Celebrate Bastille Day 2020 While at Home
Join JP Linguistics and Time Out New York to celebrate Bastille Day 2020 along with amazing and authentic French Brands in New York City!
Bastille Day - A Symbol of Freedom and Liberty
Have you ever wondered what the big deal with Bastille Day and the French was? Well, you are in luck because on Tuesday, July 14th we will explain all virtually during a full-day celebration we have planned. Although this year marks the first time that Americans are banned from travelling to Europe because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we partnered with Time Out New York to bring you authentic French experiences in NYC that you can enjoy by tuning in to their Instagram account, @timeoutnewyork, starting at 9:00AM on July 14th. Our event is also including in United for Bastille Day, organized by the Consulate General of France. Keep scrolling for a brief history of Bastille Day and more details about the event.
Gravure de la Bastille, par Jean-François Rigaud, XVIIe s.© DEA PICTURE LIBRARY https://www.geo.fr/histoire/la-bastille-400-ans-d-histoire-161952
What is Bastille Day?
Bastille Day or Le 14 juillet is the national day of France. It is on July 14th 1789 that the Bastille was destroyed and marked the beginning of the Fall of the Monarchy and of the French Revolution. The Bastille was build in the 14th century to protect the city and it became a symbol of Tyranny that people wanted to take down, as it had become a prison for people who opposed the political system in place. Most of the people who were emprisonned in the Bastille did not even received a proper judgement, instead, they received a lettre de cachet from the King who would condemned them right away. The Bastille was therefor a symbole of Tyrannie and not one of Freedom. This is why French people do not refer to this day as Bastille Day but as Le 14 Juillet. On this day, French people celebrate the abolition of a Monarchie and the creation of a Republic with the current French Motto “ Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”
How to Celebrate Bastille Day In 2020
Celebrating Bastille Day during a pandemic might seem like an impossible thing to do. But as we say in French, impossible n’est pas français (impossible is not French)! This year, JP Linguistics has partnered with Time Out New York to bring to you the best of French Culture in NYC, showcasing a true mark of Fraternité and Solidarité. Make sure to tune in on Tuesday, July 14th starting at 9:00AM via the Time Out New York Instagram account, @timeoutnewyork, to celebrate with us. You can see the full program below including LIVE streams from JP Linguistics, Albertine Bookstore, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, DJ Stoon, French Cheese Board, Maille, Bertrand Demontoux, BLVD Wine Bar, and Delice & Sarrasin.
Bastille Day 2020 Celebration Schedule:
9am: Learn how to make authentic French Toast during this kickoff event with JP Linguistics
10am: Take a tour of the adorable Albertine bookstore and settle in for a live children’s book reading
11am: Join Metropolitan Museum of Art art historian Kathy Galitz and Time Out national culture writer Howard Halle for a discussion of Monet's La Grenouillère
12pm: Say bonjour to some sick beats during a Bastille Day livestream set with DJ Stoon
1pm: Make the perfect cheese board with French Cheese Board
2pm: Maille’s official Mustard Sommelier (yes, that’s a real job) demonstrates how to cook two delicious, simple French recipes: A warmed raclette-and-chicken baguette sandwich and a berry hazelnut galette
3pm: We’re back with JP Linguistics for a look at the history of French fashion in both Paris and New York
4pm: Grab a glass for a virtual French Rosé wine tasting with Sommelier Bertrand Demontoux at BLVD Wine Bar in Long Island City
5pm: Learn how to prepare a vegan Cassoulet Toulousain with the inventive West Village restaurant, Delice & Sarrasin
Let us know if you can make it or have any questions in the comments below and we will answer them on the lives! A bientôt !
Debating The Reconstruction of Notre Dame
Can the famed cathedral be rebuilt by the 2024 Paris Olympics?
French lawmakers on are currently debating a highly controversial law for restoring Notre-Dame within 5 years. The cathedral was nearly destroyed in a fire that broke out in the cathedral in April, and French President Emmanuel Macron has set a target for the restoration to be finished by the time Paris hosts the Olympics in 2024.
The surrounding controversy is that the proposal would involve removing provisions protecting the ancient structure. Nearly one billion euros has been donated, and experts believe believe the total bill will come to between 6-700 million euros. This begs to question what will happen to leftover money? France's Observatory for Religious Heritage has found that there are between 40,000 & 60,000 churches and chapels in France with 5,000 in poor condition.
This law, should it be passed, will create a public body to oversee and carry out the work but grants the government power to override regulations on planning. Notre-Dame has become a world renowned cathedral as it has survived the peaks and valleys of the sometimes turbulent French history since construction began in the mid-12th century.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about how the French government is Debating The Reconstruction of Notre Dame! What are your thoughts on the new bill? Join the conversation below.
What You Need to Know About French Dual Citizenship
You can immigrate to France without fear of losing your stars and stripes.
It only takes one trip to France to see how so many have fallen in love with everything encompassed within it’s boarders. From Paris to Bordeaux, there is truly something for every tourist to enjoy - sometimes so much that one may wish to spend more than just 30 days. If you’re American and wish to also have French citizenship, you are in luck as it's possible to live in both by obtaining dual citizenship.
If a person is born in France to at least one French parent, he automatically gains citizenship at birth; otherwise, those born in France to foreign parents have the option of obtaining citizenship at birth or later in life. Those that have lived and worked in France for 5 years, or those who have been married to a French citizen for more than three years, can apply for naturalization. Refugees, former French military workers and people who come from a country where French is the official language are all eligible to apply immediately for French citizenship.
A word of warning, however, is that submitting an application can be a daunting and challenging process, and it is crucial to have the correct documentation available including: a valid birth certificate, proof of address, identification, evidence of employment & residence in France, and proof of marital status to name a few. As far as the wait time goes, the entire process can take up to 2 years once the official application has been submitted (the perfect time to start brushing up on your French). In general, the French are much stricter than Americans when it comes to fluency in an applicant's second language and are usually interviewed at least once in French to demonstrate a full working proficiency of the language.
If you’re worried that your newfound citizenship may put your U.S. citizenship in jeopardy, fear not! As of now, no American will forfeit citizenship by gaining citizenship in another country.
We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about What You Need to Know About French Dual Citizenship! Ready to brush up on your French so that your fluent for your interview? Our native instructors and culturally immersive group classes are sure to have you covered. Click below to learn more!
C'est Quoi Black Friday?
America’s exports to the country include McDonald’s and the once-a-year activity of getting trampled by hoards of shoppers.
This year, 6 French companies have joined to launch an event akin to America's 'Black Friday'
Unlike the one day tradition in the United States that takes place the day after Thanksgiving, France's 'Black Friday' will occur from April 27th to May 1st.
The six brands involved include:
French fashion and home decor shop La Redoute,
Rueducommerce,
an online distributor of consumer computer and electronic products for individuals, administrations, and schools
One of the hopes of the organizers is to eventually create a nationwide event that proves that “French e-commerce is dynamic" according to CEO of Cdiscount, Emmanuel Grenier.
As one may expect, the larger goal is increased sales earlier in the year outside of the traditional winter and summer sales. In fact, "C'est Quoi Black Friday?" - What is Black Friday? - has been the headline of many newspaper articles each November over the past few years in an attempt to explain the madness to the French.
France launched a version of Black Friday five years ago, but it took some time to catch on with the French public that are used to the traditional winter and summer sales periods.
We hope you've gained a little insight about the French adoption of the American tradition of Black Friday! Looking to experience the relatively new shopping phenomoenon in France first hand? Our culturally infused classes with native instructors can have you on the road to fluency faster than you can say "C'est Quoi Black Friday?!" Click below for more info.
Fashion's Homage to Revolution
Gucci has created an homage to the famed May 1968 Riots in its Fall 2018 Campaign.
Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele will pay homage to France by showing his next spring/summer collection in Paris, instead of its usual home in Milan.
The Italian fashion house announced that the September show will be the final in a three-part tribute to France, starting with an advertising campaign re-creating the 1968 student protests in Paris which are being mirrored somewhat by workers in France today.
The Paris student protests of May 1968 are an iconic symbol of the power of the youth counterculture in Paris in the 60s. Artists’ posters and radical graffiti were plastered over the city’s walls, and slogans such as ‘the future will only contain what we put into it now’, ‘boredom is counterevolutionary’ & ‘beneath the paving stones, the beach’ were used as rallying cries by the protesters.
The origin of the civil unrest began in crowded and poorly funded universities with a resentment of Western capitalist ideas and a dissatisfaction with the education system. To add fuel to the fire, workers across France joined the students on the streets adding low wages and oppressive employment methods to the list of woes which resulted in a strike comprising 10 million workers that brought France to a standstill.
Violent clashes ensued between police and protesters. Images of injured protesters and destruction of property quickly spread across the Western world. Although order was eventually restored, French President De Gaulle never recovered from the impact of the events that occurred and was voted out of office in the following year.
Gucci has published the first two spoilers for this campaign on their Instagram and you can see the complete short film in its entirety below.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about Fashion's Homage to Revolution! What do you think of this latest marketing campaign by Gucci? Join the conversation below!
Taking on Tobacco
France moves forward with raising tobacco prices in hopes of curbing its use.
There is a war happening in France between the government and the tobacco industry. As you may remember from our previous article, Going Up In Smoke, the French government proposed a law to outlaw on screen smoking in an effort to curb it’s appeal amongst young citizens. On the 1st of March a singular euro increase in the price of cigarettes will bring the average price of a pack to 8 euros, or $9.80 USD with the plan being to increase the price to 10 euros ( or $12.25 USD) before the end of 2020.
The plan, proposed by Health Minister Agnès Buzyn states that there will be 6 price increases in total and that 80% of that price goes to taxes worth more than 14 billion euros annually to the treasury. Buzyn stated that "These increases spread over time will allow people to prepare, to find ways to stop smoking.” According to the president of the anti-smoking group Droits des Non Fumeurs, Gerard Audereau, more than 47 billion cigarettes are smoked in France every year, and smoking is a key factor in 78,000 deaths each year in France which makes it the country's leading cause of premature death.
Comparatively, approximately 28% of French adults smoke versus 17% of U.S. adults, according to the Center for Disease Control and manufacturers are estimating that the drop in French sales in 2018 will be 10-15%
Late last year, French Socialist senator Nadine Grelet-Certenais accused France’s film-makers of continuing to advertise for the tobacco industry when she stated in the parliament that “Seventy per cent of new French films have at least one scene of someone smoking. This more or less helps to make its use banal, even promote it, to children and adolescents.” The government has planned to raise the price of cigarettes and tobacco in an effort do de-popularize it for the younger generations of French citizens.
There is, however, a silver lining to the smoking crisis as public opinion surveys that show increased numbers of French citizens intend to quit and that the sales of nicotine patches and nicotine chewing gum have increased by nearly 30% as a result of the new measures.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about the French government's efforts of Taking on Tobacco! What do you think about the proposed price hike? Comment below with your thoughts!
Forwarding Francophonie
In February, France hosted the international organization devoted to its favorite export: its language.
This past February, France hosted an international conference devoted to recognition of French culture and language around the world. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, made the revival of France's international influence one of his key priorities after rising to power in 2017. Also being employed to aid efforts is the Francophonie, an organization of former French colonies and other French-speaking populations.
The Francophonie is considerably younger than it’s older sibling, the British Commonwealth, and was established only in 1970, more than two decades after the British founded their organisation and is not nearly as political. While the British Queen remains the head of state of 16 out of the Commonwealth's 52 member-states and their summits deal with global governance issues, French presidents exercise no comparable functions in the Francophonie, and instead deal with nurturing cultural projects. This makes it easier for France to push for the inclusion of many countries which were never French colonies but where the French language plays an important role.
President Macron has stated that “The potential of the Francophonie is immense; with nearly 275 million French-speakers worldwide, France remains a juggernaut in the global linguistic landscape," in a speech last October.
He is also adamant about dispelling claims that this is merely an attempt to save a declining French language and culture when stating that "This is not at all a defensive policy I want to present here." However with most of its member states being at financial disadvantages, the Francophonie relies on France's resources for it’s sustainability much more than the Commonwealth relies on Britain.
Still, there are plenty of actions being taken including booming online French language courses in places where French culture was not previously dominant such as the Gulf. If one thing is for certain, it is that the promotion of the French language is dear to the hearts of most of its citizens. Not convinced? Recently President Macron conducted interviews to media around the world in English. Let’s just say, it didn’t go over so well back home with some of his countrymen.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about all that President Macron is doing in the effort of Forwarding Francophonie. Are you yearning to learn the language that is revered by the citizens of France? Our native instructors and immersive group classes can put you on the path to fluency sooner than you may think!
Going Up In Smoke
A move to curb the cinematic allure of a lit cigarette.
This past week, French senator, Nadine Grelet-Certenais, has struck a match in the French cinema world by proposing a ban on film stars smoking on screen. She states makes the habit coveted and provides free advertising to the tobacco industry. Now that Agnès Buzyn, the health minister, has echoed her sentiments, film-makers may have their hopes going up in smoke.
Unfortunately, this may be much more difficult than just banning them outright. Smoking a cigarette and French cinema have always gone together, and not just in the sense of being on the screen.
They are both very effective ways to kill time.
Think back to any famous French film without the hero positioned stoically surrounded by a delicate stream of twirling smoke...
What has kept this cinematic construct alive is not that it "looks cool" but, more importantly that it foreshadows the mortality of the French antihero. However, as a juxtaposition to their many on screen smoking characters, two of the most famous French film stars, Jean-Paul Belmondo & Alain Delon, are still alive into their 80s.
This has been mirrored in American film and television as well, specifically in period pieces such as Mad Men, Mindhunter, Narcos, etc. In order to accurately represent how these characters went through everyday life requires what was, at one time, an essential prop in the real world at that time.
While this topic remains debated feverently, we can only hope French film-makers and politicians can come to a compromise to not only preserve artistic integrity, but be weary of glorifying an unhealthy habit.
What do you think about the possibility of the French cinema going up in smoke? Leave a comment below!
Healthy Habits of French Cooking
Learn the secrets to the French diet for maintaining a healthy and happy lifestyle.
There are a number of habits that the French keep on a daily basis to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle, from daily trips to the food market to eating smaller portions. French people have a great understanding of a well-balanced diet! With that, we hope you enjoy reading 6 Healthy Habits of French Cooking below! Bonne Santé!
1. The French find pleasure in their meals
There is no such thing as 'fearing' what you eat in France because, culturally, the French take pleasure in their culinary experiences. Food textures, wine 'notes,' and wafting smells of French ingredients are common topics of conversation over the dinner table.
Sitting with a friend or a loved one and sharing a meal together that looks and tastes great is truly the joie de vivre in France. Et voila! Now you know the ultimate secret to eating like a French person...enjoy every minute of it!
2. Daily shopping at the market
Having fresh ingredients is a must for French people. Unlike the United States, there isn't a huge issue of chemically-induced, processed foods. They can thank their government for that because of strict laws and policies for food distributors and farmers. Even without the laws, shopping at the market with a French person isn't about filling up the shopping cart with boxes of macaroni and cheese or frozen dinners. Rather, it is a thoughtful process of grabbing essential ingredients which are used to make meals from scratch. Also, instead of going to the grocery store once a week to fill up the pantry, French people go daily to the supermarket to make smaller purchases for the essentials (like a french baguette or a few fresh tomatoes). Fresh food is best obtained by daily shopping.
3. Meals are separated into courses
A proper French meal can easily add up to about 6-courses. That's because each plate is something to appreciate and pay attention to. Having a TV on in the background or a laptop open on the table while eating would be quite shocking in France. Instead, French people separate the meal into courses to appreciate the flavors and ingredients while allowing for proper digestion before moving on to the next plate. This is also why a 6-course meal sometimes lasts about 6 hours long!
4. The French menu includes organ meats
That's right, popular items like Liver Paté are top on the list of French food items for a reason. Why you ask? To start, they are nutrient-dense. The paté, for example, is typically made of liver, egg yolks, and cream or butter. This provides the B vitamins and minerals from the liver and the fat-soluble vitamins found in eggs yolks and dairy. Other common organ meats include brains, tripe, kidneys, heart, and tongue. This is not only a part of the traditional French diet for nutrition and flavor, these items are typically inexpensive and help stretch the grocery budget.
5. Variety is a key element of surprise
Instead of being hyper-focused on the calorie count in food items, French people find pleasure in the food varieties at the supermarket. For example, the variety of greens in the lettuce section or the hundreds of cheeses in the cheese department. This excitement is something that can brings new flavor and variation to each meal.
French appetizer with salmon and herb cream
6. Small Portions
The popular phrase 'less is more' is key here. Instead of filling a plate with massive portions of food, French people plate a pleasurable and delicious amount to savor during each course. Because of appropriate portion sizes, the French feel zero guilt for divulging in their favorite sugary delights.
We hope you enjoyed reading Healthy Habits of French Cooking! Do Have any additional tips you want to add? Leave them in the comment's section below. If you would like to learn more about French language and culture, check out our Group Classes and Private Lessons at JP Linguistics by clicking here. Merci et à bientôt!