International flights into Switzerland usually arrive at either Geneva or Zurich airports. Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland. It is also a global city, a financial center, and a worldwide center for diplomacy. As I looked around I could pick out people from Japan, China, India, Italy, France, Germany and many other countries. Listening to them speak was a real treat … a melody of languages. Both of these airports are very convenient to traveling to Zermatt, Switzerland, a gateway to the Matterhorn. But don’t miss taking a little time to visit the azure blue lakes; Lake Geneva and Lake Lucerne with their castles. Then it’s on to the Matterhorn, Switzerland’s most famous mountain of 14,692 feet; the mountain that movies have been made about. It is located in the Penninie Alps on the border of Switzerland and Italy. In German “matte” means “meadow” and “horn” means “peak.” It is the tenth highest peak in Switzerland.
There were seven of us, four adults with three children, in our Honda Odyssey making our way towards the Swiss Alps. The morning was sunny with a few white billowy cumulus clouds making their way lazily across the wide expanse of blue. The road was very straight most of the time with a few curves intermingled. Looking out the window, we saw green fields dotted here and there with acres of yellow flowers that looked like sunflowers. The beauty took my breath away. It was so picturesque, just like in the travel magazines I had seen.
Off in the distance, I could see mountains rising up from the green plains we had been traveling through. At last I could see them … the Swiss Alps. This was the home of Heidi, my favorite childhood novel. I can still remember some of her adventures. Her grandfather lived here and cared for her in these wondrous mountains. The Heidi book is among the best known works of Swiss literature and well worth reading to your children.
As we drove into Zermatt, a beautiful, little tourist town at the foot of the Alps, we parked our car on the outskirts and walked from there. No cars or big tour buses allowed in the village. The train stops here and goes no further. This is one of the great ski and climbing centers in the world. This deep valley is nestled between two steep, sculptured mountains. The air is crisp and clean with an Alpine flavor. Summer flowers drape themselves from each building along the way. Its cobblestone streets and pathways take you back in time to a simpler way of life. It is beautiful. It is exhilarating. It is special to be here; to see this great mountain and walk the cobblestone streets of Zermatt.
The Matterhorn is truly a magnificent mountain. A dream comes true, just to be here.
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Have you ever been to Polish Town, Czech Town or Korean Village?
Sounds strange, doesn’t it. So why are there so many China Towns around the world? How about a nice Danish Roll, a French pastry or some Baklava?
Speaking of Baklava, I can almost taste the thin layers of phyllo dough, with chopped nuts in between those paper thin layers, with a little honey added. I love Middle Eastern pastries and the Balkan cuisine. Let’s have some Chocolate Bavarian from the Normandie Café, one of my favorite French pastry shops. Is it any wonder my weight keeps going up? If I add “rich buttery flaky dough that Chania Townturns pastries into a sinful delight,” my Danish for breakfast doesn’t help my weight a bit.
Sauerkraut, Danish meatballs, pizza, Thai noodles, Kung Pao chicken, sesame oil chicken wings, stir-fry, bok choy, Moo Goo Gai Pan to name a few more favorite foods that keep me thinking about food.
Don’t’ you just love to eat? When I go out for the evening or even for lunch, I seem to choose German, Italian, Chinese, French, Thai, Indian/Hindi, or a Japanese restaurant. We have any and all kinds to choose from. We can pick different countries, different foods and all within a few miles from where we live. I don’t have to go far to feel like I am in a different country clear across the world.
Every restaurant has something special about it. Different restaurants have interwoven within their walls different foods, colors, languages, customs and some great people.
Developing their recipes has taken eons of time. We now experience the best a country had to offer in taste and drink. It is like having our very own “Sunday Dinner” with them. They offer us the best they have.
I have wandered through China Townes across the world from San Francisco to New York and from Singapore to Yokohama. What an experience: the sites, the smells, the people, the food. As we walk down a narrow street together in Shanghai we look through the window and start salivating as we see some of the best food we have ever laid our eyes on. Look at those bright greens, heaps of snow white sticky rice, bowls of steaming soup and those pieces of chicken and beef, browned to perfection. I can’t contain myself. How about you? Of course we go in … are we stupid?
We would do the same thing, if it had been a Polish Town, Czech Town or a Korean Village. It is just that most of the time it is a China Town, Italian Village or a Thai restaurants. Each culture has its culinary delights; we just need to find them. So let’s just keep looking.
Lunch time … see you later!
French is spoken in over 40 countries. French and English are the two most widely spread languages in Africa. French is spoken in more countries and on more continents than any other language except for English. French is spoken in all the border areas from the Riviera to the area north of Milan (bordering with France and Switzerland). French is spoken in west and southwest Switzerland, the region being served by Geneva airport. The French language is the second most widely spoken language in Switzerland. Approximately 20% of people in Switzerland speak French as their first language. Many international organizations use French as their official language. It is also used along with English and German in some of the biggest cities and in tourism and business circles around the world.
The French culture is diverse and pervades many aspects of our daily life. The French language is the first foreign language taught in Nigeria. The demand is strong from various sectors of the Nigerian society, including administrations which feel the need to have French-speaking civil servants to better communicate with Nigeria’s French-speaking neighbors. French and English are the two most widely spread languages in Africa. The French language is also the official language of Quebec.
French is spoken in France (in metropole and in overseas departments) but also in Belgium and Switzerland (besides other official languages), in Quebec, and most importantly in Western Africa. West Africa has been a French colony until the 60s and French has stayed the official language in most of the countries. French is spoken in Wallonia, the southern part of Belgium. The Walloons account for 32 percent of the Belgian population. French is spoken in the non-native community of La Romaine. Federal government employees are expected to speak both of Canada’s official languages.
The French language is a key that unlocks the doors of division like no other key can. French has been called the language of romance, fostering a relationship between two people like none other. The French language is the vehicle of a rich philosophical and literary tradition. Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau greatly influenced the world and their writings still hold great relevance for evolving issues. French is a romance language, the language of literature, art, cinema, music, cuisine, fashion, science and medicine.
France is also well connected to the major international rail lines that run through Europe. France is a country full of dramatic geographical variety, from the Alps in the south to the valleys in the north, and it provides an ideal environment for adventurous overseas students to experience new and exciting activities. The mountains provide fantastic skiing in the winter, the beaches on the Mediterranean attract sun worshippers in the summer and the deep valleys and hills are home to France’s numerous vineyards.
Plan a visit to France today! Save on Pimsleur Method French language CDs and downloads.
French Cuisine is as popular as the poetry or French arts. Pastries are a big part of French cooking. But the most famous part of Italian cuisine is the use of cheeses and wine. French cuisine basically originated from its own culture. That is why there are a number of restaurants all over the country. Here is a quick list of some of the most recommended restaurants for the travelers going to France:
58 Tour Eiffel It is located on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Its name is derived from its height, 58 meters above the ground. The menu includes smoked salmon, blinis and sweet mustard cream, royal green asparagus tips au naturel and smoked duck breast. Their cheesecake is one of the best in town.
Palace Elysee The trademark of this restaurant is their friendly staff and nice service. The cuisine is also outstanding. It is the result of the collaboration of two Chefs where one focuses on the main course and the other on the pastries. The recipes are authentic, as well as the products. The presentation is great. Palace Elysée attracts an elite set of customers with its stunning interior design and first class French menu.
Chez Juliene A perfect representation of French dining is the charming and exquisite restaurant Chez Julien. The interior of Chez Julien is chic but with a retro feel. It is also designed for stylish crowd of diners who appreciate high-end French dining. Foie gras, frog’s legs, rack of lamb and Chateaubriand with fries are some of their specialties.
Lasserre This restaurant is fine dining at its best. Its roof can be pulled back for a view of the sky when the weather allows. The classic menu is comprised of the likes of macaroni with black truffles and foie gras, roast Turbot with fresh almonds and rosemary, Noirmoutier potatoes or tenderloin sweetbreads and preserved cheek of veal with morel mushrooms, cos lettuce and truffle jus.
Chez Catherine This restaurant is owned by one of France’s top female chefs, Catherine Guerraz. They have high aims for their cooking that’s why they only use the best seasonal products.
Recommended from their menu are their raviolis in a cream and mushroom sauce and then follow it up with a perfect sole meunière or the pan-fried steak served with the crispy French fries. Chez Catherine also has an excellent wine list. They have a wide and varied choice available. But because this restaurant is of really high standards, expect it to be pricey.
If I were you I would learn to ask your taxi driver how to get to a restaurant and maybe even the bathroom … in French. Try one of our free Pimsleur Method French lessons.
Learning a new language is like opening-up a new culture in your life. But if you want to learn a second language, you might want to ask yourself which is the easiest one to learn. Determining the easiest language to pick-up could be a tough task because there are so many different factors that need to be considered. Several factors to look at may include what is your native tongue and what other languages are related to it, do you other ethnic groups you are exposed to and have exposure to their language, the time you have to devote to practice, the grammar complexity of the language, and your desire to learn that particular language. All of these factors are important to you in determining which language would be the easiest language for you to learn. According to some surveys, here are some of the more easy languages to learn:
English: There is no doubt that this is the easiest language to learn since it is everywhere. It can be heard, absorbed, and used just about anywhere in the world. The ease of learning this language may be due to its simplicity and the abundance of grammatical rules that are present in many other languages.
Spanish: This language is said to have the most straightforward grammar that is familiar and ordinary. The grammar and pronunciation is easy. Its words and their rules can also be spelled out easily. It can also be heard everywhere and is used widely. This makes this language much easier to learn, especially for American and many European people. Another factor is the availability and abundance of learning materials, or the widespread opportunities that comes with the use of the language on regular basis. The only problem noted is that Spanish people talk fast. And I mean very fast. One can get lost while trying to understand. But other than that it is a great language to learn.
Italian: Aside from having no cases, it also has very easy and a clear pronunciation of its words. Its grammar rules are similar to that of Spanish. It also has a very clear vocabulary. Italian skills can easily be translated to French or Spanish because they all have the same root language base. It can be heard in opera and classical music which makes it a very fun language to learn.
French: It has a more complicated grammar structure but is not difficult to acquire since most of its words are also in the English vocabulary. It has sixteen tenses and its grammar is a little twisted. It also has a very specific pronunciation that makes it a little more difficult when comparing it to the Spanish language.
Portuguese: It is one of the most widely used languages in the world and it is often overlooked. Its grammar and vocabulary are both familiar, even though its phonetics may require a greater focus for you to get used to it.
These are number of things for you to look at in deciding which one of these languages would be the easiest languages for you to learn. It may even differ from person to person depending on all the other factors. When you are ready to learn a new language, all you need to do is to narrow down the choices by considering some of the above factors. Pimsleur Method has an audio course for all of the above listed languages and many more to aid you in your learning.
Aside from France, French is the official language of 22 other countries and it is also the co-official language in countries including Haiti, Madagascar, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In addition to that, it is also the un-official second language of countries such as Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. It is also spoken in some parts of France’s former African colonies like Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger and Bénin. Over 75 million people use this language all over the world.
The standards for the French language including its correct pronunciation and language usage all over the world are set by its capital city, Paris. The French people are actually very protective about their language and they formed laws banning the use of non-French words even from official publications and websites.
The standard for French is based on the dialect known as Francien. It has been the official standard language since the mid-16th century. It has greatly replaced other regional dialects of French spoken in northern and central France. French dialects are further subdivided into 5 classifications namely, Central, Northern, Eastern, Western, Southwestern.
Like other languages, the French language also has its own characteristics. A lot of its letters are silent. As a result, pronunciation of the words can differ significantly from its spelling. Many people who try to learn French find that pronunciation is the hardest part to learn due to its new sounds, silent letters and liaisons. When all these factors come together as one, speaking French can be very tricky. Speaking French is more than just familiarization of the vocabulary and grammar rules because the letters need to also be pronounced correctly. Speakers who try to learn this language are not likely to sound like a native unless they learned the language as a child. However, learning how to speak French correctly is not impossible with enough practice and patience and using a good language course like Pimsleur. Some of the other important components of the language are inflection, declination and using grammatical gender. Also, in French, the forms of some words do vary as to how they are used in a sentence. It is quite different than English.
You really can use a second language when looking for jobs, business and travel purposes. French is one of the most useful languages and can be used throughout the world. When choosing a language to study, consider that French is one of the languages that will give you more in what ever you are planning to do.
Because you must walk before you can run, you cannot start right off thinking in a language, especially when you must proceed at the relatively slow pace of that of the typical foreign language college course. You must begin thinking in English and translating foreign words into and from English to your new language. Only gradually can you abandon translation and come to think in the language. But until you begin to think in your new language … you don’t really know it.
In the very first weeks of a course in a foreign language, students nearly always translate word for word. That is all right for the kind of elementary sentences you get in this stage, but it won’t do at all when the going gets tougher. Yet many students persist in this word-for-word translation throughout the entire study of a language. For a language like Spanish this is less likely to get you into trouble (because the grammar and word order are so much like English) but in other languages like Latin and German, it does not work so well because the word orders are quite different from the English ones. A second-year student in German can easily get lost trying to find his way word for word through the seemingly impenetrable thicket of a German sentence. For the German word order is so different that it makes little sense, you must learn to think in the German word order and get a sense of the sentence as a whole before you look up the specific words you do not know. And even when you are concentrating on specific words, you must keep in mind the relationship between words. The over-all meaning of the word is very important for you to be able to translate them properly.
You will discover yourself that this is the only way you can translate complicated sentences. If you are doing no better than word-for-word translation, you are in trouble and you will need a lot of help. We cannot tell you exactly what your difficulties will be since they will be different for different people. One frequent difficulty, however, is that the student who does not have the basic elements of the vocabulary, such as relative pronouns or irregular verbs, memorized, will find that it will be very difficult. It needs to be something that comes naturally and if it doesn’t, it will be very difficult. If you don’t know the syntax or word order well enough to be able to tell where they are in a sentence you have more problems. This is particular difficulty for students of German. Thus in a sentence like Haben Sie den Bauer gesehen, der auf dem Wagen sass? (“Have you seen the farmer who sat in the wagon?”), a badly confused student may try to translate der as a definite article rather than as a relative pronoun. An example of a parallel problem is in a French sentence like Elle a recu les fleurs que lui ont envoyees des amies (“She received the flowers that friends sent her”), where the unobservant student may read the objective pronoun que as the nominative pronoun qui thus making the sentence make no sense. By looking over the whole sentence structure and then by relating the words to one another, you would not make a mistake like this.
In your favor, a good language from PimsleurMethod will make it a much easier adventure and you will have success.