Clé France

It Comes In Pints! – Beer In French

I wonder how many people think "that's easy, ordering a beer in French" but after saying "Une bière s’il vous plait" it can get complicated, like most things if you say the first phrase so well the French person thinks you speak good French so lets enter into a deeper conversation! I know we can all speak better French after the first beer so here are a few tips on ordering your second.

When ordering something in a new country there are always surprises waiting in all the small differences from what you would expect and what actually arrives.

One of my first times dans un bar français (in a French bar), on top of not knowing how to toast, I didn’t know how to order a beer. I guessed that it would be similar to “un café s’il vous plait” (a coffee please), so I said:

Une bière s’il vous plait.

A beer please.

Then le barman (the bartender) asked me:

Laquelle ?

Which one?

I was not familiar with any of the bière, but I knew I wanted a stout. Cependant (however), I had no idea how to say stout in French! In my confusion, I just asked for whatever name I saw first, but then le barman asked me:

Un demi ou une pinte ?

A half-pint or a pint?

Le problème was that I did not understand what he said! I did not know une pinte was a French word, and I had no idea what un demi was referring to! So I said:

Une bière.

A beer.

My response wasn’t very helpful to le barman. I’m sure he was just as confused as I was. Looking for a solution I pointed at the glass of le client (the patron, the customer) next to me and said:

La même chose que lui.

The same thing as him.

That got me une bière, but once I told mes amis what had happened they had a good laugh explaining how to say different types of bière in French and also that une pinte is just a pint and un demi is a half-pint!

Voici un petit vocabulaire de la bière :

La bière – Beer

Le verre – Glass

La bouteille – Bottle

À la pression – On tap

Bière à la pression – Draft Beer

Une pinte – A pint

Un demi – Half a pint, A half-pint

Bière brune – Stout

Bière blonde – Lager

Bière blanche – White beer, Wheat beer

Bière anglaise – Ale

Le houblon – Hops

Le blé – Wheat

Le froment – Wheat

La brasserie – Brewery.

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

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

Hi Sharon,

Thank you for your support during our search for a holiday home in France.

We found your service to be of great help, offering timely, efficient advice throughout the process.

You have made our experience less stressful and we would certainly recommend you to anyone planning to buy a house in France.

We're now looking forward to spending time in our new house.

Many thanks, Sandra & Tony Readman.

Sandra & Tony bought a lovely house in the delightful department of the Mayenne in the northern part of Pays de la Loire, we wish them many happy years of French Property Ownership.

If you are looking to view and buy a house in France, let Cle France guide YOU through the French Property Buying Process!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"

Of all the people of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest.

"De tous les peuples de la Gaule, les Belges sont les plus braves"

– Jules César (Julius Cesar)

After les attentats hier matin (the attacks yesterday morning), all our hearts are with la Belgique (Belgium). La capitale (the capital) is known as le Coeur de l’Europe (the heart of Europe), with many of the most important parts of l’Union européenne (the European Union) finding their home in Bruxelles (Brussels).

La Belgique is also an important part of la francophonie and contributes many of the most famous chanteurs (singers) like Jacques Brel and Stromae.

However, not all of le pays (the country) speaks French, and that can lead to some confusion as to what language you should speak en Belgique.

The country is split between les Flamands et les Wallons (the Flemish and the Walloons). Les Flamands speak Dutch and live in the Northern half of the country while les Wallons speak French and live in the Southern half. There is also a small part of la Belgique that speaks German!

En fait (in fact), le pays is officially trilingual and le français, le néerlandais et l’allemand (French, Dutch, and German) are all official languages!

Pourquoi parle-t-on français en Belgique alors ?

Then why do they speak French in Belgium?

La Belgique entered written history in the year -57BC with the Roman conquest of Gaul by Jules César. Les Romains (the Romans) divided Gaul into different provinces, including Gallia Belgica, an area in Northeastern Gaul populated by the Belgae, which is where la Belgique gets its name.

Les Romains brought their language and culture, which had a huge impact on the history of le pays, and led to une partie de la Belgique (a part of Belgium) speaking French today.

Mais les Flamands ne parlent pas français ?

But the the Flemish do not speak French?

After the fall of l’empire romain (the Roman Empire) la Belgique passed between many different kingdoms and empires falling under the influence of both their French neighbours in the West and their Germanic neighbours in the East.

It wasn’t until 1830 that la Belgique gained independence after passing under French and Dutch control a few more times. All that had a lasting impact and gave la Belgique the trilingual status that it has today.

En plus de cela (on top of that), Bruxelles is a French speaking city, but is located in the Dutch speaking part of le pays!

While there are often many fun things to say about les Belges (Belgians), they are an important part of la francophonie, l’Europe et le monde (the francophonie, Europe, and the world). Les atentats have everyone looking at la Belgique, and it’s a good moment to learn more about ce pays formidable (this wonderful country).

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

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

EU referendum

Two expats are challenging a decision to bar British citizens who have lived elsewhere in Europe for more than 15 years from voting in the EU referendum.

Harry Shindler, a 94-year old World War Two veteran and Jacquelyn MacLennan say June's vote will directly affect them.

They argue that they have taken advantage of EU rules allowing freedom of movement and could lose these rights if Britain votes to leave the union.

The government said the franchise was agreed by both Houses of Parliament.

The campaigners say up to two million expats are being denied the right to take part in the referendum.

Their lawyers will file papers at the High Court on Wednesday requesting a judicial review which, if successful, could force the government to pass emergency legislation before the EU vote on 23 June to change the franchise.

Under current rules, British nationals who have lived abroad for more than 15 years are unable to vote in UK elections.

The Conservatives have pledged to scrap the 15-year rule, but this has not yet been delivered.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said:

"The franchise for the EU referendum was debated, considered and agreed by both Houses of Parliament and is set out in legislation.

"Scrapping the 15-year rule for overseas electors is a manifesto pledge which the government remains committed to delivering.

"It is not connected to the referendum."

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

In this Blog you can find information about the upcoming EU referendum.

The referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is on Thursday 23 June 2016.

What is the referendum about?

A referendum asks you to vote on a question.

For this referendum the question is:

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

Can I vote in the EU referendum?

You can vote in this referendum if you are registered to vote in the UK, are 18 or over on 23 June 2016 and are:

A British or Irish citizen living in the UK, or

A Commonwealth citizen living in the UK who has leave to remain in the UK or who does not require leave to remain in the UK

A British citizen living overseas who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years

An Irish citizen living overseas who was born in Northern Ireland and who has been registered to vote in Northern Ireland in the last 15 years

How do I register to vote?

If you want to have your say at the EU referendum, you must be registered to vote.

In England, Scotland or Wales, you can register to vote online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

If you are a British citizen living abroad, you can register to vote online in the same way.

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