It’s December, and before you know it, Santa Claus will be flying son char à travers les cieux (his sleigh across the skies). The tree is up, and the stockings are hung by the chimney with glee, and outside the snow… well, it’s currently very mild here.

I love December. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” is definitely my mantra. Et les chants de Noel (and Christmas songs?)? I love them. Sometimes I even listen to them in July, but don’t worry. I do that privately so as not to annoy anyone else.

Lots of people claim to not like this festive music, but I won’t focus on these negative grinches at the moment. Throw on a Santa hat, and let’s be jolly.

“Jingle Bells” is an absolute classic, literally every single person can sing along. The song talks about the joy of riding in the a horse-drawn sleigh through the snow, and while I have my reservations about spending anything more than the necessary amount of time in the snow, I think I would give that a go given the chance.

“Dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh…” You can certainly finish this verse and the chorus, but did you know there was more to the song?

There’s Miss Fanny Bright, an unfortunate slipping incident, and some dating advice...

Jingling Your Bells in French

Et la version française (and the French version?) ? Completely different. Rather than focusing on the winter transportation, the French praise the winter wind and wish people a Happy New Year. And like the English version, there’s a little story in there, too.

While the words are very different, l’air reste le même (the tune is the same).

Chantons (let’s sing!) :

Vive le vent, vive le vent,

Long live the wind, long live the wind,

Vive le vent d’hiver,

Long live the winter wind,

Qui s’en va sifflant, soufflant

Which goes whistling, blowing

Dans les grands sapins verts, oh !

In the big green pine trees, oh!

Vive le temps, vive le temps,

Long live the weather, long live the weather,

Vive le temps d’hiver,

Long live the winter weather,

Boules de neige et Jour de l’An

Snowballs and New Year’s Day

Et Bonne Année grand-mère !

And Happy New Year, Grandma!

Sur le long chemin

Along the path

Tout blanc de neige blanche

All white from the snow

Un vieux monsieur s’avanceAn old man comes closer

Avec sa canne dans la main

With his can in his hand.

Et tout là-haut le vent

And all above the wind

Qui siffle dans les branches

Which whistles in the branches

Lui souffle la romance

Blows on him the romance

Qu’il chantait petit enfant, oh !

He sang as a little child, oh!

Vive le vent, vive le vent,

Long live the wind, long live the wind,

Vive le vent d’hiver,

Long live the winter wind,

Qui s’en va sifflant, soufflant

Which goes whistling, blowing

Dans les grands sapins verts, oh !

In the big green pine trees, oh!

Vive le temps, vive le temps,

Long live the weather, long live the weather,

Vive le temps d’hiver,

Long live the winter weather,

Boules de neige et Jour de l’An

Snowballs and New Year’s Day

Et Bonne Année grand-mère !

And Happy New Year, Grandma!

Joyeux, joyeux Noël

Merry, Merry Christmas

Aux mille bougies

To the thousand candles

Qu’enchantent vers le ciel

Which light up toward Heaven

Les cloches de la nuit.

The night’s bells

Vive le vent, vive le vent

Long live the wind, long live the wind

Vive le vent d’hiver

Long live the winter wind

Qui rapporte aux vieux enfants

Which brings to old kids

Leurs souvenirs d’hier, oh !

Their memories of yesterday, oh!

Et le vieux monsieur

And the old man

Descend vers le village

Goes down toward the village

C’est l’heure où tout est sage

It’s the time when everyone is good

Et l’ombre danse au coin du feu.

And the shadow dances near the fire

Mais dans chaque maison

But in each house

Il flotte un air de fête

There’s a festive air

Partout la table est prête

Everywhere the table is ready

Et l’on entend la même chanson, oh !

And you hear the same song, oh!

Vive le vent, vive le vent,

Long live the wind, long live the wind,

Vive le vent d’hiver,

Long live the winter wind,

Qui s’en va sifflant, soufflant

Which goes whistling, blowing

Dans les grands sapins verts, oh !

In the big green pine trees, oh!

Vive le temps, vive le temps,

Long live the weather, long live the weather,

Vive le temps d’hiver,

Long live the winter weather,

Boules de neige et Jour de l’An

Snowballs and New Year’s Day

Et Bonne Année grand-mère !

And Happy New Year, Grandma!

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

If you are invited to a French home this festive season for a formal meal or asked to pop-round just for Aperos then we have some useful tips and insight for you so you don't make too many gaffs, as I still do today!

Faye Boulanger at Flickr.com

Many people bring up the idea of cultural etiquette during this season of gift giving and receiving. For example, you might have heard that, in Japan, you should accept gifts with both hands. Or that it is common for Singaporeans to graciously refuse a gift several times before accepting it. It is important to have a certain level of cultural intelligence to make sure that you won’t mistakenly insult the person with whom you are interacting. But it is also important to realise that cultures norms are often very complex and do not follow monolithic rules.

What time should you arrive? this is a complex issue and unless you find out by making the mistake once and then applying the rule on future occaisions, it is difficult to know the local etiquette first time around. I think being 'on time' is the best default position BUT not in Mayenne department of Pays de la Loire where they have what is known as the 'Mayenne quart d'heure' where the polite time to arrive is 15 minutes late, yes late! presumably giving the host a little time to perfect the ambience?

I’ve often heard that it can be insulting to your French host to bring a bottle of wine with you when invited to a dinner. The idea behind this is that wine plays such an important role in a French dinner that your host has probably already selected the perfect bottle for your table. This is an “old society” rule and, frankly, most French hosts would take this rule with a grain of salt (or, in the French idiomatic expression: ils prendraient cette règle avec des pincettes).

The same goes for the rule that, when offering a bouquet, you must include an odd number of flowers in it; I’ve never seen someone count the number of flowers they have just received. Rather, most of the time, they are impressed with the generous gesture and will thank you by kissing your cheeks.

If you are invited to a French home this holiday season for a formal meal, it is considered good form (especially in Paris) to send them over the day before to be used as decoration for the meal or in the days following the meal, along with a thank you card.

So while it is important to be aware of different cultural forms of etiquette, it’s also important to know that these traditions are oftentimes flexible or depend on varying degrees of formality and friendship.

For example, I might send flowers ahead of a formal dinner with business colleagues, but not necessarily to a more casual dinner between intimate friends.

If you follow your own common sense and always act with kindness and thoughtfulness, you’ll be fine no matter what culture you find yourself in.

Just how do the French celebrate Christmas where you live or visit?

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Baby It’s Cold Outside...

It seems like just yesterday I was waking up to la canicule, but with the changing seasons and clocks falling back, it’s really starting to get cold. I already have to turn on le chauffage (the heater, the heating) and find mes vêtements d’hiver (my winter clothes)!

After spending months next to le ventilateur (the fan) and wishing mon appartement (my apartment) had la climatisation (air conditioning), I was happy that France was cooling down. Cependant (however), after putting off buying un ventilateur for so long I didn’t want to put it away until I had no choice.

As the temperature drops, I have turned off le ventilateur and closed les fenêtres (the windows), but it has quickly become a struggle to stay warm. I’ve had to turn on le chauffage, prepare du café chaud (some hot coffee), and me couvrir (bundle up).

I’m from la Floride (Florida) and preparing for l’hiver (Winter) and le temps froid (cold weather) is something I’m not used to doing. I’ve learned how to survive and bought des vêtements d’hiver (some winter clothes), but there are still many things about le froid that surprise me.

When il faisait trop froid (it was too cold) and I turned on le chauffage, I noticed une odeur bizarre (a strange smell). Mon voisin (my neighbor) noticed l’odeur as well and came over to see if I was okay.

Ça va ? Il y a une odeur bizarre qui vient de ton appartement.

Ouais, je ne sais pas d’où ça vient.

Est-ce que tu as allumé le chauffage ?

Oui…. Il fait froid ces derniers jours.

Ahh ! Tu dois ouvrir les fenêtres !

Is everything alright? There’s a strange smell coming from your apartment.

Yeah, I don’t know where it’s coming from.

Did you turn on the heater?

Yes… It’s cold these days.

Ahh! You have to open the windows!

La Floride never taught me how to deal with l’hiver and I wasn’t aware of l’odeur bizarre that comes with turning on the heat for the first time!

Since it was already froid, I had to suffer for a little while while l’odeur left l’appartement. I took it as a sign that I needed to prepare for l’hiver and found all mes vêtements d’hiver.

L’hiver is only just starting and I’ll have to get used to le froid. I’m looking forward to les marchés de Noël, but I hope I don’t catch a cold!

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

These past few months I have had to constantly think about mon mémoire et la soutenance. Now that I have finished my degree there’s one question that everyone asks me:

“Alors, qu’est-ce que vous allez faire maintenant ?”

(So, what are you going to do now?)

La vie étudiante (student life) gets you into a rhythm :

Assister aux cours, étudier, faire les devoirs, écrire les rapports, attendre les résultats

Go to classes, study, do homework, write reports, wait for the results

Things can change when dealing with un système d’éducation différent. In France there’s a constant wave of CM et TD and trying to get un vingt.

Regardless of where you are, time in a classroom is time spent learning new things and la vie étudiante is a mix of stress and excitement.

La vie d’un jeune diplômé (the life of a recent graduate) drastically changes things.

Everything shifts to a new goal: Trouver un boulot - Find a job!

I have to mettre à jour mon CV (update your CV) and write many lettres de motivation (cover letters) – not forgetting la formule de politesse.

Sometimes l’emploi idéal (the perfect job) requires a move. Alors, in between updating mon profile LinkedIn (my LinkedIn profile) and asking mes professeurs (my professors) for advice, I also have to think about le coût d’un déménagement (the cost of moving).

Most of all it means thinking about what I want to do and being sure I can do it en français (in French)!

Voici un vocabulaire des jeune diplômés :

Mettre à jour son CV – Update your CV

Actualiser son CV – Update your CV

La lettre de motivation – Cover letter

Demande d’emploi – Job application

Offre d’emploi – Job ad, job opportunity

La carrière – Career

L’emploi – Job, employment

Le travail – Work, job, task

Travailler – To work

Bosser* – To Work

Le boulot* – Job, work

Le job* – Job, work

Gagner sa vie – To make/earn a living

Le salaire – Salary

Le salaire minimum – Minimum wage

Le SMIC – Minimum wage

*Informal.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Expats frequently worry about money. But the good news is that there’s never been a better time to generate income on your terms – just make sure it’s you running the business and not the other way round.

Here are some tips on how to monetise your talents…

What is the biggest mistake expats make when choosing a business?

Traditional expat ventures - B&B, restaurant, bookshop, boarding kennels, property management – tend to be fairly labour intensive and have low profit margins.

They also require your physical presence, so, eventually, your lifestyle becomes just like the one you left behind – but warmer! These businesses are also subject to local supply and demand, leaving you open to competition from other expats doing the same thing.

What’s the alternative?

Rather than copying what everyone else is doing, the secret is to start from what makes you unique. Work from your strengths and choose something you enjoy doing anyway.

The real value of any work lies not in man hours but in the creative input. As an expert in your field, you offer more value. You get to do what you love, and you will attract like –minded clients, ready to pay for your services. People buy from people they like!

But how? What can I sell?

You can create your own products or sell other people’s products. Whichever model you choose (and you can do both!), you should ask the following two questions:

Q. How do I add more value to people’s lives?

(Money represents an exchange of value. Add more value = make more money.)

Q. How can I make the product or service reproducible?

This is best illustrated by an example. If you teach a First Aid class for one hour, you get paid for one hour of your time and you add value to the lives of a handful of people. If you record that class and sell the video online, you have a product you can sell, and add value to the lives of hundreds or thousands of people.

The potential is only limited by your imagination: think puppy training, hairstyling, motor cycle maintenance, fishing, guitar lessons? You get my drift.

Today you can get your book published on Amazon in a couple of weeks, on your specific area of expertise: rambling routes, history (of anything!), collecting (anything!), photography, investing etc.

If you prefer to sell other people’s products, there are plenty of vendors looking for new affiliates. You only need a piece of text on a website or Facebook page – no need to worry about storing stock, billing, shipping – the vendors take care of all that, and one of the biggest is Amazon!

The highest profit margins are on information products, such as “Cure Diabetes”, “Lose Weight”, “How to Install Solar Panels”.

How does it work?

Build a simple website or Facebook page around your specialist subject and write short information articles or reviews.

For example, your interest is in animals, set up a pet website, such as Pets in Spain or Natural Remedies for Pets. Write an article about a good pet carrier or grooming brush, insert a line of text from the supplier in your article – and they do the rest. The customer clicks on the link and, if they buy the product, the company handles the payment, ships directly to the client, and deposits 20 per cent commission in your bank account.

The possibilities are endless; I haven’t even covered freelance websites.

What message to take away?

Stop thinking about income in terms of selling your time for money. Learn to think in terms of adding value and serving others; your customers are waiting for you!

Oh, and make sure your dream property has a good internet connection!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Article by Ruth Sullivan, Originally published in the A Place in the Sun magazine - Issue 126