No. 168                                                               Mars/ Avril  2017
Message from the President:
  
M. Silvia Bettega, Ed.D.
  
Salut, tout le monde.
  
I would like to start this message by introducing our new Board Director, Attorney William Mastrogiovanni. Bill has 20 years of legal experience and operates his own law practice in Farmington. He has two teenage daughters and lives in Burlington. He is a recent enrollee in our French language classes and enjoys practicing French with his future mother-in-law, a native of northern Maine with a proud French-Canadian heritage.
A shoutout to Tim Ryan, our IT specialist for reviewing and updating our system capabilities so as we can continue to provide the best learning outcomes to our students, to Linda and Audrey for their efforts in the articulation of our classes, and to Christi Moraga, our event committee chair, for organizing two well-attended and successful programs, The Influence of Impressionism on American Art and Patissier (French pastries) with Chef Abhrevé.
Mark your calendar for a very special Annual meeting on Sunday, May 21st at 3:00 p.m. at our locale in Hartford. That day we are not only going to present the AFH 2017-18 Board slate to our membership but we are going to officially dedicate the Perlot room to our friend Dick Perlot for his faithful service to the AFH. The Perlot family will be present. To make this event even more special the Chat Noir jazz band will be in charge of the musical entertainment and refreshments will be served.
En Alliance,
  
Silvia
Upcoming Events events

Sunday, March 5, 2017 @ 3:00 PM. AFH Club de lecture. French book club will discuss La Commissaire n'aime point les vers par Georges Flipo (en français - see article)
 
Sunday, April 2, 2017 @ 2:30 PM.  April in Paris Film Festival with AFH reception at Cinestudio on Trinity College campus (see article)
 
Saturday, April 22nd, 2017 @ 3 PM. Club de lecture. AFH French book club will discuss "L'ascendant" par Alexandre Postel (en français - see Club de lecture below).
 
Sunday, April 23rd, 2017, 3 PM. Meet author and travel show host Lisa Anselmo who will discuss her book, Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home (see article).
 
Saturday March 11th nd 25th; April 8th and 22nd @10:30 AM until noon. Café et conversation at Café Mozzicato, 329 Franklin Ave., Hartford. Join your Alliance Française friends on Saturday mornings for French conversation and socializing. This is a great opportunity to practice speaking French or to maintain fluency. All levels are welcome.

   
Thriller Announced for Club de Lecture in March
 
Read and Discuss: "La Commissaire n'aime point les vers" by George Flipo (Paris: Gaillimard, 2012).  From the AF National website: "For the first time in its history, the "One Book One Federation Program" proposes a roman policier (crime story) for its annual selection. And this one comes with a twist: the Police Chief is a woman!
Police Chief Viviane Lancier isn't exactly the poetry-loving type, but here she finds herself embroiled in a murderous affair with poetry at its heart...
Sunday, March 5, 2017 is the date for our Club de Lecture which will be at the Alliance office in Hartford at 3:00 P.M. Sharon Straka will be leading our discussion.
Bonne lecture!


MY PART TIME PARIS LIFE: HOW RUNNING AWAY
BROUGHT ME BACK HOME
Meet author and travel show host, Lisa Anselmo, and hear the story behind her new memoir My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home (Thomas Dunn Books/St. Martin's Press). After the death of her mother from breast cancer, Anselmo bought a tiny apartment in the 11th arrondissement, then took a leap of faith and left a corporate job to live "th
e dream" in Paris.  but her high school French went only so far when Paris gave her a strong dose of real life. From dating to homeownership in a foreign country, Anselmo shares her heartwarming-and sometimes heartbreaking-tales of learning to live like a local in the City of Light.
Anselmo will be signing copies of her memoir, My (Part-Time) Paris Life, which will be available for sale at the event.
Anselmo splits her time between New York and Paris, and has a blog, My (Part-Time) Paris Life, as well as an inspirational new web series of the same name that takes viewers to Paris's locals-only neighborhoods, and features Parisians and expats who are finding success by following their hearts. Anselmo is also the co-founder of No Love Locks, an association working with the mayor of Paris to rescue the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site currently devastated by the "love locks" trend.
The presentation will be followed by wine, cheese, grapes and baguette. Call Larry at AFH (860-278-9999 to reserve your place!
Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 3:00.
$10 for Alliance Française member; $15 for non-members



  APRIL IN PARIS FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT  
 Ticke Apr 2 @ 2:30 pm
 
April in Paris, Hartford's Annual Festival of French and Francophone Film, presents Crossing Borders: Au-Delà Des Frontières. Nine films from 1928 to our 2017 première explore the effects of crossing borders, from the political to the personal. Please join us after the screenings for the discussion.
Italian Straw Hat (France, 1928. 105 min.) Written and directed by Rene Clair. With: Albert Préjean, Olga Tschechowa, Geymond Vital. April in Paris opens with a classic silent French film, accompanied by pianist Patrick Miller from The Hartt School. Rene Clair's delightfully transgressive farce tweaks the social boundaries as a would-be groom runs into trouble when his horse eats the hat of a lady. Can he find a replacement chapeau before he is late to his own wedding?
Coffee and pastries, provided by the Alliance Francaise of Hartford, will be served after the
film.
Where: Cinestudio on the Trinity College campus at 300 Summitt St. in Hartford.
AFH Club de Lecture
 
Prochaines réunions:  5 mars 2017 3pm AFH offices  La Commissaire n'aime point les vers par Georges Flipo; 22 avril 2017 L'ascendant par Alexandre Postel;  15 July 2017 Pas pleurer par Lydie Salvayre; 21 Octobre 2017 Chanson douce par Leila Slimani; ( Pour plus d'information, addressez-vous à John Soares @ jmsoares@comcast.net . ou Sharon Straka à skstraka@gmail.com.
 
 
Spring Classes 2017
Alliance Française of Hartford
75 Charter Oak Ave., Suite 1-202, Hartford, CT 06106
 
All our language classes offer an immersion experience in the French language. Students are encouraged to express themselves in French. Grammar is a tool, not a goal.
 
Spring semester dates: Weeks of Feb. 21st to May 1st, 2015
(check with instructor for dates)
Tuition: $302 ($292 if registered before Feb. 16th)
 
All Class Hours: 5:45 - 7:45 pm at AFH offices

 
 
Class Level Day Instructor
French 101 Beginner Wednesday Marianne
French 103 Beginner Wednesday Yves
French 105 Beginner Monday Dahmane
French 108 Beginner Monday Marianne
French 203 Intermediate Wednesday Jenny
French 203 Intermediate Thursday Jenny
Culture & Politics (Fr 307) Advanced Tuesday Marianne
Presse francophone dans le monde Advanced Thursday Dahmane
                      
 

 
SPRING TERM
French 101
In this French introductory class, you will learn basic language skills. You'll be able to introduce yourself, exchange greetings, say the alphabet, count, tell time, ask questions, use negation, make invitations; and talk about nationality, people, preferences, studies, days of the week, months, seasons, and dates.
Materials
Contacts, 8th edition, Valette/Valette, Houghton Mifflin Company
(Can be purchased at Amazon Secondary Sellers, Cheaptextbooks.com, or other sources.)
Required   
(a) textbook                                      ISBN-10: 0-618-39578-4
(b) Student Activities Manual (SAM)           ISBN-10: 0-618-39580-6
Strongly recommended
 (a) Student Activities Manual (SAM) audio CDs
(14 CDs in 2 sets of 7 CDs each)      ISBN-10: 0-618-39588-1
Optional
(a) In-text audio CDs (4 CDs)            ISBN-10: 0-618-39589-X
(b) Video DVD                                    ISBN-10: 0-618-39586-5
 
French 103
By the end of this course, you will be able to describe your family, express personal relationships, indicate ownership, talk about the weather, clothes, describe what we purchase, discuss prices, point out people and things, describe your home, make comparisons, talk about your finances, feelings and needs, make suggestions, describe past actions, ask about past activities, talk about vacations plans, describe where you went, and give complete dates.
You will be able to use the possessive adjectives; interrogative adjective quel, demonstrative adjective ce, irregular adjectives, numbers from 60 and above, comparative, superlative, questions with inversion, expressions quelqu'un and quelque chose, il y a, regular -IR and -RE verbs, verbs FAIRE, ACHETER, PRÉFÉRER, PAYER, SORTIR, PARTIR, DORMIR, the imperative, and the passé composé with AVOIR and ÊTRE.
Materials : See French 101
 
French 105

 In this continuing French class, you will learn more basic and intermediate language skills. You'll be able to talk about various events, sports, health, refer to places previously mentioned, describe daily routine, the body, personal relationships, feelings and emotions, interactions, different personalities, past events, how we do certain things, and rank people and things.
You will learn to use the pronouns y and en, reflexive verbs, the verb ouvrir, recevoir, adverbs in -ment, the construction verbe + infinitif, ordinal numbers, when to use the passé composé vs. the imparfait, the plus-que-parfait.
Materials : See French 101
 
 
 

FR108
By the end of this course, you will be able to talk about sports, lodging, body parts, daily activities; talk about the past (plus-que-parfait); use the verb OUVRIR; the pronouns y and en, and reflexive verbs.
Materials: See 101


French 203
This course constitutes a revision of and reacquaintance with the grammatical principles presented in the first two years of French study, a furthering of the understanding of French phonology and pronunciation norms, conversational tactics and fluency in everyday situations, the ability to speak in the future, the conditional, and the past tenses, to express wishes, opinions and beliefs, to talk about work and professional life, to travel, and to interact more freely and with confidence in French society.  We will also delve deeper into our exploration of French cultural mores and the fascinating continuum of French history, arts, and entertainment, plus engage in spirited discussions of contemporary France.
 
Course readings
 
1)Textbook: À votre tour! Intermediate French, 2nd edition, Valette/Valette,
Houghton Mifflin Company or Wiley Required    ISBN-10: 0-618-69315-7
 
2) Supplementary Material:Le Petit Nicolas et les copains. Sempé et Goscinny.
Folio Junior Edition Spéciale.  ISBN-13: 978-0-470-42426-1
3) Optional: Student Activities Manual (SAM) 12 audio CDs    ISBN-10: 0-618-69320-3
 

French 307
Advanced Class:
You will explore cultural and historical aspects of Martinique, politics and the independence movements in the francophone world, you will review how to talk about how to interrupt someone and offer commentary; ask someone to repeat or clarify; talk about the future; and reassure someone.
You will review the irregular verbs DORMIR, MENTIR and SENTIR, object pronouns and adverbial pronouns, disjunctive pronouns, the future and the futur antérieur.
Demain dès l'aube , a poem by Victor Hugo and an excerpt of a text by Patrick Chamoiseau will be our literary component.
Materials
Intrigue - langue, culture et mystère dans le monde francophone, 3rd edition, Blood/Mobarek,
Prentice Hall/Pearson Higher Ed
Required   
(a) textbook                                                ISBN-13: 978-0-205-74132-8
(b) Student Activities Manual (SAM)           ISBN-13: 978-0-205-74142-7
Optional
Audio for the text                                        ISBN-13: 978-0-205-78310-6
Audio for the Student Activities Manual (SAM) ISBN-13: 978-0-205-78311-3


La presse francophone dans le monde
Advanced Class :
According to indicators of the RSF, in 2016, freedom of the press in Africa has outdistanced the Americas, compromised by the attacks against the freedom of expression, in general, in Latin America: an opportunity for the French class to put the spotlight on the French press in the world. In this way, Our spring sessions will lead us to scrutinize, successively, the situation of French expression of the press in Sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal, Algeria, Belgium, Canada (Quebec), Libya, Morocco, Switzerland and Tunisia. For an effective approach, the students will be lead, beforehand, to familiarize themselves with the indicators of freedom of the press held by the RSF and notions of freedom of information, freedom of the press, right to information, freedom of conscience.


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