Alan Simmons told me the other day he was reading "Into the Wild" in French, not English. He was hoping to improve his already pretty good French. I decided this was a really good idea, but I know I would never get two pages into a respectable book. I knew if I was to use this reading in French idea, it would have to be something with a few words and a lot of sex and pictures, or comic books. Today we went to two Vide Grenier (garage sales in American lingo) and there were the solutions to my problem. Tintin. I remember reading these in English at my sister Leslie's house many years ago. A lady was offering the hardbound books for 10 euro each. I tried to bargain her down to five, but to no avail. We went to the Vide Grenier in Mirepoix and some kids were selling them for a euro and a quarter, which I thought appropriate and snapped them up.
Actually only three turned out to be Tintin. I obtained some other French hardbound comic in my haste to snap up the bargain, but, c'est la vie. In days to come you can find me on the couch reading comics and improving my French. (Click on pictures to enlarge for the full effect.)
5 comments:
Tintin is a great way to learn French, you have the Dupont "t" and the Dupond "d" where as in English it is the Thompson twins with different spellings of their names. We have, i believe a complete set, with duplicates in French for some of the episodes. We also have Harrap's French English/English French dictionary which is enormous and all the illustrations are from the books. Did ;you get Asterix et Obelisk by any chance? They aren't as wonderful but still good. Leslie
How could you be so cruel as to leave us "hanging" without knowing whether he actually cut the rope and plunged to his death? Inquiring minds want to know!
By the way, did you notice the little white dog? And what does "sabord" mean in that context? I clearly should be reading some French comics!
The little white dog is Snowy in English and Milou in French. I can't remember sabord and my dictionary is packed for a few more months. It may be in my little dictionary, I'll check demain quand je reviendra chez moi. When we were last in Vaison la Romaine I found, at the brocantes foire, a bust of Tintin, hand carved out of one piece of wood and painted in the vibrant colors of the comic. Andrew Oldham is the proud owner of the Tintin bust and the Oldham Tintin Collection. We will post a photo if we can. Leslie
Many people have claimed that they learned English watching American television shows and movies...so it's only logical that you should brush up your French with comic books!
Luke thinks that some of your "adventures in bureaucracy" would make great subject matter for a few "comic" books of your own!
Madeleine liked looking at the pictures and hearing my very bad translation. Thank goodness there are pictures with the words to help me infer the meanings. Oh wait, this must be what it feels like to learn French again, how exciting!!
xox,
Amy
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