Bien Dit Ch. 6-10 culture
This information refers to the “Flash Cultures” and larger cultural readings for each chapter of Bien Dit, from Chapters 6-10. Be able to answer questions about these, and compare them to American culture (almost all culture questions on the final scantron will be multiple choice):
Chapitre 6: (western France) – Bon Appetit
- meals (particularly breakfast) in France (remember tartines and how they drink from un bol?)
- les viennoiseries what are les viennoiseries?
- la tarte et des desserts did you know a tart, or “pie” can be either sweet or salty?
- à table!- manners, meals, length, comparisons, tipping when out, the euro, menu à prix fixe (several courses, you may choose, but at a fixed price) remember how they keep their hands above the table because in old times one might think that you might be concealing something?
Chapitre 7: (le Senegal) – on fait les magasins?
- shopping- clothing sizes (metric system), bargaining in Senegal (offering tea, etc…)
- Le boubou et le batik
- Les soldes– when are sales? how many times a year? (only 2) who regulates?
Chapitre 8: à la maison
- La cérémonie du thé– tea ceremonies in Senegal- who? what? where? when? (3 types of tea…etc…)
- Où sont les toilettes– what is the difference between “les toilettes” and “la salle de bains“? (closed doors, knocking, etc…)
- La communauté– what are houses like in America? in France? in Senegal? (les cases, le rez-de-chaussée/premier étage, etc…)
- Sénégal– les cases, numbering floors, etc…
Chapitre 9: (le midi) allons en ville!
- Public transportation & code de la route– who has the right of way? similar/different in America? side of the road they drive on?
- The metric system– adopted during the French revolution, 1 mile = 2.2 kilometers
- La poste- a post office also offers banking services in France
- La ville en Chanson– many singers sing about Paris, but there are also others cities in France sung about? Can you think of any in America?
- La Carte Bleue– what is it? when is it used? (what is the equivalent in America?)
- Pharmacie vs. droguerie- grocery stores don’t have drugs like aspirin, you must go to a pharmacy, but what we call a pharmacy would be a “droguerie”- where you can get prescription medications, the “pharmacy” is where you can get beauty and healthcare products
Chapitre 10: enfin les vacances!
- Hotel ratings- (star ratings and how they compare to America)
- Souvenirs- santons are typical souvenirs from southern France, what souvenirs have you seen/gotten from France? what would you take to give as a gift if you went to France?
- Les gites- French holiday home available for rent, must be nationally registered
- Les santons- little wooden figures of saints (made for “creches”- manger scenes)
- L‘électricité- use different electrical systems- you’ll need an adapter (2-prong), rates vary based on peak times (what does this remind you of?)
- la gare– SNCF, TGV, un composteur- SNCF is the national train system, and the TGV are fast trains- France broke the world record for fastest train in ?