙂

During or after your stay at our school, you can get to work on a book that you like and that matches your level.

There are various publishers offering books to read (novels, fiction, short stories, etc.) for all levels. And that’s great!

Many of the books you’ll find below are also available in our school library.

La maison Hachette and their LFF collection

They offer books from A1 to B2 level.

The A1 level books mostly aime at teenagers.

From A2 level upwards, you have access to simplified versions of the great classics, detective stories and science fiction:

Le Tour du Monde en 80 Jours by Jules Verne

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Les Aventures d’Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc

What we think is great is that you have access to the audio version of all the books they offer. Vocabulary AND pronunciation are all yours!

Didier FLE and their Monde en VF collection

A wide range of books are available here. What we particularly like at SOFI 64 is their collection for A1 level. From beginner level upwards, you’ll find books for adults that are original, fun and inspiring:

Les Rêves de Jules Verne by Myriam Louviot

À la Rencontre de Saint-Exupéry by Marie-Noëlle Cocton

Marie-Antoinette au Château de Versailles by Adriana Fritter

Victor Hugo habite chez moi by Myriam Louviot

The collection for the next levels is equally extensive, and you’re sure to find a little nugget you’ll love.

In the Monde en VF collection, you will also find the audio version of your favourite novel!

CLE International

The CLE en Français Facile reading collection offers a wide range of reading material for all levels. From A1 to B2, you can discover French literature without any headaches. You’ll also find classics and fiction for your enjoyment!

Jacquou Le Croquant by Eugène Leroy

Au Bonheur des Dames by Émile Zola

En Route vers les Jeux de Paris by Véronique Bruez

Contes Fantastiques Québécois by Fabien Olivry et Julien Perrier Chartrand

Audio version also available online! 🙂

This year, SOFI 64 is happy to be part of the 22nd edition of KORRIKA.

As a French language school welcoming so many students of different nationalities, we truly believe languages are a part of ourself and that learning another language gives us the opportunity to experience a culture, to see our environment and the world differently.

This is why we will run the kilometer n° 2381 starting at the Port Vieux beach in Biarritz on April 9 at 20:28 precisely. All our students, teachers and friends are welcome to join us to run and show their support to the Basque language and culture.

During eleven days and ten nights, Korrika will travel 2,575 kilometers throughout the seven provinces of the Basque Country. The aim is to promote the use of Basque language and to raise funds to finance intensive Basque courses and evening classes for adults.

Korrika will end in San Sebastian on Sunday, April 10 at 12:30.

SOFI 64 and Korrika 2022

Improve your French watching French movies

Do you like to watch films? Do you want to improve your French? Well, you can do both watching French films in French!

If you don’t know where to start here is a list of French films for you: comedy, drama, adventure, documentary, animation… We’ve watched them all and (almost) loved them all!

Click on the image below to find out more about our selection of French movies.

Let us know if it helped you and which movie you enjoyed the most! 🙂

Candlemas or Crêpes Day

Assiette de crêpes et de fruits rouges

Because in France everything or almost everything has a connection with gastronomy, we had to tell you about this special day the whole country love: Candlemas (La Chandeleur in French).

Of course, French people, who are huge gourmands at heart, do not hesitate to eat crêpes all year long but this one day gives them a good excuse to eat some (more)!

Originally a pagan festival dating back to Roman times, Candlemas was celebrated in honor of the God Pan. This feast consisted of walking through the streets with torches or candles.

At the beginning of February, the days gradually begin to lengthen. The consumption of crêpes would thus be a tribute to the cycle of the seasons and the arrival of spring announcing better days. Round and golden, crêpes symbolized the sun and the return to light.

Christianized later in the 5th century, it is celebrated 40 days after Christmas, always on February 2nd.

As a result, La Chandeleur is a mix of both of these traditions Pagan & Christian.

Big fans of crêpes since our youngest age, we share with you 3 illustrated crêpes recipes easy to make.

Bon appétit!

Recette de crêpes illustrée

Recette de crêpes Recette de crêpes makis illustrée

Adverbs ending with “-ment” in French language

Adverbs are used to give a precision on the action that is performed. They usually answer the question “how?” and are placed behind the verb.

Example:

Il parle lentement.
Elle travaille efficacement.
Nous étudions régulièrement.

Adverbs are invariable, i.e. their spelling does not change.

How to form an adverb?

Take the adjective in the masculine form (doux), put it in the feminine form (douce) then add “-ment” . That’s it! 🙂

Doux —> Douce —> Doucement : Ils jouent doucement avec le chien.
Franc —> Franche —> Franchement : Je peux te parler franchement?
Naturel —> Naturelle —> Naturellement : Elle a réagi naturellement.
Fou —> Folle —> Follement : Ils sont follement amoureux.

Of course, as you can imagine, there are different types of adverbs which do not comply with this rule…

1. Some adverbs are formed from the masculine of the adjective; this adjective is ended by a vowel:

Passionné + ment —> Passionnément (avec passion)
Spontané + ment —> Spontanément (de manière spontanée)
Poli + ment —> Poliment (de manière polie)
Vrai + ment —> Vraiment

2. Other adverbs end with -amment or -emment when the adjective ends with -ant or -ent.

Bruyant —> Bruyamment : Il mange bruyamment.
Méchant —> Méchamment : Il lui a répondu méchamment.
Intelligent —> Intelligemment : Il suffit de travailler intelligemment.
Patient —> Patiemment : Il a attendu patiemment.

Here is a poster that can summarize today’s lesson.

Adverbs in French language

How to ask and tell the time in French (1)

To ask what time it is in French, there are different options:

Vous avez l’heure ? (to ask if you don’t know if the person you are talking to can give you the time)
Quelle heure est-il ? (formal)
Il est quelle heure ? (casual)

There are two different ways to tell the time:

The formal way (professional appointments, medical appointments, airports, administrations…)
The casual way (family, friends, colleagues…)

For each of these ways, your sentence will start with “Il est…”.

Example:

Il est 15h00 (formal).

Il est 3h00 (casual).

Time in French

A few objects for time :

Une montre (watch)

Une horloge (clock)

Un portable (cellphone)

Un réveil (alarm clock)

Et chez vous, quelle heure est-il?

Drag and drop the right sentence on the clock. Then, check your answer!

OUR SCHOOL IS OPEN!

Since May 11th, our French language school has reopened its doors and our first post-lockdown lessons went pretty well !!

As a small school, we were able to adapt quickly and we applied every mandatory criteria French government required for schools to open!

We also decided to OFFER each of our students a beautiful free mask and a free hand sanitizer flask !

WE ARE ALL READY (teachers & mascots) !!

Indirect Verbs in French

Which pronouns for which verbs (2)?

A few weeks ago, we introduced « les pronoms compléments directs » in French language.

Today, we will be talking about the “pronoms compléments indirects” : me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur .

INDIRECT PRONOUNS ARE :
* used to replace a person (or an animal) only introduced by a definite article (le, la, les, l’) or a possessive adjective (mon, ton, son …).

* used with “indirect verbs”, i.e. between these verbs and the person, you will find the letter “à”(téléphoner à quelqu’un, offrir à quelqu’un, dire à quelqu’un…)

* always before the verb.

Example:

Tu téléphones souvent à tes parents? —> Oui, je LEUR téléphone assez souvent.

Elle a déjà annoncé à son petit ami qu’elle allait partir faire le tour du monde ? —> Oui, elle LUI a annoncé hier soir.

Ils ont prêté leur voiture à Jeanne ? —> Non, ils ne LUI ont pas prêté leur voiture.

! « LUI » peut remplacer un homme ou une femme.

When there are two verbs, indirect pronouns are placed between these two verbs:

Vous allez proposer À VOS VOISINS de vous accompagner? —> Oui, nous allons LEUR proposer de nous accompagner.

Je peux LUI offrir une bière? —> Oui, vas-y. Il aime bien la bière blonde.

Their use is simple when you know if the verb is used with “à + quelqu’un” or not.

That’s why we made this list of 15 verbs !

Your Virtual French lessons with SOFI 64

Due to Covid-19 and measures taken by the French Government, we worked hard to offer our students an alternative to their their usual French classes at school.

Starting tomorrow, our first French lessons online for the A1 level will be on!

There are a few spots left for those who want to join.

French Online classes